Customer Reviews

Men's Health: The Belly Off! Workout - The Body Weight Routine

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Since making the decision to live a healthier lifestyle, almost a year ago I have amassed quite the collection of workout dvds. Being able to workout at home keeps me on track because it eliminates the excuses that keep me from going to the gym or for a run; no personal training appointments to miss, inclement weather, etc. After doing this workout just once, I can already tell that this is going to be one of my favorites. It reminds me of a group fitness program that I participated in earlier this year that gave me fantastic results, both in terms of pounds and inches lost.

The current description of this workout leaves a lot to be desired so here's my attempt at breaking it down:

* Warmup (8 min)
* 2 minute drill: series of 8 cardio moves done for 15 seconds each to elevate your heart rate
* Bodyweight Circuits (5 mins): challenging strength training moves
* Bodyweight 100 (8 mins) different sequences of toning exercises. For instance, you might do squats, pushups, & mountain climbers, then repeat the sequence before moving on to the next sequence.
* Power of 10 (10 mins): Just when you think the workout is over (or that you can't go on) the instructor challenges you to do a series of 10 cardio and toning exercises for 30 seconds each.
* Cooldown (11 mins)

Pros:
* The workout left me sweaty.
* I felt it the next day.
* David Jack (the instructor) is really likeable and not overly chatty (when he speaks, it's to explain the exercises or to issue brief encouragement).
* David does the entire workout with you. I also liked that you could tell that he was pushing himself throughout the workout (I hate it when I feel like the people on the tv are just breezing through a workout... especially when I'm still doing the beginner modification lol).
* As far as modifications, there are beginner, intermediate, and advanced moves for most of the exercises that are done. So you should be able to get quite a bit of mileage out of this dvd.
* The dvd has a menu so that you can choose to do individual parts of the workout when you're pressed for time. I can see myself using the drill or Power of 10 to warmup before going out for a run and the Cool-Down after.

Cons:
* There were a couple of times when I found myself wishing that the instructor would count off the reps (especially when doing mat work).
* There were a LOT of pushups in this workout! Pushups work a lot of muscles at once so I understand why they were there. I couldn't do any more after a while so I grabbed my dumbbells and did chest raises and chest flys instead of idly waiting for those sections to be over.

Oh, and I should mention that I am a woman... so don't let the "Men's Health" in the title scare you away from this excellent workout dvd.

I would consider myself at an intermediate level of fitness and, overall, I felt like I got a good workout with this DVD. The instructor is great - pleasant voice, not annoying at all. If anything, it would probably be better if it was a full hour long workout and, yes, had a few other exercises substituted instead of all the push up varieties but it is the body weight routine, after all, so there were no weights incorporated. That being the case, liked the Strength Training DVD a little better.

Hello I'm Dee from Hollywood,Fl. I ordered the belly off body weight routine because I wanted to drop some weight without lifting any weights. I had just been cleared to start working out again since I had surgery a few months ago. An anyone knowns how the weight can add up on you when you not able to do anything. This dvd is a great killer... It gives you that burn an you feel the fat burning off..Just so you know when you first start pace yourself the first week. I was able to start doing the whole dvd after the second week an i feel great... I would tell ever man or woman to try this dvd and go for the burn..

I've had this dvd for a couple of months now and it still makes me sweat. I have always been active and work out 6 days a week. Most of my workouts consist of Crunch or Exercise TV dvds. This workout is definitely on par if not better than those workouts. Having three different people in the video to give you options is such a plus since most dvds only give you one option for modification. While this video doesn't have weights, my body definitely gets slammed from all the push ups done. It does come flying at you during sections with many exercises but it helps to keep off the boredom.

this workout is really good. i usually run it twice and skip certain parts, but it has helped me in my weight loss. actually, it helped me gain more muscle, than lose weight. i usually listen to some good music, throw this on, and work my ass off. the biggest problem is doing it everyday.

I don't have much to say as John Paul L. Finan said it very well. I wish there was a timer and a counter. It's a cheap DVD with a good, fast paced, workout. In general, you will be happy.

I do have a HUGE complaint though. The DVD very prominently advertises, "no equipment needed", but as soon as you get to the first circuit, it requires a bench to elevate your feet for the WHOLE circuit! Now, I know what you're thinking, just use something else...the problem is, I don't have anything else to use. My chairs are bar height, there is no couch in the room, etc., and they act like everyone just has a bench laying around. They don't even suggest an alternative.

Totally false advertising.

I'm sure I will get some criticism for this, but bottom line to me, "no equipment needed" means NO equipment needed.

This is an OK workout. I'd give it 3.5 stars if I could. It works a wide variety of areas, and it has a lot of strength training mixed in. It does tire me out, and if you do it every other day, I have no doubt you'll stay in decent shape. I tend to prefer separate strength and cardio, personally, but some people may like the mix.
It seems to me that there's very little stretching in the video - just some ballistic stuff for a couple minutes and then bam, you go right to a quick routine. I work in a cubicle, so I'm *never* stretched enough from this video,especially around the neck and back. I always have to pause it and do more static stretching before going on. The team and music aren't very engaging, though they are perfectly professional. I find the pace too quick to do some of the things safely and effectively, even after doing the whole 32 minutes six or eight times now. I think that's a side effect of mixing strength with cardio. "Single Legged Romanian Dead Lifts" as he calls them (there are several really convoluted names for simple exercises) are great for your knees - if you maintain good form. That's often very hard for me to do at a cardio pace.
The video also lacks a progress bar along the bottom, as well as any indication of target reps beyond a two second flash at the start of an exercise. The trainer doesn't give you much hint as to where you are in each workout, either, so I'm often guessing how much effort to apply until the guy says "OK, only two more". I like to know where I am so I can work as hard as possible.
Overall, I don't mean to tear it apart. It's perfectly solid. I've just seen better.