Customer Reviews

Yoga Zone - Total Body Conditioning

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Good instruction. Beautiful setting. If you do yoga regularly, this is a great, gentle way to start a longer practice. If you're a total beginner, this is good for you. 2 short, sweet segments.

But, there's one big flaw -- in the second practice they completely skip a series of lunge poses for one side of the body. The right leg gets a bit of a workout; the left is completely forgotten. That's poor quality control in my book and I was very disappointed.

So, if you're looking for something very easy and don't mind stopping and rewinding the tape during the second segment - enjoy. Personally, the Karen Voight "Yoga Sculpt" tape has two more complete practices with superb cuing.

Yoga Zone Total Body Conditioning is a winning video because it challenges and stretches every muscle and the two 20 minute workouts fit perfectly into a tight schedule. The engaging instructors are knowledgeable and non-intimidating. Set against a beautiful Jamaican background, they give perfect instruction, while participants smoothly demonstrate the moves with modifications when necessary. The postures flow beautifully, allowing the viewer to feel energized and balanced. Relaxation techniques end each session and proper breathing is emphasized.

I did this video for the first time yesterday. I feel that this video would be ideal for people who have NEVER done yoga before. I've only been doing it for about 3 months and it was still too gentle for me. On the bright side, I get up very early in the morning to do yoga most days, so it helped me ease into my morning. I agree with another viewer about it being a great stretch after a workout, but early in the morning works well too. There are other tapes that I will reach for before this one, but if I'm low on energy, this is the one I will reach for. On the plus side, I really liked the instructors. They were upbeat and a little comical. I liked that. If you have never done yoga and want to see what it's about, get this video. If you have been doing it for a while, I would recommed Yoga for Weight Loss over Total Body Conditioning.

Lots of the reviews here complain that this video is too easy and doesn't provide much of a work-out. I too felt the same way, but now that I'm nearly 3 months pregnant, I've changed my mind! For no reason whatsoever, I feel tired all the time and unable to do my usual power yoga workouts, so I started turning back to this tape a few weeks ago as a substitute. It's wonderful for opening you up (the words of the instructor) and it's very calming. The poses are relatively simple so you should be able to follow along well, even if you are a true beginner. For those of you looking for a gentle exercise routine, this one will certainly put you on the path to fitness.

Hi everyone,

I have over 70 yoga programs that I choose from as I practice Yoga on a daily basis (along with weekly classes with a wonderful teacher)and among those many tapes I really enjoy Yoga Zone's videos. They are generally really well done in every respect and very user friendly.

In fact the actual routines and instructors on this tape are really great (in spite of the mistakes that slightly mar this tape)which is why I gave it the three stars that I did.

However, there are two big mistakes that are inexcusable.

On the first 20 minute segment, there is a series of poses with triangle, warrior etc which ends with a prayer twist pose to the left side. Then they do the same sequence with the right leg, but then all of a sudden just as they are about to go into prayer twist on the other side there is an obvious edit where suddenly the other leg is forward again and they twist AGAIN to the left(if you watch this carefully it's amazing that they thought no one would notice this, it's almost comical) So you don't get any twist the right. This is a major mess up in any sort of routine where you want symmetry (which is in every yoga routine, or every physical fitness type routine where balance is a given).

Of course once you are aware of the mistake they made you can just compensate for this and do the second twist on the correct side so it's not a "fatal" flaw, and I'll still work with the tape.

On the second 20 minute segment there is a lunge left out when a sequence of poses is repeated from one side to the other.

The lunge sequence starts with a forward lunge with the right leg and ends with a side lunge to the right. However, it then immediately goes to the side lunge on the left side without preceding it with a forward lunge on the left side.

To get the full sequence on both sides: If you have your tape counter set to 00:00 at the start of the second sequence, when you get to approx. 7:15 you need to rewind to about 5:00 then do the sequence with the left leg (forward lunge followed by side lunge on the left). Once you finish doing the side lunge to the left then forward to 7:45 and continue from there to the end.

When one is paying for a product like this these sort of things are just unacceptable and it's hard to imagine that anyone involved in the making of this tape could have missed these mistakes.

The biggest shame is that they are both really great routines.

Fortunately I bought this tape in the box of 5 tapes (Yoga Zone Basics) so I got a very good deal per tape, plus the other tapes are flawless as far as I can tell. Still, this tape is available as a single unit and shouldn't be full price when it's presentation is half baked.

You might want to check out a new 4 tape series by Rainbeau Mars called "Sacred Yoga" which is a vinyasa flow style that ranges from beginners to more advanced. This has been a really great find and I highly recommend them.

Also for other shorter routines check out Suzanne Deason's "Stress Relief Yoga For Beginners" which is a very gentle 20 minute routine. If you want more of a challenge check out Rodney Yee's "Power Yoga For Beginners: Stamina" which is quite excellent. To get further challenged check out Baron Baptiste's "Transform Your Life With Yoga" which is a PBS documentary followed by "Power Yoga Basics", an excellent intro to Baron's style of yoga, plus the documentary itself is very inspiring. Baron's Journey into Power DVD's are also excellent when you are ready to go even further.


Namaste.

...there IS that problem with the male instructor skipping (forgetting?) the left leg in a standing posture/sequence in the second 20 min sxn.

Otherwise, the video is a great body-loosener and leaves me feeling relaxed afterward. The scenery is lovely and the overall stretching done in the video works for me.

I definitely recommend this video instead of YZ's "intro to power yoga" if you are new to yoga.

"Total body conditioning" is very approachable to beginners and has a better intro series of postures than the other video, IMHO :)

i had never tried yoga before and this was a wonderful introduction. soothing and relaxing, while still providing a good workout. i have since moved past this video, but it is a wonderful start for yoga. the instructors gave excellent direction of postures and breathing. definitely recommend.

The instructors are very knowledgeable and explain the poses, which is very important. I think that rather than use this as my sole daily yoga practice, I will use it as a warm-up for other exercising. This video is ideally suited to brand-new yoga practioners, rather than those who have done yoga for a while. Nice setting.

Total Body Conditioning is another Yoga Zone video that is split into 2-20 minute sessions. The first session is led by Lisa Bennett who is joined by Charles Matkin. They are sitting on a beach at the Grand Lido San Souci resort in Jamaica, the scenery is rather nice in this segment.

Session 1 starts in a simple seated twist with legs extended out in front of you, then you lift your arms up and twist to one side then the other holding each briefly. Then you will move into chin to knee pose, crossing one leg over the other then leaning forward, then repeating on other side. After this you will do table pose, scale pose, and bound angular which Lisa calls a serenity pose. Then you will stand and do a series of poses starting with triangle pose leaning over the front leg first, then the back leg. From here you will move into warrior 2 pose then right angle with arm extended up, then you will do reverse right angle while adding a twist, with the option to leave your knee on the ground. You will return to standing (mountain pose) and repeat this series on the other side. To finish out this segment you will go into childs pose, then lie on your back and moving into a spinal twist with knees to one side then the other, then it's the final relaxation pose.

Session 2 is led by Charles, with Lisa assisting this time. You begin with a Sun Salutation on your knees, raising your arms up and side then rising up onto your knees later adding a forward bend at the middle. Then you will do a kneeling spine stretch, then a seated hip opener with your heels together and hands behind you. Next you will move into downward facing dog, then lunge pose on the right pose, unfortunately the left side is completely missed so you will need to stop or rewind the program if you want to do lunge on the left. Then you will stretch out in seal pose before moving in side lunges, right then left. Then you will do a seated spine stretch with legs extended out and hands behind you. Following this you will see table pose, scale pose, another seated stretch with one knee in and the other leg extended out where you will reach you opposite arm to the extended leg. Then you will move into plank pose, done on the knees or the toes, then moving into downward facing dog and combining the two for a vinyasa. More planks follow this time while moving into chatarangas, then you will finish out this segment with a mini cobra, locust pose, childs pose, extended bound angular and final relaxation pose.

Overall I liked the first session better, session 2 is okay there is a rather big error with the lunge pose being completely missed on one side. Session 2 is also the identical program as session 1 on Yoga Zone's Gentle Yoga DVD. There are better Yoga Zone videos, such as Evening Stress Release and Strengthen & Tone. This one wasn't terrible, just okay for me.

Do not buy this DVD separately: as the other reviews explain, it is flawed and you'll get a better deal by buying the Yoga Zone Ultimate COllection, which includes this and 5 other DVDs. This is the first yoga workout I ever did and I liked it because it was easy to follow and the poses were very well explained. The instructors are wonderful. It is a pity there are some mistakes in the editing (some poses are done only on one side).
All in all: good for beginners (this applies to the whole collection) but you'll want something more demanding if you already practice yoga on a regular basis.