Product Details

• Actors: Minna Lessig
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Parade Video
• DVD Release Date: July 12, 2001
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005MNHA
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #62,793 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Fitness & Yoga > By Instructor > Minna Lessig

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Through a combination of traditional strength training and progressive flexibility-enhancing choreography, Minna: Optimizer, Balanced Blend delivers a comprehensive fitness regimen with variety. This DVD format is divided into two workouts (approximately 45 minutes each) that concentrate on building and elongating lean muscle by using aerobic and anaerobic exercise. The first session, Fat Eliminator, centers around six four-minute circuits that join together cardiovascular and strength work. Plyometric jumps and kicks are spliced between squats, reverse lunges, and pushups to create a cross-training effect. Little instruction is provided on proper knee to ankle alignment on lunges and squats, so be sure to watch your form. A 15-minute bonus training set that works the upper and lower body with light hand weights closes this session. The second workout, Strength and Grace, offers a great counterbalance to the circuits performed in the first workout. Fundamental movements from Pilates, yoga, and modern dance are united here with classic plies, calf raises, and squats. Overall, the legs and upper body are challenged while breathing, balance, and muscle pliability are brought into focus. Optimizer is approachable for all levels, and the length of the workout can be adjusted. The music is good, with great tribal beats and choreography sure to get the heart rate going. --Olivia Voigts

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fat Eliminator + Strength & Grace = Balanced Blend, August 9, 2004

By	blueyed puella (CT, USA) - See all my reviews

Workout Description: This DVD is a compilation of 2 workouts: Fat Eliminator and Strength & Grace. Fat Eliminator = about 25 minutes of aerobic / toning intervals (toning focusing mainly on lower body with some upper body and minimal ab work) with 3 minute warm-up and 3 minute cool-down stretch followed by "bonus" 15 minutes toning (buttocks, arms and shoulders, and abs) for a total of 45 minutes. Strength & Grace = about 30 minutes of toning (most standing, with some floorwork towards the end; focuses on lower body with some abs and minimal upper body) with 7 minute warm-up and 10 minute cool-down / stretch for a total of about 47 minutes.
Workout Level: low- to mid-intermediate
Instructor: Minna Lessig (Certified instructor, fitness correspondent for various TV programs, and contributing writer for several fitness magazines; 1997 Ms. Fitness USA Winner). Minna's cueing is very good, and she explains the moves well, although sometimes I wish she'd give just one more pointer or point out the muscle worked every time. She's professional and encouraging without being too hyper or chatty, and she obviously knows her stuff, both in terms of the routine and fitness in general. I personally like this "girl next door," although some people don't find her on screen personality warm enough. She works both sides evenly and expects you to mirror her moves.
Class: 4 young women of various body types
Music / Set: The instrumental synthesizer music is very beat-driven, although not exactly "the spicy Latin music" promised by the cover. The interior set is very bright, with hardwood floors and back wall lit with various bright hues (pink, blue, etc.)
Equipment Needed: sneakers; dumbbells for 15 minute bonus toning segment only (your choice of weight); mat for 15 minute bonus toning and Strength & Grace
Caveats: This workout is designed by and for those with healthy joints. Pay attention to your technique, particularly with the squats, lunges, and plies. Your knee should never go past your toes in any version of either exercise. You may want to put a pillow or folded blanket under your knee for the kneeling portion of the 15 minute bonus toning. If your knee still bothers you, these exercises can be done while standing (if you know the proper form).
Additional Comments: You do not need a lot of space for either workout. You should be able to kick front and back and take two fairly large steps to each side without running into anything.
Both exercises are strength-focused, so those who are relatively new to exercising should not do them on alternating days because your muscles will not have enough time to recover. If you are a more advanced exerciser who uses Fat Eliminator more for cardio and Strength & Grace more for flexibility, you may be able to alternate them or even do them one right after the other.
Fat Eliminator is a circuit training program, alternating 2 minutes of toning with 3 minutes of high impact cardio activities. The toning is primarily lower body, with minimal upper body, and uses your own body for resistance. This interval-like training is a great way to increase your cardiovascular activity because you can really push yourself during the cardio portions and then recover during the toning. The aerobics moves are pretty basic and use the muscles just worked in the strength portion. While this isn't the most exciting program, it is effective, particularly for 30 minutes.
Fat Eliminator's 15 minute bonus has about 5 minute of exercises for the buttocks, 5 minutes for the arms and shoulders, and 5 minutes of ab work (mostly crunches and variations thereof).
Strength & Grace combines squats and lunges with yoga- and Pilates-inspired moves to help you increase strength and balance. It's one of the few yoga programs out there that have people in sneakers (which I remove before the mat portion). It's also one of the few yoga programs with a good warm-up and cool-down.
This was one of the first exercise videos I ever bought, and I still use it 2 years later. I credit Minna with taking me from a "beginner" to an "intermediate" level of exercise. Now that I'm fully at an intermediate level, I find that I need more abs and upper body work than either program provides, so I often add on Tamilee Webb's I Want Those Arms and maybe I Want Those Abs or Pilates. I also like to alternate Fat Eliminator with Karen Voight's Burn & Firm, which is a much more upper body-focused circuit training routine; I find the two complement each other well.
By the way, Minna's Fat Eliminator is one of the few exercise videos my boyfriend will do, even with its pink background, all female cast, and somewhat frequent references to "burning calories." He thinks it's one of the most solid, effective fitness programs among my ever-growing stack of DVDs.
The DVD allows you to select your workout and to select specific chapters within those workouts. Unfortunately, the 15 minute bonus toning does not have separate chapters for the 5 minutes of buttocks / arms / abs work.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This one WORKS... Highly Recommended!, October 15, 2003

By	C. Morden "movie lover" (Michigan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent video for someone who wants to get fit and lean without fancy dance steps. I bought this DVD because of the good reviews given to it by others and I was not dissapointed. The music wasn't overpowering, the backup people weren't annoying, and Minna wasn't overly peppy. I cannot stand it to watch super-perky instructors that stare at you like a frightened deer and give off this attitude like if you don't do the steps they'd shoot you in the feet.

My favorite workout on this DVD is the "Fat Eliminator" segment. It combines strength moves and cardio for a balanced workout that you can really feel. After over 2 months of doing this video at least 4 times a week, I still find myself sweaty but energized after doing it. This segement has a lot of jumping, lunges, and squats, so if you have weak legs or knees then be careful and watch your form. I am a totally un-coordinated clutz when it comes to dancing or any complicated moves, but these moves were straightforward and I picked them up right away. I actually liked this DVD so much that I bought a copy of the "Fat Eliminator" video for my friend and now she does it every day. I am 5'4" and used to weigh 128 lbs and now weigh 124 lbs. Yah, 4 pounds doesn't seem like much to most people, but I am a lot leaner and muscle weighs more than fat. My waist was 29-30" and flabby and it is now a tighter firmer 27.5"-28". My flabby but was 39" and it is now a very firm 37". I started doing this video without a specific goal, and just wanted to see what I could do with my body if I did it 4 or 5 days a week. I eat a well balanced diet (which I did before, but I still sat around too much), so I guess don't expect results if you still eat garbage. I have so much energy now that I just want to tell everyone to go out and buy this video! I can't wait for Minna to come up with a few more videos like this!

Oh I guess I should say a thing or two about the "Strength and Grace" portion of this. I have only done this part a few times mostly because I find this segment to be a lot of yoga. It does have some good pilates in it. It almost feels like you're not doing a workout when you are doing it sometimes, but other times you can really feel the burn. I almost find myself more tired after doing this portion because it really challenges the muscles. If you are a fan of Pilates and Yoga, then you should like the "Strength and Grace" portion.

I also own Minna's Emergency Workout but I don't use that one quite so much because it is longer and the cardio requires that you do some salsa and mambos and I am a clutz. I also recommend "I want that Body" by Tamilee Webb for some extra sculpting exercises if you want to really firm up. I do that DVD almost as much as I do the Minna DVD. This is a program that works. Try it!

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Watch Your Body Change!, March 9, 2005

By	Leela - See all my reviews

Seriously! At the end of Fat Eliminator Minna says "do this program on a regular basis and watch your body change". It's true. I have been doing this DVD and only this DVD for about a month now - 3 days a week is Fat Eliminator and 2 days is Strength and Grace and my body is firm! I have abs now, biceps and definition in my thighs and buns. Extra flab is gone. This is a fantastic workout combination. FE is tough, particularly the first three cardio circuits. Those plyo jumping jacks are killer. Once I get through that third cardio circuit though I feel like I've already had a good workout and I'm only halfway through! I work up a sweat - I can't even answer the phone because I couldn't talk even if I wanted to. It's definitely focused on your lower body with lots of jumping and plyo and core work but the circuits are quick and they really do go by quickly. The workout is also fantastic in that just when you feel like you can't do one more plyo lunge, she changes the pace to something more less impact. The 15 minute Blast The Fat toning section I always add onto the cardio days. It's nice, quick and effective and in one hour while my son is napping I get in a total body workout.

I also LOVE the Strength and Grace segment. I enjoy alternating my days with this. It's a perfect combination of relaxing and energizing and I still work hard, just without all the jumping around. My heart rate does get up there and again you do a lot of leg work for those nice glutes and thighs.

Minna is a beautiful woman and I appreciate her demeanor and her physique. There is just something about her that is completely likable. Overall, I am extremely impressed with these workouts - the results I have seen will defintely make me continue these workouts!