Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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141 of 142 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Yoga Package for Beginners-, November 28, 2001
Crunch has put together two yoga workouts that work well for beginners and beyond. Both are taught by Sarah Ivanhoe, a calming yet energetic (for yoga) instructor. These are non-mystical yoga tapes, which is nice if you haven't done yoga before. No meditation or cosmic anything. She teaches a group class, and some modifications are shown by class members.The Joy of Yoga is a well planned workout that is a great intro to yoga, or a nice cooldown after a longer cardio or weight workout. It is relaxing and energizing, so you can do it any time of day. Fat Burning Yoga is tougher, more like a high beginner workout. It is not so tough that one should be wiped afterwards, but one will definitely feel worked out. The pace moves, but not too quickly. I don't know how much Fat-burning this really accomplishes, but it will definitly burn some calories, and work out kinks at the same time. The DVD interface is well planned, and it is very easy to go through each ot the two programs as written. They are also broken into chapters, so mixing between the two is possible, as it putting together a long yoga workout.
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117 of 120 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Two very good yoga practices for beginners/intermediates, August 30, 2004
The philosophy of all videos in the Crunch line is to make working out accessible to all people, regardless of size or experience. Their yoga videos are no exception, as they take a non-mystical approach and are taught in a very straightforward manner by instructor Sara Ivanhoe. Ivanhoe's down-to-earth style (she frequently uses words like "scooch") is completely non-intimidating; she comes across as a friendly workout buddy.
Joy of Yoga begins with a focused breathing series involving forward bends and down dogs (there are many repetitions of this position) and then moves on to additional standing poses, including warrior, lunges, and twists. The floor portion of the workout consists mostly of relaxing stretches, but there is one tough segment which alternates arm/leg stretches with yogi pushups. This practice is about 35 minutes long. Fat-burning yoga is a more active practice, although not quite to the level of aerobic conditioning or power yoga. Again, the practice begins with breathing and then introduces the use of vinyasas: several poses are combined together in a flowing sequence and then the entire sequence is repeated several times. After a brief warm-up, there is a long, sun salutation-type vinyasa containing lunges, push-up pose, simple backbends, and many repetitions of downward dog. For each repetition, a slightly more difficult variation is introduced, and by the end of this series, your arms and shoulders have gotten an intense workout. Additional vinyasas include twisting lunges, proud warrior, triangle, and side angle pose. This practice ends with a short abs section containing a few boat poses, seated backbends, and two Pilates-like exercises. Finally, there are some brief seated stretches and an even briefer relaxation pose for about 45 total minutes.
Ivanhoe's cues are detailed enough for those new to yoga, and both practices are probably doable by most beginners, especially with the modifications provided. However, for complete yoga novices, I think that some prior familiarity with basic yoga postures would be beneficial. Also, it is important to keep in mind that both of these practices contain some fairly intense moves which demand some pre-existing fitness capacity; Fat-Burning Yoga in particular is a more strenuous practice that will challenge even intermediate yogis. Finally, Ivanhoe's strong emphasis on breathing is a plus for all levels of yoga practitioners, and those who like her friendly, no-nonsense style are likely to enjoy these videos.
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57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
good workout for beginners only, January 28, 2002
I've been doing yoga for a couple of years. I thought the workout on the the Joy of Yoga was a good start, then it ended! I was ready for way more. This is a common gripe of mine, I find the tape/DVD workouts should be much longer. The fat burning yoga workout was longer but the pace was too slow for someone who knows what they are doing. For example, there are about 3 sun salutations, that she walks through every step of the way, which is way slower than I am used to. For beginners though, I think the instruction is good, I like the way they describe proper form - I think the instruction is better than other videos I have. I always warn against doing a tape before learning correct form, but these instructors are pretty good at form, which makes me sad there aren't more advanced workouts to work up to.
For beginners bump this up to 4 stars, for intermediate yogis this is just a 3. BTW, I still think starting out with a real yoga instructor is the best way, then supplement with the tapes/DVDs - you will get so much more out of it.
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