Minna Optimizer - Balanced Blend
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DVD Cover Information
Artist: Minna LessigDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-07-12
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Parade Video
Movie Reviews of Minna Optimizer - Balanced Blend
Movie Review: Fat Eliminator + Strength & Grace = Balanced Blend
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
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