The Biggest Loser: The Workout - Cardio Max

I officially hate this DVD. I bought it because I have quite a few DVD's which are mostly strength and weight training, which I LOVE. But on the days I cant jog I wanted a cardio work out to do quickly. I should start by saying I have mostly Jillian Michaels DVD's that I love so maybe I'm biased. I did the warm up, level one and cool down yesterday.

These are the reasons I hated it:
1. I don't watch the biggest loser so I don't know who "Bob" is. What I DO know is he is annoying. He NEVER does the work out with the group so you don't get to see the work out done by a professional at all, which I prefer because I want to work my muscles properly and safely.
2. The camera angles are incredibly annoying. Why do we have close up's of Bobs face as his moves around the gym while everyone else works out? He said at one point "pretend you're punching me in the face". Well I almost broke the TV I wanted to punch him so hard.
3. Yes I am happy the old contestants show you how wonderful they have done with weight loss. They really have done remarkable. Unfortunately if I see someone else struggling through the workout I struggle as well. I prefer seeing pro's do it so I have something to work up to. "I'm gonna hold this pose as long as Natalie this time and hopefully get my leg as high". That doesn't work with this workout.

Things I like:
1. The work out itself is fairly good. I will admit some of the biggest losers were going longer than I was. Though I felt a lot of the moves were more strength than cardio. However in order to work out I need to like the trainer and I don't like him. I am sore today, but I think that's because I did "No More Trouble Zones" the day before this.
2. I enjoyed the yoga cool down. I was surprise to find complete yoga used to stretch you out, which is nice because I was cooling down while working my legs to hold some of the poses.
3. I love that you can create your own work out with it. You can select from the warm up, level 1 2 or 3 cardio and then cool down. So you can do it ALL or only a bit which is nice.

Basically I will use the DVD periodically, while I use Jillian Michaels almost daily. I'm glad I ordered some of her more cardio DVD's because I wont rely on this one. .

I am someone who is in relatively good shape and at a comfortable weight but have been wanting to tone up a bit so I set out in search of a good cardio dvd and stumbled upon Cardio Max. I am how just about to complete my fifth week of this workout and let me say it is well worth the money, time and effort. I guess I'm from the old school and appreciate what I consider a "real" cardio workout, which is exactly what Cardio Max is, as opposed to the cardio dance workouts that seem to be all the rage these days. Cardio Max takes you back to the basic principles of a cardio workout, the kind I remember being mandatory back in gym class during my grade school days when in preparation for school track meets etc., and I appreciate that. Lunges, running lunges, sumo squats etc, just to name a few. Some don't consider these types of workouts to be fun. Well I say fun, schmun! Dancing is for nightclubs not my workout and I'd like to keep the two of them separate thank you very much. When it comes to working out I'm looking for real exercise moves not lame dance moves. Thankfully Cardio Max delivers on all fronts.

I like that the dvd is programmable. I've been doing Bob's five minute warm-up, then his sweat-inducing, twenty minute, (dumbbell-optional) workout, then Jillian's ten minute, non-stop, heart pumping segment and finally Bob's five minute cool down which includes a few yoga moves, all of these for a total of forty minutes. The aforementioned will leave you sweating, out of breath and feeling like you've been to bootcamp for sure! I have yet to add in Kim's segment which features ten minutes of kickboxing moves, but plan to within the next couple of weeks.

Another thing I appreciate about this workout REAL PEOPLE trying to get in shape as opposed to a bunch of people who are already sporting six-pack abs making the moves look effortless. With Cardio Max, you see contestants from past seasons of the BL struggle to execute some of the moves, while the trainers instruct and encourage them along. It's great to see them panting and sweating but still pushing themselves to do the moves as you pant and sweat right along with them.

I plan to add the Power Sculpt dvd very shortly and use it on alternate days. But for now, just from doing Cardio Max alone I am seeing things tightening up, i.e., arms, quads, and my ab muscles starting to reappear, which I haven't seen in years!

Cardio Max is an awesome dvd and one I would definitely recommend.