Staff Picks Blog
If his new exercise DVD series counts as evidence, it is proof that Bob Harper likes to make people suffer. His Inside Out Method DVDs are tough. Tough! Personally, I found the Inside Out Method videos more difficult than ones I’ve done by Jillian Michaels. If you want a step up from Banish Fat Boost Metabolism or No More Trouble Zones, check out these:
Body Rev Cardio Conditioning includes two workouts: a twenty minute strength training routine and a full hour that incorporates both cardio and toning. In the one hour workout, you start with several sets of deadlifts followed by some kettlebell inspired moves with double arm and suitcase swings. He uses these weighted moves as a recovery between jump squats, weighted jumping jacks, weighted jump rope, mountain climbers, and fast feet to 180 jumps. It isn’t just the difficulty of the moves that makes this workout intense. It is the amount of repetitions and the length of time a move is performed. He also throws in a couple of scorpion push-ups.
If you are interested in strength training, try Pure Burn, Super Strength. The DVD includes a full hour workout and a twenty minute beginner’s routine. The full workout covers your arms (bicep curls, tricep overhead presses, arms raises, and shoulder presses), legs (squats, lunges, matrix lunges, and chair squats), and abs (crunches, planks, side knee planks, and twisting planks). Of course, there are other moves that work everything, such as down and outs, and push ups into a weighted t-stand. The t-stands are very challenging.
My one problem with the series is that Harper doesn’t really do the routines, but he has three exercisers in each video. In Pure Burn, Super Strength, they have a hard time doing some of the exercises, especially at the end. I’m not sure why this was done. I prefer to have the people in the video do the exercise so I can learn how to do it correctly. Fortunately, most of the moves are familiar if you have attended fitness classes or used other videos. If you are just starting out in exercise, I would wait on these videos and try something a little less demanding. As always, talk to your physician before starting to exercise.
