You had me at “Elvis”.
Today we’re reviewing Get Moving with Chris Freytag, from Prevention Fitness. This is a DVD I bought on a whim from a Collage Video super sale (back when they were under the old management and had awesome weekly super sales). So, I didn’t have a whole lot invested in this, and didn’t have a lot of expectations either.
After the disaster that was Prevention’s Walk Your Way Slim DVD, if anything, my expectations were that it was going to be awful. I don’t know what possessed me to buy it in the first place (oh yeah, it was only $4).
A couple minutes into the warmup I realized they were playing a muzak-y version of Elvis’ “Burning Love”, and I was hooked. Everything’s better with Elvis (I know, I say this about bacon, but it’s also true for Elvis). The soundtrack is pretty good throughout – lots of thinly-veilied sixties hits. It’s like Sweating to the Oldies without having to experience Richard Simmons in all his overenthusiastic glory.
The Get Moving workout itself is aimed at beginning exercisers, and pours on the approachability. Instructor Chris Freytag is friendly and likable, encouraging without being irritatingly so.
One of the best features of this workout is that rather than having one person doing modifications for beginners, it has one person doing the modifications for advanced exercisers. Everyone would start out doing the same exercise, and then Freytag would say “advanced exercisers can ramp it up by doing X” and the camera would pan to the sole advanced exerciser.
This is a small change in viewpoint, but I think it makes all the difference. Instead of feeling like a loser because you can’t do what everyone else is doing and you have to modify the exercises, now you can feel like you’re doing what everyone else is, and those who are following the advanced exerciser can feel even more superior. Brilliant!
The workout is made up of several different segments that can be mixed and matched. In addition to a short warm-up and cool-down, there is a 15-minute walking segment, a 10-minute yoga segment, and 3 short (~8 minutes each) strength training segments (upper body, lower body, and core).
The DVD also has a menu where you can choose 20-minute or 30-minute workouts for each day of the week. This adds variety to your workout, and takes all the guesswork out of how long you have to wait before repeating a certain type of exercise. If it’s Tuesday, you do the workout labelled Tuesday.
The DVD is based on a diet/nutrition book (“The Sugar Solution”), and so there are several bonus features designed to help people eat healthier and balance their blood sugar.
This beginner workout is not without its faults. I thought the walking segment was fairly complicated for beginners. In fact, I’ve discovered a new nemesis to go with the grapevine and the mambo … a new-to-me move called the Scissors, where you turn to the side and kick one foot back while you wave the opposite arm forward (like you are a pair of scissors), and then switch sides. Anything asymmetrical is tough for uncoordinated me, and the Scissors is no exception.
I thought the yoga segment was decent, including a downward dog modification that I will definitely use in future. However, I was surprised to hear Freytag instruct exercisers to place their foot on their knee in tree pose. This is a no-no in the yoga world, because of the pressure on the standing knee joint. It was kind of disappointing in the midst of a nice yoga sequence.
Overall, though, I think this is a great intro workout DVD for beginners. It provides access to a wide variety of simple exercises, and the supportive environment in which to learn them. Get Moving workout, I “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You.”