Karen Voight: Ultimate Circuit Training (2002)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Starring Karen Voight
Distributed by Entertaining Fitness, Inc.

Rating: NR

Anamorphic: N/A

My Advice: Buy it.

This new offering from fitness doyenne Karen Voight provides a wonderful way to exercise effectively, see results quickly, and avoid the spectre of boredom. Ultimate Circuit Training provides several different options. There are three complete long workouts, one focusing on step aerobics (55 minutes), one with the exercise ball (23 minutes), and one using both (58 minutes). There are also five other preset shorter workouts, each concentrating on a single aspect of the exercise, such as “Just Cardio” and “Upper Body.” These shorter routines are great when you have less time to exercise or have a specific need you want to address or body energy to avoid. They range from 12 to 32 minutes and are stackable if you want to do more than one.

Viewers also have the option to exercise “circuits a la carte,” which separates the various segments used in the workouts enabling viewers to customize their own workouts to suit themselves and their wants. This is a wonderful ability and one I hope that other exercise DVDs copy in the future. This enables viewers without, say, the exercise ball, to do only those segments that do not require one.

Voight’s instruction is quite good, as befits her popularity. Her choreography is challenging, but easy to follow, making this disc work for people who have never done step aerobics or ball aerobics before, while also satisfying viewers with a higher level of fitness and experience going in. The “a la carte” options keep the regime fresh and challenging as you progress, unlike other routines that can grow stagnant with repetition.

The music is the ubiquitous instrumental synth dance music that is both energetic and non-offensive, allowing it to fade into the background without competing with Voight’s instruction. The downside of this is that it is also rather dull, but luckily the effectiveness of Voight’s motivational personality makes up for this and stimulates viewers into trying harder and keeping up with her directions.

To use this disc, viewers will require a step with risers and a step mat, a set of dumbbells, and an exercise ball. Viewers without these tools can find them in most fitness stores, sports centers, or online. Voight provides a link to her site where she sells all these tools and other fitness supplies.

Overall, Ultimate Circuit Training truly is the ultimate. Viewers get a great workout in all the major muscle groups--abs, upper body, and lower body--along with a solid cardio workout that also addresses endurance and flexibility. Voight’s teaching skills bring it all together and make it work for those of us new to exercise who are bored or confused all too easily. The flexibility of this DVD makes it a solid purchase for anyone’s exercise library.