Leslie Sansone: 5 Day Slim Down DVD Review

by Natalie Belford

Leslie Sansone: Walk at Home - 5 Day Slim Down - A Mile Each Morning

Retail Price: $14.98

The Leslie Sansone 5 Day Slim Down workout is made up of five walking cycles all of which are around 30 minutes each. The first workout is the easiest; it’s a basic march, kick, step touch and knee lift routine. The next three, incorporate body toning (arms, abs and lower body) which make it a little more challenging and then finally comes the hardest of them which is the speed walking routine and it honestly is intense and more challenging than you’d think.

I do a lot of Leslie’s workouts, and lately they’ve gotten a bit monotonous, especially with the repetitive music choices and the excessive chatter. This features Leslie solo, with each mile featuring a different focus, a traditional mile, a fast mile, focus on abs, focus on legs, focus on upper body/arms.

I did all but the “legs” mile when I first got it, thinking that legs were my least concern. Then I did the whole thing. The squats and lunges in the “legs mile” as well as some new combinations, were an awesome challenge/opportunity and got my heart rate speeding more than it had in a long time.

I enjoyed this workout, but if you are looking for a toning workout for specific parts of the body, this video is NOT for you; it’s really more of a cardio workout. I love Leslie Sansone and thought that because of the workout description, the segments would target and tone specific body parts.

I do like the fact that Leslie uses some unique moves, such as tap-outs and walk-walk-walk-tap series. It mixes things up a bit compared to some of her other workouts.

If you are a regular at-home walker, this workout should challenge you a little more and work some different muscle groups, but don’t expect EXTREME toning, like you would get by working out with weights.

This dvd is a great way to get in a short daily workout or a longer one if you have the time or stamina. The dvd is great for novices or more advanced viewers, depending on how many workouts you would like to do at once.

The targeted workouts also let you work on the one (or more) areas you want to really focus on (the tummy one is a personal favorite). By choosing different workouts, I don’t get bored with the same routine. Get this dvd, you’ll love it!

How It Could Have Been Better…

One problem I have with the DVD is that it’s not very customizable. For example, the 10 minute solutions DVDs allow you to choose just abs and arms, or just legs and stretching, etc, from the DVD menu and then it all plays. On this DVD, I have to pick “play full workout” and then skip the DVD chapters and do just the ones that interest me.

I have several of Leslie’s videos and for me this is probably her best workout. It has great variety and keeps you working at a good pace.

I like the music she’s chosen to use — it actually sometimes feels like you’re dancing. I do wish she used (as she does in some of her other videos)a graphic on the bottom of the screen to show your progress within each of the mile segments. That’s pretty minor, though.

Final Verdict

It would be great for beginners who are working up to building endurance (they could do one mile at a time); it’s also great for more advanced walkers who may consider doing the entire video in one exercise session. Fun workout and very, very easy to do… perfect for complete beginners or people who are completely unfit.

Click here to order Leslie Sansone: 5 Day Slim Down from Amazon.com