The Biggest Loser Cardio Max Workout DVD Review

by Natalie Belford

Retail Price: $14.98

This video surprised me. I started using the Biggest Loser: Cardio Max DVD 3 weeks ago – and boy does it get your lower body burning! It uses former contestants from the biggest loser (instead of professionals), so don’t expect a perfectly synchronized group of people.

The first time I watched it, my timing was all off (as was everyone’s on the video). Now I am used to it, and it no longer bothers me.

I just tried this workout again this morning because I couldn’t get to the gym. I love feeling like the Biggest Loser trainers are right in my own home. It’s also very motivating to see the Biggest Loser contestants from this season and season’s past.

The trainers allow for variations in the exercises for easier to hard. There were real people doing the exercises, even they screwed up once in awhile which made me feel more comfortable when I was off beat or didn’t move along when everyone else did.

Bob’s section is level 1, and make sure you have at least a pair of 5 lb weights for this. It involves a lot of squats and push-ups and jumping. Jillian has level 2 which was incredibly difficult for me to do after level 1 at first.

It’s basically 10minutes of plyometrics, or jumping exercises. The third section by Lyons is kickboxing. I personally don’t think it should be level three, it isn’t as difficult as the other ones, but it is somewhat difficult after doing the first two levels beforehand. You can also customize you workout and choose to do Level 1, skip Level 2, and do Level 3.

I had to get used to not having a formal instructor to follow along with because Bob starts the instructions, does a few (sometimes all) of the reps and then walks around before coming back to the front to give the next instruction. It is non-stop with very little downtime between each exercise.

Each work out can easily be modified to decrease or increase the intensity. You can choose to use hand weights or not. You can also increase the strength training this offers by increasing the weight you use. For this reason I think that this “aerobic fat burn workout” could easily give you some good strength training as well.

How it Could Have Been Better…

There are few form pointers: Bob briefly performs each exercise, and mentions form pointers, but out of all the exercisers, only 1 or 2 are even approaching proper form, which is not good as the camera is usually focused on others who are nowhere near it.

No indication of the correct pace or cadence at which to perform the exercises when you do get up to speed–it is very easy to overwork one side at the expense of the other. He seems to be working in 30-second segments at times, but not all the time. He also counts backwards, which is fine except you don’t know where you’re starting from.

If you have knee problems and/or are in similar physical condition to the BL contestants on the DVD you will want to modify the movements somewhat. There are a lot of squats, knee bends and some jumping.

If someone was really overweight, they may find this workout routine difficult. could even get thru the warm up. The Level 1 workout was harder than I expected from the perspective of a tape that caters to overweight, out-of-shape people.

The “cool-down” section is not much of a cool-down. Instead, it is a mini yoga session that doesn’t stretch many of the muscles used in the work-out, and which does NOT sufficiently bring your heart rate down.

Additionally, the workout sessions themselves don’t include any sort of cool down. It’s work, work, work, boom, “cool-down” (mini-yoga) session. I was disappointed by the cool down and would have liked to see a longer cool down, with more actual stretches rather than a standing yoga class.

During the workout segment we worked our quads heavily, but didn’t stretch them at all during the cool down, so remember to do your own stretching afterwards.

Final Verdict: Good Workout but Not for those Severely Overweight

All in all, this is a decent workout although people who are very overweight and very unfit will have difficulties with some parts of it. It involves a lot of squats, lunges and jumping in some portions.

I like that you can customize your work out by selecting from different 5 – 20 minute segments and put them in any order. Make sure to have plenty of water ready…this is a tough workout, even though the things you are doing are very simple. It is short, but you are constantly moving and they really get your heart pumping. Worth a try.

Click here to get ‘The Biggest Loser Workout: Cardio Max’ from Amazon.com