Total Body Cardio Toning DVD Review

by Natalie Belford

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: $14.98

I bought the Total Body Cardio Toning DVD and decided to do a review of it. Short summary: It’s a refreshingly non-cheesy workout that’s a mix of cardio, yoga and pilates. I was looking for something a little different than what I have been doing and this fit the bill.

The name Cardio may be a bit misleading in that there is no hard aerobics/dancing here!

The workout uses Yoga, Pilates – and your own body weight to get your heart pumping – that’s not to say you will not be jumping she does this at a controlled pace.

I also love the fact that there is a condensed 30 minute version when I want to squeeze in a small segment of cardio. Weights aren’t needed, but for some of the arm exercises, I do them in for an extra challenge. The ab section of the workout is a short one, but it is very efficient.

Tanja (the instructor) has such wonderful energy and she is truly pleasant. There are three segments: a 50 minute workout, a 30 minute workout, and a 10 minute bonus segment of Tanja’s favorite ab exercises.

The 50 minute workout goes by so quickly, and is unbelievably enjoyable! Tanja gets my heart rate up (and keeps it up!) while managing to move from one exercise to another at the perfect rate – as soon as I’m starting to get bored with one move, she introduces another.

The 30 minute segment is just an abbreviated version of the 50 minute one, in case you don’t have the time or energy for the longer workout. Even if I feel tired, I try to start the 50 minute one – when I finish the warm-up, I feel better and I’m able to do the whole workout.

I workout at a gym and at home using dvds four to five times a week. This workout, a yoga/pilates/cardio fusion, is so challenging and fun that I’ve been doing it instead of going to the gym. Tanja is great. She has energy, is encouraging (but not in a cheesy way), and she is an excellent instructor.

Her cues and instruction are so clear that I was able to follow her the first time. She also gives very clear instructions for modifying each section so it is more or less challenging. The workout is exactly what the title says it is–a total body cardio workout.

The corny stuff is kept to a minimum and there’s no obnoxious intro. The women in it are of course attractive, but thankfully the camera man doesn’t zoom in on their crotches and they don’t wear ridiculously revealing clothing like in some videos. It really is a video about the workout. The background scenery is also really pretty.

It’s More of a Toning than Cardio Workout…

The title of the DVD is a bit misleading. In the full 50 minute workout, there’s really only about 15 minutes of cardio (near the beginning). The rest of the workout is good, but it is more light-weight muscle toning work and definitely not cardio.

This is not a very high calorie-burner. The last time I did it a few weeks ago, I burned 194 calories in 50 minutes (I typically burn about 350 calories per hour in most other moderately intense cardio exercises).

However, it is a nice well-rounded workout for somebody who’s just starting out (especially because it has the shorter 30 minute option) or someone looking for an easy workout for a recovery day.

Give this workout a shot if you’re looking for a great cardio workout with an instructor that never fails to put a smile on my face, even if I can’t stand plyometric squat movements. I love the fact that this video is 100 times LESS cheesy than most workout videos I’ve tried.

Click here to get the ‘Total Body Cardio Toning’ DVD from Amazon.com