Stretch Max - No Premixes, No Chaptering, No Mix n' Mat...

[Soosan]

I just did all three Stretch Max routines and I'm baffled. Why no chaptering? Hitting the "next" button on my remote got me from the Intro to Routine #1, to Routine #2, to Routine #3, to the credits.

I'm disappointed that there are no premixes but I'm even more disappointed that you can't choose a particular body part to stretch. The workouts do integrate the stretching, so it's not as though you go from neck, to shoulders, to chest, to back, to legs, etc. Many of the moves incorporate more than one area, particularly in the stability ball routine. But still! There are moves that do stretch one body part only.

Nevertheless, I liked it. The first routine didn't do too much for me (I do yoga fairly regularly), but the stability ball and resistance band routines were good. Doing the entire 60 minutes didn't feel redundant, but I feel a 60 min yoga workout is better flexibility training for me. I don't know how often I'll sub one of the routines for a stretch in another workout, since they're 20 min long and you can't easily shorten them.

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Susan! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I definitely visited the idea of premixes, chapter points, and mix and match for this DVD but as I looked into the options, I simply felt that it would interrupt the overall flow and effectiveness of these workouts. It seemed to be a distraction rather than an enhancement or another workout option.

Also, some stretches are held longer than others and some are dependent on the move before it to take you to the next level of the stretch. So again, the flow factor wasn't there if it were to be dissected.

Take Care

 

[Soosan]

RE: Stretch Max - No Premixes, No Chaptering, No Mix n'...

Thanks for your reply, Cathe! I appreciate you taking the time to explain.

When I was trying to figure out your motivation for leaving out chapter points, I thought it might be because of flow and/or safety. However, many of my yoga DVD's have chapter points, even though picking and choosing the poses might disrupt the flow or get you into a pose you might have been better prepared for had you done the previous poses. These DVD's are the ones I reach for again and again because of their versatility. I don't feel as though having the option of choosing a pose (or stretch) interferes with the flow of the workout as produced. It does make the workout more versatile and an advanced exerciser would probably (hopefully!) be knowledgable enough to proceed with caution, just as that exerciser wouldn't jump right into doing interval #10 on Imax3 without sufficient preparation just because there's a chapter point for that interval.

Again, thanks for your response. From what I can tell so far, this is your best series to date and that's saying a LOT!