Favorite Instructors Besides Cathe?

I have Shiva Rea , almost all of her DVDs. Her style is very spiritual. I am particularly fond of her flow yoga for beginners. It is an hour and 15 minutes though, not for a quick workout. I like the advanced nature of her workouts. Her yoga for beginners is for beginners but depending on your level you really could continue to use it forever and ever because yoga is one of those things where you just work deeper into the poses. They don't ever really go away it's just that some poses are more advanced. It's like doing figure eights if you ice skate.

I also have a lot of Jillian Michaels. I really like her style and the fact that often the workouts are short and can be combined with other workouts. That helps prevent boredom. I have "one week shred," "shred it with weights," "hardbody", "kick box fast fix," "six weeks six pack," "banish fat, boost metabolism", and "no more trouble zones." Some are 20 minutes some are 45 minutes, all are circuits. Most discs come with two workouts and they are cheap on totalfitnessdvds.com

I have some of the 10 minute solution disks for when I'm recovering from injury and all of my original Kathy Smith DVDs. I even have a few Leslie Sansone DVDs for when I'm recovering. You can find Petra Kolber doing low impact! low intensity cardio! you can find Michelle Dozois, among many others. Again, try them on netflix, better to try and like it, than to buy and hate it :eek:

I have a disc from Jackie Warner called power circuit training, it's not too bad. You might check it out on Netflix.

I have a Rob Glick disc called more amazing cardio combos, it's very dancy step work.

I also have the goddess Workouts series of belly dance desks. I wouldn't qualify them as Workouts more like yoga but it's standing.

And then of course I also like to hike and walk outside. That's free and I get to listen to any kind of Podcasts or Music I want and I get to go at the pace that I feel is right for me that day.
 
I already mentioned Kristin Dowell, but my other favorites are KCM, Dasha Libin, Suzanne Bowen, Leah Sarago, Lauren Brooks, Chris Freytag (sp?), Cindy Whitmarsh, Tracie Long, and Zuzka Light. I'm also exploring Jessica Smith's workouts (she very generously has an extensive catalog of free streaming workouts, wide variety of things).
 
I love Mike Dolce from UFC Fit and Mike Karpenko from Tap Out XT 2 and use their MMA dvd systems a lot.

I love Sandra Koulourides and her Horizontal Conditioning dvds

I love Dasha Libin and the Kettlebell Kickboxing dvds

Like others I also love Susan Chung and Ilaria Montagnani for kickboxing (Ilaria's Body Strikes workouts are a favorite!! :eek:)

LOVE Travis Eliot for yoga with his Ultimate Yogi system!
 
I just discovered Steve Uria in Weider Ruthless and I LOVE him! He is so motivating and the workouts are awesome and intense 20 minute add ons. Wonderful discovery!
 
jengollf said:
Michelle Dozois (Peak 10), Patrick Goudeau (MWT workouts), Bob Harper (Inside Out Series), Susan Chung, Toby Massenburg, Kelly Coffey-Meyer, Jari Love, Shaun T's Insanity, Chalene Johnson's TurboFire and Chalean Xtreme, Ilaria Montagnani, Amy Dixon's Breathless Body workouts and just about anything Jillian Michaels. They all feature regularly in my rotations. But Cathe is always featured most; she's my #1 favorite.

Right now I am doing Body Beast and I like Sagi, but I'm not sure he is or ever will be a favorite trainer. But I do enjoy the workouts. That's actually how I feel about Shaun T and Chalene--I love the workouts of theirs I already own, but I'm not always motivated to purchase their newest workouts. But that could be because everything they do is in a "system" rather than individual workouts.

Some that I mentioned are always autobuys like Cathe--anything Michelle Dozois does in her Peak 10 series, Susan Chung's Rapid Fire workouts, Toby Massenburg, KCM, Jari Love. Most Ilaria Montagnani workouts (especially Atletica workouts) and any Amy Dixon Breathless Body workout. Jillian Michaels is also almost always an autobuy, too. I actually love her workouts, they just don't seem to fit into the rotations I create very well. I usually use her 30 minute workouts as doubles workouts--but my favorites are her Shed & Shred and Hardbody. I love those workouts.
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You mentioned Toby Massenburg. Which of his workouts do you recommend? I just did Patrick Goudeau's Lean Hot Body, and Toby is one of the background guys in the workout! I've seen others recommend him. Would love to know which are his really good workouts. Thanks.
 
exercise-lover said:
You mentioned Toby Massenburg. Which of his workouts do you recommend? I just did Patrick Goudeau's Lean Hot Body, and Toby is one of the background guys in the workout! I've seen others recommend him. Would love to know which are his really good workouts. Thanks.
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I've done them all and love them all. But it depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for something like Lean Hot Body then Chiseled and Afterburn are excellent. Chiseled is longer at 72 minutes and Afterburn is 64 minutes. They are both excellent cardio + strength workouts. Afterburn is my favorite of the two. Ignite, however, is my favorite of all of his workouts. It is a 30 minute HIIT workout and it is intense and fun. I love Cathe's HIIT workouts, but I have to say, Ignite is even better than hers. It has much more of a fun factor, but is just as tough. Max 30 is great too, but I don't like it as much as the other 3.
 
Thanks for the info on Toby's workouts. What's the impact level on these? I can do some impact but I have to modify really high impact moves. Any suggestions which might be best for this?
 
exercise-lover said:
Thanks for the info on Toby's workouts. What's the impact level on these? I can do some impact but I have to modify really high impact moves. Any suggestions which might be best for this?
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Toby's workouts are high impact and in Ignite and Afterburn there are no modifications shown (tho you can probably modify the moves yourself), but in Chiseled and Max 30 he has different levels and and level 1, for the cardio moves, is lower or no impact.

Here are reviews of his workouts if you want more info: Toby Massenburg | 2 Lazy 4 the Gym
 
Gymbox

I love Michelle Stringham and Deb Tebbs on the Gymbox. Their treadmill workouts are killer as well as their extreme cardio workouts. Plus kudos to Michelle who was still filming while pregnant and still kicked my butt on those workouts!
 
Favorites

Tracy Anderson - absolute confidence in what she is doing, she has no doubt about what you will get out of her program(s), despite enormous criticisms from mainstream instructors and exercise communities.

Chalene Johnson - great instructor, I'm in the final week of Chalean Extreme, with my own added variations in cardio including running, Tracy A. dance cardio, walking, and OMG, Turbofire, I guess it's not too frenetic for me after all. Crazy addictive, how'd she do that?

Tony Horton - toss up for me whether or not I'll do CLX or P90X hybrid next. Too early to tell whether or not P90 & Piyo will make it in to my repertoire...I could see them as a great complement to running when it takes over my weekly schedule again.

Then, since I have tried some others along the way, there's Travis, Rudy, Michael Skogg, Ilaria, and Patricia Moreno who is quite possibly the best instructor I have in videos, she absolutely connects what she is doing to what you should do.

There are others, Denise Austin, Jillian Michaels, how's that for contrast?

Not a complete list...I have many favorites. :D
 
Amy Bento Ross! Her cardio workouts are killer and I love her personality. I really wish she would produce some new workouts. I reach for one of her cardio workouts at least once a week.

I'm warming up to Michele Dozois. I have Bodyfit 360, and can't wait for Bodyfit 360-2.

But really, my workout area looks like a Cathe Shrine. :eek:
 
I've done Insanity once. I really don't feel a need to do it again. For me, there was no fun factor. I'm sure others have a different opinion. Just not a good fit for me.
 
Insanity, to me, is just insanity. I don't care for that kind of cardio. My two cents. And it is totally for sale if anyone is interested.
 
I really dreaded Insanity. Could not finish the rotation, I cannot self motivate with a dread factor. I totally love T25 though. Love Shaun as an instructor. His personality keeps me going.

Tony Horton, found him irritating at first but really learned to enjoy him as an instructor. Looked forward to all of the P90x workouts and still use them in my Cathe rotations .

All time fav besides Cathe though is Amy Bento. Her workouts kick butt and are fun. Reach for hers frequently. I too wish she would come out with some new ones.

Really wanted to like Christi Taylor, but ended up selling hers. Just couldn't get into them.

Haven't tried Chalene Johnson but have always wanted to. PiYo looks like fun. It is on my short list.

Bob Harper has some good stuff out there, I have a few of his I do sometime, but cannot deal with Jillian Michaels. Her personality turns me off. Different strokes, right?

My workout space is like a Cathe shrine too, although I do have a mix. My husband rolls his eyes every time in mention she's doing a new set. He knows I will buy it but he also knows I get results with her workouts. He has teased me for years by saying "whoo" every time I say I'm going to workout. He heard it a lot before I got a separate room to workout in.
 
Rharabed said:
I really dreaded Insanity. Could not finish the rotation, I cannot self motivate with a dread factor. I totally love T25 though. Love Shaun as an instructor. His personality keeps me going. Tony Horton, found him irritating at first but really learned to enjoy him as an instructor. Looked forward to all of the P90x workouts and still use them in my Cathe rotations . All time fav besides Cathe though is Amy Bento. Her workouts kick butt and are fun. Reach for hers frequently. I too wish she would come out with some new ones. Really wanted to like Christi Taylor, but ended up selling hers. Just couldn't get into them. Haven't tried Chalene Johnson but have always wanted to. PiYo looks like fun. It is on my short list. Bob Harper has some good stuff out there, I have a few of his I do sometime, but cannot deal with Jillian Michaels. Her personality turns me off. Different strokes, right? My workout space is like a Cathe shrine too, although I do have a mix. My husband rolls his eyes every time in mention she's doing a new set. He knows I will buy it but he also knows I get results with her workouts. He has teased me for years by saying "whoo" every time I say I'm going to workout. He heard it a lot before I got a separate room to workout in.
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What was it about t25 that you liked if you didn't like insanity? Cause I have insanity as well I wanted to like it but the music if it was maybe more peppy might have helped? I don't know ?! But the dread factor was high for me to! But then I saw the new insanity 30 it looks funner but not sure y. Then I here t 25 is funner but y? I'm curious to find out y so I can find out if I might like those better ..
 
My feet were killing me with all the high impact. I think I only did 2 weeks and never looked or pulled those dvd's again.
 
I tried a few Insanity workouts on YouTube to see if it was easy to modify to no impact and it was. I bought this for $25 off Ebay. I still get a very decent workout. I love Shaun T!!!
 
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