My favorite kickboxing workouts are PowerStrike Milleniums 1 & 2, and Cathe's KPC. I wasn't fond of KickMax and I've been starved for a full length (1 hour) kickboxing workout. Turbo Jam was too much booty shaking for my taste.
And so I ordered Kickbox Extreme with high hopes.
The good - Amy's personality, encouraging and very positive. She's full of energy and never appears winded. The music is different and I really liked it. The moves went well to the music. The background exercisers were well rehearsed and everyone synchronized beautifully (there is a modifyer, but her different moves did not detract from the rest). No downtime - I'm sure if I wore a HRM, it would be up there the entire time! I like how she does a combo, interval, 2nd combo, 2nd interval, then combines all of it - keeps things interesting. (note - there are 5 combos, 1&2, 3&4 are combined, then 5 stands alone with it's interval)
The bad - There's a steep learning curve to this as Amy does a somewhat complex sequence, repeats it 4 times, before moving onto the next sequence. Doesn't Cathe repeat sequences in KPC 12 times? Amy does 10 sequences, that's a lot for my tired brain to learn so fast!
The ugly - Form has been mentioned, but it goes deeper than that. It's the way the moves are put together that prohibits good form. I can't think of any other kickboxing workout that has you lead with your rear arm. Some of the kicks are done too fast to properly chamber. I think many moves were done for the sake of movement and not purpose. Instead of a few hard, clean, punches, Amy opts for speedbag arms to the side as you do some sort of running, dancy box-step. I modified greatly. Even opting to remove some of the jump-kicks for a single, well-executed kick.
I think the workout has a lot of potential. I'll try it again a time or two more to see if by being more familiar with the sequences and finding my own "groove" for modifications, I'll find it to be a keeper. Amy would do well to get the expertise of someone who choreographs kickboxing before venturing into another KB workout.
This was my first Amy Bento purchase. I like her, but will be scrutinizing the format of her workouts before purchasing another.
Diane