OPINIONS ON CIA VIDEOS....

[Bernard]

Hi Everyone,

Just wondering if it is really worth investing in the CIA videos ? They always seem to get dubious press, whether it be on Collage, or Video Fitness, due to bad cueing, being too difficult, and muffled sound, etc. But they seem good value for the amount of workout time you get on each one.

You can tell it is the New Year, as I am deciding on 2003 purchases.
Today, I have ordered Kathy Smiths Power Workout, Kari Anderson's TONE UP workout (with free dynaband), and Karen Voight's Great Weighted Workout.

Look forward to your opinions.

Many thanks
Anna
(who is still eagerly awaiting her CTX series -jumpy)

 

[waterbabie]

Hi Anna,

Glad to see you back!!

I've read that the CIAs are hit or miss -- but are a good way to sample a wide variety of styles.. I have a few that I really like and traded for on VF or the YaYa site.

Have you checked out the presale at www.ciavideos.com?? I'm planning to pick up at least a few.

~~ Sharon ~~

 

[starbuck]

Anna

Not sure what you like but I picked up CIA 9902 Kickbox with Janis Saffrell and Kickbox Jam, also All Strenght with Mindy Mylrea, Bootcamp with Terrie Reeves and Hi/low & step with Franny.

CIA use different people I preordered from the 2003 series Keli Roberts step, Mindy's strength and Seazun Zieger step workout. The others I didn't feel that great about. Seazun is the only newbie in the pack so I am hoping I like her I checked out her website before ordering and she seems okay.

These are the ones I got that I like and still do, the workouts are good and worth the money time wise but unless you actually like the workouts there are not worth the money.

Let us know which ones interest you and we can give you a mini review.

Babs

 

[wendyloo]

Hi Anna. Babs is exactly right about it only being worth the expense if you like the workouts! I have had a few CIA workouts, and traded most of them. It's hard when you are used to Cathe, because with other instructors you will not get the same quality.
I had 9803 (?) with Faith Scarinzi and hated it because it was not organized or cued well, although she seemed like a really nice person!
9801 with Chrisiti Taylor, is one of my all time favorites, on the other hand.
2K01 (Gay Gasper, Two Jammin' Workouts) was ok, but not that intense. It is a hi-lo and a step/kickbox combo. My back always hurt after the step/kickbox portion, and the hi-lo got pretty boring after a while. BUT it was well cued and Gay is a cool instructor.
I have but rarely use 9701, 9702, 9905 and 9906. 9701--Donna Read Step workout. It's just OK. Pretty well cued, but Donna says "beautiful" a few million too many times, and the choreography doesn't challenge me. If you like Step Heat/Power Max level of choreography, you may like this.
9702 is weird--I need to exchange this one. I really like Janis Saffel, but this workout seems a bit unorganized. I only have done the step portion, can't even remember what the other 2 workouts are!
9905 is Franny Bendetto. This is a keeper, but I must say I hate the outfits they are wearing, and this gets pretty distracting. Again, I have only done the step portion of this workout. The thing that is a bit annoying with this one is that Franny does not perform both sides evenly, so you may do a combination 3 times on the right foot, and only once or twice on the left. But the choreography is really great, and I love her personality.
9906 is another that I never use. I love the choreography on this tape, but it is so badly cued and unevenly taught that I just can't force myself to do it!.
I also had 2103 (Powerbar Training with the Anderson sisters), and traded it after 2 times. The concept was pretty much the same as Power Hour, but the pace was unsafe during some of the leg work, and the instructor's form was crappy and they just rubbed me the wrong way.
I also have 2K04 and 2K05. One of these is Becky Chamberlin--Kicked Up Step. This is a strange tape that you will either love or hate. I love it! I don't use it that often, but it is perfectly cued, evenly taught, and pretty fun. That said, it is not very intense at all, and Becky is wearing a tinfoil outfit. But for some reason, I just like this workout!
The other of these is Cardio Parties with Franny Bendetto. This is good. Choreography on a line with Cathe's stuff--somewhere in between Powermax and Stepworks. Franny is pretty high impact but easily modified to lower. I don't do this tape enough, and I haven't even tried the hi-lo, but I like this one alot.
I guess if you are not annoyed easily (like I am), some of these tapes could work for you. Some background: I love Kathy Smith in her Secrets tapes, but can't stand her in the Timesavers series, and stopped using her entirely when I found Cathe 3 or so years ago. (I mention this only because I notice that you use or have used Kathy, and I want to give you a frame of reference.)
One new tape that I love, but which isn't truly a CIA tape, is Kristin Kagen's Step This Way. Wow, this is a great step tape! Kristin is intense; she has great, creative choreography, but the routine is pretty athletic. She cues very well, she teaches both sides evenly... I am so happy I got this, finally!
If you like choreography, I would also recommend anything by Christi Taylor. She is as good at dancey, fun choreography as Cathe is at strength.
Hope this helped a little!
Wendy

 

[Bernard]

Wow, Wendy, many thanks for that run down. Pretty much the ones you have given a thumbs up to were the ones on my wants list. I am after CIA 2K01, 9801, 9905, 2205, 9809 (CK Sales don't sell this one),2K04, 2K06, 9907.
I have decided to put Kathy Smith in between Cathe, to give my knees a break through the week.
I saw the Kristen Kagen one on CK Sales, so I think I will definitely put that on my wants list, the description sounded pretty good.
I was thinking about Step Fever with Donna Read, but read reviews at collage, and apparently it is lacking in intensity, so I have crossed that off of my list.

Once again, many thanks

Anna

 

[Bernard]

Hi Babs,

I would love some mini reviews on any of Janis's CIA Kickboxing ones, and her buttock vids, please - mine needs all the help it can get !

So I am really interested in 9809, 9907, and the Kickbox Jam one you mentioned.

I tried to look at the CIA site yesterday, but something was playing up and it wouldn't let me on there. Does the new Keli Roberts one sound good ??????

Thanks

Anna

 

[DEEDEE]

I've bought a few CIA tapes and to be honest, I really didn't care for Donna Reed, or Franny Bernadino. I didn't like the Keli Roberts Kickboxing because I found her floppy arms and loose shoulder too sloppy. Yes you need to be relaxed, but if you make contact with something while that loose, you will hurt yourself. I have quite a few Janis Saffel, I like her kickboxing workouts, they flow so smoothly, but I hate her step (I would rather have regular ques instead of 'Jill disses Jack') and I thought her funk aerobics was sloppy and poorly qued.

Deedee

 

[starbuck]

Hi Anna

9902 I found hard its not one of my favourite kickbox workouts and the gloves Keli wears for part of it are too big its easier than Cardio Kicks and once you get used to it I don't think you will find it challenging. The strength section is good.

I love the Janis kickbox work out 9902 its has 2 sections which you can do either together or on their own she keeps you working and she gives good form tips and reminders and she is not too ott. I really like her tapes and style the strenght section at the end is good because it gives you a really good workout using your own body weight.

I really like her Brand new butt and more workout it is very challenging and you can use whatever weight is challenging for you and there is some good core work on there. So you can really see how far you have come doing Cathe Ab Hits.

She is good not as intense as Cathe but they are good to use when you want to go easier and have a change of pace.

I went for Keli because I like her step work and Cathe's I find them both challenging and hopefully won't be disappointed I will watch on the site for any info they give once the tapes have been filmed, I ordered dvd's so my order may take longer to ship than the videos.

Babs

 

[Lynda]

Just a vote for Step Fever. I agree that the first half is lacking in intensity, but the second half will get your heart going, and the choreography is also more fun. Overall, you end up with almost 50 minutes of stepping from low to high cardio intensity, and she then gives you a Pilates based abs routine at the end which is also good. My other recent favorite is Kari Anderson's Hot Steps. It's also a notch down from Cathe in intensity, but it's an excellent tape with a really fun instructor.

I am not a fan of CIA tapes and have sold all of them on Ebay--in mixes with other good tapes, though.

 

[lorihart]

I own a few CIA videos and never do them.So, that says everything right there.Although there was one video just a little while ago that I sort of got use to and it was a pretty good workout.I just don't have the patience to learn all those new steps.I find that with Cathe, she is bound to throw in something that you already know.I don't really like Karen Voight either.I have a couple Kathy Smith tapes and they are pretty good.And I LOVE Kari Andersons Curl DVD.But I have never tried any of her aerobics tapes.Lete know how it goes.
One of the people I do sort of like besides for Cathe is Mindy Mylera.Shes a little bit hyper but she can give you a good workout to.I have thought about buying some more of her videos.
Anyway,I don't know if I helped.I was just sort of babbling.Trying to put off working out.
Lori

 

[lorihart]

Go to CK SAles to buy them.It is canadian so it will be a bit cheaper.I don't know if it will take longer to get them though.
Lori

 

[Bernard]

Hi Lori,

CK Sales is brilliant !!!!!!! If I order from them, I receive my vids within 7 - 9 days, pretty good considering it has to travel over the Atlantic !!!! The only trouble is the two I have ordered from Amazon Canada won't arrive until MARCH :-wow ! - I think they are coming on a VERY slow boat (like a rowing boat !!!!!!), AND I can't wait for my Dynaband, either !!!!!!!

Enjoy your workout !!!!!! I would be working out now, but DS is watching Scooby Doo !!!!!!!!!!

Anna

 

[mojolisa]

CIA suggestions (long)

Overall, I give CIA two thumbs up. This series is not always as intense (high impact) as Cathe's, but it is very easy to modify by either adding jumps/hops to the moves, or by holding 3lb weights. You can also use these tapes for your less intense days.

My workouts consist exclusively of exercise videos, so as much as I love Cathe, there is no way I can do her tapes 6-10 times a week, every week, every month, every year..... The monotomy would kill me, and this is where CIA fits in nicely.

I would definitely suggest ordering some CIA videos (try a variety) and see if you like them. My favorite instructors are Franny Bendetto and Christi Taylor, but they are not the only good ones in the series.

I've tried Janis Saffel, both kick box and step, but I just couldn't get into her style. Bad cueing doesn't bother me much, simply because after you've done the videos a few times, you have a general grasp on the moves. What does bother me is the instructor missing beats and being off-tempo, and Janis does this a lot. Mindy Mylrea also gets good reviews, but I found her personality too cheeky. She does have good exercises, variety and cueing. Her footwork can be tricky. I think because she used a 6" step, and I found it hard to keep up with all the quick changes on my 8", but when I did shift to the 6" step, the rest of the workout was not challenging enough.

My recommendations of CIA best bets:

CIA 2K04 - Becky Chamberlain Kicked Up Step. This is one of my favorite videos, a combination of step and kicbox. Cathe uses this theme for a couple of segments on Circuit Max. I was hoping one of her new videos would be devoted to step kick box, but oh well - maybe next time. Becky's kicked-up step is not as high impact as Cathe, but it is very easy to modify the step knees into jump knees, or any other high impact moves. This video is lots of fun.

CIA 2203 - Terrie Reeves Kick box Boot Camp. This tape is great. Lots of great punches, jumps and some really good core work toward the end. The music matches well to the beats of your kicks and punches.

CIA 9801 - Christi Taylor Step & Hi-Lo. Awesome tape. Great choreography, very fun to do. Cueing is very good, and Christi is very friendly without being overbearing

CIA 9902 - Kelli Roberts Kick-box and strength. This tape is ~90 minutes. The first 50 minutes are kickbox/jump rope segments. Kelli has good form for her kick box moves, but sometimes the punches and kicks are a little slow - thus making the workout only moderately intense. I really like the jump rope parts of this tape.

CIA 9903 - I am loving the boot camp theme, and Helen really gets into this one.

CIA 2K05- Franny Benedetto Cardio Parties (step & hi-lo). This tape is a lot of fun. Great choreography, good intensity, fun music.

Another thing to remember about CIA tapes is that in general, they are long. Usually there is more than one workout on each tape, so if you do both, thic is great for building your endurance.

The only other complaint I have about CIA, and I'm kind of surprised no one else mentioned it, is the background exercisers. Unlike Cathe's crew, they are not always the fittest looking bunch, and quite often some of them have very poor form. But this is a minor problem for me, because CIA instructors are very good, and only a few of the ones in the back are awful.