kathryn
Cathlete
Last week, I decided to give Tracey Staehle's High Intensity Kickboxing workout another try.
The first--and only---time I'd used it before, I did NOT like it, for three big reasons: space issues---it uses a lot of front-to-back space if done 'as-is'--, a kickbox section that was too short for my tastes, and , most importantly, the very demotivating mood Tracey was in (it was obvious she was worn out, dead tired, and often looks pained during the workout, definitely NOT something that will keep me motivated.
It was on it's way to my 'get rid of' pile, but since I had never tried the sculpting segment (and thought that looked like it might be worth keeping the DVD as long as I already had it) I wanted to try that.
Feeling in a brave mood, I decided to do the whole workout, giving the first kb part of it a second chance.
Well, this time, I like the workout! But it took some 'fixing' to counteract the three big reasons I didn't like it at first.
For space issues, I modified the moves to not move forward (which usually takes a bit of tweaking with what arm punches first), and that worked fine.
For the 'too short' aspect of it, I thought of it as a warm-up to the toning section, and part of a longer workout.
For the demotivating mood and Tracey's often-pained looks, I just looked at the screen very little (but not little enough to avoid seeing the faces the blond background exerciser made from time to time: she looks unhappy throughout, but in the sculptiing workout, she often looks angry. And at one point, when Tracey announces that we are going to do some pulses, she almost rolls her eyes, and seems like she's about to swear at Tracey, and not in a 'we're just having fun and teasing' kind of way. Not to self: do NOT look at this woman!)
I can definitely see that most of what I didn't like about the workout was due to Tracey (and the backgrounders) being so tired and feeling bad. Even Tracey's often really bad cuing (when you're tired, your brain just doesn't come up with things to say as easily) which was probably even worse than in the final product, because there are a LOT of places where there's been some sound editing done---either her mouth moves and there is no voice, so I assume some really bad cuing was cut out, or the mouth movements don't match what she's saying, so one audio track was combined with another video track, I assume because Greg T. couldn't find a shot where both were good.
I have to add: the sequencing of moves is very good, and I didn't have to substitute any moves because of illogical progressions, or anything that made it impossible to follow good kickbox form (as I do with Amy Bento).
Now, this is a keeper workout for me (but probably still not one I'd do if I were in a bad mood, or needed a lot of external motivation, because it works when I have the 'oomph,' but not when I have to rely on Tracey and crew to give it to me.).
The first--and only---time I'd used it before, I did NOT like it, for three big reasons: space issues---it uses a lot of front-to-back space if done 'as-is'--, a kickbox section that was too short for my tastes, and , most importantly, the very demotivating mood Tracey was in (it was obvious she was worn out, dead tired, and often looks pained during the workout, definitely NOT something that will keep me motivated.
It was on it's way to my 'get rid of' pile, but since I had never tried the sculpting segment (and thought that looked like it might be worth keeping the DVD as long as I already had it) I wanted to try that.
Feeling in a brave mood, I decided to do the whole workout, giving the first kb part of it a second chance.
Well, this time, I like the workout! But it took some 'fixing' to counteract the three big reasons I didn't like it at first.
For space issues, I modified the moves to not move forward (which usually takes a bit of tweaking with what arm punches first), and that worked fine.
For the 'too short' aspect of it, I thought of it as a warm-up to the toning section, and part of a longer workout.
For the demotivating mood and Tracey's often-pained looks, I just looked at the screen very little (but not little enough to avoid seeing the faces the blond background exerciser made from time to time: she looks unhappy throughout, but in the sculptiing workout, she often looks angry. And at one point, when Tracey announces that we are going to do some pulses, she almost rolls her eyes, and seems like she's about to swear at Tracey, and not in a 'we're just having fun and teasing' kind of way. Not to self: do NOT look at this woman!)
I can definitely see that most of what I didn't like about the workout was due to Tracey (and the backgrounders) being so tired and feeling bad. Even Tracey's often really bad cuing (when you're tired, your brain just doesn't come up with things to say as easily) which was probably even worse than in the final product, because there are a LOT of places where there's been some sound editing done---either her mouth moves and there is no voice, so I assume some really bad cuing was cut out, or the mouth movements don't match what she's saying, so one audio track was combined with another video track, I assume because Greg T. couldn't find a shot where both were good.
I have to add: the sequencing of moves is very good, and I didn't have to substitute any moves because of illogical progressions, or anything that made it impossible to follow good kickbox form (as I do with Amy Bento).
Now, this is a keeper workout for me (but probably still not one I'd do if I were in a bad mood, or needed a lot of external motivation, because it works when I have the 'oomph,' but not when I have to rely on Tracey and crew to give it to me.).
