Valerie Waters - Action Hero Babe

mlmccauley

mlmccauley

Cathlete
Is anyone here familiar with Valerie Waters programs? I’ve been following these two thread at VF about her new workouts – Action Hero Babe:

http://forum.videofitness.com/showthread.php?t=138476

http://forum.videofitness.com/showthread.php?t=137524

I was wondering if anyone here had any familiarity with her/her workouts and if it’d be worth the investment or not. It’s rather PRICEY!! A lot of the exercises with the ValSlides appear to be similar to a lot of the paper plate exercises in STS (which I already own – and LOVE) so I’m wondering if I should just stick with that. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Maria
 
I have her red carpet ready and loved it! it seems easy but when you do it you really work hard. Its a circuit syle approach. Toda I started her "i want my bikini body 2.0 workout" which is a step up from RCR and it totally kicked my butt! It took about 45 min and i was sweating buckets. I downloaded these workouts and i'm waiting to receive the dvds in the mail. I also preordered her action hero babe program. I love her programs but i do love high intensity circuits. I'm alternating these with cardio and cleaning up my diet. These workouts give you energy and you don't feel like your running yourself into the ground even though they are challenging. I have a pair of her valslides and love them but you don't need them as you can use paper plates like cathe does. When i get the action hero babe workout and the bikini body dvds i'll let you know how they are if you want to wait before you buy them. Hope this helps
 
I cracked!!

You ladies are enablers! I ordered the deluxe set since I don't have any type of slides. Yeesh, that $19.99 shipping is ridiculous. even worse are the four continuous offers for the additional purchase of .... well whatever it was for it was not worth another $150.00 or $250.00 or whatever she was asking for (some kind of personalized program I think). I had to click out of the four additional page offers only to get to a final page asking for your email to confirm the order and it indicated if you did not click there they could not confirm the order . I found this suspicious and thought this might be a ploy to make you think that you are confirming your order but in reality you are agreeing to purchasing the additional package. Prior to clicking out of that page I decided to check my mail to see if I received any confirmation on my order and I certainly did. Not the greatest experience there but I am looking forward to this product. Hopefully if I am not happy and return it I won't get the runaround for the refund.
Booboo
 
kariev said:
I downloaded these workouts and i'm waiting to receive the dvds in the mail.
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Kariev,
Correct me if I'm wrong, the IWMBB workouts are on paper only. It was my understanding the DVDs are instructional on how to perform the exercises but they are not follow along.

The Action Hero Babe are follow along DVDs.

I love Valerie's circuit workouts and own both RCR, IWMBB. I didn't hesitate to buy AHB!
 
fit44 said:
Kariev,
Correct me if I'm wrong, the IWMBB workouts are on paper only. It was my understanding the DVDs are instructional on how to perform the exercises but they are not follow along.

The Action Hero Babe are follow along DVDs.

I love Valerie's circuit workouts and own both RCR, IWMBB. I didn't hesitate to buy AHB!
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There is a new IWMBB out with dvds. Its labeled as IWMBB 2.0. As described it said it was workout dvds to workout to but i guess i'll see when i get them.
 
kariev said:
There is a new IWMBB out with dvds. Its labeled as IWMBB 2.0. As described it said it was workout dvds to workout to but i guess i'll see when i get them.
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Kariev,

I asked about it on the VF.
The IWMBB website shows 6 DVD's. Valerie's website is very confusing!!!!:(
 
Argh…I’m so torn. Thanks everyone for your responses. This series REALLY intrigues me. For those of you who have used her programs and purchased AHB because you really like her workouts and are excited they are finally coming to DVD, what is it about her workouts that separates her from the rest? What is different about these circuit workouts versus CLX or Jillian Michaels for example? I need help because I feel I am going to cave but I want to make sure it is worth it and that I don’t already own something that may fit the bill. Thanks again.
 
mlmccauley said:
Argh…I’m so torn. Thanks everyone for your responses. This series REALLY intrigues me. For those of you who have used her programs and purchased AHB because you really like her workouts and are excited they are finally coming to DVD, what is it about her workouts that separates her from the rest? What is different about these circuit workouts versus CLX or Jillian Michaels for example? I need help because I feel I am going to cave but I want to make sure it is worth it and that I don’t already own something that may fit the bill. Thanks again.
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First i'm not a fan of CLX so i can't compare anything to that workout. I think that Valerie's workouts are just fun and fast paced. I love the valslides way better than the paper plates. I think her workouts are comparable to Jillian's which i like as well. There is nothing really magical about them but I just like the way the programs are laid out. I'm not sure if that helps at all.
 
I have both of her programs (Red Carpet Ready qnd I Want My Bikini Body) and really love them. RCR helped me break through an 18+ month-long plateau! As someone mentioned, they're all circuit-style and get my heart rate up, plus I feel like I'm working my muscles really well.

I pre-ordered the AHB program within hours of getting the email :).
 
Oh and in response to the question, I love her style of workouts because they're fast-paced enough to get your heart rate up, but not so fast that you can't complete the reps/sets with good form, so you can use a heavy enough weight to make the exercises really effective. The sequencing is great, too--even though the exercises themselves are pretty basic and you repeat the circuits 2-3 times, it doesn't feel repetitive or boring because you repeat a series of 4-5 different exercises 2-3 times and then move on to a new set of 4-5 different exercises. Lastly, when I finish, I feel tremendous--my muscles have been worked hard enough that I feel/see results, but I don't feel totally dead or wiped out.

Also, she specializes in exercises that focus more on endurance vs. hypertrophy, for folks like me who tend to develop muscular size rather quickly (but burn fat at a far slooooooooower rate, and therefore "bulk up"). You're still using weight that's challenging, but because there's fat burning involved in the circuits (in addition to the strength training), you're able to simultaneously build muscle and burn fat--something my body really responds to, apparently! :)
 
jennifer, how heavy do you lift in her program? do you do what she recommends or do you try to challenge yourself and lift as heavy as you can for the prescribed number of reps?
 
For back and chest work, she recommends 10 pounds and that's what I used. I upped it to 12 at one point but found myself getting sloppy in my form to crank out those reps. For biceps, I could barely eke out 15 reps per set (3 sets total) with 8 pounds, which she recommends (I was tempted to take it down to 7 pounds, but pride kept me from doing so LOL; instead I lowered the reps to 12 per set). For shoulders, I used 6 (she recommends 5), for triceps I use 6 or 8 (she recommends 8), and for legs I used 10 (she recommends 8-10).

I found she was fairly spot on with the poundage--for me, anyway, since I'm not super strong, and I'm more concerned with keeping good form rather than upping my poundage for the sake of doing it. The circuits are supposed to be fast-paced and move from one exercise to the other, so in order for me to do this with good form, I had to stick to weights I knew I could handle.

I should mention these weights I mention are for RCR; for IWMBB, they're a touch heavier and/or have more reps (e.g. she has you doing 20 reps with 8 pounds on bicep curls; she has you using 12 pounds for back and chest).
 
Thanks jennifer, i have one more question that i'm confused about. For the IWMBB workouts when it says do 20 reps for the side step with resistance band (firewalkers) Does that mean a total of 20 alternating reps or 20 per leg????? It doesn't say how to count it.
 
To the OP, I'm considering these also and I don't know what to do. I thought I'd let you know that you're not alone. I just bought P57 and hated it. I don't want to jump on another bandwagon and be disappointed but at the same time, I finished Insanity two weeks ago and loved it and I need something new.

Ahhh, what to do, what to do.

The safe thing is to wait for reviews. But I want something new, NOW.
 
sancho said:
To the OP, I'm considering these also and I don't know what to do. I thought I'd let you know that you're not alone. I just bought P57 and hated it. I don't want to jump on another bandwagon and be disappointed but at the same time, I finished Insanity two weeks ago and loved it and I need something new.

Ahhh, what to do, what to do.

The safe thing is to wait for reviews. But I want something new, NOW.
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I'm having a hard time waiting for reviews. These "sound" wonderful and everyone seems to *love* her workouts. I've jumped on quite a few bandwagons lately - STS, CLX and Insanity and I always feel like I am enjoying them after everyone else. I have a feeling I will end up caving - this way I can enjoy them (hopefully) along with everyone else instead of afterward when all the fanfare has dissipated. Good luck in your decision.

Maria
 
mlmccauley: I wouldn't worry about joining a little late sometimes--I think that's wise, actually! I didn't jump on board with RCR right away because I dismissed it as a flighty workout. Her naming gives off a certain impression, shall we say, and I didn't want some fluffy workout, after having done Cathe. When I finally gave in, it was almost a year after it had been released, and only when I read good reviews on it on Skwigg's blog (and she's pretty hard-core!).

The only reason I jumped right away with AHB is because I've done enough of her workouts now that I know her style, and I really enjoy it (and have been seeing good results). But I wouldn't have ordered right away had I not already had that familiarity.
 
jennifermaria said:
mlmccauley: I wouldn't worry about joining a little late sometimes--I think that's wise, actually! I didn't jump on board with RCR right away because I dismissed it as a flighty workout. Her naming gives off a certain impression, shall we say, and I didn't want some fluffy workout, after having done Cathe. When I finally gave in, it was almost a year after it had been released, and only when I read good reviews on it on Skwigg's blog (and she's pretty hard-core!).

The only reason I jumped right away with AHB is because I've done enough of her workouts now that I know her style, and I really enjoy it (and have been seeing good results). But I wouldn't have ordered right away had I not already had that familiarity.
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Okay, this post has me ready to post. These were my concerns. The name and focus on women's issues makes me think "cheezy". But if you like her even after doing Cathe. The workouts are supposed to be alternated with cardio, right?
 
sancho said:
Okay, this post has me ready to post. These were my concerns. The name and focus on women's issues makes me think "cheezy". But if you like her even after doing Cathe. The workouts are supposed to be alternated with cardio, right?
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yes, alternate the workouts with cardio intervals. the workouts are challenging and i think if your looking for a change you'll like it.
 
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