Karen Voight Burn Firm Circuit Training DVD with Karen Voight (NR) +Movie Reviews

Burn Fat with Aerobics & Firm Your Muscles with Weights

blueyed puella | CT, USA | 08/09/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Workout Description: about 35 minutes of circuit training (5 minutes of aerobics followed by 5-6 minutes of toning-2 segments focusing on upper body and 1 segment focusing on lower body) and 6 minutes of abwork with 4 minute warm-up and 5 minute cool-down stretch for a total of 45 minutes

Workout Level: high beginner to mid-intermediate

Instructor: Karen Voight (fitness instructor since 1978; IDEA Instructor of the Year and Business Person of the Year; an IDEA's 5 Star Presenter; certified ACE Group Fitness Leader). Karen is an excellent cuer and very focused on proper form and technique. She exercises each side evenly.

Class: 1 other woman who occasionally demonstrates slightly more advanced moves

Music / Set: The instrumental music is fairly non-descript. The set has bright yellow walls with screens in front and various artsy lamps and other sculptural pieces scattered around the screens.

Equipment Needed: sneakers, 1-2 pair(s) of dumbbells (your choice of weight), optional stepstool for higher level modification in 1 toning segment, optional mat for abs segment & cool-down stretch

Caveats: Karen offers many technique pointers, which you should listen to carefully. Be careful with the aerobics portions if you work out on carpet. Instead of pivoting, I do a quick hop to turn myself.

Additional Comments: This routine does not require much space. You need to be able to take one step front and back and two fairly big steps to each side. Also, you should also be able to lie on the floor with your legs flat and arms extended overhead.

The aerobics portions do not have many complicated steps, but Karen changes her combinations fairly quickly, so it may take you a couple of times to pick them up. Unlike many aerobics programs, the arms are carefully coordinated with the legs so you don't feel like they're flapping around. As Karen says, you have to exaggerate the movements in order to get the most out of them. Even then, however, as an mid- to high intermediate exerciser I found that they do not get my heart rate up very high.

People who have been exercising with weights for a while will find the toning segments too easy. In contrast, this is a good video if you have not been working with weights much or even at all. Personally, I had not done much free weight work before this video, and I found it just right. Karen has very buff arms, especially for a woman, and she focuses more on upper body here than lower body. (For that reason, I like to alternate this with Minna Lessig's Fat Eliminator, another circuit training video that focuses more on lower body.) You will work your shoulders, triceps, and biceps, and there are some push-ups for your chest, too. The legwork focuses on the buttocks and hamstrings, with some attention to the calves and quadriceps. Even though the ab segment is not very long and is based on the basic crunch, it is effective. Somehow Karen explains the technique and varies the crunch so that you feel the burn, no matter how many crunches you've done.

The DVD has the option of doing the entire circuit once (45 minutes), the entire circuit twice (77 minutes-I use this now that I'm more advanced), just upper body (12 minutes), just cardio (24 minutes), and abs / thighs / butt only (23 minutes)."

Easy to follow circuit workout

dnk | Boston, MA United States | 03/11/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First, let me say at the outset that this is an intermediate workout. If you like high-intensity/high-impact aerobics or you usually lift very heavy weights, this workout is going to disappoint you. Also, as is appropriate to a circuit workout, neither the aerobic or weight-lifting section are very long.Having said that, I love this video. The three aerobic sections, all low to medium impact, are done on the floor. The pace starts out slowly but then quickly picks up in intensity. While I wouldn't call these dancy moves, you may need to do the video a few times before you pick up all the moves.The toning segments are divided into Floor Upper Body, Standing Upper Body, Standing Legs and Abdominals. For both upper body segments, light weights are used, no more than 8 lbs, but 5 lbs will probably do pretty well for most of the exercises. Why? Because the moves are very fast. It would be too much of a strain on one's joints to use heavier weights. While I enjoy both sections, I prefer the floor segment, where she has a nice combination of pullovers, flyes and presses. As with almost every tape Voight has ever done, all of the moves flow quickly into each other.The standing leg segment uses neither weights nor lunges. If you're someone who has knee problems and usually needs to modify (or skip) standing leg work, you will probably enjoy this section. Not that it's easy. In addition to squats, she also includes a one-leg deadlift variation which immediately targets the hamstrings and buttocks. Ouch, but in the good way. While I would have preferred some floorwork (which Voight does very well), I think she used standing work to keep the heartrate up after the last aerobic session, thus extending the cardio benefits.While I'm not a fan of traditional abwork, Voight's work here is very effective. She uses a combination of yoga-inspired stretches for the back and then Pilates-inspired crunches and bicycles for the abdominals. You may not love this section, but you will feel it.As to the comment that Voight recycled her work, not exactly. When this was originally released in early 2003, she offered this tape and Yoga Focus separately. Both segments were also released on one programmable DVD called Sleek Physique. That release allowed you to pick and choose segments from both programs to create a different workout for each day. While it was possible to reconstruct all of the footage for both separate tapes, it wasn't very intuitive and that wasn't the original intention. While I can see why some would be annoyed, I don't believe Voight was trying to exploit or trick any of her customers."

Recycled Material

Julie Baars Kaczynski | Natick, MA | 09/03/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"My experience with other Karen Voight DVDs and videos has been very positive, especially with her "Sleek Physique" DVD. Unfortunately, I felt a bit cheated having purchased "Burn and Firm", since the segments on it are identical to the "Sleek Physique", cut and pasted into different combinations and missing the very well done yoga strength and yoga stretch segments. I recommend "Sleek Physique" instead of this one."

Very nice circuit training workout with a wide variety of DV

Beth Cholette | Upstate NY USA | 08/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Karen Voight's Burn & Firm is a circuit training workout which alternates short but intense cardio segments with weight/toning segments. The DVD menu offers the following options: 1) Full Circuit (45 minutes), 2) Double Circuit (77 minutes), 3) Just Upper Body (12 minutes), 4) Just Cardio (24 minutes), and 5) Abs, Butt, and Thigh (23 minutes). Each of the above options is a complete workout including the warm-up and cool-down, but because the DVD is so well-chaptered, you can easily skip around, mixing and matching to create your own perfect workout.

I'll describe each workout segment by listing them in the order they appear in the Full Circuit. The circuit begins with a 4-minute warm-up which combines simple leg steps with large arm movements to get your heart rate going. Next comes the first cardio segment, "Energy Boost" (each of the cardio segments are 5 minutes long). Here Karen continues to use 4-limbed movements: you are always moving both your arms and your legs to keep up the intensity. At times, I found it a little difficult to follow Karen's movement changes, but I think this will become easier with practice. In addition, I have also tried doing this segment with light hand weights for increased intensity, which worked well when I decreased the range of the arm movements. The first toning segment is upper body work on the floor. Here Karen performs traditional movements such as flies, pullovers, and triceps, but she varies the tempo of the movements, adding in double-time pumps which really help you to feel the burn. Next comes the second cardio segment, "Side to Side." As the name suggests, this section consists of many lateral movements, again using both the arms and the legs, and I again added hand weights. More upper body work follows, this time from a standing position. Karen moves very quickly through basic exercises for the biceps, back, and triceps here--in fact, I felt like I was getting an additional cardio workout here!

The last cardio segment is called "Jump Rope," which is somewhat of a misnomer, as Karen performs mock jump-roping only at the very beginning of this section. The majority of the work here comes from a knee lift series: Karen gradually increases the intensity here by adding arms, more knee lifts, and small hops (or a "ball-change"). The lower body strength segment follows and is just under 9 minutes long. Karen avoids lunges and instead focuses on squats, leg extensions, and dead lifts. Your body remains constantly in motion--e.g., you are doing mambo steps in-between each leg extension--which provides some additional cardio benefits. The final toning segment focuses on the abs; as always, Karen's abs work is short (5 1/2 minutes but intense). She performs several different types of crunches, again varying the pace for more focused work. This section includes some Pilates-inspired moves to work the lower abs as well as the obliques in a side-lying position. Finally, the cool-down consists of a series of static stretches: it begins in a reclined position for leg stretches and a twist, then moves to a quad stretch and seated forward bend to finish.

The DVD contains just a couple of bonuses: a list of workout tools and where to buy (in this case, only dumbbells are used), and video clips from five of Karen's other workouts. This workout is filmed in a pleasantly bright studio (although the odd-shaped lamps in the background are a bit distracting), and Karen is joined by an assistant, Kathy, who shows modifications for some of the moves. Karen's personality is similar to all of her newer (post-2000) videos: she is warm and friendly but not chatty--her comments are focused on the workout, and as always, she offers excellent cueing and impeccable form. Overall, I'd probably rate this workout at about an advanced beginner to intermediate level; it would be easy to either increase or decrease the intensity. Overall, I really loved the flexibility of this workout, and I know I will reach for this DVD often--highly recommended!"

Totally Fat burning!!!!!!!!

M. Ace | Knox, PA USA | 03/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've lost 95 lbs. and this is one of the videos I use!!! It is challenging, yet the somewhat beginning circuit trainer can use it. It's 'circuit traing' because it uses cardio and weights in combination without stopping. Once you get on to it you get a great workout and LOSE WEIGHT. I used the workout all last winter ( lost 20lbs.)until the weather got nice. I hit a plateau a couple of months ago after doing a summer of speed walking and other exercises so i pulled the video out again and have lost an additional 20 lbs. Use at least 4-5 days a week and you'll see a difference fast!"

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	Karen Voight Burn Firm - Circuit Training Actor: Karen Voight Genres: Fitness & Yoga NR 2004 3hr 0min Circuit training is the best way to slim down and build muscles at the same time. By kicking up your heart rate and having more muscle on your body, you can enjoy what you eat and still control your weight Here are a v... more » « less
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