Weight Loss Cardio Sculpt

Studio: Acorn Media Release Date: 01/06/2009 Run time: 50 minutes Rating: Nr

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars I love this video!
I bought this DVD 2 weeks ago and I’m glad I did. The workout is pretty time efficient, so you get to do a whole lot in a short time AND you get your cardio in (I hate the treadmill). Violet ‘s style is straightforward and her ceuing is excellent. I will be looking for her othe videos.

5 Stars Violet kicked my butt…in a great way!
I was so excited to discover a new DVD from Violet Zaki! I have a few DVDs from other instructors, but I always get bored of them and pull out my Violet DVDs. And now I have a new one to cycle through my “Old Standbys!”

There is something about Violet’s personality and routines that are the perfect balance of difficulty, motivation, and fun. And I love her accent! My husband always knows when I did a Violet workout because I start speaking with an Australian accent. (He thinks it’s cute!)

This new DVD came out just in time since I’ve gotten much busier at work and picked up a hefty travel schedule. Because this DVD mixes cardio and sculpt, it makes me feel like I’ve gotten a complete workout in such a short time. I used to have to use one DVD for a good cardio workout and another one for a sculpting workout. Combining them in a workout on one DVD is so much more efficient!

Violet, if you read these reviews, thanks for another great DVD! And keep them coming! One day, I hope to come to New York and find out how to take one of your classes, so I can have the pleasure of getting my butt kicked by you in person!

5 Stars Violet Zaki has changed my life!!!!
Violet Zaki is infectious! I spent the last 15 years buying workout DVDs only to have them collect dust while I sat on the couch and watched television. Until someone suggested that I get a DVD taught by Violet Zaki – then everything changed. She has the most amazing energy, and although extremely challenging, her DVDs make you want to finish each workout and never give up. I always find time to complete my workout, even if I don’t do both 20 minute workouts in one sitting. Some days I do them both at once, other days I will do one in the morning and one before I go to sleep, and sometimes I can only find time to complete 1 portion of the DVD in a day. However I can fit it in, I make sure I complete both 20 minute workouts 4-5 times per week. The combination of cardio and scuplt really gives you a completely balanced workout. I have seen major changes to my body since I have started working out to Violet Zaki DVDs, and Weight Loss Cardio Sculpt is just the newest (and quite possibly my favorite) edition to my collection. If you already work out, I would definitely recommend adding Cardio Sculpt to your routine. If you don’t work out, this DVD would be an amazing introduction to the fitness world. You will have fun during your workout, feel so good about yourself afterwards, and see results. I don’t know what I would do without Violet Zaki’s workouts!

5 Stars A Standout–excellent workout & functional DVD!
Love it…will enjoy a long shelf life in my streamlined DVD workout collection, making for high returns on the price and my efforts to exercise.

First, I’m a big fan of Violet Zaki, following her innovative workouts on Exercise TV and in her Self DVD’s, though this may be her best to date. She’s personable while still economical with her commentary and helpful in her instruction…so encouraging but “gets down to business” without the annoying fluff talk other instructors too often overuse. I’m actually inspired to work hard and not let her down, as if I’m in her class, which proves more motivational when I travel and workout in my hotel room (the chaptering is very functional in this regard too, when short on time).

Second, as advertised, it’s an efficient, dynamic workout, full of multi-tasking exercises that challenge more than one muscle group at a time, along with balance and coordination, intensifying calorie burn. Yet, I think it’s still accessible to all fitness levels given the modifications. I plan on working my way up the intensity curve by increasing poundage on the hand weights (probably substituting straps when I travel), range of movement, and pacing. IMO, good DVD workouts are challenging but structured so that the user can build on them, extending their usefulness, which Violet inherently seems aware of in how she designed this workout.

Violet’s website suggests “Cardio Kick,” also from Acacia, will soon be out too…can’t wait!

5 Stars My new favorite workout!
Violet Zaki is one of my favorite video instructors and she really hit this one out of the park. The workouts are fun and innovative. I love that she switches up the cardio and doesn’t repeat the same intervals over and over. It keeps the workout exciting and doesn’t allow you to drift off.

In addition to the great workouts, the chaptering is fantastic. You have the choice of doing everything (warm up, both routines and cool down), or you can pick just one workout, or you can pick either workout with warm up and cool down. The options are already broken out for you so there’s no fiddling around to program your set.

Each routine includes strength with cardio intervals and she uses combination moves for double duty effect. Some of these moves are more on the intermediate/advanced side and require good balance, but there is a background exerciser who uses modifications throughout so even someone relatively new to exercise should be able to follow along. I love the yoga-influenced cool down; it’s 9 wonderful minutes of stretching and letting go. (Note: The cardio sculpt workouts are about 20 minutes long so adding the warm up and cool down make for a longer, approx. 30 minute, workout.)

There’s also a bonus abs routine. Again, she doesn’t disappoint. It’s around 8 minutes and includes some (optional) weighted work as well as toe dips (a personal favorite) and ends with a nice little stretch. Included with the bonus features is a 5-minute preview of the Weight Loss Pilates workout. It’s probably one of the most useful previews I’ve come across as it makes a nice little add-on to the abs.

Zaki manages to be tough but encouraging. Her warmth and personality really shine through and, IMO, she is unmatched at creating challenging, yet doable, workouts.

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10 Minute Solution Carb and Calorie Burner

Want to burn carbs but no time to exercise? We have the solution for you – the 10 Minute Solution! Everyone can find at least 10 minutes in their day and we’ve developed five super effective, carb-blasting workouts, each only 10 minutes. Instructor Michelle Dozois has designed the segments so that you can utilize each individually, or mix and match the sets to create a completely custom workout. Or you can put all five sets together for an incredible 50-minute carb burning bonanza.

SLOW and STEADY BURN This is cardio at its best – easy-to-follow-, fun and effective! By keeping your heartrate and exertion level at an elevated, yet comfortable pace for the entire 10 minutes, you’ll blast away carbs and feel great.

CARB KILLER Using kickboxing moves to knock-out extra carbs and calories, this routine really maximizes your weight loss efforts. Don’t worry if you’re not a seasoned kickboxer…the moves are easy-to-follow and inspiring!

POWER BLAST Get ready for a high energy, high power workout! This segment uses explosive yet controlled movements to really rev up your body’s carb-burning engine. Feel the power…Feel the burn!

INTERVAL BURN It’s back to basics with this 10 Minute segment. No nonsense, boot camp-inspired exercises are used to increase your muscular endurance and strength. You’ll take your heartrate up and down throughout several intervals – a proven technique to really demolish those carbs and calories.

METABOLISM BOOSTER This unique segment will keep you burning carbs and calories long AFTER your workout is over! The secret is incorporating weights. By using light hand weights, you’ll build lean muscle to increase your metabolism and burn more carbs, faster than ever before.

BONUS CARB CONVERSION CHART INSIDE This effective “cheat sheet” outlines the 10 Minute workout you need to do to burn off the carbs in everyday food items like bread, chips, pasta and even chocolate! Author and Nutrition expert, Cindy Whitmarsh of “Ultrafit Nutrition Systems”, also gives 5 super effective tips on how to stave off carb cravings, AND 10 totally simple substitutions to replace “bad” carbs in your diet with good carbs – without compromising flavor!

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars NOT for beginners
I knew this DVD would be challenging…

Well, just watching it made me short of breath. This is definitely not for the beginner. I am significantly overweight, but young and pretty healthy otherwise. I ordered a balance ball kit—LOVE IT, and a pedal exerciser to use at work—another good choice. I got this DVD to mix it up and get a good cardio workout a couple times a week. Well, it’s going to be awhile before I even attempt these workouts. It’s very discouraging, and sometimes dangerous to try and work beyond your fitness level.

4 Stars Format could be much better, but decent workout
This DVD has some interesting exercise combinations, but the format leaves something to be desired.

The explanation of each workout should be in a separate intro section. She simply stands during each intro and there is also a lot of standing around between exercises within each workout (every second counts when a workout only lasts 10 minutes).

A separate warm-up and cool-down segment would have been much better than including these in each segment. In one of the segments she has you bending your neck to the sides much too quickly if you are doing these workouts only.

There is no on-screen countdown timer.

The last two workouts are the best if you want a lower-impact workout, and they also have an abs component to them. The other three have much more jumping, squatting, and pivoting, so if you have knee issues or just don’t like bouncing around, you will need to modify them somewhat.

As far as the customizing feature, once you got to your last workout choice, you could not just chapter back to any other workout (at least, not on my computer), so you might be better off just hitting “play all”, and just chapter forward and back as you wish.

Any of these would be a decent add-on to a shorter workout. As far as whether they stand alone as separate workouts, well, the last two workouts might, but as to the first three, they are comparable to power walking.

3.7 stars.

5 Stars Great one to have in rotation
I bought this because of its good user reviews, and have been really pleased with it. The only negative review I read was that the moves were too fast, and there’s some truth to this, so if you have knee issues, do proceed with caution. But the pace was a bonus for me, because it added some mechanical challenge to the warmups and workouts that meant I had to do a little modification at first – but quickly found I was able to zip through at speed after a few goes. So, that’s a measurable improvement and makes the pace a plus for me.

The different segments offer a good spread of options. I haven’t done the interval/bootcamp-based segment hardly at all, as it’s a little advanced for my current fitness level – but I’m really glad it’s there since I am getting fitter and expect to start using that segment soon. I use 30 or 40 minute combinations of the ‘Slow and Steady’, ‘Power Blast’ and ‘Carb Killer’ (kickbox-based) segments to get a mentally easy, physically challenging cardio workout in, but her resistance segment is good, too. I have liked Michelle Dozois in the past, for being perky but intelligent, a good cue-er (sp?) and kind of dancy and infectious, and she’s definitely good in this workout.

4 Stars 10 minute solution
I am a 51 year old woman that has not exercised in a while. I found that this video was a fantastic way to get back into the groove of exercising without feeling overwhelmed. Thank you!

4 Stars Good variety and challenging
I bought this to have segmented blocks of exercise to add to circuit training and this is a nice DVD for that. I appreciate that each segment is very different from one another and that you can tailor it to you specific fitness level.

Seg 1 is great for getting into the workout mood through steady exercise and heart rate elevation. Advanced fitness types will find that this probably doesnt quiet get them into their HRM but increase the movements and you’ll be fine.

Seg 2 has easy to learn/complete kickbox movements. Nothing too fancy but enough to keep your heart rate steady (not really an energizing segment)

Seg 3 has polymetrics, lunges and hops, so if you have bad knees, try alternatives to decrease pressure. Great blast in the middle of the workout.

Seg 4 has good use of interval training but the word bootcamp is a mis-title- nothing boot camp about it .. at least we didnt do this in our bootcamp but none the less it has challenging moves.

Seg 5, 3-5 lbs weights are good for this section or no weights at all are find too.

You have 3-play options: All in order at one time w/o having to manually advance/fwd; Organize your own or play 1-at a time.

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