Search - Mia St. John's Million Dollar Workout: Basic Training on DVD

Shannon Y. (kawehilani) from KING GEORGE, VA
Reviewed on 10/25/2008...

Fun workout great way to sweat it out while having a good time.

1 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.

Enjoyable, challenging and effective

Zakhary Alper | California | 12/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have many workouts on DVDs and this is one of my most favorite ones. Firstly, Mia is pleasant to look at - that helps to elevate the interest in following this DVD and staying with the workout. Secondly she has dynamite well-built body - that adds to the credibility of this workout. Thirdly it is fun. And finally and most importantly it really delivers the workout that makes you sweat and works seemingly every muscle in your body. I especially loved the abs section. It is unlike any other abs routine I've tried before. There is punching involved as you do abs. Because now there is a "purpose" to doing abs - to land a punch - rather than mindlessly contracting abs, the abs routine is intense, game like, and intuitively facilitates a correct form."

Great addition to my workout dvd collection!

Eden Robinson | 07/07/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Pros:
- Mia's attitude. She's got the perfect amount of "tough love" without being a drill sergeant. She's got the perfect amount of optimism without being your typical annoying workout video instructor.

- The people. This may sound superficial, but the appearance of the instructor and the students is important. Too buff or too skinny can be intimidating. In the dvd, there are 4 people total: Mia, two women, and a man. Mia is obviously buff, but in a realistic way. The two other women look like normal, healthy women who workout on a regular basis. The man is a total buff "Ken doll" type, but as a woman I'm watching the other women anyways.

- Length. The workout (not including the 3 minute ab section) is 30 minutes, which is perfect for my schedule.

- The warmup. The warmup is only 5 minutes long, and it's good solid cardio with some stretching and punching.

- Variety of movement. There are four "rounds", each lasting about 6-7 minutes. Each round is made of minute long segments during which you practice one move (e.g. left leg roundhouse kick for 30 sec, then right leg roundhouse kick for 30 sec). After each round, there's a one minute speed round, when you practice some of the moves you did at a faster pace. There's a lot of variety, and the minute for each movement flies by. The last segment is an abs segment, where you do 3 ab exercises for about a minute each: crunches with punches, leg lifts, and bicycles.

Cons:
- Jumping rope used for warmup. For the cardio part of the warmup, Mia and one of the students uses a jumping rope (the others just jump). As someone who has sensitive knees, this alone would've made me frustrated and disappointed. However I recently purchased a rebounder/mini trampoline ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BKV0AI/ref=ox_ya_oh_product ) which I use regularly. Naturally, I jump on the trampoline when Mia uses the jumping rope.

- Setting. This is purely a personal taste thing. The dvd was filmed in a gym, in a boxing ring. At first, I found it a little dreary, but I soon got so completely into the workout that I didn't notice the setting anymore.

- "Beginner" student rarely on camera. There's probably less than 10 shots where the beginner student is actually on camera. Although the only time she's doing anything different than the others is during the speed rounds, she does the moves at normal pace. This didn't really affect me, as I'm not a beginner and was able to keep up with Mia for most of the dvd. During some of the kicking speed rounds I went at my own pace, but I obviously didn't need to see the beginner student to do that.

- Volume. I don't know whether my computer speakers are dying, but the volume was super low, even at maximum volume. It's still audible, but I wish I could get it to be louder. But like I said, that may just be a problem with my computer speakers.

- Lack of focus on form. This is a kickboxing workout video with very little instruction on form and posture. For me, this is a positive thing, because I've studied martial arts and kickboxing for several years so I like workouts that get right into the moves without too much explanation. However, a complete beginner may feel overwhelmed.

Overall, the dvd is fabulous and I highly recommend it!!!"