Search - American Gladiators Ultimate Workout on DVD

Out of my entire fitness dvd collection, this was the funnie

A. Chandler | Austin, TX | 09/18/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This seemed like a unique and original workout idea so, as someone who likes to rotate my workouts from stacks and stacks of fitness dvds, I added this one to the mix when it went on sale...because I'm a sucker for something new that invigorates my workout routine. :-)

I wanted to like it, I did...I tried to...

Positives:
cool set with lots going on.
Likeable enough instructors, good quality of camera shooting and clear angles.
Clearly, the instructors work out a lot themselves.
You can add 2 or more workouts together, which you'll need to as it measured low on calorie burn (more on that later.)

MUSIC:
I'm sorry but I am reaching to find anything else...
(thinking....thinking.... hmmmm) ok, now onto the negatives...
First, I've never in my life heard music like this for a fitness dvd. It is literally the same 4 beats, in the same sequence, over and over and over and over.
da da ba bum, da da ba bum, da da ba bum...and I'm not picky about music either but it got to the point where that's all you could concentrate on...because it was over and over and over. Not music here...er, rhythm perhaps?

TEAM:
Second, I don't think they ever rehearsed this or did it together before. Here's my favorite part to share...I did this with a couple of girlfriends and we literally at one point started laughing so hard we couldn't stop. This is what made me feel like it was a Saturday night live skit...okay so we said nothing about the men in the silver leotards, we were cool with that...and I'll admit we got a little choked up when Titan came on and started talking about himself in the third person "Titan likes to do it this way. This is Titan's favorite workout". And now that I mention it, we even got past the fact our instructors had names like Titan and Wolf...but when they started doing the cardio routine and running into each other and at many points were all doing something totally different at the same time and totally out of sync while carrying on various conversations you couldn't piece together since they were talking at once...that was it. We had to hit "pause" and laugh.

Now, I know they are doing their best and they are on a tv show and not fitness gurus...I'll give em that, but it's just so painfully obvious, that it almost hurts to watch during the cardio routine. Too, it felt as though they were making up what they were gonna do next as they went. Very basic things you could actually just do on your own without the purchase of the dvd for this part...jumping jacks, punching the air, jogging, fake jumping rope, jumping jacks again... really it's cardio without the benefit of using your muscles as much as you would in other cardio routines.

CUEING:
I normally touch on the cueing but, for the first time on a fitness dvd, I can honestly say there was none needed. Because there wasn't a whole lot going on...just running in place, jumping jacks, etc.

CALORIC BURN: S
I'm a weight loss coach so I also monitor myself. I own a bodybugg and electronic display to measure my daily caloric burn; this also allows me to measure the exactl calories burn in a workout or fitness dvd as well as the calories it burns per minute or how much it increases continued caloric burn after the workout, such as with strength training. I mention this only so you know I base what I say on scientific measurement rather than perceived exertion. Sometimes a fitness dvd that doesn't seem hard actually burns lots of calories or, as with a good strength training, continues the metabolic burn long after the workout is over, so I like to measure and rate how they do on caloric burn.This one, was low, very low, for the time spent doing it. In fact, although everyone's calorie burn will be different depending upon your muscle mass, height, weight, etc, this for me was one of my lowest calorie burning workouts out of my collection.

WARM UP: none to speak of. About a minute of stretching. Not a safe thing, especially when going right into strength

INSTRUCTION
: The worst part, aside from the music (and again elevator music works fine for me; I'm not picky here...but the same 4 beats over and over the whole time is like fingers down a chalkboard after 10 minutes.) If you are a beginner, there is a high chance of injury because the most important and most common points of instruction are never given like not letting your knees go past your toes during squats, or things that make the results work better aren't mentioned, like holding in your stomach during certain moves.

That said, Wolf did the best instruction on the dvd. He did mention how to not strain your neck at one point and he was more clear on how to do arm moves with accuracy.

ANOTHER FUNNY MOMENT: The ab workout was 3 minutes long and Titan says "now you can't just begin working out; you need to eat right too when you do this. You need to start eating more and eat every three hours." While I have no doubt his OWN trainer may have shared that advice to him due to his massive build and daily regime, burning an extra 100 calories a day on this dvd even if you did it daily would have little effect on someone who then began eating more...other than getting fatter. Unless it was more lettuce only. He spoke as though this was a true body building workout but that was the other thing...he then says "this is an advanced move" and is simply sitting on the floor bending from side to side. Advanced for whom? Just sayin'.

though it offered little instruction as I mentioned on how to do things, it wasn't a hard workout at all. You'll build more muscle and burn more calories with one of the Biggest Loser dvds. Well, most other strength and cardio dvds to be honest. And I say that because I did and I measured it's caloric expenditure as well...but this is too soft for an intermediate or advanced exerciser...so if you already know how to do the moves and do the moves safely, you've already progressed past this dvd. If you are a beginner, you may get injured or get few results due to lack of concise instruction.

TARGET HEART RATE:
My heart rate did not enter the target zone for fat burning.

BUT YOU STILL MAY LIKE IT:
Still, if you are perhaps an American Gladiators fan and having a hard time getting motivated, this may fit the bill for you and ANY workout routine that does that is a good one for the right person. Thus, I had to give it some stars.

And, it will help you giggle some when watching it at how unrehearsed and, frankly, a little unprofessional it feels if you are used to working out with fitness dvds that truly pump you up and get you moving. Name me one other exercise dvd where one instructor bends over and the one behind him yells "ooo! Nice view!" And I like to laugh so I just may keep it. It sure mixes things up...as long as I turn down the volume and put on some background music."