Search - Your Body Breakthru: Rockin Body Cardio on DVD

An intense but fun cardio workout

Beth Cholette | Upstate NY USA | 12/30/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Rockin' Body Cario Jam is part of Michelle Dozois' Your Body Breakthru series, which also includes two other workouts, one strength and one circuit. The circuit workout was the first one I tried, and I loved it, as it combined short, fun cardio segments with toning intervals which included both dumbbells and band work. While I didn't like this workout quite as much--some of the cardio moves were a bit "fussy" to me, requiring a bit of a learning curve--overall, it's still a fun and intense cardio workout. The DVD Main Menu offers the following options: Full Workout, Express Workout, Chapters, Testimonials, More on Your Body Breakthru, Michelle's personal message, and Contact. The Full Workout is 51 minutes and consists of a warm-up, six cardio intervals, and a cool-down, while the Express Workout provides a shorter (30 minutes) version of this. No equipment is needed for this workout.

The 5-minute aerobic warm-up consists of simple choreography, gradually adding more movement and concluding with about 30 seconds of dynamic stretching. Each cardio chapter is about 6-7 minutes long. As she does in the circuit workout, Michelle gradually builds on the moves, starting with footwork, then adding arm movements, and also incorporating some higher impact here and there (one of the four background exercisers always shows low-impact modifications). She alternates right and left lead, moving through each choreographed series a total of four times. The exercise are quite similar in feel to the cardio moves on the circuit workout: they tend to be more athletic, with lots of knee lifts plus some kicks and punches, but there are also a few more dancey moves as well. As with the warm-up, the 5.5 minute cool-down is choreographed, gradually reducing the heart rate and then ending with about 1.5 minutes of stretching. The Express workout includes the warm-up, Cardio chapters 1, 3, and 5, and the cool-down.

All of Michelle's background exercisers in the Body Breakthru series are from her classes, and their stories are featured in the testimonials section. They are quite inspiring, as is Michelle's "personal message," which details her struggles as the mother of an autistic son (the DVD case indicates that it is "Promoting Autism Awareness"). I consider myself to be an advanced intermediate exerciser, and I found this workout to be suitably challenging; although modifications are offered, I think that beginning exercisers might have trouble keeping up with Michelle's fast pace here. Similarly, the choreography of this workout is a little more complicated than in Michelle's circuit workout, which might leave some users a bit frustrated, especially since Michelle's cueing sometimes falls a little late. Overall, however, I think that this is a solid cardio workout for intermediates and above, and I give it a final rating of 4 1/2 stars."

Excellent workout!

E. Jarecka | Germany | 11/06/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having done another workout from this series ( Circuit ) I just couldn't wait for the Amazon release and ordered it from another internet shop. I expected a great exercise routine and I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed.
It is a creative, fun but at the same time tough workout ( warm-up, 6 different routines and cool-down ). Michelle Dozois is encouraging and cheerful without sounding silly. I consider myself to be an advanced exerciser & got a great workout, but it is easy for beginners or intermediates ( or if you have bad knees ) to modify. What I find especially motivating about the whole series is that the women in the background are not fitness models, they are 'normal' people who improved their figure doing this routines. GREAT DVD!"

Another great workout from Michelle :-0

Little Miss Cutey | Melbourne, Australia | 05/05/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Michelle Dozois is an excellent instructor. She's very outgoing, friendly and cues well. She's not over the top and she's motivating which is essential if you want to stick to using dvd's like these to get fit.
In this workout, there are six complete cardio intervals that each use very different moves. All of them start out slow and then work up to a burst where it's all out. I find the moves very easy to follow along with because they aren't too dancy or difficult to do. There are the pony steps, lunges and kickboxing to name a few so they are probably all familiar. It's geared for intermediates and I could see how advanced exercisers may not find this challenging enough. I'm between intermediate and advanced and I find this easy to do, yet it's enough to keep my heart rate up from start to finish.
Michelle is a great cuer; you always know what's coming up next and I really enjoy this workout. I highly recommend it if you want interval training and as long as you aren't a complete beginner or extreme advanced exerciser. I love this."

Only So-So

New Mama | Bethlehem, PA | 04/13/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I really like Michelle, but was disappointed by this one. I had a hard time working up a sweat and found little opportunity to up the intensity to make the workout more difficult. I only consider myself to be an intermediate exerciser. I think this is a great cardio choice for beginners or low/intermediates.

I will say that I had lots of fun with it. The moves were creative and very enjoyable. I really wasn't bored. I just happen to know of some much better, more intesnse workouts to fit in to just under an hour.

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