Search - The Lotte Berk Method: High Round Assets on DVD

High Round Assets

vitality05 | North Dakota | 10/12/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I absolutely LOVE the Lotte Berk Method. I started doing them about 6 weeks ago and I've seen great results, along with The Firm, Tae-Bo, and a sensible diet. I've lost weight, increased my strenth, and those aren't even the best parts. The best thing for me is that in the first week of using this DVD, High Round Assets, I lost an inch off each thigh! My legs are my problem area. I'm an intermediate/advanced exerciser and even with the most strict dieting and advanced leg workouts (Like The Firm: Standing Legs) I hadn't seen ANY inch-loss off my thighs in over a year. But, High Round Assets helped me a lot. This DVD is great for slimming your lower body. It has a nine-minute warm-up that focuses on strengthening your upper body and stretching, about 20 minutes of muscle-killing standing/lying down isometric exercises that focus on the glutes and hamstrings. It wraps things up with "Shape By Stretch", where you stretch the parts you worked for elongated, shapely muscles.Again, I have to say that I absolutely love HRA. I use it every other day. It's great! I recommend it to any person who bulks up easily when weight training. This will slim you! Good luck!"

Small, precise movements target the glute area

Beth Cholette | Upstate NY USA | 03/16/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Lotte Berk Method is a form of exercise developed by Russian dancer Lotte Berk and brought to America by Lydia Bach. Drawing from dance and other similar disciplines, many of the exercises require the use of a ballet barre, and the focus is on making small, precise movements to facilitate the development of long, lean muscles. As the title suggests, High Round Assets particularly targets the muscles in the glute area with the goal of creating a higher and firmer behind.

Like all of the Lotte Berk videos, this workout begins with high knee lifts to warm up. Instructor Kristen Lilley leads two other Lotte Berk instructors, one of whom shows modifications and one of whom uses a wall (actually a column in this case) instead of a barre. Also included in the warm up are push-ups: 2 sets of 10 on your knees, and then 2 sets of 10 "reverse" push-ups, performed with your hands behind you and your chest up to switch the work to the triceps. After the warm up, the workout moves to the barre for several sets of leg lifts. Beginning with a straight leg, you lift your leg behind you and make small, slow lifts upward for 2 sets of 10; the next 2-3 sets are performed more quickly. After repeating on the other side, you then do a bent leg version, again starting with slow lifts and progressing to quicker lifts. This focus on doing only a couple of different exercises with a very high number of repetitions is different from the other Lotte Berk videos, but I found it to be more effective. However, like the other videos, there is an emphasize on stretching, so you always perform stretches between the movements.

After the barre work, it's on to the floor for "back dancing," which is basically a series of pelvic tilts done while lying on your back. These moves are performed a variety of ways, including emphasizing one side only and placing your feet into different positions, but you are constantly moving with no breaks inbetween. The workout ends as all the LBM videos do with a "Shape by Stretch" section in which you perform hamstring and other stretches. At 31 minutes, this is a short, efficient workout for targeting your glutes; mine were definitely sore the next day! I found the instructor, Kristen, to be more tolerable than some of the other Lotte Berk instructors, but the style of these videos might not appeal to everyone, especially since the exercises are quite repetitive. However, I would recommend this workout to anyone looking for an effective means of making the most of their "assets.""

Great for Toning

T. Merrill | Phoenix, AZ USA | 02/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a half hour long and has excellent toning exercises. I worked muscles I didn't know were there - and I felt it the next day. The instructor is easy to follow, she shows you everything once before you do it. You have to pay attention to watch your form and you'll get a great workout. And there is no equipment to buy!"

Great alternative to squats and lunges that really targets t

SapphireMoon | USA | 01/21/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is perhaps my favorite of the 4 Lotte Berk Method DVDs, as is the instructor, Kristen, who in my opinion comes across as the most engaging and down-to-earth of the LBM video instructors.

If you're familiar with The Bar Method exercises, the exercises perfomed in "Lotte Berk Method: High Round Assets" are quite similar to the seat/glutes exercise segments in "The Bar Method: Fat Free" DVD - but with some variations nonetheless. The first portion of exercises for the glutes are performed standing up while using a ballet barre for support (a sturdy tall-back chair will work). You work in small, precise movements while staying deep in the muscle, as well as performing isometic holds and pulses. These exercises are very tough and you definitely feel it working. The lying exercises consists of Pelvic Tilts with some variations that not only work your buttocks, but also your inner and outer thighs, lower abs and back. In fact, I used this DVD the day after I'd done a tough abdomnial exercise that left my lower back very sore. The pelvic tilt, which is also an ortheopedic back exercise, helped to sooth and stretch it out, and by the next day my lower back pain was gone!

There are a few things about this DVD and the exercises contained therin which make it especially great. First of all, This DVD is only 30 minutes long. The exercises are not only non-impact, but from my own experience, they more effectively target and shape the buttocks than squats or lunges do, which although work the glutes some, tend to work the legs (especially quads) a lot more. Therefore, I like to alternate these type of exercises with squats/lunges and usually do either this DVD or one of TBM DVDs in combination with an aerobics DVD on cardio or light days.

As with all exercise methods of this nature (Lotte Berk Method, The Bar Method, Callenetics), these exercises become more challenging as one progresses. I would definitely consider this to be an intermediate level workout, as true beginners may be better to start with "Lotte Berk Method: Basic Essentials" before moving on to this one.

Rating: Excellent"