MTV Yoga DVD - Pretty Cool Idea, Pretty Good Workout

I'm too old for MTV. But am I? This DVD does it MTV way - BT Music (like upbeat lounge music), a posh background (New York's Man Ray - never heard of it though), a hip instructor (Kristin McGee), and a narrator from The Real World (never saw that one).

THE WORKOUT
This workout is supposedly an upbeat, faster form of Yoga. Compared to my only other Yoga experience at a Yoga place, this is definately quicker and less meditative form. I found the poses helpful towards my posture and some were really hard to hold. The DVD was a good combination of easy and challenging poses.

One aspect I particularly liked was the instructor's constant reminders to breathe, and how to breathe. Usually this is overlooked, but I found it important and was glad she kept up with the practice of reminding us throughout the entire DVD.

Another aspect I liked was how there was variation with the poses themselves. In addition to the narrator doing the workout, there are two other people: one who is an intermediate yoga person, and the other, on an advanced level. So this DVD can be useful to both beginners and more advanced Yoga followers.

One drawback, however, is that sometimes the instructions are hard to understand and when you look at the video, they aren't showing enough of the pose for you to do it right. The camera pans to other things or other areas which I found was unhelpful. The good thing was that in the Special Features section, some of the poses are performed and the camera angle there is such that you can watch how the pose really looks like from a side view and not a frontal view.

EQUIPMENT NEEDED
You should get a Yoga mat in order to do this workout. I tried using a towel on hardwood floors and it kept rolling around, which got very annoying quickly. A Yoga mat should run you about $20 at your local Target or Kohl's.

The instructor also mentions the use of blocks during one part of the DVD for two poses, but I wouldn't invest in them unless it's not that much more than the mat. Just use some hardcover textbooks and you'll be fine.

THE RESULTS
I just started using this DVD and plan on using it more. I felt that the exercises really strengthened my body, as my abs and some of my limbs were sore the next day, for a few days. This DVD will probably help my stamina and flexibility a lot, and I am excited to use it more often!

THE BOTTOM LINE
I bought this DVD for about $12.00 on Amazon.com. I would have paid up to $15.00 for this DVD since I really enjoyed it.

*UPDATE AS OF NOVEMBER 30, 2004!*
Wow!!! I've been using this DVD pretty regularly and I will end up buying all the rest of the Kristin McGee DVDs. Since I began, I can now perform many of the more difficult moves posed in the DVD, and my entire body feels refreshed afterwards. Also, I feel my muscles are stronger. There are some really great stretches in here, and overall this was money well spent.