Workout with hand weights - See results in 4 weeks

I am going to the beach in a couple of weeks and the last thing that I need is abs of flab. I chose this workout to tone up my abs which I assumed would be focused on the most in this workout since it's the most obvious feature when wearing a bikini.

Equipment Needed
Hand weights are required for this workout. The complete workout is done with weights so pass on this DVD if you won’t be using weights. Hand weights can be purchased for just a few dollars anywhere that sells fitness equipment like Walmart, Target or Sears. They use dumbell hand weights in this workout and recommend 2-5 pounds.

Setting
The entire workout was shot a the Las Alamandas resort on the Mexican Riviera. The instructor and 2 demonstrators stood on a wood platform on the beach with the waves in the background as the ocean in the background as the scenery. I was worried at first because there’s no way that we’d be able to hear the instructor competing over the ocean and background music but it turned out okay with the sound quality being comparable to other workouts.

The Workout
The instructor points out that we will be toning our muscles and that it would not be possible for us to build bulk because females don’t have the hormones needed to build bulk.

It is recommended that the workout be done 2 to 3 times a week to see a lean and firm body within 4 weeks. The instructor recommends loosing weight to reveal the muscles which entails a regular cardiovascular workout and a healthy balanced diet.

The workout consisted of a 2 minute warm-up, 28 minute workout, and a 2 minute cool down. The warm up was actually effective giving the body a nice interesting and effective stretch.

The weights were incorporated as soon as the warm up was completed. We began with the upper body which meant a lot of movements with the arms. They were extending movements rather than repetitions like a bicep curl. This meant that our muscles would be surprised with the movement and I thought was even easier to do than traditional reps. There were some variations of squats and pleas.

The lower body workout had some jumping and balancing as wells as a little leg work followed by a short cool down.

There is a 5 minute bonus Pilates Abs workout on the DVD. The instructor is alone in this workout and does a few exercises that focus only on the abs such as a diamond crunch, dropping legs down working the obliques, and a variation on sit ups.

How was the instructor
The instructor in this workout is Ellen Barrett. You may recognize her name for the Crunch Pilates series. She’s a certified and qualified instructor who has been in the industry awhile. She did a lot of talking however it wasn’t random chatter. I didn’t sense any enthusiasm at all which reflected in my lack of enthusiasm for the workout. She was very articulate and explained the movements, was good at calling out movement changes, and said some occasional motivational comments.

After the workout she is shown sitting in a chair discussing how to loose weight and look fit with accurate and realistic information. One of the most important thing that she mentions is that the weight will come off equally, you can’t spot reduce.

Other
I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a workout that had advertising in it. This was sponsored by Self, Reebok, Fruit of the Loom, and the Las Alamandas resort. The workout started with advertisements but they were entertaining.

Who would enjoy this workout?
The overview that I read indicated that this was for all fitness levels however I strongly disagree. I feel that only a beginner would enjoy doing this workout multiple times. I do a couple workouts every week and didn’t feel like this was challenging at all. I enjoyed the workout however I personally would be too bored to do it for 4 weeks regardless of the results. I also feel that if it wasn’t challenging now then it won’t be effective to do for 4 weeks unless I increase the weights.

This was a standing workout which I always prefer. There is only one floor exercise which is a push up.

My Experience
I question how this is going to prepare me for my swimsuit because I felt that nearly the entire workout was geared to upper body specifically the arms which is absolutely the least of my concerns when in a bikini. When was the last time you want to the beach and said, oh look at her arms? This is simply not the target area that I or anyone that I see on the beach needs to be working on.

Indeed weight conditioning helps build muscles which burn more fat however the biggest muscle in our body is the butt, why not concentrate on that for both bikini and weight loss? There were only a few exercises that worked the rear and thighs and I didn't feel like I was putting any effort in that area at all. I guess my biggest complaint is that the lower body wasn’t focused on lacking particularly on sculpting the rump. Sure there are squats but I expected and wanted more.

I felt like my heart rate was elevated however I was never struggling or out of breath. I imagine that since this uses weights it would be a better calorie burner than many other workouts.

I used 2 pound weights because that’s all that I had. One of the demonstrators on the set was using 5 pound weights which I would probably move up to after a few sessions. I think this would be a great workout with more than 2 pounds because they don’t seem as heavy in this workout. We’re not doing repetitions like lifting weights.

I agree that this is an effective resistance workout and I think that the flowing movements are more effective for me than traditional repetitions. I didn’t feel like I was working my muscles at all while doing the movements however did notice that my arms were exerted after the workout. I felt wonderful and invigorated after the workout however was ready to continue on with exercising. I think a 28 minute workout is too short for my plan however would fit in nicely on busy day.

The DVD claims that you will be ready to hit the beach in just 4 weeks in your new bikini but I wouldn’t get your hopes up.

Overall
I think this is a great weighted workout for the upper body which is a better choice at burning calories than other workouts however if you want to tone anything other than the arms and shoulders you’ll have to get another routine. I think this should produce some visible results in 4 weeks to get you toned but but I'm skeptical about the bikini!