Hot and Flirty Fitness with Dulcinea Hellings

Time:  47:20
Equipment needed:  Exercise mat

This was so campy and so much fun. Nothing too outrageous and my teenaged daughter didn't come out of her room while I was doing it, which saved me the embarrassment and her telling me that I'm crazy. lol. It was just what I needed to get my muscles warmed up and feeling good after waking up very sore.

BeFit Go 10 Minute Ab Burner Workout

Time:  10:37
Equipment needed:  Exercise mat

Don't waste your time with this workout.  I've done far more challenging and better 10 minute ab workouts than this one.  They're trying to fit too many moves into a short period of time and there's no time in between each exercise to get your body set-up for the next one.

The BeFit YouTube Channel has some great workouts.  This isn't one of them.

Strength 101: Biceps and Triceps

Time:  46:30
Equipment needed:  Dumbbells and Exercise mat

When choosing dumbbells for this workout pick one set that will challenge both your biceps and triceps.  Dulci does a lot of combo moves that work both muscles in the exercise and there is no time to change weights.  I used a set of 5 lb dumbbells throughout the workout.  I would be better off using 8 lb dumbbells for biceps and 5 lb dumbbells for triceps but this workout is not set-up in a way that allows for changes in weights.

Dulci also does some lower body work and some cardio in this workout, too.  I like that her workouts, even when specifically targeting a certain set of muscle groups, combine the whole body.  I think that allows for a more well-rounded workout.

I can easily get bored with weight-training, so I like that Dulci did the combo moves and added in the lower-body and cardio.  It kept the pace moving along quickly and kept me from getting bored and before I knew it, it was over and done.

Belly Dance Lesson & Workout

Time:  59:37
Equipment needed:  None

I did this workout yesterday but put off doing the review for too long and then lost interest in doing it.  So I'm sticking it into today's reviews.  I've struggled with procrastination my whole life.  It's something I'm working on changing.  If it's something you struggle with, too, I understand.  We'll work on changing it together.  :)

I really enjoyed this video.  It is a belly dance lesson but it takes strength and control to do the movements correctly, so you'll get a good workout, too.  I think Melissa does a good job of teaching the basics of the movements while still keeping the pace of the class moving along.  Like she said, no one is going to get these movements down the first time they do them.  It takes repetitive practice to fine tune and really feel comfortable in the movements.

I found the hip drop practice pretty fun.  Have you ever tried to squeeze each individual butt cheek separately and then repetitively back and forth?  It's hard.  I also really like the bit of choreography she has us do towards the end of the video.  That was a lot of fun.

The video does cut off abruptly at the end while doing the shoulder isolations.  I would have liked to have had the entire class recorded but what she has here, available for free, is generous and very good.

Abs You Didn't Know You Had Workout

Time:  48:50
Equipment needed:  Exercise mat

This is another fabulous workout by Dulci Hellings.  She named it Sexercise Core Endurance Training but I renamed it the Abs You Didn't Know You Had Workout. The entire 48 minutes is focused on some form of ab training with a little bit of arm work and cardio thrown in.  I did modify the full roll the second time around and did another style of pilates roll but other than that, the only other thing I modified were the jumpy-type cardio moves.  I just did something similar without the jumping.

Kickboxing Ballet Fusion Workout

Time:  28:57
Equipment needed:  None

Oh, yes, I loved this workout!  Kickboxing and ballet are two of my favorite ways to workout and having them fused together into one workout is so super duper.  You'll get both cardio and toning in this workout because of the pace and the control needed to do many of the exercises.  I wore shoes because of my gimpy feet but if you don't have to wear shoes, then don't.  There's also a place where she's doing some scissor jacks.  I just modified them so that I wouldn't be jumping off the floor.

If you like the music track she's using you can download it and other free workout tracks from MotionTraxx.  I've linked it up for you so that you won't have to type it in yourself.

Strength 101: Chest and Back

Time:  40:43
Equipment needed:  Set of dumbbells for your fitness level.

I used 5 lb dumbbells throughout this workout.  They were a little tough in spots but I just pushed through because any lighter wouldn't have challenged me and when our muscles aren't challenged, they don't change.  I could have used heavier weights on the chest exercises and will make a note to do that in the future.

Most of this workout focuses on the opposing muscle groups of the chest and upper back.  Dulci throws in abs and lower back at the end of the workout.  Mixed in with this workout is a bit of cardio with jumping jacks (do modified jacks if you shouldn't be jumping) and some stretching.

Flat Abs Walk with Jessica Smith

Time:  40:32
Equipment needed:  None

After feeling like I didn't get enough ab work yesterday, it was nice to get the extra standing ab conditioning during this walking workout.  I very much like fusion-type workouts where different exercises are combined to work two things at once.  In this instance it's cardio and ab work that's been combined.

I really like Jessica Smith's workouts and you will be seeing more of them here on the site in the future.

"Cardio-Lates" Fusion Workout with Dulcinea Hellings

Time:  45:50
Equipment needed:  Exercise mat

This was my first workout of the day.  It was a nice way to get warmed up and stretched out before doing the Janis Saffell Kickbox for Weight Loss video.  This is the second video of Dulci's that I've done but I've watched a few others and I find her down-to-earth and quite funny.  She's not perfect and I like that about her.

This video is mostly pilates moves with a little bit of cardio added in.  I modified the cardio moves so that they weren't jumpy or jarring.  Exercising with plantar fasciitis is a challenge but it is doable with modifications, good shoes, and proper inserts for extra support.

There are quite a few different style back rolls in this video so be sure you have a good mat.  I have to double up on mats to make sure I have enough squish under me.  I've bruised my back before doing back rolls, so I know what can happen if the mat isn't thick enough.

I'll be doing more of Dulci's videos very soon, so stay tuned for those reviews.  :)

FigureRobics by Jung Dayeon: Figure Mat

Time:  36:44
Equipment needed:  Exercise mat

Like her other workouts I've reviewed here, the only thing in English is the counting, but the workout is super easy to follow so I don't find that to be an issue.  The exercises here are pretty "old school" compared to what's popular right now but I kind-of like that because there's nothing awkward about the movements and they work.  This makes it easy to focus on the breath and the contractions.  I really enjoyed this lower-body and abdominal mat workout.  It's always nice to be able to give my feet a break and still get a good workout.

25-Minute Low-impact Walking Workout

Time:  26:42
Equipment needed:  None

To be fair, this workout had some good moves but there are so many things I didn't like about it.  First and my biggest issue with it is that whomever is working the camera sucks!  They kept zooming in and out and moving back and forth.  It was so disorienting and so very unprofessional.  Yes, it's an amature workout video but they should have just set the camera in one place and left it there.  Then there was the fact that she did this on her porch.  Nice back yard but you can hear almost every step.

About half way through the video I just turned her down and turned my own music up and did my own thing with using her movements as a guide.  This way my movements flowed with my music and went at the pace I wanted them to.  So I made this workout into something that was pleasant for me.  I recommend you do that, too, if you really want to try this workout.  By itself, there wasn't anything particularly pleasant about it.

Denise Austin: Fat-Burning Cardio Walking Workout

Time:  14:31
Equipment needed:  None

This was a good low-impact walking workout.  Denise keeps it interesting and keeps it moving pretty swiftly.  She's energetic, which I like, but every-so-often it gets on my nerves.  There are a few extra bouncy moves in this workout but they are easily modified to keep it low-impact.  It's a nice, swift, one-mile indoor walk that fit perfectly into my workout schedule for the day.

FigureRobics by Jung Dayeon: Figure Dumb

Time:  31:00
Equipment needed:  Very light dumbbells.  I used 1 lb weights.

Like her other workout I've already reviewed here, this video isn't in English except for the counting which is all that's really needed to do the video.  It doesn't take long to catch on to the counts and the exercises.  I liked this workout a bit more than Figure Dance because there is a lot more dual movements working both the upper and lower body at the same time.  My feet were really bugging me today, so I sat during some of the upper body exercises just to give them a break.  It is a good workout and I enjoy the cheekiness of it.