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Review: Quick Fit With Andrea Metcalf: Thirty 5-Minute Workouts

Thirty minutes. That’s the general amount of daily physical activity required to stay healthy. It’s not much, but toss work, sleep, family obligations and, well, life into the mix, and it can sometimes feel like an insurmountable task.

How does one tackle this necessary, albeit proverbial “elephant” of health? One little bite at a time!

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Quick Fit: Thirty 5-Minute Workouts, led by trainer Andrea Metcalf, gives you ample opportunity to knock out small portions of that daily requirement with a mix-and-match program featuring cardio, strength and Pilates. This DVD is three complete 50-minute workouts that have been divided into shorter, more convenient segments for those with time constraints.

Select from 10 separate 5-minute blasts in each category.

Cardio: Choose between conventional calisthenics (marching, knee-ups, jumping jacks), goofy but fun old-school dance party moves or boxing drills to get your sweat on. The 5-minute workouts are fundamental and primarily low impact, but they’ll get the job done. Put a little extra bounce in your step to take it to the next level.

Strength: This comprehensive workout uses conventional exercises (lunges, squats) along with ballet and yoga-inspired moves to work the whole body, or pick a body-part-specific routine like Better Booty Bridge or Power Plank Core.

Andrea gives thorough instruction on proper form and offers modifications to make the work harder or easier. Light hand weights are used in some of the workouts.

Pilates: If you are a fan of Pilates, you will undoubtedly favor this routine as each section seamlessly segues into the next. For those unfamiliar with the discipline, get ready to try something entirely new. Pilates is a gentle but tough full-body workout that improves posture, creates long, lean muscles, a rock hard core and enhances the mind-body connection. Almost all of the work is done on the floor; one section uses a stretchy band.

Each category includes a warm-up and cool down. Play all, choose a few mini workouts or take advantage of one of the six additional pre-set workouts (10, 15 or 20 minutes) targeting abs, glutes, arms and more.

This DVD, compiled from three previously released programs (Keeping Fit: Strength, Cardio and Pilates), is geared toward the beginner. I love the 5-minute format and the wide range of possibilities. You could walk for 20 minutes in the a.m. and in the evening grab a couple of quickies for muscle conditioning (Sexy Shoulders and Belly Roll Out are two of my favorites) and bam, you’re done for the day.

If you get bored easily or need to instigate a new habit, Quick Fit: Thirty 5-Minute Workouts might be the perfect fit. It would take a long time to work your way through all the options and most likely be the one DVD you could return to time and again.

Thirty minutes is roughly two percent of your day. Make your health a priority and get inspired five minutes at a time.

FBG Rating (Out of 5):
Instruction: ★★★★★
Long-Term Likeability: ★★★★★
Music: ★★★
Fun Factor: ★★★★
Meets Expectations: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★

Fit Bottomed Line: This DVD is a bargain and I couldn’t recommend it enough, especially for a beginner.

Not convinced you can fit exercise into your day? Check out this chart to see how much time we spend staring at our screened devices. —Karen

FTC disclosure: We often receive products from companies to review. All thoughts and opinions are always entirely our own. Unless otherwise stated, we have received no compensation for our review and the content is purely editorial. Affiliate links may be included. If you purchase something through one of those links we may receive a small commission. Thanks for your support!

Comments

1 Comment
  1. Oxana says:

    Thank you for the recommendation. Seems like a great idea breaking up the exercise routine into a small portions so that you can mix and match. Two things to me however: 1. selection process itself. I could see myself paralyzed trying to choose between 10 in each category for the pure reason of these choices. Did you feel compelled to compare what exactly you are choosing from? 2. the medium. None of my computers have CD slots. Neither do I have a DVD player. So it sort of limits the audience (those who do have the CD-reading devices) for something that seems like a real help for starters.

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