I remember last year when Fit Bottomed Mamas interviewed Ellen Barrett. One line that I loved from the Q&A was her advice on workouts: “Workouts can be nurturing or they can be abuse. Choose nurturing.” Simple but sage advice that really speaks to the Fit Bottomed Girls’ philosophy of choosing activities and exercises that you love—not just ones that burn a lot of calories. Part of being healthy is being happy, and it’s simply hard to do that when you’re forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to to. (I talk about this SO much during FBG Life because it’s so important!) So, naturally, when her new workout Ellen Barrett Live DVDs came out, I knew we had to try one.

Ellen’s personality is so encouraging without being overly hippity-dippity or perky. She’s real, and looks like a real woman, too. From the title of the DVD series, I expected Power Fusion to be almost like a concert or at least have a performance feel to it, but instead it’s almost like you’re in one of Ellen’s live classes. All done in one continous take with Ellen and a few of her real students, Power Fusion is both high energy and calming. (Yes, you read that right.)

Mixing moves from yoga, barre, dance and Pilates, Ellen leads you through choreography to get your heart rate up. She shows a move like a plié, then adds on a twist, a touch to the “earth” (not the “ground,” which I thought was a subtle yet effective way of making the workout seem more natural) and other little additions to add difficulty. In one section she flows from triangle pose to a runner’s lunge with pulses to doing figure-eights with your arms. In another, she has you on all fours for core work where you bring your knee up towards your arms while you “thread” your leg all the way up and through.

With a gentle 8-minute warm-up, 26 minutes of cardio, and 12 minutes of floor toning and stretching, this is a solid 46-minute workout that will leave you sweaty (the moves look easy but aren’t), stretched out and feeling strong. While modifications are shown, there are a lot of pliés in this workout DVD. So if your knees aren’t the best or you simply despise pliés, this one probably isn’t for you. Everyone else though? One to enjoy and feel good about!

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

Overall: ★★★1/2

Fit Bottomed Line: It’s hard for a workout to be both challenging and feel-good, but Power Fusion does it. Perfect for intermediate exercisers looking to de-stress and work out.

Want to try this Ellen Barrett Life: Power Fusion yourself? Leave a comment telling us why, and we’ll select one lucky U.S. reader to win in about a week! —Jenn

It’s been many years since my high school cheerleading days, but when the Train2Cheer Strength and Conditioning workout DVD landed in my mailbox, I may have yelled “woo!” and wiggled my little spirit fingers. You see, I was the dorky cheerleader in high school who loved cheerleading. Exercise while supporting school spirit? What could be more fun? But enough of the reminiscing, I’m sure you’re dying to know if the Train2Cheer workout DVD was worth the spirit fingers. Well, read on my little spirit sticks…

The DVD was developed specifically for cheerleaders and dancers, but non-spirit-squad types may very well enjoy this workout, too. It’s definitely more cheer-based than dance; while dancers will benefit from the cardio element, it’s more about sharp, cheer-type movements than the more free-form, hip-wiggling dancing. This also means it’s way easier for me to follow along with, as dance always takes me a bit of work. Set with three instructors and a crowd of cheerleaders facing them, it has a cheer-camp feel to it. (Cheerleading camp, again, so fun!)

Each of the 10 DVD segments—warm up, upper body, core, six cardio sets and a cool down—is set to an upbeat song, and the music pairs wonderfully with the choreography. Songs from the likes of Miley Cyrus, Jordin Sparks, RuPaul and the Black Eyed Peas are really fun to work out to. (You also get a separate music-only cardio CD when you buy.)

The DVD contains enough high-impact cardio to really get your heart rate going. Interestingly, I tried out the cheerleading workout while 22 weeks pregnant, so I kept it low impact. While they had a display pop up giving low-impact options, they didn’t always have modification available. I would have loved to see one of the three instructors doing modified versions, but I was easily able to lower the intensity when needed, trading mountain climbers for lunges, for instance. Not everyone is pregnant, but enough people have knee or other issues that I love to see modifications in workouts.

The workout itself is super-easy to follow. No moves are too complicated—there are a lot of cheer-based additions to standard aerobic moves, like touchdown and high-V arms paired with grapevines, jacks and squats—but it’s more fun than that sounds. The upper-body strength portion really works you, too, with walking planks and tons of push-ups and pulsing push-ups. The core portion also looked tough, but I bowed out and did my own thing while watching them do scissor-type ab moves and crunches.

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

Overall: ★★★★

Fit Bottomed Line: Perfect for the cheerleader or former cheerleader, this is a fun workout that will get your heart pumping. The easy-to-follow moves will let the non-spirited participate and the cardio is enough to get you sweaty! 

Do you have fond memories of your high school cheer days? Ever randomly bust out the spirit fingers or cheer camp chant? —Erin

Footloose and fancy free. Oh yeah.

Confession: Erin and I are huge fans of Footloose. Like, I-bought-her-the-DVD-for-Christmas type of fans. There’s just something about dancing out your feelings and teenage fancy-footed rebellion that gets our little guilty pleasure hearts pitter-pattering. So when we heard that they were making a remake of the movie, we figured it couldn’t touch the original. But will we go see it when it comes out tomorrow? Most likely. For all of you who may be like us (or just like a good dance workout DVD), we’re reviewing Julianne Hough’s (aka Ariel in the new Footloose movie) newest dance workout DVD Dance with Julianne: Just Dance! and revisiting her Cardio Ballroom title, which Erin reviewed about a year and a half ago.

Oh, and guess what? We’re giving away three sets of both workout DVDs! Deets on how you can win following the reviews…Enjoy, Footloose-lovahs!

I know, I know. You shouldn’t judge a book (or a DVD) by its cover. But I can’t help it—I feel like a workout DVD gives me a little clue as to what to expect with the photo it chooses for the front cover, and when the promo art for Rockin Models showed five remarkably thin (and gorgeous) women in jeggings, well, I had two thoughts. First, “Are they serious?” And second, “Oh, I’ve gotta try this.”

(Yes, I believe I’m walking that line between totally judgmental and very open-minded. Whatever, it seems to work.)

So, anyway, I began the workout ready to sweat a little and laugh a lot. Because, you know. Jeggings. Led by celebrity trainer Grace Lazenby, it’s a little over an hour long and is a mix of yoga, ballet and burlesque, and features music by Matt Goss, Greg Laswell and Cary Brothers (none of whom I had heard of, but they weren’t bad—a little bit of rock, a little indie vibe, and an interesting choice for the type of workout this provided).

The workout begins with a fast-paced flow yoga interval with pretty standard stuff—a lot of down dogs, a lot of warriors, you know the drill. It got my muscles warm, but didn’t talk much about form, which always concerns me with yoga because it’s so easy to do incorrectly when not done in a live class. But, if you know your downward dogs, you’ll be fine.

From there, it moves into a burlesque section that was a bit repetitive—but really tough. Like, legs-shaking tough. But it doesn’t last too long because you go back to yoga, but slower this time, and then back to “detailing” burlesque/ballet, followed by some solid if not groundbreaking work on the abs, glutes and legs with a lot of moves that felt very Pilates-y.

Now, I really have no beef with the workout itself—it was hard but manageable, there were modifications shown for many of the moves and Lazenby cues well. But I’ve got one major issue with it: The women doing the workout use two hats, a stick and ball, and the DVD cover or back makes no mention of any of this. Now, I guess one doesn’t really need the hat as a dance prop, but it would be nice to be given the heads up. The stick (for balance during the up-and-down burlesque moves) and ball (to be held between the legs during those moves) are necessary. I would’ve loved some warning—heck, even 10 seconds at the beginning of a section requiring a prop would’ve at least given me time to pause the darn thing and grab what I needed.

FBG Rating (Out of 5):

Instruction: ★★★
Long-Term Likeability: ★★★
Music: ★★★★
Fun Factor: ★★★★
Meets Expectations: ★★★★

Overall: ★★★1/2

Best for: Rockin Models is for gals who love the idea of getting a little sexy and having some fun during their workout. If you take yourself too seriously, you might not enjoy it the way you really should!

Do you prefer your workouts with a side of sex appeal, or would you rather bring your sexy back after the post-workout shower? —Kristen

The barre workout DVD market has exploded lately. It seems like just about every week another ballet-inspired workout DVD comes to FBG HQ. This week? It was Xtend Barre’s Lean & Chiseled DVD, which we popped in for a little bun burn.

A mix of dance, Pilates and old-school standing legwork that makes your legs feel as though they’ll fall off, this DVD combines light resistance work (read: either sans weight or 1- to 3-pound dumbbells) with movement for a ballet-inspired workout that gives you a bit more cardio than most DVDs of this variety. After a short 5-minute warm-up that is actually kind of intense (instructor Andrea Rogers loooves the plié squats!), you have a number of sections to choose from: Upper Body for 11 minutes, Barre (lower-body) for 24 minutes, Core for 10 minutes and a stretch-a-rific 5-minute cool down. There is also a short introduction from Andrea, and a tutorial to learn what all the ballet moves and names are that is super helpful for barre newbies.

Glutton for punishment that I am, I tried them all for one 55-minute workout. The Upper Body section features a combo of traditional exercises with some ballet-inspiration. Andrea leads you through arm circles (this part reminded me of Tracy Anderson’s DVDs…), tricep kickbacks, planks and moving through different ballet positions while holding weights. While not impossible, this section certainly gets your arms burning. The Barre segment is certainly the high-point of the DVD though. Using a chair, you go through tons of lower-body work including the ballet faves with pulses and jumps: first position, second position and, again, the plié. For cardio, you even pair some of these moves together to get the heart rate up. This section concludes with traditional standing glute work à la Cindy Crawford. The Core section is pretty much all Pilates with moves like the Teaser, C-Curve and split-leg crunches.

Overall, I thought this DVD was pretty solid. Despite the fact that Andrea made me have Tracy Anderson flashbacks every time she said “teeny-tiny” (which was a lot—thankfully she used those words to describe movement, NOT her desired body weight), her instruction was good and the music was fantastic. My only real main complaint is that while the sections are divided up and there is an option to play all (which pretty annoyingly also plays the intro and tutorial—good for the first time, but after that pretty pointless), the DVD is sorely missing a mix-and-match option to create your own perfect workout. All in all, not too shabby. (And this is coming from a girl with little rhythm and flexibility!)

FBG Rating (Out of 5):

Instruction: ★★★★
Long-Term Likeability: ★★★★
Music: ★★★★★
Fun Factor: ★★★
Meets Expectations: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★★

Fit Bottom line: A solid barre workout that is more cardio than most ballet-inspired DVDs. Good for beginners and intermediate wannabe ballerinas alike! 

Want to try this workout DVD for yourself? Leave a comment with why, and we’ll select one random U.S. reader to win in about a week. The winner will be contacted via email, so keep an eye on that inbox, chickadees! —Jenn

Warning! This DVD isn’t for those blessed with two left feet (and a knack for getting lefts and rights mixed up).

I sincerely wanted to love this DVD. I did! The girl wasn’t too perky, too waifish, too anything that would have led to my butt twitching. She was the perfect instructor: A total Spice Girl Gobot—she was a little bit Sporty, a little bit Baby (little and happy) and a tad Scary. This is a good thing considering we LOVE the Spice Girls.

Basically, you’re working with a fun chick, exploding with personality for five 10-minute workouts: Power Sports Drills, Extreme Intervals, Low Impact Fat Blaster, Rapid Results Kickboxing and Cardio Max. You can pick and choose a combination of the five, or do the whole darn thing for a killer 50-minute workout. I decided to take one in the name of Fit Bottomed Girls everywhere and do the whole thing. In hindsight, that was a brave idea.

The Power Sports Drills segment was the only workout I could follow and actually finish like a champ. Miss Sporty Spice brought out soccer, skiing and volleyball moves that had me acing my living-room hanging art like a pro. I definitely found myself sucking wind a couple of times, too. Her Extreme Intervals section was fun. Your inner bunny has to come out to play—because hopping, jumping and bouncing is the name of her game. She alternates 15 seconds of high-intensity moves with 15 seconds of recovery to wake up and rev your heart.

The Low-Impact Fat Blaster was where all Hades broke loose. I was a mess trying to keep up with the dance moves. It only took one laugh from my boyfriend before I finally stopped. Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten discouraged, but I just couldn’t keep up with the choreography. You may have to do this a time or two before you rock it out like I wasn’t able to.

The Rapid Results Kickboxing section was pretty standard. She worked my legs and arms like it was her business to torture. I found myself wondering if there was anyone on the planet besides that woman who could do every workout without stopping to verify whether or not her heart was ready to burst out of her head. The last workout, Cardio Max, started out friendly, but it wasn’t long before she started adding what she called “power.” I was leaping, but when she started with the dance moves, it was over. I was a hot, hot mess, partially because of the leaping, but more from my tired ego trying to keep up.

FBG Rating (Out of 5):

Instruction: ★★1/2
Long-Term Likeability: ★★★★
Music: ★★★
Fun Factor: ★★★
Meets Expectations: ★★★

Overall: ★★★1/2

Best for: 10 Minute Rapid Results Fat Burner is for the ladies who can follow choreography and are looking for a fun cardio and strength training DVD…and love the Spice Girls. 

Do you ever choose a workout DVD based on the instructor’s energy alone? Inquiring minds want to know! —Tish

Oh, Zumba how we love you. And while getting your Zumba on in your living room (be it in a video game or with a workout DVD) is fun, it’s just not ever as fun as Zumba-ing in person. There’s just something about the energy of the people and the loud music—and my mind’s ability to fool me into thinking my hips are shimmying just like the instructor’s are (oh, the tricky mind) that just doesn’t seem the same when you’re doing a DVD. Then again, at home you do have the ability to draw the blinds and dance like a madwoman, so maybe it’s a toss-up. Regardless, we’re here to tell you that the new Zumba workout DVD set gets your living room one step closer to feeling like a Zumba studio—and it gets your body and fitness level one step closer to being more well-rounded.

In all fairness, we only reviewed one DVD of the Zumba Fitness Exhilarate: The Ultimate Experience DVD Set. So while there are seven DVDs in the set, we can only give you the skinny on the toning DVD Ripped. (Unfortunately, the PR company we worked with on this review didn’t have full sets for media—we were sad about it, too.) Other DVDs in the series include a step-by-step guide that breaks down the basic Zumba steps, a beginner workout, a quick 20-minute session, a 60-minute “party” workout, a fitness concert, and a “Mix” that features new dance styles and even more of an international approach to Zumba. I’ll give my usual complaint that not all of those workouts needed their own DVD (especially the 20-minute workout…), and then move on to the DVD we did try.

Ripped gives you two different “toning” workouts and a couple of cool features. First, in this one you get to use the 1.5-pound toning sticks that double as maracas. Yes, I said MARACAS. (I’m not sure who was more excited about these—me or my dog who really, really thought they were hers for the playing with.) So while you’re Zumbaing about your living room, you have your own resistance—albeit very light resistance—and a noisemaker that makes you feel like you’re on vacation. Victory. Second, you get two 30-minute beginner- to intermediate workouts. One is your basic Zumba Toning workout, and the other is a Zumba Sentao chair routine. Both feature the Zumba choreography you love, along with dance-based moves that involve the toning sticks, such as bicep curls, rows, tricep dips off the chair, leg lifts—and did I mention MARACAS SHAKING? I didn’t think so.

In the Sentao workout, you also have the option to do the routine with or without voice cuing, which was an AWESOME feature for Zumba. The Sentao workout actually features voice-over cuing, which is cool because in the voice-free version you get to just jam out with fun music. While the voice-over is helpful (and necessary for your first few times through), it is a bit awkward with Beto and his sidekick talking about “feeling it” when clearly they’re in a recording studio. Oh, well. You only have to feel awkward through it a few times to go to the party version.

The only other complaints I have about this DVD set is that 1-pound sticks are not nearly heavy enough to get really good results. Nor are the 2.5-pound maracas you can buy online. (You knew I’d say this, right?) Although I do applaud Zumba for adding a resistance workout of any kind—and they are pretty brilliant in how they combine the two formats of dance and strength. Sure, much of the pace is far slower than usual Zumba, but the strength moves are solid. The cuing isn’t always the best, but just like a real class, you have to do it a few times to really start…wait for it…shaking your maracas!

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

Fit Bottomed Line: Zumba brings the party to the living room with this set. If you’re a beginner or an intermediate Zumba-er who can’t seem to get into resistance training, try it!

Anyone else tried this workout DVD set? How were the other DVDs? —Jenn

I’m stepping away from my usual postpartum mom-specific workout DVDs on Fit Bottomed Mamas to cover one of those kick-your-butt workouts that we all need from time to time—Tracey Mallett’s The Booty Barre: Total New Body workout DVD. While I think it would likely give you a totally new body, it could just as easily be called Total Shaky Body, as it will definitely give you one of those.

The workout is ballet- and Pilates-inspired so you get in plenty of toning and strength, but I was surprised at how much my heart rate got up throughout the workout. The hour-long DVD starts with a warm-up that got me toasty: pliés, calf raises and deep, pulsing squats are but a preview of what’s to come. From there you move into a 10-minute upper-body workout that hits all the usual suspects in a fresh way—dance postures challenge your lower bod while you’re working the upper. My favorite move was one in which you flap your arms like a bird while holding weights—tough yet fun! Tracey seems to blend one move into the next seamlessly so you’re making the most of your time—and getting no break, sucker. The 3-pound weights I used were challenging, but the advanced exerciser can up the weight for more of a burn.

Continue reading for the full workout DVD review… —Erin

Back in the day, I taught a fitness class called Cardio Combat. A little Tae Bo, a little choreography and a lot of group-grunting, we punched, kicked, shuffled and kneed it out, harnassing our inner girl-power and getting a hell of a workout along with it. Why do I bring up a circa 2002 workout, you ask? Because it reminds me so much of Martial Fusion Rockin’ Body. Like so much so that I was grinning ear to ear while doing it, having my own nostalgic fitness party.

Except this workout DVD has one serious upgrade: A male instructor who can dance—and has an accent. During the 65-minute DVD, Sensei Guillermo Gomez switches between English and Spanish when counting and cuing. Oh, the sexiness. In the real world, he probably wouldn’t be my type, but it’s like lead singers—There’s something about them when they’re performing that just makes them delicious. Regardless, in the world of workout DVDs, his accent is ear candy.

The workout itself is a really fun mix of kickboxing drills and dance. After a quick warm-up, you get into the main 45-minute Rockin’ Body Cardio workout of V-steps, shuffles, jabs, crosses, kicks and knees that gets your heart rate up to a moderate level. It’s not impossible to say the least and kind of reminds me of a less girlie and jumpy Jazzercise kickboxing routine. The DVD also includes a nice 10-minute Yoga Stretch and Relaxation cool down and a 10-minute Toning & Abs segment that works your core with standing knees and kicks, and crunches on the mat.

My favorite part of the DVD? Sensei’s random bits of exercise advice that, when spoken with a Spanish accent, sound like philosophical poetry. One such gem: Once you have the flow, you can go anywhere. True dat, Sensei.

FBG Rating (Out of 5):
Instruction: ★★★★★
Long-Term Likeability: ★★★★
Music: ★★
Fun Factor: ★★★★
Meets Expectations: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★1/2

Fit Bottom line: Kickboxing fans rejoice! This fun DVD is perf for intermediate exercisers to punch, kick and shuffle to—with ear candy to boot!

Want to get your Martial Fusion on? Of course you do! Comment below to enter to win. Winners will be picked randomly in a week! U.S. residents only, please. —Jenn

Can’t afford to head to South America to celebrate Carnaval? Start a dance party in your living room instead! So maybe the Dance and Be Fit Carnaval Workout isn’t quite the same as hitting the streets in Rio, but it’s a fun dance DVD nonetheless—and even has FBG reader Brittany addicted.

The DVD struck me as a cross between the Bollywood workouts we’ve tried and a Hawaiian luau—lots of hip swiveling, fun dance moves (and names of dance moves), voice-over cuing (a minor drawback in a dance DVD) and a set complete with palm trees. The instructor, Kimberly Miguel Mullen dances barefoot, but I opted for shoes; I’m not sure how dancers do the barefoot thing.

The party gets started with a warm-up that includes a hip-swiveling road march, the Carnaval version of marching in place. My arms were on fire after this five minutes because there is a lot of holding your arms straight out to your sides—the better to tone those shoulders, my dear. One crazy bent-over arm-swinging move was my favorite of this segment.

Three 12ish-minute dance segments make up the bulk of the workout. The moves are easy to follow, which is good because on occasion Kimberly cues right as you should be doing a new move, instead of the split second before that would help you prepare. In the Wind It Up segment, there are a few turns that got me super dizzy, so I opted out of those, freestyling the moves instead. Moves with names like vanity arms (wherein you fake holding a mirror), butterfly arms, and sailor make the moves easy to remember andfun to do. Each segment is completely different from the last, so there is no boring repetition that will have you begging for mercy (or a drink!).

This workout DVD can be as high energy as you want it to be, but the moves in the Step It Up and Jump It Up segments are especially energetic. You cover a lot of ground, and jumping and kicking will get you every time. The best part? Toning is disguised as dancing fun—you won’t notice all of the strength and core work that is happening in pliés, kicks and hip-shakingwhen you’re grooving to Caribbean beats the whole time.

FBG Rating (Out of 5):
Instruction: ★★★
Long-Term Likeability: ★★★
Music: ★★★★
Fun Factor: ★★★★
Meets Expectations: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★1/2

Fit Bottom line: A fun Carnaval cardio dance party that tones as you groove!

—Erin