Oh, Billy. I can always count on you for a kicking, punching and knee-slammin’ good time. And I choose the word “count” purposely because dang, you like to count! Your new Billy Blanks PT 24/7 system is a Tae-Bo-rific set of DVDs guaranteed to make you sweat, feel the burn and—like I said—count. But more on that in a bit. Let’s get to the basics.

First, this As Seen on TV system is only—cue loud announcer voice—three easy payments of $29.99! It includes seven workout DVDs, each with one 30-minute workout on it (that seems wasteful to me, but that’s always my multi-workout-DVD-pack gripe), along with a nutrition guide, instructions, a workout rotation calendar and Billy’s Training Gloves and Cardio Bands (that look a whole heck of a lot like this product). Similar to the P90X system, you follow Billy’s nutrition plan and workout plan (working out for 30 minutes every day for the first week, and then five days a week in weeks two through four) and then, you start to see some Billy-a-fied results.

And Billy looks good. He’s fitter than ever, and still sweats a ton, which I kind of like because it’s obvious that he’s putting his all into it. Billy is actually what I enjoyed most about the workouts. He’s encouraging and motivates you almost like a sports coach would, really tapping into your mental strength. Each workout DVD—Basics, Cardio, Cardio Burn, Ripped Core, Boot Camp Power, Combo Sculpt and Body Blast—features a quick warm-up and a cool down with an encouraging pep talk from Billy. The Basics DVD walks you through all of the kicks and punches (if you’ve done Tae Bo before, you’ll be fine—this is pretty much the same exact stuff, just with a band) with proper form, and all of the rest are pretty self explanatory. You use the bands for almost every part of every workout, except for the last part of the Ripped Core workout where you do some mat work and the end of each DVD when Billy has you remove the bands to see just how strong you are punching without the added resistance (it actually is pretty cool). In Basics, Billy even breaks some boards. Whoa.

While the workouts aren’t really anything you haven’t seen in Tae Bo before, the bands do allow you to do some stationary resistance training, and Billy even mixes in some burpees occasionally (slightly awkward with the bands, but I appreciated the creativity). The bands themselves are a bit tricky to get situated. Even following the instructions perfectly, I had a little slippage on the part that goes around my foot, but eventually got it figured out. I wish there were bands of different lengths or resistance levels included, as obviously with just one band you have no harder resistance level to progress to, and if you’re super tall or super short, well, this workout is just going to be harder or easier for you. I thought the gloves themselves would be pointless to have on, but they were fun. I definitely felt more like a boxer with them on, and punched a little harder because of it.

Although the workout rotation seems like a sane and doable plan for the beginner or intermediate exerciser, the nutrition guide is too drastic, in my opinion. It’s a straight-up diet (four-letter word!). While the recommendations of what to eat and what to avoid are solid, the sample meal plans are ridiculous with calorie counts of about 1,150 to 1,350. I see numbers that low and I get hungry just looking at them.

Lastly, there’s the counting. While I’m all for counting along and getting into it, every DVD in the series features A TON of counting. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7…repeat about 100 times. For me, it just got annoyingly repetitive. So did the “Yes, sir” repeats from the PT 24/7 crew. Even some of Billy’s phrases get a little old, too, as he also likes to repeat things. I like the phrase “work it” as much as the next girl, but it loses its charm after the 50th time.

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

Overall: ★★★

Fit Bottomed Line: If you are a Tae Bo fan looking for more of a challenge, then Billy Blanks PT 24/7 is your system. If you’ve never been a big kickboxer, move right along…

Anyone else tried this system? What did you think of it? Be sure to check out our recent interview with Billy Blanks here! —Jenn

I’m always a sucker for workouts where you get to hit something. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a correct outlet for my PMS or maybe I’m a little sadistic, but it’s definitely stress relieving. So when the creator of KnockOut Abs (you may have seen it in infomercials as it was originally marketed on TV), asked if we wanted to try his speedbag program, all I saw was a bullseye for my jabs, hooks and uppercuts.

And jab, hook and uppercut I did. This piece of fitness equipment that’s part-abs, part-speedbag, part-resistance band comes with a workout DVD and a ginormous poster detailing every possible move you could do with the mini-bench. While the piece of equipment itself is a little hokey and very infomercial-like (I can imagine it now: “Sit and jab for just three minutes a day and you’ll get six-pack abs for just three—no two!—easy payments of $29.95!”), the quality is decent and it’s unique. Even if you just sit and punch from a sit-up position (like the woman in the photo), you definitely feel the burn in your core. It takes timing to hit the speedbag, which works your coordination, and using your upper-body gets your heart rate slightly elevated.

You can’t really just hold that position for long though, which is where KnockOut Abs goes from one-trick pony to actual workout. Granted, some of the moves on the poster are a stretch—doing push-ups and mountain climbers with your hands on the slightly elevated bench isn’t changing it much. But others are good, and gosh knows there are more than enough exercises shown to hit every part of your body, large and small. Although you can’t tell from the photo, there’s an area on the bottom of the system to attach resistance bands. When you do that, this thing becomes a strength workout, too. So from tricep kickbacks, to bicep curls to traveling push-ups (one hand on the bench, one hand off—moving from side to side) to sit-ups and squats, it delivers.

Then there’s the KnockOut Abs workout DVD. With three different workouts— beginner, intermediate and advanced—this really shows you how to use the system. Taking inspiration from the boxing world (er, obviously, with a speedbag and the name KnockOut Abs), each 20-ish minute workout consists of rounds, which are basically like circuits of moves. Between each round you get a short break. The beginner workout goes four rounds, intermediate goes six, and advanced goes for 10. All the workouts (even the beginner one) feature pretty intense moves including burpees, squats and jacks. Really, the only difference between the different workouts is how quickly you go through all of the rounds. (And the advanced one does have harder moves on the whole, but the beginner one is still more challenging than I expected.) Pretty well led with good cuing and modifications, the instructor is a bit distracting in her overly revealing “boxing” outfit, but she knows her stuff. And could probably kick my ass.

KnockOut Abs is much more than just the workout DVD, but I’ll give it stars nonetheless. Just for fun.

FBG Rating (Out of 5):

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

Overall: ★★★1/2

Fit Bottomed Line: KnockOut Abs—the workout DVD and the whole system—may look like a cheap infomercial product, but it’s really not. While you don’t need a system like this to get fit, if you’re someone who likes to box, this could be for you!

Do you like to box for workouts? Prefer punching something more substantial than the air? Tell us about it! —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

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

We get sent A LOT of workout DVDs. Like, they’re taking over an entire room of my house at this point. So when I say that one DVD (or set of DVDs in this case) caused me to have a full-out Oprah “aha moment,” you know it’s serious. But that’s what Georges “RUSH” St-Pierre’s RushFit series of workout DVDs did. They made me stop, scratch my sweaty head and then all at once on came the light bulb: WE ARE SENDING TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT MESSAGES ABOUT FITNESS THAT ARE ENTIRELY VALID!

This six-disc DVD set is intense. With titles covering strength, plyometrics, stretching and all kinds of intense exercise torture, it gives you the chance to train like its creator Georges St-Pierre, a Canadian professional mixed martial artist (MMA) and MMA world champion who holds black belts in both Kyokushin karate and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I’m not into MMA in the least, but apparently the dude has a huge following.

After trying a few of the workouts, I can see that those who want to train like him are a bit crazy—and are serious about pushing themselves harder and faster. (In the DVDs you warm up with push-ups, planks and jumping squats. And the main event is a fury of circuit training that will leave you a hot sweaty mess.) And I’m all about pushing yourself. Heck, between this tough workout and my recent fast running, I get it. In so many ways, we can do so much more than we think we can, and when you’re really living up to your full physical potential and embracing your inner athlete, you feel strong, powerful and like you can do anything. And isn’t that what being an FBG is all about—being your best and most awesome? Yes.

But also no. Especially when that pursuit feels more like work. FBG is also about treating your body with respect, loving yourself as you are right now and doing everything in moderation. We’re not about working out for hours in the gym (although, for the record, the RushFit workouts are all roughly 45 minutes) nor are we about doing something so hard that you think you’ll toss your cookies. Because, no matter how many times we see them do it on The Biggest Loser (even if it’s for the better in the long run), that’s just not fun. And we think that workouts should be fun!

These DVDs rock if you’re looking to beat yourself up and take it to the level that’s beyond the next level—or if you’ve already completed P90X and other hard workout DVDs like they were a walk in the park. And while we know that some of you readers fall into that insanely and awesomely fit category, we know that many of you still struggle to fit in a trip to the gym or are still searching to find an activity that you really love.

These days DVDs and fitness professionals (guilty as charged!) seem to either be telling you to work out as hard as possible to get results (that would be the Jillian Michaels camp) or just do something, like parking your car farther away or taking the stairs. When in reality, the best fitness advice out there is to do something in between. Parking your car at the back of the lot probably won’t help you lose weight or even greatly benefit your health, but it’s better than nothing. On the flip side, we don’t all need to train like an MMA fighter.

So here’s the fit bottomed line straight from the horse’s mouth: Move your body in a way that you love and in a way that inspires you. Fitness isn’t about beating yourself up—it’s about making the rest of life even more awesometastic. —Jenn

I love the idea of Wii games. They’re fun, interactive and you feel more like you’re playing a game than actually working out. While some video workout games have knocked this virtual format out of the exercise park, others have not. I’m sad to say that despite my best attempts at giving it a fair shot, 10 Minute Solution Knock-Out Body for the Wii is one of those “others.”

Yes, you can create a profile, which is cool. You can also customize your settings (workouts on Venice beach, anyone?), your trainer and your music. You can even create your own workout with a variety of exercises like boxing drills, interactive games (one in which the trainer throws a ball at you), core work or even step aerobics (best suited for those with a Wii Balance Board, as the game it compatible with it). Sounds pretty groovy, right?

Well, the bad part is that the graphics are lackluster, the moves are frustratingly slooow, and half the time when I move the remote and the accompanying Nunchuk my character wouldn’t budge. There were little to no instructions on what to do and how to do it even in the “training” section (no instruction booklet comes with the game either) and while there are music options, the music never matches the moves you’re doing, so you’re all wonkified. Yes, wonkified is a word.

Honestly, I spent so much time standing around waiting to work out that I would have gotten a far better and quicker workout if I had just popped in a regular 10-minute workout DVD.

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

Overall: ★ (Ouch.)

Best for: Those who have lots of patience and consider yelling at their character to “Move!” a workout.

Want to win this one? (Hey, maybe you’ll like it!) Leave a comment and we’ll randomly select one U.S. reader next week to win it. As usual, the winner will be notified by email, so don’t neglect those in-boxes, gals! —Jenn

I love hybrid words. Fantabulous is one of my faves, as is ginormous. But combining Pilates and boxing to get Piloxing? Well, I just had to find out if the workout was as strange as the combo-word. Plus, I had a hard time imagining just how this workout would go down; I envisioned doing the dreaded Pilates Hundred while punching my dog. But I didn’t quite envision dripping with enormous amounts of sweat, which is actually what happened.

Viveca Jensen is the Swedish phenom being the Piloxing fitness craze. (It seems that a top requirement to making a workout DVD these days is having an accent—after being fit, of course.) The light ½- or 1-pound weighted gloves add to the challenge of the workout, not to mention increase the bad-ass factor. The gloves are sold separately, but I do highly recommend them, as they do increase the arm-sculpting power of the workout.

The 62-minute workout starts with a basic warm-up that combines a lot of reaching and squatting, plus some hip flexor and hamstring stretches to get the whole body warm. After the warm-up, the boxing begins. The workout basically alternates between your basic cardio boxing, and Pilates-inspired toning and strength portions. Basic punches, jabs, uppercuts and quick foot work get your heart pumping, and you actively recover with both upper- and lower-body toning moves such as leg lifts, squats, bicep curls, and balance and core work. You also combine the two disciplines at times, such as leg lifts with speed bags and punches.

A bit of mat work is included at the end in which modified push-ups are combined with leg lifts targeting the rear—definitely a challenge at this point in the workout. Ab work is also included, with highlights including the old faithful Pilates Hundred and twisting punches. Fortunately, my pug came out of the entire punch-fest unscathed.

While you can select different segments of this lengthy workout, there is no customizable menu to mix and match the sections to create a workout that fits your time constraints. Although that’s a drawback, I still thought this was a really well-rounded DVD. You get cardio, strength, balance and core work, plus it’s a fun new twist on the tried-and-true boxing workout. I also liked that it had the feel of a class you would attend, especially with the enthusiasm of the other participants of the video.

My only real beefs with the DVD was that the “formation” of the participants wasn’t always symmetrical, I think because of both camera angles and the talent themselves. It drove me a little nutty but wasn’t a deal breaker. Also, some of them wear shoes and some don’t. I get that it’s Pilates, which can be a barefoot activity, but with some of the hip thrusting and pivoting inherent to boxing, I didn’t risk going shoeless, even on carpet. Viveca’s alignment cues were good, but she was occasionally hard to follow as she counts in sets and sometimes ends before you think you’re done. Again, not a deal breaker for me.

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

Fit Bottom line: If you get bored with regular Pilates or have ever wanted to ramp up a Pilates routine with cardio, this fun video is for you. —Erin

Dying to try out Piloxing yourself? We’re happy to help! Comment below or email us at contact@fitbottomedgirls.com by July 9 for a chance to win a copy of the DVD and a set of the weighted gloves! U.S. residents only, pretty please!

Want some weighted gloves to ramp up your next DVD? Check them out on Amazon!