Gilad: The 60 & 30 Minute Low-Impact Workouts

Gilad. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Your spandex is so lovely and your belted manpris enable such free movement.

Ok, enough waxing poetic. As previously mentioned, Gilad’s Bodies in Motion introduced me to aerobics and toning back in the day. I decided to travel back in time to 1987 to try out Gilad’s The 60 & 30 Minute Low-Impact Workouts on DVD.

Despite the belted spandex and blue Reebok high-tops, the video didn’t seem too visually out of touch. The timeless setting of a beautiful Hawaiian beach helped. There were a couple of goofy-looking moves, but the 30-minute segment consisted of the standard warmup, which included using your own resistance to work your biceps and triceps, easy squats and twists to warm up the waist. An 8-minute cardio session follows, and Gilad tells you to get your thighs up in the air while marching, which seems like a comment fitting for another video. But Gilad’s accent is charming, and you know he doesn’t mean it like that. I also have a strange affinity for the music in this workout. I think it’s the fact that its intensity crescendos as the workout intensity increases. Either that or my music tastes didn’t mature past 1987.

The cardio wasn’t terribly challenging, but it would be a perfect fit for beginners. Gilad also forgets the age-old rule of exercise instruction: Always mirror the participants. So, when he says right, he’s the one going right, which makes for confusing footwork. However, there’s an easy fix to this issue—just do the opposite of what he tells you.

The floor work, which worked the abs, hips, thighs and buttocks, did make my hips burn. The cool down incorporated several hamstring stretches, which are always welcome to my tight legs. The 30-minute workout was the same as what you saw on Bodies in Motion on television. I think I may have even done this exact workout when I was 13.

The 60-minute workout was more challenging. It incorporated a longer 22-minute cardio session, which used larger movements and some different choreography to get your heart rate up. No bootcamp here though, it was all standard old-school aerobics. As with his warmups that rely on your own resistance, you get out what you put into it the cardio. If you really go for it, you’ll feel like you got a 22-minute session. If you half-ass it, you’re going to feel like you just warmed up. Your choice. The floor work effectively worked my abs with his rope-pulling moves, and I was feeling it the next day.

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

Fit Bottom line: The low-impact cardio was good for my injured foot and would be best-suited for new exercisers, but you can make it more challenging by putting in your maximum effort. Gilad’s endearing and the floor work hits all the right spots. —Erin

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