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Crunch: Yoga Body Sculpt

By
April 2, 2009

I live in the Midwest, and, on the whole, I love it. I have a house, yard and a 10-minute commute. I enjoy four seasons (I could do with a shorter winter, but whatev) and generally people are friendly, holding open doors for you and genuinely wanting to know how your day is or what you think of “that Britney Spears.” The one downside to living in the Midwest though is that we don’t typically have the big, fun gyms here. There’s no Powernap+ to attend, no Cirque du Soleil to fly away with. I even once saw a poster for Crunch Fitness (a super fun club, if you’ve never had the privilege to work out at one) that showed a map of the country, marking the club chain’s locations, with the headline “Sucks to be Kansas.” (Note: The only Crunch location in the Midwest is Chicago.)

What does this all have to do with a DVD review, you may be asking yourself? Well, I know that my living situation is probably not that different from a number of our readers. And I want to let them know that there is hope for those not living on the coasts—fun gyms like Crunch can come to you, in your own home and in DVD format! I’ve been a big fan of the Crunch DVD series for awhile now, but Crunch: Yoga Body Sculpt sealed the deal. Granted, the moves are nothing groundbreaking (like some of Crunch’s in-house classes), but the DVD is S-O-L-I-D. It’s the definition of what a great DVD should be. It’s easy to understand, cued well, shows modifications, has effective moves, features good music, and the instructor doesn’t drive you nutters.

The 40-minute yoga workout is said to target the thighs, butt and core, but I found it to be an good all-around power yoga session. While it is challenging in parts, it’s never too challenging, with a nice mix of moving poses, planks, standing lunges, and deep stretching (including pigeon pose, which I ADORE and rarely see in a DVD). The workout doesn’t have any extras or much of a menu (really—you push play and go straight to the instructor’s intro and then directly to the workout), which are always a nice feature, but I’ll take a solid 40-minute yoga session with no menu over a non-effective workout that is divided up nine ways to Sunday. And just like any good yoga session, this DVD lets you blissfully lie in corpse pose at the end. Nothing like feigning death to make you feel alive.

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

Fit Bottom line: While there’s nothing stand-out about this DVD per se, it’s a solid yoga routine that is sure to become a go-to fave. Plus, it’s less than $8 on Amazon! —Jenn

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!

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6 Comments
  1. JavaChick says:
    April 2, 2009 at 1:53 pm

    Thanks for the review! I live in a small city sans-fancy-gyms as well, a good DVD collection really helps. I have Ellen Barrett’s and Sara Ivanhoe’s Crunch DVDs and I really like them. Must check this one out as well!

  2. tfh says:
    April 2, 2009 at 2:44 pm

    I too have enjoyed Crunch’s other yoga DVDs and this one sounds terrific, too. Oh, and I adore Pigeon Pose, too– and the more you run, the better it starts to feel, right?

  3. Lee says:
    April 2, 2009 at 7:41 pm

    I hate amazon so I located this dvd at netflix. Thanks for the review.

  4. Sagan says:
    April 3, 2009 at 12:36 am

    You’ve sold me- great review!

  5. Stephanie says:
    April 5, 2009 at 8:08 pm

    Thanks for the review! I like adding a little yoga into my workout every now and then but the only DVD I had was P90X Yoga which is 90 minutes long and wayyyy too much yoga for me. 40 minutes sounds perfect and I just might give it a try.

  6. Jen says:
    April 2, 2010 at 10:15 pm

    So glad you re-posted this! I was on the search for a new Yoga DVD. Thanks! 🙂