A 49-minute kickboxing-based workout, plus a 30-minute "express" routine and a bonus 10-minute core workout. Patricia Moreno instructs.

Beginning to intermediate exercisers. For those who are new to kickboxing, or new to exercise, this is a good, basic workout. Intermediates, if they're not regular kickboxers, will like it for lighter days. Those who do a lot of kickboxing will find this too elementary.

I'm not sure what Gaiam's marketing department was thinking when they first got their hands on this DVD. At first they called it Kickbox Yoga Fusion — the only problem is that it is all kickboxing and no Yoga. So apparently they had second thoughts and retitled it Cardio Burn: Kickbox. That's not an entirely accurate title, either — it isn't the amped-up, constantly moving routine that most people expect out of a cardio workout. Instead, Moreno concentrates more on form and utilizing your large muscle groups to burn calories. Your muscles do burn and you do work up a sweat, but it's from the deliberate, powerful moves, not from high-energy exercise. Moreno starts off with a series of punches, and keeps building on more moves until you have a whole routine. Since it's really a collection of drills, this workout is good if you're new to kickboxing or don't do it very often — if you're a kickboxing enthusiast, it will be far too elementary for you. Same goes for the slightly more intense half-hour routine. The 10-minute core workout is an excellent standing routine that will likely make your obliques sore the next day.

 

I think this DVD offers something better than a mere cardio workout: it's more a blend of light sculpting, endurance training and calorie burn, something you don't get from half an hour or 45 minutes of jumping around. So ignore the title. If I worked in Gaiam's marketing department, I would have titled it Kickbox Body Burn because that's exactly what it does.