Five half-hour cardio workouts with five different star trainers — Rob Glick, Gay Gasper, Violet Zaki, Kendell Hogan and Kimberly Spreen.

Advanced beginners through intermediates. These workouts are intense but they won't kill you if you are a regular exerciser and relatively fit.

You get a lot of value from this DVD — five full cardio workouts for the price of one. Keeping that in mind, it's hard to complain about the incessant promotion of Propel, which apparently is leftover from when these routines were featured on Exercise TV. Because there are five different instructors, these half hour segments vary in approach, which adds variety and fun. Rob Glick offers the most dancey routine, with lots of fancy steps and a bit of a learning curve. That said, if you are used to doing fairly complicated choreography (like me), you'll still be able to get a good workout right from the first time you do it. Next up is Gay Gasper, with a retro cardio workout — very '80s and very fun. Violet Zaki kicks things up a notch with cardio that relies a lot on kickboxing. My personal favorite is Kendall Hogan, both for his engaging personality and his intense, athletic-style routine. (Hogan needs to do more DVDs. Every one I have that features him has stayed in my roster of regular workouts.) The final segment is Kimberly Spreen with an interval workout that keeps your heart rate up with big moves that use large muscle groups. While you can choose just one routine, if you are ambitious, you can always program in two. (If you are completely insane, you can always do more — but if you're up for that, then why aren't you doing a Cathe Friedrich DVD instead?) According to a calorie counter for each workout, you are supposed to be able to burn around 300 calories per half hour routine, but your mileage may vary, depending on your weight, bodyfat percentage and level of fitness.

 

 

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