Seven short workouts that target the glutes and legs. They run from 5 to 15 minutes, most lasting around 10 minutes. Denise Austin instructs.

Beginning through intermediate exercisers. You will need dumbbells (about 3 to 5 lbs.), a stability ball for one segment, a resistance band for another segment, and a mat.

If you're a huge Denise Austin fan and have all her videos, you won't need to get this one — it's made up of sections from her prior releases. On the other hand, if you don't own a library of Austin videos and want some quickie lower body workouts at your fingertips, this is pretty handy to have. You get seven of them here — five run around 10-11 minutes, one (the "Hit the Spot: Core" routine with the stability ball) is 15 minutes long, and one thigh workout is a five-minute quickie. You also get a variety of approaches, from traditional squats and lunges to Pilates-based routines, and use a variety of equipment, ranging from your own body weight to dumbbells to resistance bands. You can also program the DVD and do several of the routines for one long workout. Tip: some of the routines are done barefoot (the two Hit the Spot: Pilates" segments and the "Get Fit Fast" workout), and some are done wearing athletic shoes ("Personal Training System," "Power Zone Ultimate Workout," "Hit the Spot: Core" and "Thigh Trimmer"), so program accordingly to keep from having to hit pause to put on/ remove shoes.

 

Austin is one of those instructors you either love or can't stand, and you won't get any surprises from her here — as usual, she's not the best at cueing, and her cheerful attitude can seem cloying to the more cynical souls among us. But she will give you a good, advanced beginning to intermediate level workout. And as a fun bonus, you'll find two familiar faces in the "Get Fit Fast" segment — instructors Jeanette Jenkins and Jennifer Galardi at earlier points in their careers.

 

This is a good DVD to have around — you can add some core and lower body exercise at the end of a cardio workout (or beforehand, for that matter), or combine it with some upper body exercises from another DVD, or just toss a segment in when you have 10 or so minutes and want to fit some sort of exercise into your busy day.