| Customer Reviews (or write your own review) |
Star Trainers: Cardio |
 Something for Everyone |
| I am giving this 5 stars -- not because all workouts were perfect, but because of the value for your dollar, and VARIETY. I love the Kendell Hogan, Gay Gasper and Violet Zaki cardios, each for different reasons, and use each of them as cardio add ons to other workouts -- or pair any 2 together for an hour of straight cardio. For the price, this DVD is a steal. I don't mind that they are trying to hock Propel water at me, and that I can't STAND Rob GLick, and his cardio workout on this DVD irritates me to no end. Who cares -- I still got a total of 2.5 hours of 5 unique interchangeable cardio segments led by expert trainers for 14.95!!!!! For the workouts individually -- Rob Glick's was too complex for me and his voice is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Just my opinion. But for those who like him, it's a more dancey, low impact routine. Gay Gasper does a sort of "old school" athletic routine with really basic but high energy moves. Violet's routine is martial arts inspired and deceivingly TOUGH in parts (the frog kick/squat/leap with heel click) with intervals. Kendell's routine is hi-low and FUN, with basic choreography leading you to longer and tougher intervals of high intensity. THis workout is my fave on the DVD. Kim Spreen's is a pleasant and graceful interval routine -- I find hers the easiest and most "flowing" on the DVD. Good for a pre-Yoga warm up. So again, not a perfect DVD, but well worth the money and certainly some golden nuggets in there! I was so impressed, I bought the other Star Trainers DVD's and have been just as happy with them. - posted by Sam on 7/4/2008 |
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 It's a bargain depending on your taste in cardio! |
| I actually bought this DVD because I really enjoyed Violet Zaki's segment when it was on Comcast OnDemand. I figured since her segment was so good, the others on this DVD would be good as well. Not quite.
Pros: I enjoyed Violet Zaki, Kimberly Spreen, and Kendell Hogan's work outs. I suppose 3/5 isn't too bad, especially considering the price! It certainly raised my heart rate, I had fun, and after 2 weeks, I lost about 3 lbs. Not bad! I did all 5 workouts (on seperate days) and according to my heart rate watch, burned 220 calories for each workout...NOT the 350+ calories they say they burned after the workout is over. Nonetheless, I was happy with the results!
Indifferent: Many people have complained about the Propel Fitness water hype throughout this DVD. Honestly, I don't care. They obviously helped keep the price of this DVD low. Plus, I enjoyed having the water break 20 minutes into the workout. I don't like having to pause the workout, take a drink, and then unpause. It's nice to have that break built in.
Cons: I HATED Rob Glick's workout. He'd show one simple move, like step touch, then add 10 more moves on in the blink of an eye, and say, "Are you ready?" and then modify the whole thing a minute later. It was ridiculous! 4/5 workouts contain mambo-cha-cha moves. I'm sorry, but mambo cha-chas are NOT cardio. I find it boring and confusing, especially when the instructor wants you to do it all directions, including ones where you're not facing the TV.
All in all - 3/5 stars, one star for each workout. - posted by Maggie on 6/7/2008 |
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| Mixed feelings |
| I would say that overall I liked this one though I do have some mixed feelings about it. When I first heard of this DVD, I was very excited because it had some great instructors who I already loved (especially Gay Gaspar, Kimberly Spreen, and Kendell Hogan), and I need good hi-low workouts since I can't do step too often. On the plus side, the DVD has pretty good music and I like the variety of the different instructors. But there was a lot I didn't care for. Despite how experienced many of these instructors are, I felt that most of them didn't actually cue their moves that well, which really surprised me. Most of the moves aren't hard to do but many times we're not given a good enough idea of what's coming next. As others have mentioned, the advertisements for water are a bit annoying. I also felt that the routines are a bit repetitive and there's quite a bit of "take it from the top". But I still liked this one. Kendell's atheletic segment was my favorite. - posted by Marianne on 3/28/2008 |
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| Loved the workouts |
| I have to say I really got my dollars worth when I bought this DVD. I love all the workouts, especially Rob Glicks. You can add some of your own intensity to bring the workouts up to your level. Also, if you purchase the star trainers strength, you can do one of the cardio workouts and then do one of the strength workouts and get a great workout!! - posted by Pam on 3/19/2008 |
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| Mostly fun but not the hardest |
| First of all, to get 5, 30 minute workouts for $14.95 is a great deal, so you can afford to not like all of them. I like Rob's and Kendall's the best, hated Violet Zaki's. I have a Crunch video by her that is pretty good but I hate all that bootcamp stuff. But I think that the "intermediate" classification is about right - I'm more of an "intermediate/advanced" exerciser and I these routines don't challenge me much. But they are fun for a day when I've been trying to talk myself out of working out - I can convince myself to do one(especially Rob's) because it will be fun and not that hard. Oh yeah, the Propel break is really cheesy but I usually do some jacks while they're all groovin' on their 'fitness water', which is probably more beneficial :-)! - posted by Cheryl on 3/8/2008 |
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| Stars |
| I just loved this dvd. It gave me inspiration and the determination to follow it. It was easy to learn from it as every instructor was very concise. A good investment. Have not run across this good of a workout in a long time. My advise, try it, you will like it!! - posted by Kitty on 2/26/2008 |
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| Got to base my stars on Kendell !! |
| Kendall steals the show!! I bought this so I could have five great thirty minute cardio workouts on one dvd. Who wouldn't want that I also bought it because I love Kimberly Spreen as an Instructor. So far, I have done three workouts on this dvd. Rob's workout might not be easy to follow for someone that has two left feet. His choreography is not for the beginner, but you shouldn't have a problem following it if you are inter/adv in aerobics. Kimberly's workout was good. As an Instructor, she usually picks great music, her cueing is excellent, and her workouts WORK!! This one didn't leaving me wanting more. A little disappointing to someone who loves her workouts. I'm advanced, Kendell's workout is my favorite so far. You can do this cardio routine if you are beginner or inter/adv. The moves flow nice, his energy, cueing, and music is right on throughout the whole workout. It's a fun routine that will leave you sweating and smiling :) In my opinion Kendell steals the show on this dvd!! I think I would acutally buy this workout again, just for his workout! Hope we see more of him soon! - posted by Kelly on 2/16/2008 |
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| Oh Yeah Kendell! |
| I based my rating on Kendell Hogan's workout only. Kendell's is the last workout on the tape and I actually was planning to return this video until I got to his. I wish he had another cardio workout that I could buy. I love this workout, it's perfect. I have so much fun doing it and doing it over and over again. He keeps the reps up on the moves so you can really get into it. He shows you different levels and the camera actually shows the person doing the low impact workout if you want to do a lighter version. It's easy to do the very first time and a great, fun workout. The first 3 workouts are too complex to follow after about the first 5 or 10 minutes. Kim Spreen's is pretty fun to do as well, but a little too much on the leg lunges in the beginning and she seems like she's doing a cool down in the middle. I don't like how they are advertising a certain water and I agree with other reviewers that there is no way these people are burning as many calories as they say they are. If you'd pay 14.95 for just one great 30 min cardio workout, then buy this just for the last workout. - posted by Mer on 2/13/2008 |
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| Boring |
| This does NOT keep your heart rate up. someone in the group wears a heart rate monitor, someone who I am sure weighs less than me and supposedly burned so and so calories which was a crock because I have a good heart rate monitor and mine said at least 100 less than hers. I don't remember which one it was, but one routine I got so bored and my heartrate was still below 60 percent of my max, I had to stop. Others didn't get my heartrate up much either and they were so boring. I sold this one almost right after getting it. Everyone's different, but I wouldn't recommend it at all unless you are a beginner. - posted by Kelley on 2/1/2008 |
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| Ugh |
| I was very disappointed with this DVD. I thought the workouts were kind of blah(except Kendell's), and I couldn't believe that they stop the workouts in the middle to take a Propel break. Yuck. - posted by Lisa on 1/22/2008 |
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