As the title suggests, this is powerful stuff! A full body Cardio, Toning, Core and Stretching workout that lasts an hour and ten minutes and is as good as any gym class I’ve ever been to. If this one doesn’t make you sweat and puff, you’re already dead!
A word of caution – if you are totally out of condition, have back, neck or joint problems, or have lots of weight to lose, take this workout steady and use your common sense. Do Not do the high-impact jumping and hopping, just stick to the steady sidestep movements. Working out on the T-Bow is great fun and very effective, but it’s also very intense if you’ve never used one before. Rest if you need to, but don’t stop moving – just march gently on the floor until you get your breath back.
Introduction
Sandra and her team show the basic T-Bow moves, how to get on and off safely and how to attach the bands. A nice, non-scary intro with lots of teaching points – I liked it. Sandra gives instructions in English, then in German – sometimes half-and-half (which can be a bit distracting unless you’re fluent in both!), but it’s clear enough what she means.
Power Workout (Curve-side up)
This starts with a the warmup section, with the T-Bow used as a step. If you’ve never done Step moves, you’re learning them now, and if you are used to Step, you’ll feel right at home with these moves – Basic, Knee Lifts, Front Kick, Side Taps and so on. This is all well-taught and well-balanced, with good warmup for major muscle groups. Miss out the jumps and bunny hops unless you’re ready for them.
Every section ends with a reminder to drink water, which I think is great.
Next Sandra turns the T-Bow over and the fun really begins – the guy behind her looks petrified at this point! This section goes through side-to-side rocking, adding arm moves to increase intensity. Then harder intervals are added – rocking as fast as you can for a minute before slowing down – then repeating. Interval training is the most effective way to burn lots of calories in my opinion, and you’ll really feel the burn in this section!
Bear in mind that Sandra is very, very fit and makes it all look easy – you’ll find just staying on the T-Bow challenging at first, so don’t think it’s you that is no good. Practice, and it’ll soon feel like second nature.
Sandra turns the T-Bow over again and does faster Step, which includes high impact moves (no modifications given). This is nice and simple to follow, with high intensity cardio intervals – anyone will be sweating by this point, and it’s a great way to learn Step moves.
Next, the T-Bow goes curve-down again and we get to a fun bit where you rock forward and back, punch the air and then push your front leg as fast as you can. The man looks like his leg is about to fall off! I would personally stretch the quads (front of leg) between these moves, as they’ll be killing by now. This stuff’ll sculpt beautiful legs if you can bear it!
Balance, Stabilisation & Fun
Just what it says on the tin! Sitting in the T-Bow to rock, lying in it, squatting on it and rocking – I laughed so much at Bob trying this that I fell over! I can’t describe all the contortions in this section, but it’s great and challenges your every body part. Again, approach with common sense – if you’re not ready for some of the moves, just watch, and enjoy the expression on the poor guy’s face in the DVD. Priceless! (Look out for your fingers in this section – it’s easy to squash them between the T-Bow and the floor. Ouch!)
Strength Training – Back & Legs
Now we get to the muscle-toning section; Sandra explains which muscles the exercises are for, which is a nice touch. The bands are attached to the T-Bow curve-up, and she explains all the moves carefully and clearly. She’s lapsing into German quite a lot by now! (That’s not a criticism, by the way. It’s just, the more involved she gets, the more she speaks German first and English next. I think it’s cute). This section is all done standing up, with one exercise moving seamlessly to the next with the minimum of fuss.
Chest, Upper Back & Arms
Perk up those pecs and banish those batwings! Floor exercises on the T-Bow, with the emphasis on good posture – this is unbeatable stuff from a Pilates instructor’s point of view. I loved it! Looks easy, but it isn’t – it’ll challenge deep muscles you’d forgotten about. Do what you can and rest when your form has gone; quality of reps is far better than quantity.
Waist & Sides
Here’s the exercises that will sculpt a beautiful, trim waist and flat tummy. The sidelying ones will trim your butt as well.
Abs & Butt
Really isolate your tummy muscles with these exercises. Ab crunches, oblique twists, and Shoulder Bridge for a pert butt. I’m in Core Stability heaven watching these!
Lower Back & Core
Wonderful stability and back-strengthening exercises. Some are incredibly challenging and should not be attempted until you have been exercising for a month, or you will likely pull a muscle. If an exercise hurts immoderately, Don’t Do It!
Stretch and Relax
Whew! By the time you get to this, you’ll be a sizzling heap on the floor. But you’ll feel good. We finish off with a full-body stretching section. Don’t skip it and wander off to make a cup of tea – cooling down and stretching really matters, and means you will get the absolute best out of your workout. Stretching lengthens and relaxes tight muscles, creating a wonderful feeling of well-being that will last the rest of the day.
Get up from the floor carefully – I’m not keen on Sandra’s method, to be honest – it will make some people dizzy (especially if their blood pressure is naturally low).
Nice finish – a big smile from Sandra, and a relieved look from the man. I felt like giving them all a round of applause!
I apologise for this review rivalling War and Peace, but I couldn’t do it justice with any fewer words. Put simply, I think the Power Workout is absolutely amazing. If you were to do just that workout 2 or 3 times a week, your results in 4 – 6 weeks would be gobsmacking.
My only minor grumbles regarding the Power Workout would be that it will be a bit challenging for new exercisers, and there aren’t any “easier” options given. But apart from that, it gets top marks from me, and I enjoyed the presentation, although I’d have one version all in English and another all in German. And the guy deserved a medal!