Hey Guys. Happy Monday!
I’m still trying to find the right gym to join here in Atlanta. You’d think it’d be easy with there being so many gyms here, but it’s taking a lot longer than I expected. Ideally, I want to find a place that’s within a 5 mile radius of where I live, offers some strength training classes, and is reasonably priced. While I look for that mythical unicorn I’ve been making use of my apartment’s gym which is actually pretty nice, and my fitness DVDs.
I just did one on Saturday by Jessica Smith. Since it’s fresh on my mind I thought I’d do a review of it for this Go Gym-less series. Keep reading to find out my thoughts.
Quick and Dirty
Workout: Jessica Smith’s Total Body Balance
Areas worked out: total body
Equipment needed: 3 or 5lb hand weights and a chair
Length: 4 (20 minute segments)
Fitness level: beginner to intermediate
Extra Details
Hardest part: The hardest part of this workout is probably the weighted section (segment #2). Even though it’s the “hardest” part it’s not that bad at all. You’re using 3 or 5lb weights so the real resistance comes from the number of repetitions she has you doing and how long you’re holding certain moves.
Impact: This one is pretty low impact because they are no explosive, pylometric moves. As I noted earlier there is a decent bit of squatting and some lunging so keep that in mind if you have knee issues.
Noise level: This would be a great apartment workout because it’s a quiet one. There are some dance-y type moves throughout the workout but it’s nothing that involves you having to make a lot of noise.
Music: The background music is just that. It sits in the background. It’s not distracting and nicely matches the environment where they’re filming the video – outdoors in Miami (jealous!).
Instructor: I’ve done other workouts with Jessica and her instruction in this one is just as spot on as in her other ones. She manages to strike a good balance of being encouraging, without coming off as overly perky. She’s also doing the entire workout with you. In fact, it’s just her and one other background exerciser.
Stretch: One of the four 20-minute segments is actually a dedicated stretch segment which is really nice. The other segments do each have their own dedicated stretch segment although they’re somewhat brief.
Sweat: It’s a glisten at best. And this is coming from someone who’s quite often a sweaty mess after workouts.
Dread factor: There is none! Honestly, this is one of the workouts I do when I’m feeling less motivated to work out. It’s a good workout that definitely leaves me feeling challenged at certain points without me cursing the gods.
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