Fitness Friday::Bob Greene’s Total Body Makeover *UPDATED*

Winners have been chosen! See the comments below to see if you’re one of the lucky 5!!

Ahhhhh. Bob Greene. I can see why Oprah loves him so much. He’s cute, has a nice, encouraging voice, doesn’t cuss or yell at you, he’s thorough in his instructions, AND he looks good in a tight t-shirt. Plus, he knows a lot about everything, not just exercise. As a matter of fact, the Total Body Makeover is a program for your whole life, and Bob gives you tips, rules, and a workout I’m positive you can do, no matter your fitness level.

About Bob:

Bob Greene is a sought after exercise physiologist and certified personal trainer. He has worked with many clients, including Oprah, to help them achieve their weight loss goals and maintain healthier lifestyles. Bob Greene understands the psychology behind overeating and the struggles that individuals face when trying to lose weight and he wants to pass that knowledge on to you.

About the Total Body Makeover:

Using a progressive 8-week plan, Bob has developed a fitness program for all levels, including the beginner with no prior experience. Bob’s program targets more than just weight loss; he improves range of motion, targets unhealthy nutrition and incorporates a formula for reaching fitness goals. In addition to tackling exercise, Bob incorporates diet plans, nutritional tips and motivational techniques that ensure weight loss success.

When you fire up the DVD, the menu has several choices.

5 Simple Rules for Eating:

• Rule #1 Have an eating cut-off time. Go to bed a little hungry, wake up hungry, so you’ll eat breakfast. Damage is done when you eat late a night.
• Rule #2 Eat a nourishing breakfast. It’s the most important meal, and you’ll eat less calories during the day.
• Rule #3 Drink six 8 ounce glasses of water a day. Exercise and fat metabolism are more effective if you’re hydrate.
• Rule #4 Eliminate 6 problem foods. Soft drinks, trans-fat , fried foods, white bread, alcohol (don’t worry, you can add it back later!), high fat milk and yogurt.
• Rule #5 Make eating a conscious act.

Simple, no? Follow these rules, and Bob assures you’ll reap the rewards.

Weekly workouts.

There are eight weeks of preset workouts, one workout per week. Today, I did Weeks 1-3 as a test drive for this review. Here are my thoughts.

Workout Week #1, 17 minutes, burned 111 calories, average heart rate 70%, max heart rate 83%.
Looked easy when I previewed it and I thought it wouldn’t really do much. You’ll use a chair for support, although I didn’t find it necessary. You’ll need a set of hand weights, and a mat. You also use the chair for ab work. I did sweat, and my heart rate was up. The ab work was really good, I liked the lunges. Stretches were really good. The workout was not cardio intense at all, and included mostly strength training moves, covering arms/back, lower body, and abs.

Week #2, 11:30 minutes, burned 78 calories, average heart rate 73%, max heart rate 88%.
Seemed to start out a little harder, and there was no chair used for balance. Squats with weights, then squats with reverse lunge. Definitely tougher, although it didn’t seem like enough reps, and I wanted to pause to do some extra sets. The arm work was good, although I think I need more than 5 lb. hand weights. Ab work was good as well. Total body workout, just seemed short.

Week #3, Time: 11:20, burned 84 calories, average heart rate 76%, max heart rate 90%.
The workout started out with squats, and then some more advance moves with squats, reverse lunges then a turn and squat while holding hand weights. This got my heart pumping a little more. There were reverse flies, shoulder presses, and some tricep extensions – all challenging arm and back work. A lot of the moves are similar to those in EA SPORTS Active. I was a little more sweaty, but I think it was because I did 3 workouts in a row. The stretching at the end is excellent, and there were some abdominal moves I’ve never done before, so yay for that!

Customize your routine.

This is a feature on the DVD where you can select and combine any of the weekly workouts to make a routine that fits your needs. You highlight and click the routines to select them. Then play, and your routines will be back to back. I like this feature as the single workouts on there own just didn’t feel like enough. Not enough time, and not enough sweating!

Overall, I think this is a really good basic workout series for someone who’s looking to ease into some strength training. It would also be good for people looking to change their workout up, and try something new. I see myself using this workout on days when I run, as a warm up, and on top of my EA SPORTS Active More Workouts. I can see the benefit of being able to customize workouts by piggy-backing them together, and I do think the instruction Bob gives is wonderful. You won’t be questioning whether you’re doing a move correctly, and you’ll fully understand which muscles you’re working.

While I haven’t tried out all 8 weeks yet, so far my only wish is that there were more cardio type of exercises included in the DVD, and that there were more reps of each move. The workouts are very short, less than 15 minutes in the first 3 weeks, but again, you have the option of customizing a workout and adding as many of the weeks together as you’d like.

Next week, I will do workouts 4-7 and let you know what I think.

WIN IT!

We have 5 copies of Bob Greene’s Total Body Makeover to give away! Here’s how you can enter:

1. Leave a comment telling us your FAVORITE workout, and why!
2. Become a fan on the Sistherhood’s Facebook page.
3. Susbcribe to us in a Reader.
4. Join the ‘hood, and start a discussion on the Fitness forum about your favorite workout!

Giveaway ends Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 12 p.m. PST. Winners will be randomly drawn and announced on this post the next day!

Disclosure: The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans received copies of Bob Greene’s Total Body Workout DVD to review. We were not paid for this post, and our opinions are our own.

Tags: 8 week workout, basic workout, beginner workout, Bob Greene, Bob Greene Total Body Makeover DVD, customizable workout, Oprah's trainer, product review, progressive workout, review, strength training, stretching, workout DVD review

Category: Christy, Fitness, Fitness Friday, Giveaways, Product Reviews, The Sisterhood