Weight Loss Cardio Kick
Description
Includes a 16-page booklet of creative salad recipes from Cooking Light! Burn calories, increase your metabolism, and lose weight! This program provides everything you need to lose weight–and have fun while you do it. High-energy kickboxing moves keep your heart rate in the fat-burning zone, while the interval format maximizes calorie burn, increases your metabolism, and gives you the results you want–fast. Define your arms, shoulders, and back usin… More >>
Weight Loss Cardio Kick
NOTE: I received a free review copy of this DVD from the web site Metapsychology Online.
This DVD is led by Violet Zaki, who holds a black belt in karate. She works out with two background exercises, one of whom shows lower impact modifications for some of the moves. The cover of this DVD states that it provides “2 20-Minute Fat-Blasting Workouts” although there are actually several different options for customizing your workout experience. The Main Menu includes an Introduction, Workout Options (described below), Bonus Features (including kickboxing tutorial for those unfamiliar with the punches and kicks used), Also from Acacia, and Credits. If you select Workout Options, you are taken to a submenu screen which provides the various workout choices. First, there is a “Play All” option (51m), allowing you to play both 20-minute workouts back-to-back along with the separate Warm-Up (5m) and Cool-Down (6m) chapters. Next, you can select each of the two workouts, Power Sculpt (20m) and Drills & Combos (20m), individually, with the option of playing them either with or without Zaki’s brief introductions (<2m). As mentioned above, the Warm-Up and Cool-Down are chaptered separately, so these can be selected from the submenu screen as well.
In the Warm-Up, Zaki basically just introduces the various punches and kicks used throughout the workout one by one. The standard punches include jab, cross, hook, and uppercut, while there are three basic kicks, front, back, and roundhouse. If you have chosen the Play All option, the Power Sculpt workout comes first. The general pattern for the Power Sculpt workout is that Zaki begins with a “heavy” weights exercise, usually a dynamic movement that keeps the heart rate up. She follows this by a series of either punches or kicking movements using lighter weights. Finally, there is a “cardio blast” segment–for example, one combination included jumping jacks, jump rope, side-to-side shuffles, and front-to-back shuffles. This sequence of heavy weights–light weights–cardio blast is repeated several times throughout the Power Sculpt session, which ends with a “pure cardio” segment.
The Drills & Combos portion is all cardio; Zaki instructs simple punch-kick sequences here. She begins with an all-punch combination: jab-cross-hook-upper-double jab-cross-shuffle. Next, she moves on to an all-kick routine, first beginning with a basic front kick-back kick, but then upping both the difficulty and the complexity level by adding in jumping jacks, a side squat, and a roundhouse kick facing the side. From this point on, Zaki blends the punches and kicks to form mixed combinations, but for the most part, she keeps the choreography relatively straightforward. Some of the moves are even a bit fun and different, such as a side-to-side punch (which actually appears in both workouts) and a double block with a squat. The Cool-Down features Asian-inspired music as Zaki leads you through stretches for all of the major muscle groups that were worked, including the quads, hamstrings, and shoulders. She concludes the Cool-Down with a move borrowed from yoga, side angle pose, for a complete full body stretch.
These workouts are appropriate for beginning to intermediate exercisers: beginners can take it easy by following the modifier and and sticking with only one 20-minute workout to start, whereas intermediate exercises can up the challenge by performing the entire 51-minute routine, using heavier dumbbells, and even adding weighted gloves for the cardio segment. This is a solid workout with a good amount of versatility, and I would definitely recommend it.
Rating: 4 / 5
Violet Zaki does an awesome job in Weight Loss Cardio Kick! Cueing is perfect, the production of this seems flawless. The DVD constists of:
5 minute warm up includes side jabs, front punches, hooks & upper cuts, lunge stretch, squats, front kicks & rear kicks, chambers & round house kicks.
Power Sculpting (20 min.)
You will need two sets of weights; 3-5 lbs for the heavy weights, 1-2 lbs for the light weights. Violet progressively builds on the movements. She alternates sculpting and cardio. Violet begins with sculpting; arm scoops w/ weights & shoulder presses, then adds squats. Cardio Blast with jacks, jump rope, shuffle squats and forward/back shuffles. Next, leg sculpting – lunges, squats, & kicks with jacks. CB with upper cuts and football run. Arm sculpting – tricept work, hooks & uppercuts. CB – Front kicks, calf pumps…. You get the idea =) There are two remaining sculpting/cardio sets. Violet finishes with 5 minutes of pure cardio.
Drills & Combos (20 min.)
No hand weights for this! Violet start out using jabs, hooks, uppercuts and builds from there. Next she works on kicks; front, back, & roundhouse. She adds some jacks upping the intensity. The rest of the cardio is comprised of different combos incorporating all the kick boxing moves.
6 minute Cool Down
I really enjoyed this cool down. It’s better than most I’ve seen, which was refreshing! Violet stretches out the legs while incorporating some balance too. I enjoy her breathing techniques, which may come from her Karate background? She does the usual stretching for arms. The music is nice and relaxing =)
Bonus Material includes a segment that explains proper form for the kickboxing moves, I highly recommend reviewing this. I learned my form for the hook was incorrect. There is also a 5 min. segment from her Weight Loss Cardio Scuplt DVD.
If you do this workout in its entirety, you will be extremely sweaty!!!! There are modifications for beginners, so I recommend this for all levels. This is great cardio work. If you are an advanced exerciser, the sculpting is not near enough at an advanced level, but I highly recommend for cardio! I love this DVD!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating: 5 / 5
This is an excellent fitness dvd. I own many kickboxing dvds and I really like this one. Violet Zaki gives great instruction and cueing and she is very personable. It has good production values and has some pre-mixed workouts. It consists of 2 20 minute workouts: a kickboxing cardio and a cardio sculpt. You can do them together or separately. I really like the option of doing a shorter workout. Violet also has one person showing the beginner or low-impact options. I liked this instructor so much that I am going to order her “weight loss cardio sculpt”.
Rating: 5 / 5
This was my first time working out to a Violet Zaki video, but I knew immediately from the clips on YouTube and CollageVideo that I was going to love her. From the beginning, up until the very last second, she’s absolutely encouraging, and the music is upbeat (techno/zen) and fantastic. I’m a personal trainer easing my way back in to workouts from an ankle injury, so I considered myself more advanced, but I would recommend this for any level. The workouts NEVER feel like 20 mins. b/c they’re so much fun! 😀 VIOLET ZAKI is the BEST~!!!
Rating: 5 / 5
I was actually searching for a Jillian Michaels kickboxing dvd when I came across this one. All the reviews were so positive I decided to give it a try. I had never heard of Violet Zaki, so I was a little hesitant, but her credentials looked outstanding. This is such a great workout. I like how I can choose to either do 1 20min workout or both depending on my day. Either way it certainly gets your heart pumping, and makes me feel stronger each time I do it! Violet has such a great disposition about her – a great trainer and motivator. This dvd certainly won’t collect any dust in my home!
Rating: 5 / 5