Amy Bento: In the Ring Cardio Kickboxing

This is going to be another one of my favorite dvds. I really enjoy kickboxing and like Amy Bento as an instructor. Some of the moves can be a bit complex, but I think Amy does a great job of gradually building on them, so even someone as clumsy as me manages to keep up (most of the time).

What a waste of time!! Amy Bento does absolutely no instruction in this video. She gives a few verbal cues before a new routine, the jargon of which will mean nothing to most people, even to someone who is an advanced exerciser. She does not teach the moves at all. She doesn't even do them slowly the first or second time. Plus, the choreography is way more complex than is needed to achieve good fitness goals and to keep from being bored. I found myself rewinding the dvd over and over and over. I think I spent more time rewinding than working out!! Who has that kind of time to waste? Really! All Amy had to do was include a slow preview of her moves, and lessen the complexity a little in the coreography, to have a really terrific workout. I totally regret buying this dvd and am going to trash it. The frustration level is just too high and not worth it!!

I do have one of Amy's other dvds-Kickbox Extreme, so I was aware of the learning curve as far as the choreography goes. I'm pretty coordinated when it comes to that, plus it keeps me from getting bored, so I was up for the challenge, despite many negative reviews. I did okay through the warm up and first routine. Then came the second round: What a Mess! No instruction, no cues, Amy just started punching and did some turn and crescent kick. I tried it a few times, but #1 her timing is off and #2 I don't have enough room to do these moves! I turned it off and switched over to Susan Chungs' Rapid Fire Sweat.I may try this again after watching it through when I have some time. But I can totally see why this got some bad reviews. Amy needs to work on choreography that makes some sense rather than these moves that she seems to make up on the fly.

I own almost all of Amy's workouts. I find her very cool and love her personality. But I'm not sure about this one yet. I wanted to like it, but some of the moves just don't flow where I found myself improvising with memorized Cathe stuff. The music is not too motivating either and when it was about half through I felt a bit bored wanting it to be over. I was looking forward to the med ball intervals, but didn't like them all that much either. I will give it another shot, but I'm rating it only 3 stars. Not that bad, but not great either.

Good kickboxing workout. This one falls into the advanced category, I'd say. Amy makes a few mistakes (repeatedly calling upper cuts 'hook punches'), but other than that, I enjoyed it. During the medicine ball segments (they do some odd exercises here), I just improvise and do my own set of strength training exercises (usually with a kettlebell). I'd gladly buy more of Amy's workouts!!

Fun kickboxing workout. The medicine ball intervals are a great challenge. I really like the music to the workout also. The workout is intermediate to advanced level. It took me a few times to get the moves but once I got them the workout was a blast!

Good workout. Helps with shrinking the waist but no long term results for me.

The DVD is great but the case was broken when it arrived. Otherwise I would have given it a 5 stars.