It is no secret that I love everything Core Fusion. In January and February, I embarked on my Core Fusion Challenge – to really amazing results. I’d never had such success with workouts before this. But Core Fusion changed my body, changed my entire outlook on exercise (I now love and crave it) and it changed how I approach situations outside the classroom in my everyday life.

While I did my Core Fusion Challenge at exhale spa taking live classes, many of the people who participated along with me used the Core Fusion DVDs. I actually own them all myself, and I use them when I am traveling or when I feel like doing a short exercise at home. Each DVD is broken up into five 10-minute workouts that you can do all at once, or split up whenever you want.

The stars of the DVDs – Body Sculpt, Pilates Plus, Pure Abs & Arms, Thighs & Glutes — are Fred DeVito and Elisabeth Halfpapp, Core Fusion co-founders, husband and wife, and also my teachers at exhale. They actually got married the same year I was born! They’re on the screen, doing the exercises and the movements are explained with their own voiceovers. Unlike other exercise DVDs, they aren’t irritating or mean or cheesy. Fred and Elisabeth explain each exercise, any variations you might want or need to do, and the benefits of each movement. Very calm, very chill – yet the workouts are VERY tough.

So those DVDs are all awesome. Seriously, I cannot recommend them enough. But now they decided to take a new approach with their next few DVDs and make them more like a live class – like the classes I take multiple times a week at exhale spa.

So far, they’ve filmed three of these class-like DVDs – and one of them, Core Fusion Lean & Toned, comes out on Tuesday, May 4! Being the Core Fusion aficionado that I am, I got my hands on an early copy (tip: they are already on sale at exhale spa locations). I’ve seen this DVD twice so far. The first time, I watched it in bed on a Friday night like a movie. Core Fusion really is just that entertaining to me! And the second time, I did as much of the DVD workout as one could do in a tiny Manhattan apartment with no living room.

I was excited about this DVD because it is marketed as being like a live class. Even more exciting is that in the DVD with Fred and Elisabeth are three of my favorite Core Fusion teachers! So if you get this DVD, you’ll be watching the teachers whose classes I take the most.

So what did I think of Core Fusion Lean & Toned?

I liked it! I think that for someone who doesn’t have access to live classes or can’t afford/doesn’t want to pay for them, this DVD will definitely give you a good feel of what class is like. That said, Lean & Toned is not exactly like a live class as I thought it would be. It was like a compressed version of class – as if someone held a full-length class at both ends and squeezed it in.

Lean & Toned goes something like this:

Warm up (leg/arm lifts)
Pushups
Reverse Pushups (tricep dips)
Forearm Plank
Weights (for biceps, triceps, shoulders, back)
Thighs  (ouch)
Abs (flat back/round back against a wall)
Glutes
Abs (pretzel/curl combo)
Stretch

That is a lot to pack in 50 minutes! The movements are fairly nonstop so it does work up a sweat, although the stretching in between creates a nice feeling of balance. That said, some parts did feel rushed, like the plank and arm weights sections, which were much shorter than I expected. I also never saw the pretzel move interspersed with the abs curl position, as was done here. I was confused by the pretzel (imagine sitting with one leg bent in front of you and one straight or bent to the side) being here at all since there was already a glutes section, and this pretzel was intended more for abs. Just something I haven’t seen done in class. One final difference is that in class we do glutes right after thighs. In the DVD some ab work falls in between those sections, although a little birdie told me that was a production error. 😉

All in all, this is an excellent workout DVD and you will get the idea of a Core Fusion class. If you decide to order the DVD, you will need to own a set of light weights. I’ve been doing Core Fusion for months and I use 3 pound weights. You also need a chair to hold on to for the thighs segment, and a wall with space to lean against for flat and round back abs.

Want to try Core Fusion Lean & Toned for free?

I’m giving away one copy of this DVD thanks to the awesome people at Acacia, the company that produces all Core Fusion DVDs along with many other workout DVDs (one of which I will be reviewing next week!).

You will receive one entry for EACH of the following:

1. Leave a comment telling me what body part you want to strengthen with Core Fusion and why
   Ex) I want so strengthen my arms so I can finally open the tightly closed bottles of POM Wonderful the company sent me
   
2. Tweet this contest! Copy and paste the following into your Twitter:
   Win the new #CoreFusion Lean & Toned DVD from @dysterious: http://bit.ly/ajVW5w
   
3. Link back to this contest in your own post and let me know in the comments section. Don’t have a blog? Post it on Facebook and let me know!

I will randomly choose a winner via the Random Integer Generator on Tuesday, May 4 – the day the Core Fusion Lean & Toned DVD officially comes out!

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