Biggest Loser: Boot Camp [DVD]

Just like the contestants on NBC's hit show, you too can rev up your fat-burning furnace and experience dramatic weight loss in less time. Join "The Biggest Loser" trainer, Bob, and show contestant winners and finalists for a 6-8 week program that beats the bulge one intensity level at a time. Begin with Boot camp 1 and as you improve, add on Boot camps 2 and 3 for a powerful workout that challenges every muscle with dynamic moves designed to give those unwanted pounds the boot! WARM-UP (5 Minutes): Prepare your body for boot camp with athletic conditioning moves that get the heart pumping and the muscles warm. LEVEL 1 (Weeks 1 and 2) -Boot camp Level 1 (20 Minutes): Bob turns on the burn with upper- and lower-body strength intervals, then revs your metabolism with calorie-crushing cardio. LEVEL 2 (Weeks 3 and 4) - Boot camp Level 2 (15 Minutes): Pick up the pace and drop the pounds with Bob's innovative power moves that integrate fat-blasting bursts of cardio. LEVEL 3 (Weeks 5 and 6) - Boot camp Level 3 (10 Minutes): Challenge your balance and fine-tune your physique using bands and weights to further chisel your newfound muscle. COOL-DOWN (5 Minutes): Reward and energize your body with athletic and yoga-inspired stretches that soothe tight muscles and improve posture. "Are you ready?" asks the tag line for The Biggest Loser: Workout--Boot Camp. "You bet you are." Or at least you'd better be, as this 55-minute regimen will be a challenge for anyone looking to drop some weight and get in shape--and that includes those experienced at this sort of thing. Heck, even the brief warm-up, the first of five segments, is tough, as instructor Bob Harper leads his charges through a variety of squats, twists, kicks, and lunges (as one user noted drolly, "he is very fond of lunges") designed to get your motor running. The three Boot Camp levels that follow, ranging in length from 10 to 20 minutes, feature a variety of exercises, from traditional pushups (although there's nothing traditional about the so-called "walking pushup," which is better seen than described), jumping jacks, and cardio bursts to serious arm work (the use of hand weights is recommended; a medicine ball and elastic band are required for other undertakings), abs strengtheners, and so on. Many of the moves are not merely demanding but complex, especially at first, with numerous combinations of moves and virtually no pauses between; while Harper has a good rapport with the Biggest Loser contestants, including several winners, who demonstrate these sequences, by no means does he go easy on them. But that's a large part of the appeal. These are not the kind of smarmy, smiling pros one sees on so many videos; they're fit, but far from perfect, and you can really see them working. And in the end, the results speak for themselves. --Sam Graham