Kick and Walk Away The Pounds

Author's Rating:

Pros: Has fun movements that add variety to the Walk Away The Pounds videos.

Cons: Following Leslie isn't intense enough.

The Bottom Line: 
Add some variety to your Walk Away The Pounds workouts with this walk/kickboxing workout. It's fun and it adds a new dimension to the exercise routine.

Author's Review
I have been on a diet and exercise regimen for 6 months or so. I have lost 18 pounds and still have 10 more to go. I typically do Leslie Sansone walk video workouts five times a week, and I have a good selection of her video's to give me some variety.

When I first tried Sansone's Walk and Kick, I wasn't impressed. It struck me as a whimpy kick boxing workout. However, I have learned that if I follow along with one of her exercise partners, Mary Kay, I do get a good workout, one that left me sore the first few days after I started it. Mary Kay does each movement with the utmost intensity. There are four other gals in the video with Leslie, forming a "V", with Leslie at the head.

The Walk Away The Pounds video's are all based on five basic steps. Walking of course, is the main move, but this is more of a march, raising your knees up as you "walk". Side steps are another movement that is done quite often - small side steps to start out to warm up the hip joints, then wider side steps with bent knees to call upon more leg muscle.

Front kicks are also done with both low and then higher kicks. "Kick backs", or alternating leg curls, is a kick behind movement, bringing the legs up to the buttocks. This is another move, but one that is done less that the rest. Last are the alternating knee lifts, both while staying in place and then moving forward and backward four paces. Putting movement in the workout, vs. standing in place, adds intensity and is good for the legs and thighs.

Interval Training

Leslie says that interval training is the best type of exercise. After the warm up, she moves quite briskly with the walking, kicking, leg lifts and side steps. She will often incorporate hand movements to add intensity and raise the heart rate.

After a few minutes, she teaches some basic punching and kicking movements. She asks you to pretend that you are ducking under a rope, bend knees and duck to the left, bend knees and duck to the right. If you do deeper bending at the knees, this really works a lot of muscle. She calls this the "bob and weave" move, and it's esentially a deep alternating squat movement.

One of the kicking intervals uses alternating forward and then backward kicks. This set is really good for getting the heart rate up and keeping the workout aerobic.

Punches and jabs combine with other kicking movements, and she does several minutes of the walking then several minutes of the kicking. I believe there are four sets of each throughout the entire workout. It goes by so fast!

None of the movements are hard, and Leslie makes learning the movements easy and fun. She is extremely easy to follow, and she has a great knack of letting you know what movement is coming next, so you can transition from one to the other smoothly. Most movements are usually done to the count of eight, sometimes counting up from 1 to 8, and then back down again from 8 to 1. I keep count in my head, and even when she is talking instead of counting, it usually ends up being right on the mark.

Thoughts

The entire workout lasts about 30 minutes, and since many of the workouts are based on the mile system, this is equal to 2 1/2 miles. Leslie says that the workout is better than simply walking the same distance because the interval workout brings much more intensity than simply walking alone. The kicks and reaches help keep the joints limber and toned.

I said earlier that I have to mimic the movements of Mary Kay, since Leslie's are less intense. I also do the entire workout holding 3 pound bar bells in each hand. In order to get the aerobic effect, I really have to give each movement my "all", and use the weights as well. If I do that, it definitely makes me work up a sweat, and that's what I want. Sweating is a healthy function of the body, and I believe it's healthy to break a sweat several times a week.

I really like the fact that Sansone gives health and fitness tips as she goes along, and she mentions the importance of good posture throughout the video. Pulling in your stomach and pulling back the shoulders just a fraction of an inch can set the spine in a healthy position. She also mentions that you need good support on your feet as well, even working out in your livingroom on a carpeted floor, your feet need the adequate support of good work out shoes.

Initially I didn't care for this video because I didn't feel like it was hard enough. However, now that I use hand weights, do deeper knee bends, higher kicks, and try to give it all I've got, I've changed my mind about this workout. It's nice to be able to add variety to my workouts, any time I choose, and the Walk Away The Pounds videos help me to do that. This Walk Kick workout is definitely different from the rest! It is now one of my favorites.

I purchased mine on Ebay, and while I would prefer a DVD format, this VHS was so cheap at $2.99 that I decided to go ahead and buy it. The rest of my workouts are on DVD.