Total Body Workout [VHS]

This 40-minute body-conditioning workout is an older program from 1989. Instructor Molly Fox is personable and cues very clearly, including alignment tips. You'll need two sets of free weights (dumbbells): one heavier pair and one lighter pair (the exact poundage depends on your strength and experience). The workout covers most muscle groups effectively, except that occasionally an exercise doesn't primarily work the muscles Fox intends because of the body position. For example, you're standing up, holding weights with the elbows at chest height and bent at a right angle. You press the elbows together, working the chest, right? Wrong--because gravity is pulling the weights down, so the shoulder muscles are doing most of the work, not the chest. (The problem would be eliminated by lying on your back instead of standing up, so that the chest moves the weights against gravity.) Some of the moves are done more quickly than is optimal for control and strengthening. Otherwise, this challenging workout will test your muscle endurance and make your muscles burn. --Joan Price