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Billy Blanks' Tae-Bo Flex

Billy Blanks' Tae-Bo Flex

List Price: $19.95
Your Price: $17.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Love the results from this workout
Review: After doing this workout for a short time, I was amazed to look in the mirror one morning while getting ready for church, and noticed I actually had defined abs! I was stunned and thrilled. I've worked out on a regular basis for years and this is the first time, I've ever actually seen abs on my body. I don't understand the reviews that say you won't sweat and do not work your abs. Those people should touch their abs while holding one of the standing Flex positions and feel for themselves the engaged muscles.
I recommend this workout to anyone. It is difficult if you are not used to the moves, but you will pick up on them soon enough. And that's part of the fun of finding a new workout.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Workout
Review: I bought this DVD with the plan to use it as I travel because I spend quite a bit of time in a hotel room for my job. This workout is great given the fact I have limited space. It is an intense workout without all the running around many fitness other exercise videos have you do. Like the other Taebo videos, this is also an excellent workout. The moves are easy to follow but are intense with the "flex" aspect to it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: By far the most dissapointing Tae Bo Experience thus far
Review: I own and love the original Tae Bo workout set. Although low budget, even for the 1990's, Billy Blanks managed to deliver a good cardio and muscle buidling workout. The Flex workout (2002) on the other hand is the most disorganized, erratic and poorly edited version to date. The music is virtually non-existant. The video starts and ends suddenly, there is no ab workout and the amount of stopping, misstarts and "flex" sequences ensures that you will NOT work up a good sweat. "Flexing" is simply a different way of stating that you will be standing still with your arm in the "punch" position or your leg in the "kick" position - which may have marginal coordination/balance benefits - -but no cardio or muscle building effect that I can feel.

It is not for the beginner as there is virtually no instruction, yet the pace is slower than instructional at times. And it is certainly not for the advanced as you will ultimately fast forward this DVD as I had to. I even popped in the VHS tape of the 1997 workout afterword just to get a good ab workout.

The entire Flex DVD is very repetitive and in the five years since his original VHS Tae-Bo beginner tape, the only thing that has changed is that his side kick Sherry has blond ringlets and a fake tan. Stick with the original Tae-Bo series if you are looking for a good workout.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: By far the most dissapointing Tae Bo Experience thus far
Review: I own and love the original Tae Bo workout set. Although low budget, even for the 1990's, Billy Blanks managed to deliver a good cardio and muscle buidling workout. The Flex workout (2002) on the other hand is the most disorganized, erratic and poorly edited version to date. The music is virtually non-existant. The video starts and ends suddenly, there is no ab workout and the amount of stopping, misstarts and "flex" sequences ensures that you will NOT work up a good sweat. "Flexing" is simply a different way of stating that you will be standing still with your arm in the "punch" position or your leg in the "kick" position - which may have marginal coordination/balance benefits - -but no cardio or muscle building effect that I can feel.

It is not for the beginner as there is virtually no instruction, yet the pace is slower than instructional at times. And it is certainly not for the advanced as you will ultimately fast forward this DVD as I had to. I even popped in the VHS tape of the 1997 workout afterword just to get a good ab workout.

The entire Flex DVD is very repetitive and in the five years since his original VHS Tae-Bo beginner tape, the only thing that has changed is that his side kick Sherry has blond ringlets and a fake tan. Stick with the original Tae-Bo series if you are looking for a good workout.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Workout
Review: I think this flex workout is very in touch with knowing how to control your body and really press and use your muscle groups.
It is a nice change from cardio and I rotate the Cardio and Flex.
Doing this will make you really push yourself to work out harder and to see the results.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good supplemental workout
Review: I think this workout is of value, but it's not perfect. I would give it three and a half stars if I could. You can see from the other reviews that people have some issues with it. If you have a Tae Bo workout or two and want a little variety, this might be a good supplement. That's how I like to use it. It's not as challenging as some, but I found the "flex" parts, for the lower body, to be good balance practice. I don't think it has the best warm up in the world, and I often click off the cool down to do my own and hop off into the shower, but it's a nice change for a day that one might not feel as ready to take on a full big workout but still want a little action. It is definitely not a good intro to Tae Bo. Get the Intro and Basic workouts first. The Basic is always a good workout. Check out collage video's website for lots of great workout video reviews.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Different yet great
Review: Tae Bo Flex is very different from the past tapes that I own. I really like the flex aspect of this dvd. It focuses on your core and teaches balance and stability. I found that I don't sweat or pant as much as when I do the ripped series but I am just as sore if not more the next day. The tape is 45 min long which is a perfect time for me. I find that if you alternate the ripped series with the flex you get the best results. The ripped gives you the cardio and the flex narrows in on specific muscles and tones them. I have been doing tae-bo for about 7 years and am glad he has come up with something new. It is the pilates of tae-bo.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Poor Production Quality
Review: The Tae-Bo concept is wonderful, but "Billy Blanks' Tae-Bo Flex" is the worst sequel to come along since The Scorpion King. It's a major step down from the classic Tae-Bo VHS tapes I bought 4 years ago. First of all, I have to question if the "flex" aspect of the workout really does any good. I'm no expert, but just standing on one foot and holding a pose doesn't seem to be useful either from an aerobic or anaerobic perspective. But, whether or not the content is worthy, the presentation of it certainly leaves a lot to be desired. Billy Blanks' performance was pathetic. He kept screwing up his lines and had to be corrected by his assistant. This is clearly something that they whipped out in one take with few rehearsals, if any.

And then there's the brain dead formatting. This production of Goodtimes Entertainment (www.goodtimes.com) doesn't even take advantage of the fundamental features of a DVD! There is only one item on the menu: "Play." What's the point of that? It may as well just start playing. Better yet, how about a few more menu choices, like scene selection. Hello?! The 45 minute program isn't broken down into chapters at all, so the Skip Ahead button doesn't work. (You can't even use the Skip Back button to restart at the beginning.) This is supposed to be a DVD that we'll wear out watching over and over, yet they expect us to sit through the introduction every time. If it were up to me, I would have put in at least 4 chapter breaks: intro, warm-up, workout, cool-down, and credits. ( I don't need to be reminded how to warm up, and would rather do that while watching CNN, then skip straight to the workout.)

I bought "Flex" in a 3-pack with "Flex Express" and "Cardio." Cardio isn't as bad content-wise, but it's not compelling either, and it still suffers the same poor production quality.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Poor Production Quality
Review: The Tae-Bo concept is wonderful, but "Billy Blanks' Tae-Bo Flex" is the worst sequel to come along since The Scorpion King. It's a major step down from the classic Tae-Bo VHS tapes I bought 4 years ago. First of all, I have to question if the "flex" aspect of the workout really does any good. I'm no expert, but just standing on one foot and holding a pose doesn't seem to be useful either from an aerobic or anaerobic perspective. But, whether or not the content is worthy, the presentation of it certainly leaves a lot to be desired. Billy Blanks' performance was pathetic. He kept screwing up his lines and had to be corrected by his assistant. This is clearly something that they whipped out in one take with few rehearsals, if any.

And then there's the brain dead formatting. This production of Goodtimes Entertainment (www.goodtimes.com) doesn't even take advantage of the fundamental features of a DVD! There is only one item on the menu: "Play." What's the point of that? It may as well just start playing. Better yet, how about a few more menu choices, like scene selection. Hello?! The 45 minute program isn't broken down into chapters at all, so the Skip Ahead button doesn't work. (You can't even use the Skip Back button to restart at the beginning.) This is supposed to be a DVD that we'll wear out watching over and over, yet they expect us to sit through the introduction every time. If it were up to me, I would have put in at least 4 chapter breaks: intro, warm-up, workout, cool-down, and credits. ( I don't need to be reminded how to warm up, and would rather do that while watching CNN, then skip straight to the workout.)

I bought "Flex" in a 3-pack with "Flex Express" and "Cardio." Cardio isn't as bad content-wise, but it's not compelling either, and it still suffers the same poor production quality.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Poor Production Quality
Review: The Tae-Bo concept is wonderful, but "Billy Blanks' Tae-Bo Flex" is the worst sequel to come along since The Scorpion King. It's a major step down from the classic Tae-Bo VHS tapes I bought 4 years ago. First of all, I have to question if the "flex" aspect of the workout really does any good. I'm no expert, but just standing on one foot and holding a pose doesn't seem to be useful either from an aerobic or anaerobic perspective. But, whether or not the content is worthy, the presentation of it certainly leaves a lot to be desired. Billy Blanks' performance was pathetic. He kept screwing up his lines and had to be corrected by his assistant. This is clearly something that they whipped out in one take with few rehearsals, if any.

And then there's the brain dead formatting. This production of Goodtimes Entertainment (www.goodtimes.com) doesn't even take advantage of the fundamental features of a DVD! There is only one item on the menu: "Play." What's the point of that? It may as well just start playing. Better yet, how about a few more menu choices, like scene selection. Hello?! The 45 minute program isn't broken down into chapters at all, so the Skip Ahead button doesn't work. (You can't even use the Skip Back button to restart at the beginning.) This is supposed to be a DVD that we'll wear out watching over and over, yet they expect us to sit through the introduction every time. If it were up to me, I would have put in at least 4 chapter breaks: intro, warm-up, workout, cool-down, and credits. ( I don't need to be reminded how to warm up, and would rather do that while watching CNN, then skip straight to the workout.)

I bought "Flex" in a 3-pack with "Flex Express" and "Cardio." Cardio isn't as bad content-wise, but it's not compelling either, and it still suffers the same poor production quality.


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