Prevention Fitness Systems: The Abs Advantage With Chris Freytag [DVD]

Prevention has produced a pretty good series of at-home exercise programs. However, most of their DVDs are geared towards the beginner/low intermediate category, and this one is no exception.The format is made up of four 8-minute ab routines (each routine has the same built-in 2-minute warmup and 2-minute cooldown which can be skipped when they become annoying). The routines are: stability ball, pilates, classic abs and core training. Chris Freytag is an encouraging and knowledgeable instructor with a cheery, slight Minnesota accent. The moves themselves also help to make this program noteworthy even for advanced exercisers. I was pleasantly surprised to find that even in the "classic abs" section, there were actually very few "classic" moves.Chris manages to put a different spin on almost everything, so the exercises stay fresh.In my opinion, the least challenging is the pilates routine. In this, you will find roll-ups, the saw, the hundred and some others. However: One- I guess I'm a purist, but it always kinda bothers me when a "pilates" segment is done in shoes, and Two- They either moved too quickly or didn't do enough reps, because I hardly feel any sort of burn.The most challenging for me was the core training section (though, ironically, not a great ab routine). The core training section incorporates squats, plies, planks,and twisting. I really like the music, and it makes me break a sweat every time. However, I feel it most in my buns, thighs, arms and sides of my waist...and very little in my abs. Go figure!The most effective ab sculpters for me were the classic abs and the stability ball.However...NONE of the routines gave me a significant burn with just one 12-minute session. I feel that any intermediate-to-advanced exerciser would have to combine them. As I am always looking for SHORT, effective routines to add onto my 45-minute+ workouts, this defeats the purpose.I would have to recommend in its stead 10 MINUTE SOLUTIONS' BLAST OFF THE BELLY FAT with Suzanne Bowen. It does what is says...in 10 minutes!

This is the first of the prevention fitness systems DVD's that I have tried. I wasn't super impressed. For starters, Chris Freytag (the instructor) is way too chipper and happy for me. She has a perma-smile the entire time that is fake looking and annoying. The other issue I have (and this is just my personal preference) is that she does not have a body type that I aspire to have. She is much to manly looking for me- her abs are almost too muscular, from the side she looks 3-4 months pregnant, it's really weird. I actually think the girls in the video behind her have nicer looking bodies. That being said, the exercises in the video are good and you have 3 levels you can follow (beginner, intermediate, and advanced, demonstrated by the instructor and her 2 helpers), so this is a great DVD for all fitness levels. The program is broken down into 4 eight minute ab routines, Pilates abs, Core training, Classic abs, and Abs on the ball. I don't have a balance ball yet, so I haven't actually worked out to that segment, although I did watch it. All the segments have some common moves with twists in them, so it isn't boring and it does make you start to sweat, even in a short amount of time. At the beginning and end of each segment is a warm-up and cool-down that totals 4 minutes. So, if you do one whole segment it's a 12 minute workout. Overall I would say that this video is okay, but it won't be one that I use as often as some of my others, to be honest, I think I get an even better ab workout by just doing some of my other Pilates DVD's, but I'll keep this in the rotation, just for a change of pace here and there.

With the 4 different sections, you have lots of variety and very effective exercises. The video works the abs from all angles. Chris Freytag is a friendly instructor and cues well. I liked the stability ball and classic crunch segments best. I felt the most burn from them. In the stability ball section, you'll do crunches on the ball, reverse curls and lift and lower the ball with your legs which really works the lower abs. The classic crunch section had lots of leg variations. The exercise where you lie on your side and pull your legs towards your chest really works. I didn't care for the core training which started with standing balance moves. They were pretty easy and I didn't think they did much. The ending plank moves were tough. The pilates section was just o.k. It had familiar exercises. One exerciser shows modifications, so this is a video you can grow with. I liked this better than Self's Firm, Flat Abs Fast.

I am a curvy girl with pretty flat abs. I carry my weight in my hips and butt. Doing lots of Pilates as well as cardio to trim those areas but I also wanted to add some definition to my abs. If you are an advanced level exerciser then this DVD might not be tough enough for you but anyone who is a Beginner or Beginner-Intermediate or just Intermediate will benefit from it. I love that its cut into segments so that you can do as much or as little as you want. I use my Ab Roller and an Ab Lounge a couple of times a week and I have done ab work in the past but not consistently. Each segment was doable and I did feel my abs burning. I like it a lot and will be using in my weekly rotation. Nothing will take the place of my ab lounge as I can watch TV on it...lol! This is certainly worth adding to your library!

Abdominals are a hard area to tone, but if you do regular cardio and follow a great workout like this, then you'll see results fairly soon.Chris Freytag leads this workout again (she's done most of their other ones) and she's a good instructor. She's friendly and down to earth and I find that motivating. There are four segments here. One is on a stability ball, pilates, core work and regular classic crunches. Each segment is between 8-9 minutes long so it's a good length of time, without straining or tiring easily. No angle is left out here. Abs are worked from all angles. I like the fact that you can do all of the workouts or some or one. Basically the only piece of equipment you need is a stability ball, and trust me - do this about 5 days a week and you will get good results.

Excellent DVD. Very easy to follow. You can choose how long you want to spend doing the exercises. Excellent warm up and cool down. Would recommend it!

I own alot of exercise dvds and I have to say this is the worst one. Its too fast to follow, not enough repetitions. She only does each exercise 3-4 times so by the time you get the hang of it, she has moved on to the next exercise and you've missed the beginning. I was also disappointed in the fact that she doesn't mention how to stand, align, bend, etc safely...don't waste your money