Michelle Dozois: BodyFit 360 Vol 3 - Athletic Conditioning

A few months ago, I was able to buy Michelle Dozois' two, brand-new BodyFit 360 workouts in a pre-sale.  Considering how much I loved the first volume, I couldn't wait to do these two new workouts!  Since volume three had "athletic" in the title, I was a bit nervous: it appeared much more difficult - er, athletically challenging - than the first volume.  But I've now done this one more than the second volume, Dance Conditioning.  I'm excited to tell you about it today.

There is no equipment required for this workout, except a towel and a mat.  The cardio runs 40 minutes in length.  It is then followed by a 20 minute athletic stretch.  

For the warm-up, you'll use the towel to help you stretch and add resistance to your movements.  Michelle starts out a bit slower than usual with squats, side lunges, knee lifts, and planks.  

For the next thirty minutes, you move non-stop.  Unlike the Peak 10 workouts, you get no breaks; this is non-stop athletic conditioning.  Ha!  These are mostly high-impact moves - athletic instead of dancey - so shoes are necessary, unlike in the first BodyFit.  An example of one circuit in this section is scissor legs into a touch-down lunge, courtesy lunges, ski jumps, jacks & hamstring curls, skipping, kneeling lunges, plank kicks, and high kicks.  Whew!  Then you repeat that on the other leg.  

After all that cardio, you move to the floor for about five minutes of arm and ab work.  You'll need that towel again for this section, which is not easy but at least you're done jumping around!

Michelle then leads you through a wonderful stretch - 20 minutes of stretching!  (The DVD also has chapters so you can straight to this stretch if you want to add it on to a different workout.  That's very nice!)  Michelle incorporates a bit of yoga here, which is a great way to stretch out your hips and legs. You need this after the cardio!  

I really do enjoy this workout. The cardio is different and unique so I really feel challenged when I go through it.  But since it's only 30 minutes, I never feel fatigued afterward.  The stretch is great - by itself or after the intense cardio of the first half of the DVD.  This workout is worth every penny.

For a preview of this workout, go here.

Bottom Line: This is a great way for an advanced exerciser to be challenged in new and different ways - even with stretching.