Friday, July 16, 2010

Anni Mairs Core Force Review

Core Force
Anni Mairs, 2006

This workout is typical "force" format-a different move for every minute of the exercise. You will need a step, a mat for ab work, and 1 lb hand weights.

Some of the cardio moves focus on your core and you do go up and down a bit from cardio to floor ab work and then back up for more cardio. I knew this going in so it didnt bother me. You can look at in 2 ways: your heartrate stays somewhat up while doing your ab work because you just did a cardio move. OR you can say: you cant maintain a constant HIGH heartrate because you drop to the floor to do core work. I think if you wanted to dedicate some time to your core while doing cardio this is the workout for you. If you were to just do 20 min of core work your heartrate wouldnt be up there at all.

Anni is working out with one other exerciser who does all the moves with no step bench. She isnt truely a beginner modifer because she does all the high impact moves and uses the handweights. The only modification I noticed is the lack of a step. They use 1 lb handweights throughout the workout for added cardio intensity. The moves are vey basic choreo athletic type, but high intensity.

I really like the backdrop for this workout. It is a nice Japanese looking screen, hardwood floors, and there is a retro looking flowered pillar in the back.

Examples of some of the moves are: lunges on the step, side twists off the side of the step, jumping onto the step, rib cage shifts, mock jump roping, fast lunges off the step, bicycle abs, pushups, and a lot of crunch variations. I wasnt truely impressed with any of the floor ab work. It could have been more intense IMO.

I would rate this a solid intermediate. You can definitely make it tougher or easier if you want. I really enjoyed the workout. I love the one minute increment format-it makes all the moves very doable. Anni is an excellent cuer and has a very pleasant, friendly demeanor in this workout. Anni doesnt whoop like she does in Jump Force

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