Kathy Smith TimeSaver Shaper Ball Workout
Kathy Smith TimeSaver Shaper Ball Workout
Now you can add a powerful new dimension to your workout without ever setting foot in a gym! Not only does the air-cushioned exercise ball help build spectacular abs and a tight, sexy lower body, it provides essential functional conditioning for athletic performance and low back health. Kathy’s new workout covers everything you need to make your exercise ball the most versatile training tool since the hand weight!
User Ratings and Reviews
1 Star This is a (bad) joke!
I like other Kathy Smith’s videos, but this balance ball workout is terrible… it’s a joke! A bad joke. It’s even funny to see Kathy’s ball is too small for her!!! The routine is extremely boring and the guy in the video is mostly ignored by Kathy. I feel bad for him. Whenever he says anything she seems uncomfortable and just keep going without paying attention to him at all. And as he is shorter than her they look so funny. This really seems a sketch of a bad comedy or something. There are plenty of much better balance ball workouts out there. I only paid $.85 cents for this one but wish I would have bought a Kit-Kat instead. What a shame.
1 Star Talk-Talk-Talk-Talk-Talk
A slow moving tape with so much talk that you can hardly stand it especially after the second or third time around. This tape is going to Goodwill. I hope they don’t mark it too high.
THEN there is Mikey! It’s an embarrassment to watch he and Kathy flirting like Junior High kids. What was Kathy Smith thinking? Didn’t she watch this sad act before putting it on the market?
1 Star Awful–not even challenging!
I really feel that I just wasted both my time and money with this DVD. The workout is so easy. Please, do not buy this DVD if you are alreay in decent shape. I have been doing pilates for several years and wanted to try something similar, but new and challenging. I really like, but struggle with Kathy Smith’s 20-minute BONUS stability ball workout in her Lift Weights to Lose Weight 2 DVD, and thought this would be similar. Boy was I wrong. Why Kathy, why?
2 Stars Less talk, more rock!
The workout says it has a running time of 30 minutes, but is really about 20 minutes when you cut out all the unnecessary talking. Between exercises, I found myself sitting around waiting for instruction on the next move. It seemed like Kathy and her really awkward work out partner just kept going on and on about how great this exercise ball was. I don’t want to hear all about the ball during a workout, I want to use it, save it for the introduction. The whole workout is choppy, disjointed and not so great.
3 Stars Rent this one
Since this is Kathy Smith, you can be sure that it is well-researched, safe, and clear. In fact, for learning the correct form for stability ball workouts, it is hard to beat.
However, it is a training session, not a workout. Unless you are very new to this form of workout, you will not feel that you have done much work. Your heartrate will not rise. You will not look forward to those slightly sore muscles the next day. And there is a great deal of talking and no music, so you certainly will not experience that “flow” enjoyment of the workout.
There are lots of good moves, though, for abs and back in particular. There are some nice stretches,and several exercises I hadn’t encountered in classes or other workout DVDs.
I would say this is ideal for getting to know the stability ball and learning how to adapt moves for different levels of difficulty.
Once you’ve gone through it, though, go to a class or try Lizbeth Garcia’s On the Ball Pilates workout instead.
Deluxe Ball Chair
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars Smart Concept, Stupid Execution
Before I say anything negative, let me admit that the product pretty much performs as advertised. It has, in fact, improved my posture and made me use my lower back muscles when sitting. However, other exercise ball chairs do that too and you might want to consider them instead.
My primary beef with this chair is that the armrests are inexplicably low. They actually fall below the tops of your thighs and poke into them. In fact, the armrests are so short that my elbows are a full five inches above them. At first, I thought this was because I am tall and the chair is quite small. But then I realized that the armrests would poke into your thighs no matter how tall you were because your seat would be at the same level regardless.
Look closely at the product photo. Yes, the ball will give somewhat under your weight, but not enough to get the armrests above your thighs, let alone up to your elbows. Despite appearances, that backrest is apparently supposed to support your lower back – not your upper back. That’s fine: Lower back support is actually more important. But the designers must have forgotten that fact when they made the arm rests so much lower. The result is a sort of trompe l’oeil.
I can’t believe this product made it past the development stage without someone catching this. Shouldn’t someone have, you know, actually *sat* in the chair before putting it into production? Unless your knuckles drag the ground when you walk, there is no way those armrests will work for anyone, regardless of height.
Then there’s the assembly nightmare. Apparently, the manufacturers don’t believe in washers. Instead, they dab some hard plastic paint on the screw threads to serve the same purpose. Unfortunately, they a) sometimes use too much and submerge the threads entirely and b) don’t believe in providing any spare parts. This meant I had to go at a few screws with a knife to make them usable. Again, somebody wasn’t thinking.
After some consideration, I decided to keep mine rather than send it back. I just left off the armrests. It’s obvious that they’re missing, so it doesn’t look terribly professional; but this chair is for home, so that aspect doesn’t bother me. Also, it gives it a more industrial look, which I like (but you might not). To me, it both looks and feels better this way. For one thing, the armrests aren’t poking into the sides of my thighs. For another, the armrests make the chair look child-sized even though the seat level is definitely at an adult height. Without them, it both looks and functions like an adult-sized stool.
4 Stars The best of both worlds
When I first laid eyes on this chair I knew it was for me. I have never been able to find a comfortable office chair, and I am stuck at a desk way too many hours a day. I’ve tried using a big exercise ball, but it took up so much room, I would feel like I was going to “fall off” and generally, it just didn’t really make sense to me in an office.
This chair makes the ball work. If you have not tried to use a ball, I imagine it would be very disconcerting, but if you have tried the ball and found it too alien, – you will probably be very happy with this chair. It is compact and movable like an office chair, but otherwise, it is all about the ball. I sit right on top of the ball (Yes, I’m on the ball!) and never use the back or the handrails except to help in balancing /pushing off to stand up.
It rocks without rolling away – Love it!
Fitness by Cathe 75cm 1000 Pound Anti Burst Body Ball with DVD Sky Blue
Fitness by Cathe 75cm 1000 Pound Anti Burst Body Ball with DVD Sky Blue
75cm 1000 LB. Anti-Burst Body Ball w/DVD – Color: New Sky Blue
