2012, free from Lisa D.
First impression: The DVD cover looks like an outtake from an
American Apparel ad.
Second impression: The description on the back informs me that the routine is “easy to do at home in your underwear!” Now that I think about it, you could do just about anything you wanted at home, in your underwear. It’s your house. Strip down to your underwear if you want, no one’s stopping you.
Indeed, the three hot hipster girls in the video are wearing just their unmentionables, delicates, and fine washables. The host wears a bra with a shrug to hide her mic pack and leggings with pointless peekaboo panels. The girls in the back row have on these lacy Yoga Burlesque corset tops that look
maddeningly itchy.
They kept cutting to reaction shots of “Karyn,” and I will say she did not scratch herself once. Instead, she kept smiling ironically, as if there was some secret, hilarious joke between her and the host, and all of us watching at home were just left out. Or maybe it was just gas.
Overall: I liked the host, Sam, but during subsequent workouts her high-pitched California inflections were more noticeably piercing. The routine, a challenging variation on Cardio Barre, is 55 minutes, but it took longer for me because I had to pause it to stretch out my back when it seized up.
Sam and Friends used 2 and 3 pound hand weights. I don’t own any hand weights, so I paused it, went through the kitchen cabinets, and found two cans of beans. (When I told this to my friend Jen, she said she uses her vacuum cleaner attachment to do bicep curls at home.) I didn’t have two of the same type of beans though, so for a few minutes I was convinced that one of the cans was ever so slightly heavier, even though they both said 15 ounces. Then I switched hands and it seemed like the other can was heavier. Then I said “whatever” and rocked some hammer curls with those cool Silverlake girls!
Thrift Store Fitness 