PattyTherre's Full Review: Harvey Walden Presents Fighting Fit Fighting Fat
I have been mixing up my workout routine and pushing myself further than I thought I could go. I bought Harvey Walden Presents Fighting Fit Fighting Fat because I am a fan of the show "Celebrity Fit Club" where Harvey, a longtime military drill sergeant, leads the brutal workout challenges. I also wanted a no nonsense workout and, seeing Harvey in action, I knew this wouldn't be all "You can do it!" cheery.
Not only is it not cheery, it's downright serious to the point of tedium. It's a good workout though and I can't imagine not seeing results after doing this DVD a number of times.
About the DVD...
This DVD features Harvey Walden, IV and three victims, er, exercisers. There are two fit women and a fit man doing the workouts. There is a warm up, a cool down, and three 15 minute circuits that get progressively harder. You can opt to do one, two or all three circuits in one workout. They all have the same exercises, just harder variations of each. This workout features nothing new as far as exercises go. Harvey relies on the tried and true squats, lunges, push ups, marches, and other familiar exercises. Each exercise is done for 30 seconds. You don't count reps. You just do the best you can for the 30 seconds. You then go back to marching (Circuit 1), power marching (Circuit 2) or jogging (Circuit 3) for 30 seconds until the next exercise.
The Set...
This workout is set in a room with a hardwood floor and a corny army mural on the wall with a jeep and other army stuff. There are ropes and punching bags hanging in the background and exercise balls and stuff on a bench. There is a fake window with fake scenery which is so unneeded. Harvey is in camo pants, a long sleeved brown shirt, and a Smokey the Bear hat. No disrespect intended but I don't know what those hats are called.
The female exercisers are in olive green tank tops and black capri tights and the man is in a black muscle shirt and khaki pants. They are the most serious looking exercisers I have EVER seen. They never waver their serious stance except for one woman who cracks a smile twice but quickly returns to her military face.
The Workout...
The warm up is pretty tough and lasts for around five minutes. You will warm your whole body up and do slower variations of some exercises to come. Harvey is trying too hard to be mean and talk mean and comes off cartoonish in the warm up.
Circuit 1 is 15 minutes long and consists of squats, lunges, jumping jacks, punches, push ups, abs work, and several other exercises in 30 second increments. In between, you march for 30 seconds. The first circuit is fairly easy and I did it with no problems. Harvey doesn't yell at anyone as I had hoped. He does time the exercises, tell us what's coming, and warn us not to give up.
Circuit 2 is the same exercises but in a tougher, faster form. There are some variations in some of the exercises to make them harder. Instead of regular marching, you will now march and then do a hop every four steps. That's tough and you can modify if need be. Harvey doesn't say so but I do.
Circuit 3 is again the same set of exercises only really amped up. This time you jog in place between each exercise (which I actually prefer to the weird hopping march in Circuit 2). Your heart rate will be up throughout and the combination of cardio and strength exercises is one of the most effective for burning calories and building muscle.
On thing I don't like about the way Harvey leads this workout is that he has us stop cold after each circuit. I won't do that. I keep marching until the next circuit starts or until the cool down. It isn't good to go from a heart rate of 150 to standing still and he should know that.
The cool down is just like the warm up and continues to exercise the body only slower. At the very end, you will do a few stretches. The whole workout runs about 55 minutes.
My Thoughts...
This is the most serious workout I have ever done. These exercisers look like they would rather be anywhere than there but I guess that's the stance of a military person paying respect to their commander. Harvey wears that hat throughout and I think it makes him look a little goofy. He also should wear a muscle shirt or T-Shirt. He looks skinny and not buff but he is actually very solid although thin.
The workout isn't fun at all. It is all work and no play, not even for a second. You do what Harvey says and you don't stop for one second. My heart rate was in my fat burning zone the whole three circuits and I was able to work my whole body at the same time. This is interval training and it's effective. It isn't fun, but it is effective.
There is nothing complicated about the workout. You will pick up the moves the first time you do the workout. The tough part is keeping going and doing the work with no breaks except for a very short one between circuits. And, of course, some of the exercises will be tough for most people as well.
This workout is fine for what it is but it isn't my favorite by a long shot. It's one to do when I just want to get in my strength and cardio and don't want to mess around with anything complicated or anything dancey. This is straight up exercises that do tone and firm. It's not fancy but, if it's good enough for our military, it's good enough for me.
Conclusion...
Harvey Walden Presents Fighting Fit Fighting Fat is a little disappointing because I wanted him to yell at the exercisers like he does on Celebrity Fit Club and I hoped the workout was done outside in a field-like area to make it feel more like boot camp. Still, there are elements of the boot camp atmosphere with the clothing the exercisers wear, the looks on their faces ("Get me outta here!") and the instruction yelled out by Harvey who times the exercises with a stop watch, yells out the next exercise, and keeps us informed of how long we have to go before we are back to marching/jogging.
I wish Harvey would have focused more on explaining the body parts being worked but it is quite obvious when you do them. Lunges and squats target the legs and glutes, push ups get the arms and chest, crunches target the abs and so on.
This workout is OK but I won't be doing it every day. I will add it to my rotation and do it when I just want to get my exercise in and get an all over body workout without the frills or the chit chat or my other workouts. Because Harvey doesn't talk much about good form or anything else, I am giving this workout 3 stars. It's a definite 4 star workout as far as effectiveness but I would like more info on good form and more on why we're doing what we're doing. I guess Harvey thinks we should just do what we're told and not ask questions. But I never was a follower. Luckily, he's on the other side of the screen and can't come after me. :)
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