The 60 Second Promise ★★★★★
Dir: Julia Bennet, Trainers: Simone Dailey, Carl Prince
Cert:U • UK: 60 min • Metrodome Distribution • April 23, 2012
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I’ve never really been able to take work-out videos seriously. When I think about work-out videos 3 startling images spring to mind: a lycra clad ‘green goddess’ in an alarming shade of emerald, the ridiculous Mr Motivator in matching fluorescent bandana and mankini, or the classic Jane Fonda in striped leotard with legwarmers… I know, I’m showing my age, I mean, I still call them videos! But age is an issue … with each year that has passed my weight has increased relatively and so this year I decided that I would do something about it and it just so happened that The 60 Second Promise arrived during this uncharacteristic phase of motivation.

The basic, and attractive, premise of the DVD is that you can burn fat and get in shape in relatively short training sessions. Short does not equal easy however as I was soon to discover. The exercises are designed to employ the current favourite technique of ‘interval training’, which essentially involves bursts of high-intensity work interspersed with periods of low-intensity work. The high-intensity periods are typically at or close to anaerobic exercise, while the recovery periods may involve either complete rest or activity of lower intensity. The effect? An increase in metabolic activity, which of course promotes higher and more effective weight loss during exercise.

To guide us through these exercises are the trainers Carl and Simone … who are both extremely easy on the eye and quite frankly anything that makes the blood sweat and tears more palatable is a bonus. The other key element that makes this work-out DVD more palatable is that the sessions are split into ten 60 second exercises so each training module is completed in 10 minutes. There are two levels of intensity also. Carl provides the pace for the beginners whilst Simone will give most hard-core gym bunnies a run for their money.

The training sessions are split into three standard sections:

Warm Up: 3 minutes of dynamic stretching
Work Out: of which there are a choice of four 10 minute options:
• Total Body Fat Blaster
• Lower Body
• Upper Body
• Total Core (the gut buster)
Cool Down: 3 minutes cool down & stretching

Unlike the work out videos of yore, The 60 Second Promise doesn’t feel like a fad. The trainers are not celebrities but actual trainers and, as the DVD boasts, it’s like having your own personal trainer in the room with you. I have done the exercises many times and surprisingly the repetition of instructions has not begun to bore me and this is because they are kept to a minimal. Carl and Simone’s instructions are clear, simple and easy to follow, so much so that after a couple of viewings I no longer needed to look at the screen to follow the exercises. If however, the lure of Carl and Simone is what keeps you going, I also have found that the variety of static, close up and travelling shots not only clarify what you should be doing but they keep the DVD interesting.

If like me, you are prone to use the excuse that there is not enough time in the day to exercise or go to the gym, The 60 Second Promise is perfect. I genuinely enjoy the exercises (which of course may be a false state of being brought on by pheromones) and because there is no pause between each 60 second exercise you can complete a single module in literally 10 minutes. As Carl states in the introductory video:

Keep doing this DVD and you will absolutely see results. Time is not an issue with this work out – admit it, you can always find 10 minutes…

And therein lies the promise – if you don’t have time for the gym, but you can find ten minutes a day (well a little under 20 minutes after including Warm Up and Cool Down) you can start to make a difference to your health and well being with the help of this training programme which, in all honesty, isn’t totally hellish.

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