• Imported from USA.

This video presents two 15-minute workouts with an unusual approach that combines strength training, yoga, ballet, and the work of Joseph Pilates, concentrating on posture, abdominal strengthening, and balance. The best part is the postural and abdominal strengthening you'll get throughout the workout if you concentrate on the instructions. The first segment uses light weights for upper-body sculpting, with most of the work focusing on the shoulders. (The instructor claims you're working chest and arms, too, but because of the way you're holding the weights and the effect of gravity, the shoulder muscles are supporting the weights most of the time.) This might be an interesting cross-training activity if you're doing traditional strength training in addition, but it isn't as effective for upper-body strengthening as the standard weightlifting exercises you'll see in many videos. The second workout targets the legs, buttocks, and hips without weights, and here the workout shines. Kries has you stand upright, abdominals high and buttocks tight, doing slow leg lifts to different directions. This balance work is exceptionally effective to strengthen the torso and lower body. If you like the concept of deep abdominal training plus work on posture and balance, start with Precision Toning. --Joan Price