The creator of the mega successful Tae-Bo Workout videos is back with a vengeance. Billy Blanks now gives us a set of 4 videos titles Bootcamp, and these tapes are supposed to emulate a real bootcamp workout into 30 minute and 1 hour workouts. The Ultimate Bootcamp is the more challenging, the most grueling, and hence the most rewarding for those who can do it. This is very similar to Tae-Bo advanced with a few new moves, new move combinations and the addition of Billy Bands, long rubber bands you wrap around your feet, grab the other end with your hand and feel the rubber band resistance for several moves, they are used to simulate free weights.

First off let me warn you, if you are anything like me you will find the workout one of if not the hardest workout you have ever done. Blanks’ workout schedule doesn’t recommend starting this workout until you do 4 weeks of the basic training workout. I just did it to see how difficult and effective it was.

The workout lasts 55 minutes, and believe me, you will look at the clock continuously and ask yourself, is it almost over yet? it’s tiring yet exhilarating, grueling yet satisfying, very intense but produces tremendous results. You will feel drained after it’s done but you will be so proud of yourself for doing it.

Here is a move by move breakdown of the DVD:

First 20 mins (mainly geared for cardio, get the body loosened up for toning exercises later)

left and right claps - this gets the heart pumping prior to stretching
5 mins stretching exercise - very important to prevent cramping later
ab twists with forward punch, uppercut, crosses - tightens the abs and loosens arms
squats - tightens the quadriceps
lunges - you really feel the quads burn here.
back and front hand reaches - this tightens your lats and your chest
bending over knee raises - tightens abs again, gets heart going
squats - see above
jumping jabs - cardio move to help the heart really beat fast
jab cross combo - stretches the arms
jumping jacks - cardio again
lunge w/ forward kick - burn the quad and extend the hamstrings
toe reach w/ hand extension - good for flexibility and abs
circle arms on the sides/front - feel the shoulder (delts) and chest contracting
side kicks - flexibility and quad tightening
moving jabs w/squats - cardio
moving front kicks - cardio with quad tightening.

Billy Bands 18 mins (toning and tightening muscles)

military press - pushing arms up over head, good for shoulders
butterfly curls - arms bent with elbows meeting and expanding, good for chest
bicep curls - bicep toning
outside fly extensions - whipping arm to side of head, good for arms and triceps
side kicks - flexibility and quads
arm lifts to shoulder - good for triceps
“Y” extensions (delts and triceps) - military press with arms extending in Y shape
arm circles over the head - good for shoulders
push ups - arms and triceps toning
jab/cross/hand lift - cardio move
tricep extensions - good for triceps, obviously
8 combo (fall to pushup, get up to hand lift) - cardio and toning
jumping jacks - cardio
jumping jack to a side kick - cardio, leg toning
rowing/back extension - upper back toning
speed bag (wrist circles) - bicep toning
jump rope - cardio

Final 16 mins

leg extensions (on ground) - tightens quads and hamstrings
straight leg lifts (on ground) - good for abs
squats - quads again
ab twists - good for abs and lateral obliques aka love handles
left/right punches - arm toning and cardio
leg lift (on ground) - good for legs
legs spreading (on ground) - inner thigh toning
leg scissors (on ground) - quads and hammies
leg curls with sit up - really tightens the abs
running in place - cardio before cooldown
push ups -arms and triceps
1:30 min squat - kill you quads for the end

Cooldown - a 3 minute cooldown routine to help you relax and catch your breath

The Good:

No matter how difficult it is, this is one great workout routine, I am sure once you do the basic bootcamp for a while and get in decent shape, this workout will be challenging and rewarding for you. There is no clear indication as to how many calories are burned in this session, but researching www.caloriesperhour.com and seeing that a very vigorous tae-bo routine will burn 1123 calories if you are a 25 year old female (5'5" and 150 lbs) and 1347, if your are 180 lbs, the more you weigh the more you’ll burn. In my opinion the ultimate bootcamp ought to burn more calories than advanced Tae-Bo since it uses the Billy Bands and more energy (hence more calories burned) is required. I would estimate another 100-200 calories are burned here. You sweat quite a bit but that’s a good motivating factor because you know the workout is working on burning fat while toning and sculpting your body. Billy for the most part is a good motivator and he pushes us further than we would ever be pushed, and it’s nice to see him pushing the people in the DVD and how they feel the burn and discomfort like we do. The DVD is well balanced, the workout targets almost all major muscle groups and the sequence of exercises for the most part is ideal at targeting certain group at a time. With the workout and the fact you keep burning calories long after a fast paced workout, you could lose 1/2 lb in a little over 1 hour (1/2 lb = 1750 calories). My wife and I lost 5 lbs in 1 week with a proper diet.

The Bad:

Billy does tend to annoy at times, you might find yourself cussing him because he says to do a certain number of sets but he tends to talk to the camera and forget he said anything, thus one more set of eight exercise becomes 3 or 4 sets and that really annoyed me. I didn’t like the fact there were no substantially overweight people working out, all were either very skinny or in good physical shape, thus they were able to do things overweight people starting out probably can’t do (especially the ab work on the ground). Like I said, this is a VERY tough 55 mins and you will find yourself taking numerous breaks between sets and find that some sets will be incomplete, what I do in case I feel I can’t do a certain exercise, I just keep moving to get the heart going or do a different exercise altogether. The 18 minute Billy Band portion is really grueling in parts, especially all the arm raises and circles, I for one had to take several breaks because I thought my shoulders were on fire, literally, I think he uses too many sets for these exercises and there might be a risk of injury if you start out the workout.

The Ugly:

There is an Asian lady whose face looks like a horse whose been punched in the face (I’m horrible I know!) but you can’t help but think it when you watch segments with her in them, also if you notice Shelly, who is the skinny blond to Billy’s left, when she does any ab work you see the bones trying to poke out, it’s kinda gross to watch and you hate her every second she’s on screen because she’s like 80 lbs and working her butt off. I keep thinking she’ll have a swell time trying to have kids with no hips and a 5 inch waist!

Overall Grade:

3.5 of 5, but increasing score as you work out more.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older