Debbie Rocker -- walking workout athlete

I just tried a Debbie Rocker workout this morning for the first time. I'm really pleased!

I’ve never really been a walking workout video person before. I did one Leslie Sansone video long ago (when there were only videos – it was a 2 mile walk) and it was nice for that day, but I never did it again. Since then, I’ve only tried the Prevention one with Michelle Dozios, which didn’t have enough spark for me. I guess I've just always preferred step or kickboxing for my cardio. I do love rebounding though and look for ways to adapt other workouts to rebounding.

I decided to try Debbie Rocker because I love Gaiam’s production quality and am looking for more low impact workouts. (If you're not familiar with Gaiam, they almost always use scenic outdoor sets for their workouts. They used to mainly do yoga and Pilates productions, but lately have branched out a bit).

Walking for Weight Loss is a 50 minute workout with mainly low impact walking moves, with some higher impact intervals, and segments of squats, front lunges, plie’s and back lunges. For some reason, I didn’t catch the variety in the Collage description (although when I go back and read it now, I can see that they mentioned it). I guess I thought the variety would be in the movements (amidst walking steps) instead of stopping the walking for lower body work here and there. I really enjoyed the change of pace and the work on my thighs (which always seem to need it to keep my knees strong).

I actually did the workout on the rebounder though. I was going to try it on the floor, but the intensity didn’t look like it would be enough plus I’m always looking for fun ways to use my rebounder. It was PERFECT for rebounding. I did step off the rebounder for the leg work and for the ski step. But I did the rest quite happily on the rebounder.

I liked Debbie’s approach. She seems to be training the athlete more than the weight loss want-a-be. (She's a former professional athlete -- she's a world record holder in cycling and was one of the developers of spinning.) She uses more athletic-style moves than dancy moves. I like her straight-forward style I felt like she knew the body well and knew simple ways to get a good workout for my body. She was clear and pleasant. The only downside was that she would announce an upcoming move and then never count down for it (like say “in 8 counts”) – she’d just say “keep going” or something and you’d keep walking and you weren’t quite sure when the new move was starting. But this wasn’t a big deal since all the steps were so simple. It wasn’t like I was trying to keep the 8 counts of a stepping routine of kickboxing move just right or I’d get lost.

The music was pleasant and kind of playful. Nothing modern, but not boring either. The scenery was classic Gaiam – beautiful Hawaiian background. At one point, Debbie said to imagine we were out walking and then they just showed waterfalls and scenic spots on the beach for a bit. Very nice.

There’s a 30 minute option on this dvd as well. I could tell when that came in the workout because they all lined up and it seemed like Debbie was concluding. Then the intervals began and the pace picked up a bit. (I was 1/2 tempted to stop at 30 minutes since I'm just getting over being sick, but I told myself to keep going and it was lots of fun -- so glad I did!)

The set also includes a CD for outdoor walking, which I haven’t tried and hope to sometime soon.

I was excited to see in the credits that Phil Scarpaci (pictured on the left) was the director. He was the director of the infomercial I did with Beachbody in July. He also interviewed me back in November 2006 when I filmed with Beachbody) and is really, really great. Pattie Kelly (middle) was the producer and I got to meet her in July, too. (I've never met the man on the right). Kind of fun to know that I knew who was involved with making this workout!

I received this dvd on a 2 for 1 trade and also got her Walk, Sculpt, and Tone dvd. I'll try it out later this week and will get back to you with a review. It actually got better reviews than this one, so I'm excited to try it.