Rosemary Conley - Fat Attack (DVD)

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Advantages:	for all levels of fitness, well explained
Disadvantages:	not the latest music

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yes

Full review

Last summer, after seeing my holiday pictures, I decided it was time to get fit and lose some weight. So I fished out some old aerobics videos, which were fine but the one I used most was a little bit short. I wanted one that had a few sections so I could do half an hour, 40 minutes or 50 minutes if I wished. I used to use Rosemary Conley’s Flat Stomach Plan so when I saw her Fat Attack Workout video on Amazon marketplace I decided to treat myself to that. I have recently found this video on sale on Rosemary Conley’s website (http://www.rosemary-conley.co.uk) for £5.99 and the DVD is just £9.99 including postage.

I chose Rosemary Conley because I find her routines are well-explained, the music is upbeat and the exercises are easily achieved. Not only that but she tends to have different people doing different levels of exercise so if you’re really unfit you can start off on the basic level then work up to intermediate and if you get really fit move on to advanced.

At the beginning of the video Rosemary reminds you to check with your doctor if you think you may have a medical condition that would affect you exercising. I hadn’t exercised properly for a while but I don’t have any medical conditions (barring asthma) so I didn’t check with mine.

WARM UP
Rosemary starts the video with a warm up. You should always warm up your muscles before exercising in order to prevent injuries. The warm up incorporates stretches with some of the moves you will use later in the video, including marching, side to side steps, hopscotches (kicking your leg backwards from the knee towards your bottom) and squats. Everything is explained well so you don’t end up two moves behind Rosemary. The warm up lasts approximately 8 minutes. The music for the warm up is “Real Love”, a classic dance tune which immediately gets you in the mood to exercise and “Died in Your Arms” by Cutting Crew

FAT BURNING WORKOUT
This is the aerobic workout where you will burn fat. As I mentioned, you can exercise on three levels. Rosemary seems to stay on intermediate most of the time but she also demonstrated the basic and advanced moves. Natalie does the basic moves, Tracy and Sharon do the intermediate and Carolyn, Julie and David complete the advanced moves using a bit more energy. The first time I tried the video I stuck to the basic section just in case but I found I was fit enough to do the intermediate moves. After a few months of regularly doing the video I decided to try the advanced movements, such as full jumping jacks, and I don't struggle with them at all as I am now fit enough. I think it is best to take it at your own pace and decide when you are ready to increase your activity.

The main workout incorporates a lot of stepping, squats, and box steps with plenty of arm movements e.g. bicep curls. This is good because you use more energy and you tone your arms a little. The arm movements – such as figure of eights – also help to tone your midriff. The section gets gradually faster and then slows down so your body can gently adapt. During the fastest part of the video the song is “Take me to your heaven”. I automatically know when I hear this that it will be box steps, punches and jacks. After this “Let’s Go Round Again” begins and you keep the energy up but it’s not quite so hectic. Rosemary very cleverly tells you to do it one more time just when the song says “one more time”. It’s little touches like that that make you realise how well Rosemary plans her videos. This section is about 18 minutes long so with the warm up you’ll have done about a 25 minute workout, which is a decent length for a daily workout.

HIPS, THIGHS & BUM
If you continue past the aerobic section (and remember you don’t have to every time as there is a cool down in the aerobics) then you will come to the thighs & bum section next. You will need a pole or a chair to help you do all the squats and dips in this section – you rest on that to help you do deep squats, dips or raises of your thighs. This section is about 12 minutes long and although it can be tough to do the 3 layered squats/lifts it passes by really quickly. If you want to take it a bit easier just follow Natalie.

STOMACH/UPPER BODY
While I don’t always do the thigh section I usually try to do the stomach workout after the aerobic fat burning section. This is a combination of sit ups, press ups and extensions of the upper body. Again, the workout is done on 3 different levels. Julie, Carolyn and David all do an advanced movement for toning the abs and Natalie uses a towel under her head during sit ups for neck support. The section is about 12 minutes long. It is effective but not too difficult.

STRETCH/COOL DOWN
Although you cool down and stretch out after the abdominal/upper body exercises, you can also do a more thorough stretch in this next section. Rosemary says this will increase your flexibility. I don’t usually bother with this as I’m already quite flexible.

FITNESS CIRCUIT
Rosemary has included a circuit routine on this video specifically aimed at men but women can also do it. I have only tried it once and prefer to stick to the regular workout. During this you get about 2 minutes to do repetitions of a specific exercise before moving onto the next one. This would be great if you need to convince your partner to exercise! Rosemary’s husband takes part in this circuit so you’ll see how it runs in the family.

I have been using the video for several months now (and not really dieting) and I think it has made a massive difference to both my fitness levels and body shape. Since January I have lost 2 inches off my waist, 4 inches from my bellybutton, 2 inches from my hips, an inch from my bust (and I haven't lost a cup size!), and an inch from each thigh, as well as 8lbs in weight. I am getting fit enough now to consider joining a gym but I will still use this video at home.

Overall this exercise video is great. I never get confused about which move comes next, I can work at my own pace, and the music fits well to the exercises. I’m also losing weight and toning up so I would recommend this video to anyone who would like to get fit but would prefer to do so at home.