The “Savage and Serene” workout dvd with Michael Olajide and Leila Feizel features two workouts. The “Savage” workout is from Olajide’s Aerobox workouts. It is an aerobic workout combining exercises from shadow boxing, rope jumping, and some conditioning exercises such as ump squats and body-weight squats. In this entry, I want to concentrate on my impressions of the other workout, Serene. Serene is based on their Aeroflow workouts, and features Olajide narrating the stretches while Feizal demonstrates. This is probably one of my most used stretching workouts.
In general, I love all of the Michael Olajide workout dvds that I have tried so far. It is the total package in terms of effective workout, excellent cuing and instruction, music that usually matches the movements, demonstration of good form, and motivation. This one is no exception, but I can see it may not be to everyone’s liking for a couple of small reasons.
First of all, what I like:
- Olaide’s voice over cuing and Feizel’s demonstration are both excellent. I know some people do not like voice-over narration in a workout video, but I really don’t mind.
- The stretching flows well and I feel like everything is well stretched by the time we are done. It has some of my favorite stretches including a nice one for the shins.
- Feizel is very flexible and shows it in her stretches. I really like that it is a stretching session that would provide a good stretch for people who are already fairly flexible. For this reason, I always do some aerobic exercise before following this flow to make sure I am warm enough to benefit from the stretches.
A couple of notes of caution, well caution is too strong a word…
- I just want to note some small details that are just personal preference. Some people really don’t like voice-overs in a workout, if you are one of those people you may not like this dvd. And some people may also find the demonstrators apparel a bit distracting. She wears what looks like a pair of black dancer tights with a mirrored Indian Choli. I enjoy her demonstration of individual style, but just thought I would mention it. I personally don’t care for the music in this workout as much as some of Olajide’s other workouts. It isn’t a deal breaker, but I think more flowing music would better suit. Usually the music in his dvds matches the movements very well and in this one it is just okay (for my tastes).
- Some of the stretches are a little advanced or may require some modification. There is one in particular that I have trouble with and must modify. I think in yoga it is called a “plow” (link to an American Council of Exercise comment on the “Plow”)
But overall, I find “Serene” to be very inspiring and thorough stretching routine. Considering that this dvd also includes a one hour cardio workout that I also enjoy, I consider this to be one of my favorite workout dvd purchases.
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