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Cardio/Sculpt Fitness is a high-energy interval training workout that alternates high intensity cardio with strength training in five circuits. Each circuit opens with a 3- to 4-minute combo that intermixes floor and step aerobics, followed by a strength training superset, a 1-minute cardio drill, and a repeat of the strength training superset. After the fifth circuit, an 8-minute ab segment features classic crunches with a hint of Pilates, followed by a short stretch to close the workout. Advanced exercisers should be challenged and entertained by the athletic cardio combos set to fast-paced music and Kelly's uqiue approach to classic strength training exercises.

The cardio combos are taught add-on style and integrate moves on the floor with stepping at a fast 138 bpms tempo. They are somewhat tricky to learn as Kelly's cueing isn't the best, but the combos are short, and once each one is finished you're done with it. You don't have to remember them all for a grand finale TIFT, so with subsequent viewings you should get the steps down. The cardio drills consist of just one move repeated for a minute, so that learning curve is easy.

The strength training focuses on upper body for about 10 minutes and on lower for only 3.5. Shoulders and triceps are worked first with 6 different exercises, next legs with squats and lunges, then back and biceps with 7 different moves, legs for the second time with squats, and finally chest gets a push-up/plank combo. Within each strength superset the exercises are performed back to back with quick transitions. Often only a few reps are performed for each exercise, and then that sequence of mini-sets is repeated a few more times. There's no time to pick up different dumbbells within a superset, so if you could go heavier or need to go lighter for certain exercises, you'll need hit pause or miss a few reps.

Kelly has added versatility to this DVD by including four shorter Premixes, ranging in length from 38 to 46 minutes. You can choose: Cardio Mix, all the cardio, including drills, back to back; Sculpt Mix, only the strength training; Cardio-Leg Mix all the cardio without the drills, followed by one set each of the lower body strength exercises; Cardio-Upper Body Mix all the cardio without the drills, followed by one set each of the upper body strength exercises. All premixes include the warm-up, ab segment, and stretch. If you're really pressed for time you can skip the ab segment and still get a solid workout in under 35 minutes.

Who's it for?
The fast tempo of the stepping and the unique variations on classic exercises call for experienced exercisers who have the basics of both strength training and stepping down, are good visual learners, and know their limits. Intermediates may need to make modifications for strength exercises, but none are offered on screen.

Best features:
Energizing, motivating music.
Four premixes, so you have 5 complete workouts varying from 39 to 69 minutes.
Each segment of each circuit has a chapter marker, so you can quickly repeat or skip any part you like/dislike.

What needs improvement?
The Tutorial is nice as far as it goes, but it would have been more helpful if the finished cardio combos were demonstrated here in slow motion so you could follow them right away. Also, including an explanation and demo of the shoulder and back exercises in the tutorial would be helpful so you'd know exactly what to do and why. Sometimes it's hard to see exactly what Kelly is doing.
The All Cardio premix needs a cool down, or at least needs to mention, that you need to let your heart rate drop before you get down on the floor for abs.
The All Sculpt premix would have been better if the first round of upper and lower body exercises had been performed in order, followed by the second round in order. This would give each muscle group a chance to rest while another was working.

How's the instruction?
Kelly is not the best cuer for the cardio. She often cues right on the move, and sometimes doesn't cue at all, especially later in the combo. More precise cues like adding "alternating" to basics, or "three" to squat-pendulums would let you know exactly what to do ahead of time. Kelly has a staccato speaking style, using short sentences and clipping her words, so at times it's hard to hear exactly what she's saying. Once you've memorized the combos you'll probably be able to follow ok, but they would be easier to follow from the start if the cueing were better.

Kelly doesn't give detailed instructions for the strength exercises, so you need to be a good visual learner, especially for the shoulder work. She gives occasion technique tips as the sets progress, but generally doesn't talk much. She tells you when to pick up heavy or light weights, but doesn't mention which exercises are coming up.

Equipment & Space needed
You'll need a step (although it's possible to do all the cardio on the floor), at least two sets of dumbbells, and a floor mat for the ab section.

Some of the floor cardio moves take you at least three or four feet sideways beyond the step and then call for a kick to the outside, so you need quite a bit of space laterally behind the step unless you limit yourself to small side steps.

Set & Crew
Two women accompany Kelly. The one on screen left shows low impact versions of the cardio, but Kelly rarely mentions that she's doing so. If you need those options, keep your eye on her. No options are shown for the strength exercises.

Rating
A few minor points keep this workout from earning a perfect score. It's an excellent value for the price.

Fun Factor & Repeatability
I've done this workout is all it's configurations and so far I prefer the All Cardio and All Sculpt versions best. Short and intense makes me feel I'm getting the most out of my exercise time, so I'm glad these options are available.

Workout Details- 69 min.
Warm-up - 4 min. (138 bpms)
Short combo on floor, short combo on step, TIFTed together, dynamic stretches for low back & hams

Cardio/Sculpt - (49.5 min.)
Circuit 1- 14 min.
Cardio - (4 min.) on step: triple knee, triple leg extension, squat/pendulum, tap/jog, surf
Sculpting - shoulder & triceps (4.5 min.)
shoulder combo: lateral raise single-arm, double arm (lift directly to side, angled back 30°, angled back 45°) & upright row 3x
front shoulder raise 3x & triceps push away
triceps kickbacks - double-arm, alternating palms up & palms down.
straight-arm pulsing lifts to rear
Cardio Drill - (1+ min.) 3 hops on step with leg extension to rear, alternating legs
Sculpting - repeat shoulder & triceps (4+ min.)

Circuit 2 - 9 min.
Cardio - (4 min.) on step: triple insoles; on floor: slide/kick/punch/hop home, punching jumping jacks & side block
Sculpting - lower body (2 min.)
squat walk across step, 2-pulse lunge off back, squat off side
2-pulse lunges off step, squat on top
Cardio Drill - (1+ min.) jumping jacks alternating punches forward 4x and up 4x
Sculpting - (2 min.) repeat lower body

Circuit 3 - 11 min.
Cardio - (3 min.) jog onto step, jump squat on corners, squat shuffles over length of step
alternating lunges off back, torso twist/knee lift/torso twist (on floor)
Sculpting - back & biceps (3.5 min.)
rear delt raise (at 2 angles, lift directly to side and 45° back)
biceps curls alternating palms up & palms down
lat row palms up, alternated with wide-angle rear delt fly
long biceps curl, 2 hammer curls, one circle curl
Cardio Drill - (1+ min.) squat shuffle back & forth over step
Sculpting - (3.5 min.) repeat back & biceps

Circuit 4 - 9 min.
Cardio - (4+ min.) side/forward leap on floor around step, split lunge leaps onto step, hesitation repeater, jog/hold on floor, quick rock on step, jack on floor, wide hop onto step
Sculpting - lower body - (1.5+ min.)
deadlifts (squats) 2x slow, 7 pulses
Cardio Drill - (1+ min.) jog 3 & hold knee
Sculpting - (2 min.) repeat lower body

Circuit 5 - 6.5 min.
Cardio - (3.5 min.) kickboxing: jab/cross & hammer punch; step/cross/kick, 2 punches, 2 jacks, kick front & back, scissors
Sculpting - chest (3 min.)
push-up alternated with side plank
Cardio Drill -
knee repeaters on one leg
Sculpting
repeat push-ups & knee repeaters on other side

Abdominals - 8+ min.
upper crunches, upper/lower crunches (legs bent & straight), roll-ups, repeat all
Pilates straight-leg scissors, oblique crunches, bicycles at 2 speeds, repeat all
upper crunch

Stretch - 3 min.
hams briefly on floor, runner's lunge, sumo squat for inner thighs, runner's lunge
standing for upper back, chest, biceps, lateral torso, neck

DVD features

Main Menu has 6 choices:

Introduction - (1 min.) intro to format and goals of workout, leads right into the workout
Start Workout - starts warm-up and plays all segments in order.
Cardio/Sculpt Mixes - takes you to a menu of 4 premixed workouts (below)
Cardio/Sculpt Mix & Match - takes you to a menu of 5 choices: Warm-up, Cardio/Sculpt, Abdominals, Stretch, Tutorial After each section plays, the workout continues on in order from that point.
Tutorial - (2 min.) Kelly explains & demos 3 moves used in the cardio: surf, quick rock, cross behind
Contact & Credits

Cardio/Sculpt Mixes Menu: 4 choices:
Cardio Mix (39 min) - Warm-up, All Cardio, Drills, Abs & Stretch
Sculpt Mix (43 min) - Warm-up, All weights, Abs & Stretch
Cardio-Leg Mix (38 min) - Warm-up, All Cardio, 1 set of Legs, Abs & Stretch
Cardio-Upper Body Mix (46 min) - Warm-up, All Cardio, 1st set of upper body, Abs & Stretch

Cardio Mix
This premix is quite vigorous since all the cardio is strung together and you don't get a chance to recover with the slower-paced strength training segments. If you're not used to stepping at this speed (138 bpms) you might want to lower your step when you're doing this premix of all 5 cardio segments and drills back to back.

Your heart rate should be quite high after the last drill, so be sure to walk around and let it lower back down to where it was before you started the workout before lying on the floor for abs.

Sculpt Mix
In this premix the sculpting supersets are done in the same order as the main workout, which means each muscle group is worked twice without getting a rest with the cardio combo. You may need to lower the weight for the second round.

Another option would be do this mix twice, skipping over the second round your first time through, then before beginning the abs, start the premix over, skipping the warm-up and the first rounds for each muscle group. That would give every muscle group a good rest before hitting it again.

Circuit 1

lateral raise (lift directly to side, angled back 30°, angled back 45°) & upright row combo
These long-lever shoulder lifts, with the shoulder joint opening wider and wider as the arm is brought behind the body (external rotation of the shoulders) could be problematic for some people. It's not that your arms don't move that way, obviously they can, but "external rotation" of the shoulder joint under load is a different story. Holding a weight high behind your back with a straight arm and your palm facing forward can put too much stress on the rotator cuff muscles which are small and mainly used for stabilization of the shoulder girdle when it's under load, not for lifting strength. Lifting vigorously can be problematic too, as it can overstretch the shoulder muscles.

I've known folks who've injured their rotator cuff by reaching into the back seat to lift an object off the floor or seat. When they grab the "load" with their arm fully extended and try to bring it forward into the front seat, they've just overloaded the shoulder joint while it's in external rotation, a biomechanically weak position. I also know quite a few tennis players who've experienced a rotator cuff tear when they hit a ball "late" i.e., their arm and racket are behind their body when they make contact with the ball (the load). In this externally rotated shoulder position, the small rotator cuff muscles take hit (absorb the speed of the ball) and can tear. A torn rotator cuff can put you out of commission for a long time.

A safer way to do this exercise is to lift your arm directly out to the side for all three lateral raises.

If you want to try the angled lifts, start with a very light weight, lighter than you'd normally use for a regular lateral raise, and make sure you retract your shoulder blades (squeeze your shoulder blades together and down) immediately before each lift. The squeeze will keep the lift from becoming too ballistic which can also injure the rotator cuff. You can see that Kelly has well-developed shoulders, if yours don't look that way, be very careful with this exercise. You can also fool around with the direction your hand is facing. Lifting with your palms facing each other (or facing your sides) or palms down will still work the triceps and rear delt but your shoulders will be internally rotated.

The upright row is another exercise that can be hard on the shoulder joint as it takes the shoulders into internal rotation under load. It also works the front (anterior) delts (usually over worked in most video workouts) and biceps, and since this superset is meant to target shoulders and triceps, an overhead shoulder press is a good substitution here.

front shoulder raise & triceps push away
If you're feeling the push-away more in your shoulders than your triceps, change to classic triceps overhead extensions which will work your triceps against gravity more efficiently. Lift both arms until the weights are overhead, then lift and lower the weights behind your head.

straight-arm pulsing lifts to rear
You can replace the 3 pulses with a full range of motion kickback: Lift both straight arms, bend elbows to 90°, straighten arms, lower arms.

Circuit 2

squat walk across step, 2-pulse lunge off back, squat off side
You can work the glute a bit more by changing the 2-pulse lunge off the back to a lunge off the back, a rear leg extension and then a squat off the side.

2-pulse lunges off step, squat on top
A variation that emphasizes an upward lift between pulses is to lunge off the back close to the step, then lift up a bit so that you can take the weight off the floor foot, then tap that same foot a bit farther back.

jumping jacks alternating punches forward 4x and up 4x
If you're staying low impact for the cardio, you can intensify this drill by starting on top of your step and lunging off the narrow sides, rather than doing low jacks on the floor.

Circuit 3

rear delt raise (at 2 angles, lift directly to side and 45° back)
The info above about the lateral raises applies to this exercise too. If lifting backwards at the angle doesn't feel good to your shoulder, you can perform a second fly directly out to the side, or a wide rear delt row (elbows bend during the lift and point out to sides at top of row).

biceps curls alternating palms up & palms down
If you're using a heavy weight, and the forearm rotation feels too fast, you can alternate between palms facing up and palms facing each other (hammer curls).

long biceps curl, 2 hammer curls, one circle curl
The long biceps curl is really a front shoulder raise with palms facing up. If you're using a heavy weight and can't handle the long lever lift, do a classic palms up biceps curl at the same 2-2 count instead.

squat shuffle back & forth over step
If you can't make it across the length of the step at this pace, just switch direction and move side to side over the narrow width of the step.

Circuit 4
split lunge leaps onto step (in cardio drill)
The modification shown for the split leaps onto step is a 3-count pulse off the step. For more cardio intensity, you can substitute a three-knee repeater. A Charleston (knee, lunge back, knee) would work nicely here too.

deadlifts (squats) 2x slow, 7 pulses
Although Kelly calls these deadlifts, they are really squats. You can change the 7 pulses to 4 low-end reps: lower to the bottom, come halfway up 3 times, then stand up all the way.
For variety you try the second set as plie squats and work your inner thighs.

jog 3 & hold knee up
You can do this back and forth over the narrow step: jog on top 1, 2, then step off the side and onto the floor for 3 and the knee hold. Jog back up 1, 2 and go off the other side for 3.

Circuit 5
push-up alternated with side plank
If you don't want to do push-ups, an alternative that will also work your core/obliques is to lie on top of your stability ball, and do one chest press with both arms during each push-up, then while Kelly is doing the side plank do alternating arms chess presses. For the second set do chest flies.

Adbominals
upper crunches, upper/lower crunches (legs bent & straight), roll-ups, repeat all
I always like to use my stability ball somehow during ab work, so I used it for this crunch series. When Kelly adds the lower crunches, just tilt your pelvis upward and pull your lower abs in tight while continuing to upper crunch on top of the ball. There's a brief pause after finishing the second round, giving you time to hop off your ball and get onto the floor for the Pilates scissors.