Rosemary Conley's New Body By Design [1996]

If you want something more impact and more fun and more challenging I don't recommend this one. But if you are new to eercise or find exercise a challenge stick to this.


Fun music, not very challenging   August 11, 2002
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I have borrowed this tape from time to time from my mum, as i like the fact that it's in short sections (around 10 mins) and the music is quite good in a cheesy way (Hazell Dean, Rick Astley, Hot Stuff etc) However it isn't all that effective, especially as I prefer not to use weights. The lower body stuff is OK (possibly because that's RC's own problem area?) but none of the supposedly aerobic stuff even gets me out of breath, and i am not a very fit woman! And the tummy exercises are fairly useless, which is my own problem area, having had a caesarean section nearly 3 years ago and still being quite bellyish :( Still, I do like the music so sometimes I use it to time myself doing some proper tummy exercises! If you want non-complicated aerobics, try Leslie Sansone's walk-off weight, and if anyone knows of a good toning video in short sections, let me know!


Cheerful but half-hearted   July 17, 2002
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

The video is split into six 10 minute sections that focus on different parts of the body with the idea that you can pick and choose which bits of the workout you want. Good if you are stretched for time but the disadvantage of this is that each of the sections includes a few minutes warm up so you are only really exercising for 60% of the time.

For absolute beginners Rosemary Conley's friendly tone is a confidence booster and you may notice a slight increase in heart rate after 15-20 minutes but I still would not really recommend it. There is a lot of walking around combined with arm movements and the change between different exercises is quite quick (repeats are only 3-4 times per movement) so when you've got the hang of one exercise it is already time to move on to another. If you are not very coordinated or have not done aerobics before it will take a few repeats to get the movement sorted out and start concentrating on really exercising.

I am in my early thirties and although I would only consider myself moderately fit (currently exercise twice a week for 15 minutes) I found this video too basic and did not find my heart rate increasing to anything like a fat burning level.

This is the entire reason I've logged on - to find myself something that will work the short time I have each week!


motivating and friendly   February 2, 2002
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

The tape is divided into 6 sections, each targeting a different area of the body. The workout is not very difficult but enough to strengthen those neglected muscles. If somebody finds it too easy they can always use heavier weights. My only reservation about it is that there is no aerobic section as well but of course doing the routine in a more vigorous way will do the trick. sweating is not an indication of a good workout, do it in a warm room and you will break into a sweat easily.