Bob Harper's Inside Out Method : Yoga for the Warrior Review

I have also reviewed the other dvds in the series - "Pure Burn, Super Strength", "Body Rev, Cardio Conditioning" and "Bob's Workout".

This is the third of four dvds in Bob Harper's "Inside Out" series that I've reviewed, and this one is a very different beast from the blood and thunder of the others. You have a 15 minute "yoga abs" or the full one hour workout to choose from, and while the simple menu system, progress bar and countdown are all still here (hooray), there are no weights involved - all you need is a mat.

My main problem with yoga dvds in general is the boredom factor, but Bob is a very good yoga instructor and really motivates you to keep going. I have done both workouts three times so far, and they've held my interest each time.


The Minions
Two girls (Leah and Kristin) and one big muscular guy (Robert) who does the modified version. I'm not going to say much about them - they're not as interesting as the ones from the other discs, but they are much more bendy and have far better balance than me, so good on 'em!!!


15 Minute Yoga Abs
Ok, first of all there's not much yoga about this at all. What you do get is the most intense 17 minute ab workout I've ever done - it is just relentless. I have a strong core and I'm really good at ab work, but this was not easy. Bob keeps your core engaged for the entire 15 minutes by transitioning seemlessly between routines, and by the time we got to cooldown my abs were on fire.

Within the 17 minutes he hits crunches, twists, scissors, extended leg crunches, core rotations, half boat twists, half boat crunches, half boat arm pulses, boat extensions, crunches (again), bicycle, leg extension crunches, mountain climbers, plank, mountain climbers from dolphin plank and any number of pulses and holds on the majority of the above.

And like the other workouts, there is absolutely no rest between sets. Make no mistake, it may be only 17 minutes long but it ain't no picnic.

If I only had 20 minutes and had to choose the best workout to do from any I've ever done, I would pick this one hands down.


1 Hour Yoga
Much different pace to everything else in the series, I call this one my reward workout because it always leaves me with a warm glow - I finish it feeling totally relaxed and peaceful. That doesn't mean it's easy by any means, but it's a nice contrast to the other more intense routines.

It does a lot of the traditional yoga poses such as downward dog, crescent, warrior and triangle poses, chaturanga, chair pose, extended side angle, half moon, bridge, wheel etc etc, but also throws in some curveballs like shoulder press from downward dog and one-legged pushups.

Bob's instruction is spot on. He explains each pose as you go, and strikes just the right balance. Minion Robert does a lot of modifiers which I found myself following (especially on the balance poses), so I know I've still got a long way to go before I master this workout, but I'll keep trying.

Perhaps my favorite progression was extended side angle into wrapped extended side angle (a bind pose) transitioning into bird of paradise, purely because it was the only one I could do that Nancy could not.

On the other hand, I really have to work on some of the other balance poses.


Summary
This is strange in the sense that the shorter workout is really the harder one, although I enjoyed doing both of them. I have two basic requirements from yoga dvds - they have to keep me interested, and they have to leave me relaxed, stretched and happy.

This one ticked both boxes.