My Basement Gym

Today I tried out a new Leslie Sansone workout. This is from her new Walk Your Way Thin Series. She recently released six new kits, and each one contains new workouts and a different gadget. This particular kit includes a pair of (12 ounces each) weighted gloves and a 4 mile workout, with a bonus segment for your lower body.

I really like Leslie, but I haven’t done one of her workouts in a while. She’s just so positive, encouraging, and upbeat that I can’t help but be in a better mood after one of her workouts. And, I often find myself laughing during her workouts, which always makes a workout even more enjoyable for me. Plus, her workouts are what got me off the couch and moving again, so she’ll always have a place on my shelf!

I was secretly hoping this workout might be similar to her Walk and Kick video, which includes some beginner kickboxing moves and is one of my favorites. It’s not like that workout at all, really – but there is some punching, and a lot of variety. So, I enjoyed it very much!

The menu contains the choices Welcome, 4 Mile Walk, Lower Body, and When you are ready for more – the last of which is a nice overview (with clips) of the other workouts in her Walk Your Way Thin series. As usual, the workout is nicely chaptered, and you can choose to do the full workout, or any of the individual miles. The workout is just under an hour, including warm up, cool down, and stretch – and the bonus lower body segment is about 5 minutes.

As with all of Leslie’s workouts, you start with a 5 minute warm up using Leslie’s four classic moves – walking, side steps, kicks, and knee lifts. Leslie is alone in this workout, and after the warm up she tells you to add the weighted gloves, and the pace of the music picks up. During the first mile, you do all of the classic moves, but also add in various arm movements, kickbacks, as well some higher impact power kicks. In the second mile, Leslie adds a some new footwork combined with a fun punching combo. She also uses mini squats with a biceps curl, double knee lifts, and double side steps. Mile three also includes the step and punch combos, adds heel taps and tap outs with a turn, and also increases the walking pace a bit. She includes a little bit of light jogging, as well – or boosted walking, as Leslie likes call it. The fourth mile is mostly a mix of the moves from the previous miles, but there isn’t any punching or jogging. The last few minutes of the mile slow down for cool down, and is followed with a short stretch. The bonus lower body segment is a short un-weighted workout that includes one set each of squats, stationary lunges, and glute kicks.

I had fun with this workout, and really liked the variety. This is more intense than a classic Leslie workout, but she seems to have bumped up the intensity with many of her newer releases. The weighted gloves seem to be nicely made, but I used my own weighted gloves , and usually wear them for most Leslie workouts anyway. This is probably a good workout for beginners to intermediates, or more seasoned exercisers looking for a light and fun workout. So, if you’re a fan of Leslie and looking to add to your collection, I recommend this one.

ETA: It looks like you can now order these kits online.