Last year I bought Davina 5 Week Fit and reviewed it here. For the last few years Davina McCall has released a workout dvd every Christmas, so I was disappointed when this Christmas, I was unable to find one anywhere… and then, last month I stumbled across Davina 30 Day Fat Burn. It was apparently released on December 26th like most new year workout dvds, but I hadn’t seen it anywhere. So of course, I bought it and brought it home to try it out. This is Davina’s 16th (!) fitness dvd, so she knows what she’s doing with them by now! As a long-time purchaser of fitness dvds, and owner of several of Davina’s, here are my thoughts…
Format
Davina 30 Day Fat Burn comprises 6 workouts as well as a warm-up and stretch. There are 3 fat burning workouts: Box Fit; HIIT Fat Burner and Ultimate Fat Burner. As well as these there is a Strength & Tone section, an Abs workout and a new feature – a “buddy workout” where you can workout with a friend.
Each workout is ten minutes long and trainer Ed Lumsden has done his job well in making them quick and efficient. There’s also a 5-week planner which shows you a combination of workouts to do each day for five weeks in order to get the best results.
How Effective is it?
This is one of those things were it really depends on how fit you are to start with. If you’re a couch potato with several pounds to lose and you start doing these workouts, you’re going to see some results and probably quite quickly. Deep down I think we all know we won’t end up looking like Davina McCall just by doing her workout dvds; she does all sorts of other exercise on the side and after 16 years in fitness she’s already extremely fit.
If you already have a good level of fitness, you probably won’t find this a particularly taxing workout. That said, if you have a good level of fitness, you probably didn’t get it by doing home workout dvds, so you probably already know they’re not something that will help you to maintain that fitness level without additional exercise.
For me, someone who doesn’t exercise nearly as much as I should, this provides a good workout. I get out of breath doing the moves, and my muscles have a satisfying but not debilitating ache the next day. The 5 week planner naturally progresses you along so that by the end of five weeks there is a noticeable difference in your ability and fitness.
If I’m honest, these workouts are similar to the last dvd, 5 Week Fit. The only difference is that where the last one had a 21-minute fitness test, this one has the Buddy Workout. There is more cardio in this one, which I actually found disappointing. There’s an intro at the beginning where Davina says she’s listened to what people have asked for, and she’s put more cardio into this dvd – but by now doesn’t everyone know that cardio is a bit of a myth when it comes to fat burning? Personally I would have liked to see more toning workouts on here.
Equipment
For the Strength & Tone section you will need weights. I think Davina uses 2kg weights throughout, and I used the same – though if you were feeling particularly strong you could use heavier ones. You use the same weights for deadlifts, bicep curls, tricep extensions in a sort of super set, and then you do squats and push-ups where you don’t fully straighten your arms on the way up for extra work.
You could probably stand to use a yoga mat for the abs section but I don’t think it’s absolutely crucial.
Extras
There are no extras on this dvd! I know, right! There is a short introduction from Davina where she says thank you to everyone for buying her dvds and sending her feedback – which is nice but it’s more fluff than content, in my opinion. I would have liked to see some sort of behind the scenes or interview – or perhaps some diet advice.
Best Part
As with Five Week Fit, I think the best part of this dvd is the 5 week planner because it shows you exactly how to put the different sections together for best results – rather than just doing the same workout every day like we all used to when a workout dvd only had two or three options.
Also I think once S is a little older she’ll enjoy doing the Buddy Workout with me!
Low Point
As I said above, I would have liked to see more strength training in this dvd. There are hundreds of different strength training exercises you can do without any weights at all, or with just a couple of dumbbells and it would have been great to see examples of these in this dvd. The Strength & Tone section doesn’t even make an appearance in the five week planner until week 2 which is a real shame.
Final Thoughts
I actually really like this dvd and do enjoy doing the workouts. My old dvd player actually swallowed my 5 Week Fit dvd so I’ve not been able to do any of those workouts for some time! I feel like these workouts work well either on their own or as an addition to the 5 Week Fit workouts or perhaps other training if you’re more fit.
When I finish a workout I feel like I’ve worked hard, and my muscles do ache the next day. I’ve only been doing it on and off for a few weeks but I have noticed an improvement in my stamina and ability. I love that the workouts are pretty short so that there’s really no excuse for not fitting them into a day.
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