Monday, June 10, 2013

ZCUT Power Cardio DVDs review

Today's review is a little bit different, because it's health and fitness related, but I hope you like it anyways. I've been following Zuzana Light for many years now. I respect her and been doing her workouts almost on daily basis. So I decided to order her ZCUT Power Cardio Series DVDs, she released in March if I'm not mistaken. I knew I needed to include more cardio, I just didn't find a fun and short way to do it. Zuzana reads my mind ;)

3 DVDs + calendar

DVD set comes with 3 DVDs and easy to follow 30 day calendar poster for first month. Each DVD has 4 workouts, warm up routine, cool down & stretching routine and ab bonus workout. So that equals 12 different cardio workouts total, 1 ab workout, which is the same on all 3 DVDs, same goes for warm up and stretching after a workout.

You get a workout breakdown before an actual workout, so you know exactly what are you doing. Zuzana before real time workout, shows an explains you proper form and how many reps you have to make. Now that I already know the warm up routine, I usually watch explanation part whilst I warm up ;).

Warm up routine is dynamic, nothing like a warm up I was used to do before, but it's effective. I usually already start sweating doing it. Cool down and stretching routine is usually my best part, rolling on the floor, sweaty and sticky ;)

Last side of 1st DVD.

Now to the actual workouts ...
Like I said, there are 12 workouts, mainly cardio, but they are amazing strength wise as well, so you won't lose your muscles while doing cardio. You have different types of workouts:
  • time challenge workouts: have to complete all exercises and reps in shortest amount of time. You write it down in calendar and try to finish faster next time doing it;
  • interval training: they have no rest in between. You do one exercise for 30 or 40 seconds, then move to next one until time is up;
  • tabata training: it's basically interval training, but you have 10 seconds rest in between exercises;
  • as many rounds as possible (amrap): 10 minutes countdown. You have to push really hard and try to finish as many rounds as possible.

All workouts take around 12 minutes. The shortest workout is the first one, my record was 7 minutes 53 seconds, the longest workout took me 15 minutes 50 seconds. With warm up and cool down all together lasts around 20 - 25 minutes. And that's all what you need to do for workout in a day! I was thinking which workout I love most, but I just couldn't decide which one to pick! I like them all equally, even though I swear in my head a little while doing them! ;)

Calendar is easy to follow.

Best part? All workouts are REAL TIME, so you can follow along with her or you can try to do better than her or you could do them on your own. I've noticed that I push harder if I see her pushing hard along with me, and I always try to be few reps before her ;). You see her doing workouts with struggle. She starts doing push ups from her knees, or complains how it hurts ... She makes it real! That's why I love her. And her form is perfection. I think that's her trade mark - excellent form.

Another best part :P is that all workouts are BODY WEIGHT - no equipment needed. You basically need only a chair (couch will do too ;)) and stack of books (or imaginary object :P) to jump over it.

She wasn't in her best shape when she filmed these DVDs if you compare her to how she looks now. I think these makes her even more amazing, because that means her workouts and diet tips work.

Whole calendar.

The calendar that came with the DVDs is easy to follow, you have written which workout to do on certain day and you have 7 skinny tips total written on active rest days. You can do ab bonus workouts on these day, or do one of her ZWOWs (you can find them on her YT channel: here) or go for a walk, do yoga ... Or take day off to recover - listen to your body. Underneath the schedule you have before and after photo spot, so you can compare them at the end of the month and you can write down you stats for each week - weight, waist, arm, leg. I also measured my hips, calves and bust line.

Zuzana also followed first month calendar and did video for each day, you can find her videos with tips on her YouTube channel: here.

 
Do I recommend ZCUT Power Cardio DVD series?
YES, YES, YES. I bet some of the workouts are more intense than Insanity workouts! I recommend them to all who want to lose fat/weight and don't have a lot of time to workout. They are easy to travel with, you don't need Internet connection + they come in environment friendly packaging.

Price? $15,95 + p&p = it was around 20€, which I think it's reasonable price. I received the package in about 2 weeks. You can buy them on Amazon: HERE.

Oh, and I almost forgot to share my results for first month!
I weighted myself even though this is not my prefered method, but I lost 2,5 kgs, I've seen most changes around my belly, muffin tops are smaller and I lost some fat on my back. Legs are the most stubborn part of my body, fat wise :D. I lost 3 cms in my waist, 1 cm in my arm, 2 cms in my leg and 0,5 cms in my left calf. I'm impressed to be honest. My diet was as always: did my best to eat clean, gluten free vegetarian diet.

I didn't take first picture topless, I just covered my bra :D
From left to right: 1st day of Zcut, 1 month after, 1st day of Zcut, 1 month after.


Have you heard of Zuzka Light before? Do you follow her? Will you buy these DVDs? What kind of cardio routine do you do?


22 comments:

  1. Wow definitely got results, you look great! Seems like a really great workout system!

    xoxo Bree
    The Urban Umbrella
    http://www.theurbanumbrella.com

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    1. Thank you! It really is! I'm hooked!
      xoxo

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  2. You look great Deja!! :-) I'm a huge fan of exercise and taking good care of one's health regardless of weight :-) You are doing great!
    P.S.
    No topless photos on the internets, ok? LOL!!!

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    1. Thank you Colleen. Everyone should take care of their body and health in general!

      PS: Lmao! I won't post any more topless photots, ok? :D

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  3. 1. Pridna si 2. Pogumna si (jaz se nikoli ne bi upala fotkat tkole) 3. Zuzane pa ne maram, izgleda mi kot porno zvezda :S.

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    1. 1. Hvala. 2. Hvala. Mah, js sem hotla motivirat, marsikdo se še bolj razgalja ;) 3. hehe, saj ima zgodovino v porno industriji, ampak mislm, da je zaradi tega še bolj realna - ker je bla pač nesrečna in ji je telovadba pomagala prit vn iz tega. Drugače pa ne more bit vsak všeč vsem. ;)
      Hvala za komentar.

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  4. Se strinjam z Eriko, jaz se tudi ne bi upala slikati takole. Si pa super, rezultat je res viden. Bravo. :)

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    Replies
    1. Mah, nič posebnega. Saj v kopalkah me tudi gledajo :D
      Hvala!

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  5. Woww!! You can definitely see a difference! You're much more toned now
    Very informative post! I do the same workouts at the gym but for an hour long (which is killinggggg but soooo good)
    High-intensity interval training are the best; doesn't take much time but it gets the best result - just like you said! Can't wait to see the result after another month, or 2 months :)

    X

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    1. I though that was point of reviews - to be informative ;)
      I'll probably post my next progress on my birthday. I set a really high goal, but I can do it! Can't wait to see results ;)

      Thank you Sal!!

      X

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  6. Pridna, pridna. Jst pa lena, lena. :)

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    1. Jah, nehaj z lenarjenjem pa nekej naredi ;) Hvala!

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  7. Ja tudi meni je všeč, ko vaje dela skupaj s tabo in ti daje motivacijo in te podpira in motivira. Rezultati so pa vsekakor vidni. Čestitke :D

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  8. Ful si pridna pa res se ti pozna napredek :) Si fajna motivacija *.*

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  9. Great results! I've been following the same dvd too and think Zuzka is awesome!

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    1. Thank you! Amazing! I bet your results will be amazing ! :) X

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