| | |  | Exercise & Fitness | Home » » » POWERSTRIKE 5 DVD with Ilaria Montagnani | | | | | | | Description: | | Ilaria's newest kickboxing workout, Powerstrike 5 is filled with energy-packed, exciting new drills and choreographed routines. As always, her concentrated focus on safety and proper form reflects her vast experience and commitment to the martial arts. The intensity of this cardiovascular exercise allows you to maintain a target heart rate zone for 90% of the time and engages every muscle of the body.
Prepare to sweat and be challenged as Ilaria and her team of instructors get you into the best shape of your life!
52 minutes | | | Features: | |
• Voted "Best Workout" by New York and Shape magazine
• Voted "Best Kickboxing DVD" by Health magazine
• Enjoy and be challenged by this full body, fun cardio workout
• Powerstrike concentrates on safety and proper form
• Ilaria will teach you how to kick and punch like a true martial artist!
| | | Product Details: | | | Studio:
| Powerstrike | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 21 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 21 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 Solid kickboxing with excellent techniqueApr 15, 2010
By neatski
Don't be swayed by the reviewer below who claims that the video is horrible and does not raise the heart rate. I am an advanced exerciser (Cathe Friedrich, Amy Bento and Jari Love make regular appearances in my routines), and although I would not call this routine advanced, it is solid intermediate and can provide anyone with a decent cardiovascular workout.
The reason? It's almost pure kickboxing- you get from this ONLY what you put into it! Perhaps the reviewer below is comparing this workout to the hordes of aeroboxing videos available that have you hopping around and doing jumping jacks to get you into an aerobic zone. In contrast, this workout's intensity is derived solely from the power that YOU put into the moves. It is completely low impact, so you get a good workout by punching and kicking powerfully, squatting deeply, and pivoting into your kicks and punches. There is something very empowering about that, and I found that I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Will it top the list of my intense cardio workouts? Definitely not, but I enjoyed doing it, and I found that my heart rate was in its target zone throughout most of the workout. I recommend it to intermediate exercisers in particular, but there's also something there for advanced exercisers. It's a welcome change from the frenetic pace of many advanced kickboxing workouts, in which technique is secondary to intensity.
The criticism I have is that I'm not sure it'll have staying power in the sense that it is repetitive and might get boring if done regularly. But then again, I found the Tae Bo videos much more repetitive and I stuck with those for at least 6 months, so who knows.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
solid workoutOct 26, 2010
By Feles31
A bit strange, I just noticed that the DVD that came is Powerstrike (as pictured) not Powerstrike4 as the text indicates. I wanted plain Powerstrike (having seen clips) so I got what I was expecting.
I consider myself at an intermediate level of fitness.
Pros: Started of easy, then worked up serious sweat with legs burning in the end. This instructor really worked for me. Serious --- I prefer someone who isn't smiling the whole time --- but throws in a smile now and then so you know she's friendly rather than a drill instructor. Non-annoying voice, easily understandable cuing. I prefer small groups like this with instructor and 3 assistants (two women, one man) --- alone seems rather weird sometimes and more than 3 is just distracting. Coming from a martial arts background (but trying to lose weight/keep in shape) it's nice finding a way to blend the two with someone who clearly emphasizes trying to keep more traditional form.
Cons: I think some people may be discouraged by some of the more complex routines and repetitive motions but both actually worked fine for me because I could understand she was trying to balance form with cardio. The workout seemed like it was created on a rather limited budget (looks like it was filmed in a real workout studio with mirror, actual music with singing, and the dvd menu looks like it was created using a home computer.) Having said that, it did not detract from a solid result.
This being a more serious martial art/cardio fusion workout than others I have tried in the genre, some thoughts:
If you are looking for actual martial arts, well, you need to take a martial arts class, frankly. I don't think you will ever learn self-defense or philosophy with an exercise video (or any video, really, that would be more of a supplement rather than an effective self-learning tool.)
I think the difficult sell for these martial arts cardio fusion workouts is that any cardio routine tends to be, well, girly, for lack of a better word --- I just don't really see a flood of manly men running to do these even though they can be hella tough to actually do. Also, any of these kickbox/box/cardio fusion routines are going to result in form/power suffering from trying to set a cardio pace. This would be even more of a risk for those new to the form who are trying keep a fast pace but do the move wrong or don't have the flexibility/muscles for it yet (because they aren't moves you usually ever do in everyday life.)
That said, I thought this instructor did one of the best jobs I've seen yet of trying to keep clean form in a cardio routine.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 excellent, toughest one yetNov 25, 2010
By Feles31
I consider myself at an intermediate level of fitness.
This was similar to other Powerstrike workouts with most of the same mix of instructors and low impact, karate based moves. My favorite instructor --- serious, excellent form, just the right amount of rallying calls, and the occasional smile. So much prefer this to the peppy, chirpy, non-stop smiling (that's just wrong when you are sweating and working) --- if that is what you are looking for, you will probably be disappointed.
Pros:
* There are a few short routines and a longer routine at the end. Seemed to have more reps of moves for more burn than previous powerstrikes.
* While still low impact, instead of stepping in place between moves like previous powerstrikes, you jog or do low jumping jacks.
* Couple elbow moves mixed in for a nice change.
* The music! Largely just a driving beat that totally matched the routine. I rarely like workout music but this was just too perfect not to mention.
* Things that reminded me of my martial arts classes:
- The instructor calling out the hup-hup to cue/rally or sometimes, instead of instructor, there is a lone guy off camera yelling out a rally when seriously tiring at end of long reps. This is the kind of motivation I prefer rather than the cacophony of an entire class whooping and screeching or non-stop smiling. You really feel like you earned that yell and it tells you to hold out cause you're nearing the ending set.
- Extra hold in place on sidekicks or other kicks. Excellent for form/balance.
- Makes me laugh when instructor gets revved to fight harder the harder it gets.
Cons:
* Camera angles. Either they were trying to be artsy or compensate for people not being in sync. There were quite a few tight shots of a person or their arms only instead of full body shots so I couldn't really see what was happening. When I got the routine down better after the first few viewings I stopped noticing but the first time especially was rather annoying trying to follow along.
* Still would prefer less people for less distraction. That said, the background folk are, at least, pleasant and non-annoying.
Overall, an excellent workout, highly recommended.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
**5 Star Workout Done by a 5 Star Trainer**Jan 16, 2011
By Beeah
Ilaria, does a fantastic job in this video, she's encouraging, precise, and challenging. IIaria's form is excellent and she's constantly giving form pointers. The workout is pretty fast pace, and you will sweat buckets. Ilaria's vibe is intense, strong and confident and every so often she'll flash you a smile. At first her cuing may be a little challenging to pick up, because she doesn't cue as many trainers do like...jab, jab, cross etc throughout their entire workout, instead she may tell you once or twice and that's it. Since the choreography is pretty basic and she repeats them, you will catch on, or you can select a chapter and practice until you get it. I think prior Kickboxing experience will make this workout a little easier to catch on because of the way Ilaria cues, however, she does do a brief tutorial in the beginning. This workout seems to be over in a flash, but when I checked the case it said 50 minutes, lots of traditional punching combo, and one of the best kicking segment I've experience on a kickboxing video since Larry Lam. This is a great bonus you'll get a total body workout in addition to a great cardio workout. The music was ok..not noticeable, but a good beat for the workout. I rate this as a 5 star workout done by a 5 star trainer. Highly recommend
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
So much fun!Aug 01, 2009
By DJ
This dvd is amazing, I've never done a workout that was so much fun before. I love how fast the hour goes by. The instructor is great and gives all the right reminders. I'll admit though, this isn't for people who've never exercised before. It's super hard, but worth it. I've already noticed a difference in my endurance after doing this dvd only five times in the past two weeks. Also there is some great instruction before the workout even starts on how to punch and kick correctly in all the different forms she uses in the workout. I don't think there could be a better kickboxing dvd out there.
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