Walk at Home: 5 Day Slim Down

5 Day Slim Down is the last Leslie Sansone DVD I will be reviewing here. I bought 5 of her DVDs for $1 each at the yearly library sale and, now that I’ve done them all, I doubt I will purchase more–even if there are a bunch of new-to-me ones for $1 at the next library sale. I did find them effective cardio walks but they are so repetitive that the 5 DVDs of hers I currently own are plenty.

5 Day Slim Down contains 5 cardio walks. Each is 14 minutes except for one that is 13 minutes. It also contains a 5 minute warm up and a 9 minute cool down + stretch. If you choose “Play All” it is an 84 minute cardio walk. In the 2:30 minute introduction, Leslie tells you that the idea behind this DVD is to do one mile every morning and eat a healthy breakfast. She goes on to say that you should walk any time of day that works best for you–so morning isn’t the only time. You can also do as many walks in one workout as you want. I did two of the walks as add ons to other workouts to round out my hour in the morning and on another day I did 3 of these walks (plus the warm up and cool down/stretch) for an hour long cardio walk. This DVD also includes a 17:30 minute segment where Leslie talks about the importance of eating a healthy breakfast and demonstrates preparing them. She prepares scrambled eggs, oatmeal, French toast, and a smoothie. She also gives examples of “grab and go” breakfasts.

One thing I liked about this DVD is that it was just Leslie–no background exercisers, so that limited her cackling laugh. No shout outs to background exercisers just to fill the time either. She was more bearable in this DVD. However, you still get her “walk, walk, walk,” plus in this one she said “Woowwww” a lot–for no apparent reason.

I wore a weighted vest and weighted gloves for all of the walks to increase intensity.  I also (as usual) had to add arm movements to increase the intensity. None of them were intense on their own, so (for me at least) the additions were necessary. BTW–none of that actually made these intense. But it at least bumped them up to steady state cardio walks for me. This is actually a really great DVD for the beginning exerciser, or someone returning to exercise after a long hiatus (or injury or illness). One walk every morning that clocks in at less than 30 minutes is a great way for anyone to get themselves moving. And if done exactly as Leslie presents it (no additional equipment or arm movements) it shouldn’t be intimidating. In fact, I think I will give this DVD to my parents.

Day 1: Classic Walk is 14 minutes. You march in place between every move. This is just more of the same that is in all of Leslie’s DVDs I’ve done so far. Just like all of her walks, I had to add arm movements because she didn’t include much.

1. March in place
2. Step side to side
3. Alternating front kicks
4. Alternating knee lifts
5. March forward and back
6. Repeat #2 & 3 then #2 again
7. Double side steps
8. Repeat #5
9. Repeat #3; add reaching opposite hand toward kicking foot
10. Repeat #2; add a clap
11. Repeat #9
12. Repeat #7
13. Repeat #2
14. Hamstring curls
15. While marching in place, reach arms to the front and pull back; changes to reaching arms overhead and pulling them down
16. Repeat #10
17. Repeat #7
18. Repeat #14; add reaching arms forward then pulling them back; add traveling forward and back (Leslie stops the arm movement, too)
19. Repeat #9
20. While marching in place, reach arms overhead then pull them down
21. Repeat #10
22. Repeat #7

Day 2: Sculpt Your Arms is 14 minutes. Leslie uses no equipment to work the upper body. I wore weighted gloves and held 2 pound dumbbells. I also had to add arm movements sometimes because (as usual) Leslie does not take advantage of the full 14 minutes to work your arms.

1. March in place
2. Alternate tapping toes out to side
3. Step side to side; add wide arm claps
4. While marching in place, punch arms forward and pull them back
5. Alternating front kicks; add punching both arms in front of you
6. Repeat #4
7. Step side to side; changes to double side steps; add wide arm claps; changes to holding arms at shoulder level, hands in fists, palms down and elbows bent, pull elbows back to sides and cross elbows/arms in front of chest
8. Alternating knee lifts; add tapping hand to opposite knee as it lifts; changes to double knees (same arm movement)
9. March in place with bicep curls and at bottom of curl, push arms back to work the triceps
10. Repeat #2; pivot to the side so that you are lunging side to side and add a punch to the side as you lunge
11. Repeat #4
12. Alternating front kicks; add bicep curls; changes to reaching opposite arm toward kicking leg
13. March in place while reaching arms overhead and pulling them down to shoulders
14. Repeat #3; arms change to holding arms at shoulder level, hands in fists, palms down and elbows bent, pull elbows back to sides and cross elbows/arms in front of chest
15. Repeat #10
16. Repeat #5
17. March forward and back
18. Repeat #8 & 9
19. Alternating knee lifts; add tapping hand to opposite knee as it lifts
20. Repeat #4; changes to bicep curls; changes to punching arms straight out to sides of body

Day 3: Slim Your Legs is 14 minutes. Other than the squats and the lunges added to this workout (and they only appear once), this is no different than any of Leslie’s other walks.

1. March in place
2. Step side to side
3. Alternating front kicks; add reaching both arms toward feet when you kick
4. Repeat #2
5. Alternating knee lifts
6. March forward and back
7. While marching in place, punch arms in front of you
8. Repeat #2; changes to wide alternating knee raises
9. Heel digs on a diagonal
10. Repeat #2
11. Repeat #7
12. Step to side into a wide squat, 4 reps to each side; changes to 2 reps each side; changes to singles
13. Alternate tapping toes out to sides; pivot to the side so that you are lunging side to side and add reaching one arm to the side as you lunge
14. Repeat #7
15. Repeat #3
16. Repeat #8 & 9
17. Double side steps
18. Grapevine
19. Repeat #3
20. Repeat #6
21. Hamstring curls
22. Stationary lunges, two sets of 8 reps each leg
23. Alternating front kicks

Day 4: Trim Your Tummy is 14 minutes. Again, not much different than any of Leslie’s other walks other than additional knee lifts.

1. March in place
2. Alternate tapping toes out to side
3. Wide march; changes to wide alternating knee lifts; add tapping one hand to opposite knee as it raises
4. March in place while pushing arms overhead and pulling back down to shoulder level
5. Step tap to front (stay on same side)
6. Alternating front kicks; add punching both arms out toward leg as it kicks
7. Repeat #2; pivot to the side so that you are lunging side to side
8. Repeat #4
9. March forward 3 steps and back 3 steps
10. Repeat #3; changes to double knee lifts, bringing opposite elbow to knee as it lifts
11. Repeat #9; add a kick with 3rd step (both forward and back)
12. Alternating knee lifts; continue but with legs wider, clasp hands and reach them overhead and bring clasped hands down to knee as it lifts
13. Step side to side, reach arms out straight to side then bring straight arms together in front of you (chest fly move)
14. Hamstring curls; add reaching arms from overhead and pulling arms down
15. Repeat #6
16. Repeat #3; changes to double knees (same arm movement); changes to 4 knee pulls each leg
17. Repeat #11
18. Step side to side; add wide claps
19. Repeat #6
20. Repeat #16

Day 5: Speed Walk is 13 minutes. This walk is just like the title indicates–a faster paced walk than the others. But as you can see, it doesn’t really shave that much time off it. This one does have some jogging in it.

1. March in place
2. Step side to side; add wide claps
3. Alternating front kicks, reaching opposite arm toward kicking foot
4. Step side to side; changes to double side steps; add wide claps; changes to holding arms at shoulder level, hands in fists, palms down and elbows bent, pull elbows back to sides and cross elbows/arms in front of chest
5. March in place while reaching arms overhead; changes to punching arms in front of you
6. Alternate tapping toes out to sides; pivot to the side so that you are lunging side to side
7. Side steps moving forward 4 steps and back 4 steps
8. 3 marches + one tap; move to side with each 3 marches + one tap
9. Repeat #3
10. March in place while punching arms in front of you
11. Step side to side; changes to wide alternating knee lifts
12. Alternating front kicks
13. Repeat #7
14. While marching in place, reach arms arms overhead and pull them down then reach arms to the front and pull back
15. Alternating knee lifts; add tapping hand to opposite knee as it lifts
16. Hamstring curls; add pushing arms overhead and pulling them back down
17. Repeat #8
18. Jog forward and back
19. Alternate tapping toes out to sides
20. March wide then narrow