Title: Poise Fit & Fierce: Take Back Your Core With Dr. Teri Jory (Poise Fitness International)
Who’s it for? Anyone looking to strengthen and define her abdominal muscles through moves pulled from body sculpting, martial arts and ballet.
What’s the goal? To “gain beautiful flat-fit abs and sculpt the total body,” rendering legs as powerful as a black belt’s and “as sleek and slender” as a ballerina’s, according to the DVD case. This is to be done through “inner core activation,” or by keeping firmly engaged the deep abdominal and pelvic-floor muscles.
Format: One 63-minute DVD that is divided into three workouts, targeting the “upper body,” “lower body” and “outer core,” respectively. It also contains an introduction that briefly outlines Jory’s philosophy and her method of becoming “poised,” which stands for “power, posture and pelvic floor”; “oneness of body and mind”; “inspiration”; “sculpted and sexy body”; and “energized and empowered.”
It’s a mouthful, but it provides a good outline of her personality, teaching style and areas of focus.
The 23-minute upper-body workout features 300 jumping jacks performed holding light handweights; 100 shallow pushups that are more like bent-arm pulses; a martial-arts back-kick/pushup combination move; and triceps dips and pulses. Throughout, Jory reminds exercisers to be mindful of engaging the core muscles and to “suck it in.”
The lower-body workout, at 22 minutes, requires a chair (or wall or couch, used for stability like a ballet barre) in the quest for “svelte and strong legs.” The moves include martial-arts heel and side kicks, and ballet-inspired heel raises and leg lifts.
The third section, 18 minutes of more traditional abdominal work targeting the “outer core,” guides exercisers through pelvic thrusts, which emphasize activation of the pelvic-floor muscles, and “fit and fierce crunches” heightened in ferocity by the use of a dumbbell.
What’s to like: Jory has a soothing voice and an encouraging manner, and she offers helpful form cues for each exercise.
Each workout packs a punch in its 20-minute running time, with moves that feel challenging yet familiar. Jory frequently urges exercisers to honor their bodies and rest if the sequences prove too intense.
Necessary gear: A mat; a set of 1- to 5-pound handweights and another weight between 3 and 20 pounds; a chair; and a balance disc or a rolled-up towel.
Who demonstrates? Jory and a rotating cast of backup exercisers, two for each workout segment. Some of them appear to be younger relatives, but they’re introduced only by first names.
Distractions? In the DVD’s introduction, Jory’s outfit consists of a super-short striped skirt; a similarly brief matching top; very tall black boots; and black fingerless gloves. Together they exude a confused post-apocalyptic nautical cheerleader vibe (she wears a more ’80s-standard leotard and leggings through the workout segments).
Meanwhile, she’s so soft-spoken that the introduction’s soundtrack partly drowns her out as she’s describing how to activate the abdominals.
But the workout chapters are fairly distraction-free, save for wondering where the previous chapter’s demonstrators went.
Can I do it barefoot? Yes; it’s all done barefoot.
Instructor’s credentials: Jory is a fitness trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise, a fourth-degree black belt in Tang-Soo-Do Martial Arts, and a professional ice skater, dancer and choreographer. She’s not a physician.
Price: $19.95