Chalene Johnson's PiYo Base Kit, DVD Workout with Exercise Videos + Fitness Tools and Nutrition Guide, Home Gym Bodyweight Workouts Program, Meals Plans and Tape Measure Included, 3 DVDs

I absolutely love PiYo!My results, I have lost 15lbs and 4 inches off my waist. I am more flexible, feel stronger, look leaner, and have more confidence than ever. A quick background, at the time I purchased PiYo I was 44 years old and had been a runner (had a marathon and a few half marathons under my belt). I began having knee pain and was really struggling with tight IT bands. I started a new job that was very time intensive (leaving the house at 6:00am and not getting home until 6:00pm or later) and let my running fall to the wayside. I gained weight (a solid 10-12 lbs), couldn't fit into most of my clothes, wasn't sleeping well, and was truly not myself. During one of my sleepless nights I saw the infomercial for PiYo and purchased the product through Amazon. I started the program and then found some excuses to quit after about a week. It wasn't until I connected with a Beachbody Coach that I really got the motivation to stick with it. Seriously, the coach is free and they have great private challenge groups that connect on Facebook pages that are PRIVATE so you can get support and motivation from others who share your challenges/struggles. Use the coach! My coach never pushed products on me and was truly there as a support system.The first 2 weeks were a bit challenging for me as I felt very uncoordinated in following the moves and I had no upper body strength as a runner. I would just collapse during the push-ups and thought I would never be able to make it through all of the burpees. But results came quickly, I really watched my nutrition and made some positive changes in my habits along the way (meal planning for the week, packing my lunch and snacks for work, and joining a Beachbody challenge group with my coach). The results I got were with the first 60 day round. PiYo became part of my morning routine, I get up at 4:30am on weekdays to do PiYo and can't imagine skipping this part of my day. I ended up purchasing the slides and adding some of the upgraded videos to my collection.After 90 days of PiYo I thought I would try another BeachBody program to change things up. My coach encouraged me to try Insanity Max 30 for our next challenge group, and after 2 weeks of really committing to Insanity Max 30 I just couldn't get into it, I love Shaun T, but I went back to PiYo. The first day back on PiYo I was so sore the next day. This program really works your muscles and without the impact of jumping all over the place. After you learn the proper form and how to focus on the specific muscle groups your muscles will be screaming during these workouts. Sculpt kicks my butt every time, my legs go numb and I am beat! LOVE it!Don't let anyone tell you that you don't get cardio from this program, when I finish a round of PiYo I am dripping in sweat and there are plenty of times I am breathing hard and my heart is pounding from the movement through these poses. I travel for work and the DVD's come with me, I open my laptop in my hotel room and do PiYo on the road. I have even done it on a cruise ship out on the sun deck every morning before everyone else was up and moving about. You don't need any equipment and it doesn't take much space to do the workout so it is completely portable, a real bonus for me as I hate to miss a single PiYo workout.

This workout isn't for everyone, but definitely right for me. I was already skinny and not really looking to lose weight or get ripped when I bought these, just looking to feel more healthy and active. With my job I basically sit behind a computer all day every day and don't get much time or desire to hit the gym after work. I started doing Piyo in the morning before work and I've actually been able to stick with it every day for 5 weeks now. I'm really liking it so far, here's why:1. The workout schedule starts out easy and builds up to more challenging workouts over time. For those of us who don't stay active all the time, getting back into a workout routine can be hard. If you haven't worked out in a while, you can get so sore after working out the first time that you just give up because of how much it hurts the next day. While Piyo still will make you sore at the beginning, it doesn't leave you feeling destroyed and you actually feel like doing it again the next day and the next day, which I found really great. If you're already working out regularly though, you would probably want to skip the first couple of weeks from the schedule.2. The instructor is very encouraging and motivating. I read mixed reviews and I think it really just depends on what kind of motivation works for you. If you prefer military-style, discipline-focused and "tough love" kind of encouragement, then you would find Piyo to be baby-ing and annoying. But if you're like me and you prefer more of a gentle encouragement and a cheerful attitude, then you will like Chalene. She's very positive and is great at pushing you to work harder without sounding like a drill sargeant.3. The warm ups and the cool downs. At the beginning of each workout there is a warm up section, which I really appreciate. I do Piyo in the morning, so it's good to give your body a chance to wake up before making it work hard. I don't like workouts that make you jump right in without warming up your body first. Then you have to make extra time for that in addition to the workout. Piyo is complete with warm up and cool down. The cool down is nice too because you get to work on your flexibility and you can modify things any way you want. I've gotten my ability to do splits back just by replacing one of the runners lunge stretches in the cool down with a split stretch.4. Tailored for someone not very experienced in working out. Chalene explains a lot of moves I never understood before and helps you get to the next level. In the past I've been told that my wrists shouldn't hurt when doing push-ups or else I'm doing it wrong. Chalene from the very beginning tells you that it's normal for your wrists to hurt if you're not used to doing push-ups. And she was right, after a while they stopped hurting. I even find it easier to open up jars and bottles now! So if you're new to working out, Piyo is a great introduction to fitness. If you already workout out regularly and know your stuff though, you might find all that talk boring.5. The modifiers. In each workout there are 3 people next to Chalene: one does the same thing, one does an easier version and another one a harder version. So you can work your way up from an easier to a harder version on the same move. I just follow Chalene for the most part, in the beginning I had to follow the modifier for a couple of the moves and now I'm starting to try the advanced version for another two moves. So I feel like you can really grow, even though they're technically the same moves, you can always make it harder for yourself.So for the most part, I'm really liking these videos. I might start adding on or mixing it with running or lifting weights as I start building up my strength and stamina. It's definitely not meant to be an only workout long term, but it's a really great starting point and also probably world be good to mix with other types of workouts in the future.Now, couple of things I don't really like:1. The advertising, as mentioned by other reviewers. I don't mind them as much, because they're not poor quality like night time infomercials, they're well made advertisements. I could definitely do without them though.2. Works the lower body more than the upper body. There is a whole lot of leg work and not so much focus on the arms or chest. Even though there are push-ups in all the workouts, I feel like my legs burn disproportionately more than my arms. I think after completing the 60 days I'm going to try to balance it out with some weight lifting for my arms.Other than that I'm pretty happy with the product. I haven't followed the eating plan. I'm guessing it might help with losing weight if you follow it, but I can't attest to it. I did lose a couple of pounds, although that wasn't my priority getting into this workout. I still eat my burgers and fries when I feel like it, but I feel much more healthy and fit after starting Piyo. Especially doing it in the morning makes me feel more ready for my day afterwards.As for DVD quality, I haven't had any problems with skipping or scratching. I use my Play Station to play them and haven't had any issues with playback.