Leslie Sansone DVD Review - 5 Day Slim Down, Walk at Home 3 and 5 Mile & More

Walking is wonderful exercise and for some – those who don’t have exercise equipment at home, don’t go to a gym, or simply don’t have the time or money for either of those things and are looking for a simple and quick way to exercise at home and slim down - walking is an ideal workout.

For moms with babies who find it difficult to get out of the house and walk – while baby naps or while baby plays on the floor nearby, stick in this DVD and get moving!

Walking is great because you use the leg muscles - they are your power muscles - they are the ones that power the walking. Any time you can get your leg muscles in motion, it’s a great way to burn extra calories.

Walking is also a much lower impact exercise than running or jogging, so it’s much easier on your joints like the knees, hips and even your back.

This video is loaded with great miles of exerecise. This system allows you to walk a mile at a time or build your own workout. You can choose 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 miles of exercise.

I love the option of doing a mile a day, especially if it’s the way you start your day. When you wake up and walk it kicks the metabolism into high gear. If you’re just coming off of a full night’s sleep, your metabolism is sluggish until you eat and start to move.

That’s exactly what’s in this program – a mile for each weekday morning and a high energy breakfast for each morning (read more below about the healthy breakfast tips). This healthy routine will make you feel great – wake up, eat a healthy breakfast, then do a mile of exercise and you’re off to a great start of your day.

The Best Time to Walk

Of course, any time of the day would be perfect to give yourself a boost of activity; you may want to fit in a mile just before lunch.

With this video’s mile system, you can choose the 14-minute mile or the quick 12-minute mile that fits easily into your busy day.

For some people, exercising just before dinner really motivates them to keep portions in control at that last meal of the day – that’s one of the most challenging times of the day, especially when your goal is to lose weight. That’s why before dinner is another very smart time of the day to walk, so try a pre-dinner mile and see how it works for you!

No matter what time of the day you do walk, you get rewarded with so many healthy benefits – there’s just no wrong time to do it.

Each of the five miles on this video has its own personality and purpose. Keep reading for a description of each of the miles.

The first mile is just classic walking at home. Leslie Sansone shows you how to do the multi-muscle recruiting mile system; it’s basic, but brisk. The second mile features upper body exercises that target the arms for more toning; if you feel up to it, you can incorporate light hand weights.

The third mile incorporates leg slimming exercises, all while keeping the brisk aerobic pace. Mile four is all about the tummy, otherwise known as your abdominal muscles. Yes, you can slim the waistline while walking! The fifth and final mile is a really fast calorie-blasting-12-minute-mile-walk.

In addition to the 5 miles, there’s also a warm up segment and a cool down segment, each of which is about 3-5 minutes.

I have found that the walks are nice and brisk and the pace is just right to get your heart rate where you need it to be to get that good aerobic conditioning effect.  I also feel that great muscle burning which tells me that my muscles are working and toning. And because of the quantity of muscles that are in use during this exercise, you get a high calorie burn, and that’s what we’re all after, right?

One thing that I like that Leslie instructs you to do during the workouts is “dig in” when doing moves such as side-stepping. Digging-in means bending your knees more to get lower as you do the moves, like your about to sit in a chair – you can really feel how much more muscle you recruit when digging in and we all know that the more muscles that are engaged, the more calories that get burned.

An added bonus on this workout video is a segment on super breakfasts, wherein Leslie guides you through the five best breakfasts to help fire up your metabolism. This really motivated me to be sure to eat breakfast every day and I usually have scrambled eggs, which is one of her suggestions. I also love her oatmeal suggestion.

Overall, my opinion of this exercise video is that it is great – I can see it working and I like how it makes me feel. I love that it allows me to get in a quick workout any time I have about 15 minutes. If I were forced to say something I didn’t like about this video, I would have to say the music. Leslie talks you through the walking routines and I enjoy listening to her instruction and tips, but the music that plays in the background – which is great for keeping the pace – is boring. I think I would have even more fun if the music was more upbeat.  The boring music doesn't make me not want to use and recommend this quick workout DVD, though.

This review specifically discussed Leslie Sansone’s Walk at Home 5 Day Slim Down; however, all of her videos involve walking exercise routines. Some are more intense, some incorporate the use of boosters (hand weights, walk belt, firm band and more) to speed you weight loss, and all of them are highly enjoyable. See other available Walk at Home videos by Leslie Sansone in the right column above.