Walk Away the Pounds for Abs- 1, 2 and 3 mile walks

Reviewed by Rosanne (RoseyGrape)

I have this set all on one DVD, but I believe that it is more common to find the 1 and 2 miles walks on one DVD and the 3 mile on another.

The set is similar to the WATP set, and the lighting is nice and bright. I was pleased to see lots of familiar faces walking. In fact, all but one of the walkers I have seen before. Mary Kay, Joanne, and Linda from the 80's 4-mile walk and the Express walk are there, as is Randy from the WATP original. It took me a minute to decide that Wendy from the Express series was the same person, but it took me nearly a full mile to realize that Cat was there too!

The most startling part of this workout for me, was really being able to hear those walkers speak. I know Leslie talks to them during the Express walks, but this time you can actually hear what they are saying back. It's kind of nice to see and hear the interaction between Leslie and her long-time walking buddies. In terms of group chattiness, this one ranks in between the WATP original and Express.

I don't have the ab belt that goes with this program (and I sure would love to hear comments or even read a review if any of you do use the belt with this set of walks!). I just do the arm movements without the belt, and that keeps my heart rate up in a good range. I tried using the stretchy, but when I went to do a motion with the arms over the head, it slipped and got all rolled up in my ponytail! Then I had to try to keep walking while I was trying to unravel my lovely purple stretchy band from my head and my teenager was howling with laughter.
Anyhow...just doing the arm movements is fine for me.

My big gripe about the 1 mile is that at the beginning of it, Leslie explains how to put on the belt. I can not skip over that part on my DVD! It's a long enough ramble that I have time to start the DVD, and then go and get changed and grab my water bottle.
I sometimes like to do a 1 mile after a 2 mile, but in this case, it will have to be the other way around, just to eliminate that pause in exercising. And it actually does work well to do the 1 mile and then the 2 in this case, since there is no cool down until after the end of the 1 mile, and the 2 mile starts very briskly.

The 1 mile starts with a quick warm-up, and then it's right into the walk. The walkers are all dressed in purple. The steps are the same basic moves as in the other WATP tapes. The only real difference between this and the other WATP walks is that the cool down actually comes after the full mile. Every time I do this walk, the end of the mile takes me by surprise since the walking has hardly slowed down. The stretch is extremely brief, and really, probably inadequate, since in just about every other walk Leslie emphasizes the importance of stretching.

The 2 mile is a good, brisk workout. The warm up is short, probably the shortest warm up I've seen, except for maybe Walk and Kick. The walkers are all dressed in shades of dusty blue (pretty!) and best of all, no one is wearing a bra-style top.

For maximum fun doing this walk, watch Joanne (back row right, behind Mary Kay). She has troubles with her abs belt, and right before the 1/2 mile mark, it actually breaks. Then you can see her tuck in the handles and carry on without using it. At some point, she gets a new belt. I haven't figured out where that happens yet! LOL

Again, Leslie uses the four basic steps, plus kickbacks in this walk. There is a session of using the abs belt, then a time of very brisk walking. Then the walk slows down a bit, and the abs belt is used again. The cool-down is at the end of the 2 miles, and the stretch consists of 2 overhead reaches- and that's it! Again, it is necessary to do a more thorough stretch, especially of the legs.

I give the 3 mile two sweaty thumbs up! Even without the bands, that was a good, brisk workout. Because the arm movements tend to be slow, with arms fully extended, I found that it was challenging enough for me.

A couple of minor quibbles: the cool down is extremely brief, and does not include any leg stretching at all. I hated the second song, but it was mercifully a short one. LOL As well, one of the exercisers in the front row is wearing a bra-style top, which shows more skin that I care to see. I don't mind so much if someone in the back row is wearing one like that, but when it is someone right beside Leslie, they naturally will get a lot of camera time.

All in all, this is a fun, energetic walk. Compared to the WATP original and Express sets, this is the most intense set of walks. I would not recommend this set to beginning walkers, but to anyone looking to bump up the intensity of their walk, or just for something different, this would be a nice addition to your DVD library.