**NOTICE** 

This review was supposed to be posted during the week of January 14, 2024 but I have been busy for the past two weeks. There will also be a picture showing the new kimono and a special Fortune Decor Pikmin from Japan!

Year: 2010

Distributor: Lionsgate

Instructor(s): Bob Harper, Tara Costa, Sione Fa

The Biggest Loser was a reality TV show which aired in 2005 on NBC for 17 seasons. Overtime, the show has gotten some criticism for having unrealistic weight loss expectations for the contestants because they were working out more and putting themselves in a caloric deficit. The extremities that the trainers imposed on the contestants led them to having serious health problems such as dehydration, malnutrition, an irregular heartbeat and disordered eating patterns. One of the trainers, Bob Harper, wanted to revitalize the show in 2020 to prove that a study from four years ago was wrong, and he wanted to have the contestants focus on losing weight holistically. 

The Biggest Loser: Power Walk was one of the first workouts that I have from Goodwill back in 2022. Inside, it comes with two booklets featuring merchandise and dietary supplements from the show, along with a marathon progress tracker that gives you the workouts you have to do each day. It features trainer Bob Harper and two previous contestants – Tara Costa and Sione Fa, who have both previously appeared on Season 7. On the DVD, there are four walking workouts, each lasting 16 minutes, along with a five minute cool down. (The next review will be an unexpected one, to be exact.) It’s kind of like a Leslie Sansone walking workout that I did way back in elementary school, which was only a one-mile walk.

Usually in Pikmin Bloom, Community Day is held once a month, lasting for the Saturday of the second week until the Sunday of the third week. However, I also wanted to point out that this month, the weather is really cold and it’s not safe to go outside. In each walk, you do about 2000 steps each. That led me to believe that I could walk 10,000 steps at home to get the monthly Community Day badge without planting the in-game flowers.

So I inserted the disc into the DVD player, and got on my walking shoes. Let’s start the “marathon!”

Walk 1 

Bob Harper hosts this segment as former contestants from the show first get the body moving with a few little stretches. From the standard position, they walk forward and back, moving in a linear movement. Each walk has some pointers on how much of a mile that you walked at the bottom of the screen, which can motivate you to go further.

Now, they take a side step combination with a bit or torso movement, like you’re doing a bob and weave. I can see a similar motion that’s from the Winsor Pilates: Accelerated Fat Burning workout* and some knee lifts/front kicks in place. A lot of coordination is needed to master the combinations here, as this is only the start of what’s to come. 

They all take the step-touch with some repeaters on either side, before placing one foot in front for a variation. It becomes a little playful when they start to go bowling and pretend that they are rolling a strike, adding a nice visualization to the move (like the Tantric Toning Workout). Some timed intervals are incorporated here, as Sunshine (lady in the yellow shirt) provides modifications if you need it. Finishing strong with a few more steps, we have crushed it!

Walk 2

Tara Costa and Sione Fa lead the warm-up with a couple of Mari Winsor’s arm movements (from Accelerated Fat Burning) and pretend to climb up a mountain. In this segment, they incorporate some light hand weights to target the upper body while they walk. (Sunshine and another lady to the right of Sione provide modifications here).

From the step-touch, they do some lateral raises and a crab walk with the weights close to their chests, adding a jab. So in the diagonal stance that Tara is in, they all do some inclined rows and tricep extensions, adding some intensity. At the halfway mark, they bounce for a bit before overhead presses while doing the same linear walking motion with a hold.

Oh, now I see. This is the anchor for some of the walks before moving on to other combinations. Wow, I feel like they’re all scooping up the Earth’s finest energy! (Ok this was another flashback from Tantric Toning again) Anyways, Tara and Sione have this weird but funny talk about the oblique muscles as well, before adding some hooks and uppercuts with the weights.

The finish line is coming! I can see it, I can hear the crowd, and I can even smell it! Let’s go, team! Let’s sprint! Our legs are on fire! When the mile’s over, let’s all dance together!

Walk 3

Now, this next mile is starting off strong the same way as walk 1, as everyone walks in a linear motion. Patrick (man in the green shirt) shows off a lot of effort with the standing crunches and knee lifts. So the timed intervals are different this time, when they all run for a certain amount of seconds while maintaining the alignment of the body. Again, Sunshine modifies the jumping jacks while everyone else pups up the intensity. It’s kind of like the first segment of the Sweat! Workouts from Power 90, but now in a walking workout.

The side step motion is now exaggerated this time before going into the speed skaters. You should be careful to not hit the walls or anything in the room, though. If this happens to be too intense, you can follow Sunshine or the other modifier, Lisa. A new move called the box step is added here, which is like the four corners*. 

Everyone in the room kind of gets clumsy as they are moving all over the place, but Bob instructs the crew- and the viewer- to recenter before picking it up again. The next few movements are some running forward and back, jumping jacks and some shufflers. They all go into a sprint at the end with a front-back lunge to conclude this high-intensity walk.

from Winsor Pilates: Accelerated Fat Burning. Review coming soon!

Walk 4

Tara and Sione return, but this time they use a weighted medicine ball in place of weights. They all have to coordinate the motions of the ball (such as lifting and twisting) with the walking in place. Sione also provides modifications for those who are advanced, while Sunshine and another lady (wearing red and yellow) also modify the moves. The great thing is that they are pretending to draw a rainbow as they do some side steps.

This time, you don’t want the ball to swing out of your hands when bowling, or else you’ll break something in the room. You can also use a cantaloupe in place of the ball mentioned here. A balance/coordination thing is done with the ball as they hop or jog in place (if you are following Sione). The core muscles have to be engaged as you do the motions because you don’t want to be hunched forward/have a bad posture. That could lead to serious injury!

The ball needs to be controlled as well, as your hands could be injured while tossing that ball from side to side. Now it’s placed down to do some soccer taps (in which I couldn’t follow Sione because I feared that the ball could slip out). Now the finish line is there and you want it so bad, so everyone sprints to the finish line for a sweet victory!

The cooldown is pretty straightforward, but it does have Tara and Sione having a nice chat with each other in the Biggest Loser Resort.

Final Thoughts

This was a pretty interesting way to get some steps on any given day, especially Community Day. I got about 8,000+ steps by the end of the walk, and was able to obtain the badge that way. All the trainers are likable and tolerable here, and there’s no discrimination against size. Every body is a good body, and we can all achieve great results if we do our best.

Thanks for sticking around for the long run (pun intended). See you at the finish line!