HomeFitnessThe 4 Ways Madonna Taught Me How to Get Fit The 4 Ways Madonna Taught Me How to Get Fit I love learning new ways to workout. It's one of the main reasons why I'm in the fitness business. That being said, when I found out I would get to review Addicted to Sweat (ATS), the new workout from Madonna (!) and her trainer Nicole Winhoffer of Hard Candy Fitness, I was pumped and, honestly, a little nervous. Not quite sure what I was in for, I decided to jump right into it so I wouldn't have any preconceived opinions. Here are the four things I learned from this workout.
1. Don't Judge A Book...
Tearing open the packaging that the 4 DVD set came in, the first thing I noticed were the titles of the individual DVDs. ATS' subtitles are Get Wet; Slippery When Wet; Wet, Wet, Wild; and Dripping Wet. (My first thought was that my editor sent me the wrong package because I'm pretty sure these are all films that you can find on the Spice Channel). A little skeptical, I popped in Get Wet and got to work. I never thought that the Electric Slide could be so difficult or make me sweat this much unless I was at wedding reception. The first DVD introduces the ATS Dance system. You get a warm-up plus tutorials for each dance as well as a cool down. We did the Step Together, Cha Cha, the aforementioned Electric Slide, and another Bonus Performance.
2. Towel Tough
The second DVD in the set, Slippery When Wet, introduces the towel workout to the ATS system. You basically use two bath towels to create resistance to your workout. As a guy who prides himself on resistance workouts, I was skeptical at first. How are bath towels going to provide me with a strong workout? About halfway through the workout I had a definitive answer. The moves are challenging, and it requires your muscular system to work differently than a normal weight-resistance workout. It's definitely a great way to build upper body, lower body, and core strength without getting into weighted resistance. I can see how appealing this can be for the female demographic, and since I strongly recommend resistance training for females to change their body composition and boost their metabolism, this gets my seal of approval.
3. Act Sexy, Feel Sexy
So the moves in the third DVD, Wet, Wet, Wild, most definitely made me get my groove on. A core specific workout, it's very similar to the first DVD with the dance moves involved. With moves like the Drop It Low, this dance-specific workout definitely puts some confidence for me the next time I'm hitting the club. At least I know I won't dance like a rhythm-less white boy anymore. In all seriousness, Wet, Wet, Wild was a pretty good core and cardiovascular workout. While not my first choice of a workout, I definitely can see why this DVD set is an effective workout that can be done in your living room. It also is a big confidence booster, not only working you in shape, but in the bedroom too!
4. Give 'em the Chair!
The last DVD in the ATS set is Dripping Wet, and it is in my opinion both the most challenging and the most gentleman's club-like Madonna video-esque workout. Incorporating the use of a folding chair, for me it was the hardest of the four workouts in the system. Another very intense core and muscular workout, it requires more balance and finesse than I care to admit that I lack. Regardless of my lack of sexy chair dancing skills, this workout was intense and definitely required the use of muscle groups I didn't know could work that way!
Overall, I would say that the ATS system is a challenging, fun, and intense workout that can help you get in shape and build confidence in all facets of your everyday life. When I did this review, my fiancée decided to get in on the action and she loved it. As a professional dancer and choreographer herself, she enjoyed the workouts and planned on incorporating some of the moves into her dance instruction. Ladies, if you're looking for a good DVD workout at home set, go with ATS. And for the gentlemen, if you are looking for a fitness-oriented gift for your significant other, ATS is the way to go!
WANT ANOTHER AWESOME WORKOUT DVD? CHECK OUT OUR REVIEW OF BOOTY BARRE!
Ryan Barnhart, MS, PES, is a certified Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). He also holds a master's degree in exercise science, as well as a bachelor of sport management, both from California University of Pennsylvania. Ryan has worked with numerous professional, collegiate and amateur athletes across many different fields, including professional and arena football players, Mixed Martial Artists, elite runners, international soccer players, and more.
Ryan is currently the director of fitness at a 700+ member gym near Pittsburgh, PA, as well as the owner and operator of Funky Fitness PA, a personal training studio, in home personal training and personalized fitness planning service. Ryan's work has been featured across the US and the globe, working with clients in all facets of life. He enjoys working with weekend warriors, athletes, and everyone in between. You can check Ryan out on Facebook or follow him on Twitter, or you can reach him at funkytimefitness@gmail.com.
