Lean, Strong and Healthy with Susan Powter

Ms. Powter's upbeat, energetic manner keeps you going even when you yourself can't.

Another great thing about this workout: it's all about common sense. If you want to burn fat, she says, your body needs energy. Eat protein, eat carbs. Just be smart about it. And she tells you how.

That common sense is applied to the workout as well. "Just keep moving," is her motto. Can't kick your legs like a Rockette? Are you very out-of-shape? Fine! Kick low, or not at all. She gives alternative moves to those who can't or aren't ready to do the workout full-out. Use the step, don't use the step. "Just keep moving!"

AND I LOST 32 POUNDS!!!


Best exercise video I've ever encountered!   September 1, 1999
25 out of 25 found this review helpful

I've been working out with this video for five years now. I love Lean, Strong and Healthy because Susan doesn't expect you to be a dancer or someone who has worked out in a gym for years. In fact, you can do this workout even if you've never exercised in your life - Susan's unconditional willingness to work with people of all weights and fitness levels helped me lose 60 lbs (I was a devotee of her book Stop the Insanity, too). These workouts might be a little boring to someone who is 1) very coordinated and 2) used to complex routines, but for the average size 14/16 (or alot bigger) woman who hates to wear a leotard in front of anyone else, Susan is a savior. The people working out with Susan on this video are all different shapes and sizes, all different levels of fitness; Susan offers support and encouragement to all. The only reason I didn't give this video six stars was because the music and visuals are . . . okay, they're simplistic and boring after a few hundred sessions. I turned on my radio and turned off the sound to the video after I got the workout down. Nevertheless, I adore Susan and recommend this video to anyone looking for an easy-to-learn, high energy, fun workout.


This is the one!   February 7, 2003
Cynthia L. Ellis (Springfield, VA United States)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

Think what you may of the mouthy maven, she's like having a friend in the fitness business. This video is my favorite (and I own a bunch of them!)so I use it 6 days a week. I'm 52, have a Monday through Friday sedentary job and a little arthritis. I take advantage of her "modifications". Forty-five minutes is an optimum time for working out, and with this video I can feel that I've worked everything. However, I still augment with crunches and free weights. I'm not interested in being skinny, I just want to be fit, build some muscle,improve bone density and live to retirement, plus, be healthy enough to enjoy it. This video may help me get there.


The Video That Changed My Life   January 8, 2003
aj (syracuse, new york)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

I was never fat becuase I ate alot, and alot of people, who might read this,especially thin people generally have the notion that the only reason people are bigger is because they sit and eat at all hours of the day, which for many is not the case. I was at my biggest, at 230 pounds, 5 feet tall, and 12 years old. I have gained a tremendous amount of weight due tot he fact that I had gotten allergy shots from the time I was very young, which completely changed my metabolism. The allergy shots were actually steroids that made me blow up into a balloon virtually from teh second they began. No one, not even my parents stopped the shots, and I was too young to make choices I suppose, on my health.
It was to the point that I did not want to go to school, or even out due to the comments that people would make, people of all ages, starring as if I did not know that I had a weight problem. It had basically come to the point that I was so miserable with my life that I had to change or end my own life. It may seem dramatic, but when a teacher laughs at you in school when you sit in a desk and kids scream in unison, " Don't break the desk!!!!!!!" it sure doesn't do wonders for your self -esteem.
I went with my mother to a store that had videos for sale. I woke up that morning with the intension that that was going to be the day I do something about my life. I saw the Susan Powder tape - Lean, Strong, and Healthy and had my mother buy it for me. I know that she probably did not have much faith that I would do it, but I was determined to prove everyone wrong and one day make everyone envious of me. So everyday I worked out to the video, changed my eating habits, started walking to school. Within three months I had lost 80 pounds. Over the next nine, and by the end of the year I had lost a total of 125 pounds. I am 21 years old now, and have managed to keep the weight off for 8 years. I do admit that I have slacked off in the workout department, over the past years in college, although today I put in Lean, Strong and Healthy, and have decided it is time again to get back into a routine and that would only involve this tape and the wonders that Susan Podwer did for me. She literally saved my life, in more ways than one.She is an inspiration to me and I will always be glad that she was the only one who helped me along the way and in my goals for wellness.