The latest offering from the queen of aerobic fitness

Aerobics classes used to be all about the cardio. Maybe some resistance and abdominal work was done at the end, but the hour was pretty much devoted to raising heart rates and getting the sweat to flow. A recent trend has been incorporating strength training by doing circuits or using equipment that adds a strength component. In Denise Austin’s new video, “Power Zone: The Ultimate Metabolism Boosting Workout,” Austin incorporates a stretchy fitness band throughout the workout.

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Power Zone: The Ultimate Metabolism Boosting Workout: The perky Austin’s 50th video is a challenging workout with four components: a 25-minute cardio portion followed by 10 minutes each of upper body and lower body resistance and 10 minutes of abdominal work. All but the ab segment incorporate a fitness band. The band increases the intensity of the cardio workout by using it for resistance -- for example, during kickboxing moves. Abdominal work at the end is fairly intense and incorporates some Pilates. Austin demonstrates correct form for the exercises, and modifications are suggested but not always shown. Austin’s idea for using the bands came from her own experimentation: “I found I was getting a better workout with them,” she says.

Price: “Power Zone” is $14.98 for the video and $19.98 for the DVD; the DVD comes with a fitness band. The products are available at Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy stores.

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-- Jeannine Steine