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Happy 2013 y'all! I'm OKCathy, I'm a 47-year-old French professor in OKC with 2 kids, a big ol' messy house, and many volunteer commitments. I am a VERY low-key BB coach (I have 5 customers in 13 months as a coach), because I'm mainly a big big fan of BB workouts.

When BB offered the Black Friday specials, I went a little nuts and got HipHop Abs, TurboFire, and P90X (that last one for my husband, who has yet to open the box, tee hee!).

Anyway, I've done Slim in 6, Slim Series, and 3 rounds of Chalean Extreme. Finished the third one off, badly, in mid-December and besides three days of skiing and sledding in Taos, NM, I didn't work out really at all for 3 weeks. Which means I'm really REALLY ready for this new program!

DAY 1: Fat Burning Cardio
Okay, I watched some of the intro video and learned the 3Ts of Shaun T, then jumped ahead to the designated workout for the day.
30 minutes, really? Well Chalene Johnson can kick my ass in 30 minutes, so I figured I'd give Shaun the benefit of the doubt. Is this guy related to Will Smith? They sound so much alike and if Will bulked up more, I think they might even look more alike! :-) Anyway, he's so friendly and cute that the tape held my attention even if the moves were, well, really basic and not very challenging. My *arms* were more tired than anything! Suffice to say, I got through it without any problems and am a little concerned that this workout is going to be overall too easy for me. But I'm willing to give it more of a chance, so onward to Day 2!

DAY 2: Total Body Burn
Even though the schedule says to do the FBC again today, I was looking for more of a challenge, and I noticed on the HHA box that this workout is listed as 45 minutes. That was encouraging. More encouraging was the idea that this workout is not introduced until week 3, when a complete newbie might be able to handle it. Once I started, I was pleased to see some of the cast wearing weighted gloves, and I was stoked when it was time to pick up some weights! I got through nearly everything (the last set of knee lifts proved a bit tough) with the 5-pounders and my arms were tired. Barely got through those pushups afterwards. :-) So I am encouraged that I can juice this thing up and get the benefits of HHA without sacrificing my level of fitness. I definitely got my sweat on and feel like I worked my bod.

See you tomorrow!

Hi! I've found many reviews about this program, and I wanted to ask you how effective it is. Would you give me some recommendations about how to start? Should I have any special physical preparation?

Hip Hop Abs is heavy on the cardio and works your core like crazy without crunches! :-)
There's an introductory video that shows off all of the basic moves and teaches the 3T (tilt, tuck, and tighten) sequence that
is a constant throughout all of the workouts.
As a beginner, there's not special equipment required.
I have been using 5-pound weights for the Total Body Burn and the Ab Sculpt workouts. Some of the video people wear weighted gloves throughout and others use small (3-pound?) weights just for the weight sections.
Good luck!