Search - Power Body: Fit to Dance with Christi Taylor (Cardio Workout) on DVD

70 minutes of fun!

Space Monkey | Rockford, IL USA | 04/19/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I recently became enamored with step workouts, and I bought this as my first "real" step workout. Boy, am I glad I did. This is 70 minutes of pure fun! While it may not be as intense as I would like it to be, I definitely feel like I worked out after doing this DVD. Also, what really made me LOVE this DVD was this: I looked down at the timer on my DVD player during the workout, and realized I had been working out for 40 minutes--and it only felt like 10 minutes!

I think the reason for this "long workout going by fast" feeling is that Christi does interval training--some cardio, some weights, etc. There are lots of moves, and she starts out with basic moves, and adds on to them. This being my first step workout, I was very focused on getting down those moves. And since I am not the most coordinated person in the world, I really had to focus!

Here's the breakdown:

GOOD:

--Lots of variety in the moves
--The ab workout at the end is very simple, but very effective
--Christi's cueing is right on target. Although there were times when I was having a little too much fun and wasn't listening to her cues.
--Even though I stumbled through some of the more complex cardio/step moves, they weren't so difficult that you couldn't pick up the next set of moves, or start over with the next interval.
--You have fun the whole time.
--Has people in the back doing modified moves with lighter weights.

BAD:

--Some uncoordinated people (like myself) may give up early on because they can't get the moves
--The parts of the workouts with the weights is a little dicey. . you're doing dance moves with the weights, and if you're trying to get the legwork down, you may end up swinging the weights wildly and injure yourself. Use very light weights or no weights at all if you're new to stepping the first few times through. Christi uses 5 pound weights; the modifiers use 3 lb weights.
--This is a personal preference for me, but I could have done without Christi singing to the music.

Overall, I was impressed with this workout. I think it wasn't intense enough for me the first time through because I was tripping over my poor feet some of the time; I am sure the next few times through I'll get better. (My heart rate was up more during the weight segments than during the cardio sometimes.) I would recommend this to anyone who wants a good step workout led by a very good instructor.

"