Dancing With the Stars: Cardio Dance

I had high hopes for this video; too high, perhaps. As another reviewer stated, the moves do go pretty fast after Maksim's part. My biggest problem is that there are no real explainations or instructions of the steps, the instructors just say, we're going to do this now, toss in a dance term, and then they do it. I had such a hard time trying to figure out what the steps were by the time I sort of figured it out they had moved on. This workout would probably be a good workout, provided you understand the moves and can execute them at the speed the dancers on the video can. I found it to be too frustrating and will have to be desperate for some exercise before I pop this in the DVD player again.

The most positive thing I can say for this DVD is that it allows you to "customize" your workout- you can play all seven sections for a 60 minute workout or less depending on how long you want.

1) 5 minute warmup led by all three- Ashly, Maksim, and Kym. Pretty good warmup but too short to be of much benefit.

2) 10 minutes- paso doble led by Maksim. Not too bad. Pretty easy to follow along. A lot of lunges- hard on joints, especially knees. For me, I would do a different step for that part.

3)10 minutes- an extremely fast cha cha led by Ashly. I found her voice too high and chirpy; she kept repeating steps ie. back, back, back. Very annoying. Ended up skipping all together because too hard to follow.

4)10 minutes- samba led by Kym. Fairly easy to follow. A lot twisting and jumping type moves- you definitely feel the "burn" in your hips and buns! After more practice it'd probably be easier. I'm a bit uncoordinated so I may need more time than most.

5)10 minutes- jive led by all three. Really fast, more complicated steps. Needed to be broken down and done slower (at least to start out with). A lot of jumping and kicking. Not too bad on your joints. Again, following along may become easier after more attempts. This dance is probably easier for more experienced dancers... At least I'd hope- the pros make it look so easy, their movements smooth and fluid... Gotta give credit to the stars that manage to pull off this dance- it's not easy!

6) 10 minutes- "improv" led by all three. This section is a complete waste of time. They're just doing whatever they feel like. The other two have a hard enough time following the one leading- and we're supposed to follow?? I'm going to be skipping this part in the future. (Though, it is fun to watch the interplay between the three- their competitiveness, one wanting to stump the others.)

7) 5 minute cooldown. Not bad- some good stretches but too short.

Overall, I don't see this as a good enough workout to keep you moving and your heart rate up. Maybe it would be better with more dances and less time spent on each and nixing the "improv" section and longer warmup and cooldown. I see myself doing this workout only when I'm not in the mood for anything too strenuous. Though for only $10, I guess it's not that bad; you could do worse. Dancing with the Stars fans will delight in seeing some favorites showcased. The workout is filmed on the DWTS set- it's weird seeing it without all the sparkling outfits, the band, spotlights...

This DVD has Ashly, Maksim, and Kym from Dancing with the Stars more or less leading an aerobic dance workout on the Dancing with the Stars stage that does not require a partner. The first section is Paso Doble and it seems to be more aerobic than dance, but that is to be expected as this is a workout DVD, not a dance one. Maksim leads this routine and out of all the dances, this is the easiest to follow, even though it does go fairly quickly. Ashly then takes over with the cha cha and goes super fast. However, after repeating the DVD several times, one should be able to get it. Kym then leads the samba, which involves a lot of bouncing. Then all 3 take turns leading a jive routine, and one should probably be in fairly good shape already before attempting this routine. There is also a bonus challenge where Maksim, Kym, and Ashly basically improvise a routine and goof off a little. Note: Although some cool dance moves can be learned from this DVD, it is not an instructional dance video, it is a workout video, so if you're looking for an instructional dance video, look elsewhere. There isn't much in the way of extras, just trailers for Denise Austin DVDs, Healthy Eating tips from SlimFast featuring Tysonia from season 3, and credits. I was hoping there would be more insight into behind the scenes at Dancing with the Stars, but unfortunately there is not. All in all a good DVD, but probably too fast for most untrained dancers.

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