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Chantal Pierrat's Soul Sweat is a dance based workout set to an awesome soundtrack.  Chantal and her background dancers take you through a series of dance combos that use expansive movement to increase the energy and up the intensity.  The cast is barefoot.  The set is very moody  and use lighting that compliments the workouts.     DVD Menu Play Select Chapters       Tutorial       Deep Sweat (46 mins)       Quick Sweat (30 mins)       Stretch Special Features       Music       Dancers       Class Interview       Clothing       Sound True If you click 'Play', Chantal introduces you to the program and takes you through a Step by Step Tutorial of the basic steps and the combos.  This segment is around 24 minutes.  I am guessing the dances automatically follow after the tutorial. You can also select just the Tut...

5 Day Latin Dance System with Lisa Nunziella Dance to live music and the beat of the drums with Lisa Nuniziella's 5 Day Latin Dance System. The DVD gives you the option to select . Cha-cha Salsa Merengue Samba Rhumba Dance with Lisa Extras Explain the Steps Explain the Steps are broken down further by each of the dances. Each Explain the Steps are less than 5-minutes each. In these mini-segments, Lisa walks you through the steps you will be doing in each dance. She goes over each step sequence twice. Each of the 5 dances are preceded by a warm-up and they end with a cool-down. The warm-up and cool-down are the same in each of the dances.  Including the warm-up and cool-down the dances are roughly 23-minutes. The DVD does not allow you to select just the dances without the warm-up. This was soooo annoying. Some of the dances would allow you to chapter past the warm-up and some would not. It was weird. I could chapter pass the warm-up in the Cha-cha but when I tried to do that with...

Jeanette Jenkins Cardio Dance    The DVD Menu Play Complete Workout Customize Workout       * Start       * Warmup       * Prepare the Dance Floor       * Combo 2 Backup Your Waist       * Combo 3 Own that Mambo       * Combo 4 Sass       * Combo 5 Stilettos       * Combo 6 The Finale       * Work it Baby       * Plie Butt       * Inner Thigh Combo       * Demi Plie       * Arabesque Combo       * Dance Basic Crunches       * Dance Cool Down Stretch       * End Credits There are two parts of this workout, a dance cardio part which is the first 40 minutes and the second part is 20-minutes of sculpting and toning.   Jeanette leads a large cast in this workout where she takes them and me through a series of relatively easy to follow d...

Country Heat Deluxe Workout DVD is lead by Autumn Calabrese and it includes extra Country Heat workouts. The DVD Menu Wild Goose Chase Cardio Round-Up Saddle Up All three workouts have a breakdown option and a routine option.  You also have the option to select a Normal music level or a Turn It Up music level. All three workouts have subtitles that show the move you are performing. Saddle Up is a 3-minute bonus line dancing workout that is also included with the main Country Heat program. Wild Goose Chase and Cardio Round-Up follow the same pattern.  Autumn shows two moves for which you do for 8 reps each. She then combines the two moves and you do the combination of both moves for 4 reps before moving on to the next two groupings.  Both Wild Goose Chase and Cardio Round-Up clock in at under 27 minutes. There is a modifier that shows the moves with no or limited impact. Wild Goose Chase - 3 & 1/2 stars Cardio Round-Up - 3 & 3/4 stars

Michelle Dozois's  Bodyfit 360 Energize is a 53-minute body conditioning workout inspired by dance and Pilates.  The first half of the workout is your Dance Conditioning segment. In this part of the workout, you are doing four dance combinations.  Michelle teaches the combo all at once. She has you repeat the combo with the opposite lead.  You then repeat the combo on both leads before moving on to the next combo. The Sculpt and Release segment is about 28 minutes of the workout. This segment starts with some standing toning for the legs before moving to the floor to work the upper body. Upper body moves include push ups, planks, super mans, triceps push ups.  After the upper body is the core segment. This is followed by an extended stretch segment and then cool down. DVD Menu Intro Movement Review Full Workout Dance Conditioning Sculpt and Release I wish Michelle had further chaptered this DVD. As it is, you can only select the segments that are...

Simone's De La Rue The Signature Classes workout DVD contains two 55 minute workouts. DVD Menu offers the following options: Workout 1 - Full Body Workout 2 - Dance Cardio Workout 1 Full Body contains the following segments (57:25) 1.  Warm up - about 3 minutes 2.  Dance Cardio Routine 1- about 3 minutes 3.  Upper Body 1 - uses a pair of 3 to 5 lbs dumbbells, ~ 5 minutes 4.  Upper Body 2 - this is floor based, pushups, dips, ~ 5 minutes 5.  Dance Cardio Routine 2 - about 3 minutes 6.  Lower Body  - table top, donkey kicks, leg lifts, hamstring pulses. -lying side outer hip, shootouts,  about 20 minutes 7.  Dance Cardio Routine 3 -  about 3 minutes 8.  Core work 1 - plank work - about 5 minutes 9.  Core work 2 - situps, lower leg lifts - about 3 minutes 10.  Cool down - stretch, about 4 minutes Workout 2 Dance Cardio contains the following segments  (52:47) 1.  Warm up - about 3 minutes 2...

Eric Zimmer's Dance Workout is a 40 minute ballet inspired workout.  Eric takes you through a series of mini toning exercises each focused on a particular dance element. The segments are short, 2 to 3 minutes at the most. You perform the moves on one side and then you immediately switch to the other side before moving on to the next dance element. The workout does move fast and the moves are set to an up tempo rhythm that comes in and goes out as the segment ends and begins. Along with Eric, there are two other cast members in the ballet barre portion of the workout.   In the core conditioning, stretch, and cool down segments, it is only Eric. The workout is voice over and it is a really good voice over. I did not realize he was not live cuing until a quarter of the way through the workout. Some of the camera angles were a bit funky as we got several ceiling shots. Other than the ceiling shots, the set is just a bland canvas. Unless you saw the ceiling, it was ha...

Sweating Sexy is a 50-minute dance toning workout.  In the first part of the workout, Jennifer takes you through a standing toning workout that hits the upper body, abdominals, and legs.  The second part of the workout is the dance workout and it is where Jennifer gets you heart rate up by taking you through several run-throughs as she layers on the moves to create a mini dance combination. The DVD menu offers the following options: Introduction Play All Warm up Using the Floor Using the Upper Body Ready to Dance!. In the warm up, you are doing a series of dance isolation moves for the neck, abs, and hips found in most dance workouts. Using the Floor is the segments where Jennifer focus on your legs, calves, and ankles. This segment is around 4 & 1/2 minutes. Using the Upper Body is around 10 & 1/2 minutes and the focus is on the core region (abs and obliques). This segment also contains a mini-dance routine. Jennifer states she is using it to get you read...

Solibeat is a high intensity 55-minute dance workout.  The instructors for this workout are Sasha Price and Gina Harvey.  The dance workout  is set to live drum beats that really support the energy and intensity of the workout. The DVD offers the following menu options: Dance Learn How Play All  Each of the Dance and Learn How segments are broken down into 8 segments. The segments are: Warm Up Samba Reggae Bhangra Djole Samba Dromme Merengue Kuku Belly Dance Cool Down Sasha and Gina alternate teaching each of the Learn How segments.   The Learn How segments are between 2 and 4 minutes.  During the dance segments, Gina and Sasha alternate leading a segment. In the dance segments, three other cast member join Gina and Sasha and they are also joined by the drummers. During the dance segments, you really cannot hear either Gina or Sasha cue because the drums drowned them out, so you are mostly relying on their visual cuing.  I did n...

Jessica Smith Dance Walk DVD contain two 30-minute dance inspired workouts.  Along with Jessica, there is one other cast member and this cast members show less intense versions of the moves. The DVD Menu  Latin Dance Walk Dance Walk Play All  The play all workout options clocks in at under 63 minutes.  These workouts are filmed outside  with a pool and a pier as the back drop. These workouts are aerobic base and they are a good way to get your steps in. If you have done any of Jessica Smith walking workouts, some of the music tunes and dance moves will  be familiar to you. Jessica introduces you to each move. Sometimes she will have you watch her first and then join in when you are ready.  After performing each move, you return back to the standard walk.  Jessica repeats various moves as she takes you through the workout. Latin Dance Walk - 3 & 1/2 stars Dance Walk - 3 & 1/4 stars

Rhythmica features Marc Santa Maria as your trainer.  Marc takes you through three 20 minutes dances. The dance are: Hip Hop Fat Burn Latin Dance Mix Get Fit House Party Each dance contains two mini dance routines. There are four moves to each dance.  Marc teaches a move at half pace. You get two run thrus before he has you perform the step at tempo.  (However, I didn't think tempo was really all that fast). After performing the move at tempo, you add on the next move. You repeat this pattern until you have all four moves of the mini combo. Marc then runs through all four moves from beginning to end four times before moving on the either the next mini combo or the next dance. All the dances follow this pattern.  All of the dances also had a based move that you would go back to as you were learning what was coming next. Along with Marc, there are two other cast members. This workout was okay.  I liked most of the moves that were in each of the dances...

Total Body Balance is a workout DVD by Jessica Smith that features four 20-minute workouts. The DVD menu offers the following options:     Introduction     Play All     Cardio Flow - 20:57     Sole Sculpt - 22:07     Core Stretch - 23:32     Cardio Dance Sculpt - 20:43 All the workouts are performed barefoot.  Cardio Flow is set out doors.  This is a fusion workout that includes ballet, a bit of modern dance, and big movements. Along with Jessica, there is one other cast member that shows advanced progressions. Sole Sculpt   is your sculpting workout.  It also has an outdoor sets.  Jessica uses a set of 3lb weights. The other cast member (Asha) uses a pair of 5lb weights.  After a 4 minute warm up, Jessica takes you through a series of sculpting moves that include a lot of 4-limb movement. For almost every exercises you are using both the upper and lowe...

TAVA is a 40 minute Tracy Anderson dance workout that features Tony Gonzalez as a guest choreographer and teacher.  Tony pretty much teaches and leads the whole thing. Tracy is there in a supporting role. Tracy also leads the warm up which is about 4 minutes in length. There is no cool down. So the workout consist of five dance combinations and you do each combinations three times through. At the end of each combo, you freestyle for two 8 counts. The first time is without music and is called the teach or learn session. This is where Tony takes you through the steps and you are learning the steps in real time. There is not half time or any real break down. The second time through is with music. I called this the rehearsal phase but Tony was calling the teach phase the rehearsal.  At any rate, you are doing the step to music.  The third time through is also with music and Tracy calls this the flair stage.  You are suppose to dance with flair and attitude. Ton...

Saw this workout in Walmart and decided to pick it up to keep with the country theme workouts I have been doing this month. Zumba Country stars Kass Martin as the lead.  There are four other cast members hanging out with Kass in the Zumba Country workouts.  The DVD contains two workouts and offer the following options. Crazy Country     Voice On     Voice Off Burn it Up      Voice On      Voice Off Crazy Country is 32 minutes in length and features the following tracks: Cotton Eye Joe A Good Man Little Miss Honky Tonk Devil Went Down To Georgia Bubba Shot The Jukebox Something That I like About a Honky Tonk Sin Wagon Eatin' My Heart Out Waterfall Burn It Up  clocks in at around 28 minutes and features the following tracks: Hey Doctor Tie It Up Make You Mine I Play Chicken With The Train All American Country Girl Long Way To Go Hold My Hand If I were to compare these w...

Dance Mash-Up is the bonus workout that came with the base Country Heat system.  Dance Mash-Up clocks in at just over 19 minutes.  This workout includes Autumns favorite moves from the previous routines. The format is the same. Autumn teaches two moves and then combines those moves before moving on to the next group of moves. The workout concludes with a 2-minute cool down. I think I forgot to mentioned in the other workouts is that the Country Heat series does include a modifier in all the workouts. Dance Mash Up  - 3 stars Overall opinion of the whole series.  All the routines were very easy to follow and do.  I like the fact that all the workouts were around 30 minutes or less.  It makes the system a great way to get 30 minutes of cardio in or to get your steps in for the day. There is not much variety.  The routines seemed pretty much the same across the board and there is a good bit of repetition within each routine. Autumn and the...

Country Heat Disc 3 contains:      Dance Routine 5 - Trail Ride      Dance Conditioning Workout      Bonus: Night Crawl      Bonus:  21 Day Fix - Dirty 30 Dance Routine 5, Trail Ride, clocks in at under 26 minutes.  The tempo has picked up in this routine.  I believe Autumn introduces 3 or 4 new moves in this workout, otherwise, the  moves are repeats from the other dance routines.  Autumn uses the same format in this routine as her other dance routines. Dance Conditioning workout is a 24-minute workout that combines the dance cardio moves that Autumn has introduce in the other Country Heat workouts with  body toning moves.  In this workout, you are simply "following along" with Autumn. She will call out a move, You did it for a few counts and then you move on. Night Crawl is just under 3 minutes. And really, in my opinion, it is the only routine where I felt...

Country Heat Disc 2 features the routines Down and Dirty and Bring The Heat. Down and Dirty clocks in at just over 27 minutes.  This workout follows the same pattern as the first two workout but about half way through, the tempo increases and you are performing the moves at a faster paste. Some moves that were in routines 1 and 2, show up here. There is a cool down. The cool down occurs at the 2:35 mark of the workout. Bring the Heat clocks in at under 28 minutes.  The same teaching pattern is used in this workout to teach the routine. Autumn introduces one move - she will tell you to watch her and after she shows you the move, you perform the move 8 times through. She then tells you to watch her perform the second move and then you perform this move 8 times. Autumn will then demonstrate how she wants you to combine both moves and then you will do the combine move 4 times before moving on to the next group of moves.  Bring the Heat's cool down occurs at the 2:12...

Country Heat Disc 1.   Disc 1 contains the dance routines Country Swing and Giddy Up. Both dances follow pretty much the same pattern. Autumn will first teach you two moves. She follows this by combining the two moves.  Then she moves on to the next set of two moves. There is NO taking it from the top. The DVD menu gives your the following options: Country Swing (the routine clocks in at 31:43) Giddy Up (the routine clocks in 28:58) Subtitles Clicking subtitles allows you to choose  English, Spanish or Off. When you click on one of the dances you can choose Breakdown or Routine. The breakdown for Country Swing is 22:08.  In the Breakdown, there are two other cast mates along with Autumn as she teaches you each move that you will be doing in the routine. The breakdown for Giddy Up clocks in at 19:27. I didn't feel there was any need to do the breakdown. If you choose routine, Autumn introduces each move before she has you do them  and in both rout...

DVD cover for Country Heat System Country Heat is the new system by Beachbody that features Autumn Calebrese.  I will be reviewing the base system.  The base system comes with 5 dance routines, 1 dance conditioning routine, and two bonus routines on three DVD disc set.  All the workouts clock in at 32 minutes or less. Also in the set are the Quick Start guide which is an 8-page paper pamphlet; a wall calendar that features a 30-day rotation; and a 90-page nutrition guide and eating plan. A shakeology cup and a set of the the color coded food containers are also included with the system. I will review the dance routines in later blog post. Quickstart Guide for Country Heat Eating Plan for Country Heat Wall Calendar for Country Heat

Sh'Bam #21 features Rachael Newsham, Remi Brouns, and Nuno Alvaro Adelaide De Brito as the presenters.  The workout clocks in at over 28 minutes and features 8 song tracks. The tracks : 1.  Dance With Me (3:35) 2.  Cuba 2012 (3:45) 3.  Juicy Wiggle (3:35) 4.  Heartbeat Song (3:16) 5.  New Thang (3:08) 6.  7/11 (2:36) 7.  Celebrate (3:09) 8.  I've had the time of my life (3:50). This one was pretty good. Most of the tracks and dances I liked. In one of the dances, the presenters went out and dance the end of the song with the audience.  In the Heartbeat song track, Rachael presents most of that one by herself. 3 & 3/4 stars