10 Minute Solution: Fat Blasting Dance Mix - Review

I have become a fan of dance DVDs in the past few years, and I have started to compile quite a collection, with some I like a lot better than others. Because it can be difficult to know which dance DVD is right for you without trying it out first (believe me, I know, I've done some I just did not like), I have been writing reviews of the various ones I have to help people figure out which DVD would be best for them. While I do give my personal opinions in these reviews, I do try to be consider everything from various standpoints. If you are interested, I have more reviews of dance DVDs on Associated Content to read. This particular review covers the DVD 10 Minute Solution: Fat Blasting Dance Mix. In addition to reading this review, you can watch a short preview of the disc on the website www.amazon.com.

So this is yet another DVD from the Ten Minute Solution series, which is a great series. If you haven't read my reviews of the other 10 Minute Solution series DVDs, I'll tell you a bit about how they're set up. They all have 5 different dance sections that are each 10 minutes long. You can mix and match, do as little or as many as you want, by customizing your dance workout on the menu screen. It's simple and easy. And the 10 Minute Solution series is definitely a great start for those just getting into dance DVDs, since you can start out just doing a 10 minute segment to get used to it and work up to doing 30-50 minutes of exercise.

So Fat Blasting Dance Mix is instructed by Jennifer Galardi, and it doesn't focus on any specific form of dance. This is a good DVD for some people, but I have to say that out of the three I have from the series, I personally like this one the least. There are a number of reasons for this. The first reason is that the instructor seems to focus more on aerobics then dance here. Some of the dance moves are fun, but they don't feel as--I don't know, dance-y?--as the moves on the other DVDs. They feel more like aerobics, which is not as fun if what you're really looking for is a dance workout. I prefer dance workouts to aerobic workouts because I think they're more interesting and fun, and they keep me more engaged, but if you really enjoy aerobics and are an inexperienced dancer, this may be just the DVD for you.

Another thing I don't like about this DVD is that instead of five sections of dance workouts, it really only has three sections of dancing, then two sections that focus more on toning. The first three sections are all pretty similar (the instructor doesn't switch up the dance styles or anything, so they all kind of run together--another disadvantage), with simple, aerobic-based dance moves. Then the next section is called "Butt and Thigh Blaster" and it focuses on working out and toning, well, the butt and thighs (obviously). The section after that is called Ab Attack and it works the core muscles. Now these two sections are good for someone who wants both some cardio and some toning and strengthening work, but honestly, I was quite disappointed in these sections. When I buy a dance DVD with five dance sections on it, I want to be able to do five different dance workouts, not three dance workouts and two workouts that focus much less on cardio and hardly at all on dancing. She does try to turn the stretching and strengthening moves into a little bit of dance in those sections, but it just never quite feels like dancing, and they're much slower paced than the other sections, which I find kind of boring. I only end up doing the first three sections on this DVD, which leaves me feeling a little cheated.

The plus side to this DVD is that it is easy to learn the moves, so it's good for beginners. The instructor keeps the moves relatively simple and explains them pretty clearly. She always starts off a little slower, than adds on a bit, then repeats the few sections you learned until you can start to really get them before moving on. And once you get into it, you can get a pretty good workout. The instructor is also pretty good at doing a brief cool down at the end of each dance workout, as she usually does a few stretches to stretch out the muscles used the most in each dance.

So I would recommend this DVD to beginner dancers who like to mix dancing with toning and strengthening exercises. I would not recommend this DVD to those who want to focus on a specific form of dance (ie, Latin or Hip Hop), those who are more advanced dancers, those who want a lot of variety in their dance workouts, and those who buy dance DVDs for the cardio workouts instead of the toning aspects. I personally would give this DVD a 3 out of 5 for the reasons I mentioned above.