Cardio Go-Go Dance: A Fun and Playful Workout

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 Crunch: Cardio Go-Go Dance.

So I bought this disc on Amazon for a good price. If you are interested in buying it for cheap, or watching a preview video, you can go here: http://www.amazon.com/Crunch-Cardio-Go-Go-Gypsy-Clark/dp/B000S1MM8O/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1280256850&sr=1-2 . Anyway, because I bought it for such a good price, I didn't expect too much from it. I found myself pleasantly surprised.

The DVD is set up in various chapters. Within each chapter, the instructor, Gypsy Clark, teaches a series of dance moves piece by piece, then she puts them all together and you do the whole sequence a few times. The moves are pretty simple and easy to learn. She usually breaks them down by starting with the feet/legs then adding arms. After she goes through the whole sequence a few times, the chapter changes and a whole new set of moves is introduced. This is a great setup because it keeps the moves varied. Also, if there are sequences you are not a big fan of, you can always just skip that chapter and move on to the next one. Some chapters focus more on a particular part of the body (shoulders or hips for example), especially towards the beginning, while other chapters pick up the pace and bring some quicker or more complicated dance moves.

The entire workout is 44 minutes long and that includes a warm-up and cool-down. The great thing about this is that Gypsy manages to keep it fun and dance-y while also giving you a nice warm-up/cool-down. Sometimes the warm-up/cool-down portion of a dance DVD can feel kind of slow and boring, but here they fit right into the whole dance routine.

I would describe the dance moves on this DVD as fun, sexy, cute, playful, and sometimes a little silly. It's definitely not a DVD to do if you get too self-conscious or take yourself or your dancing too seriously, and you're not going to learn any fancy moves to take to the clubs or anything like that. But the dances are definitely a lot of fun if you allow yourself to really get into them and it's also quite a good workout with lots of cardio. She includes some fun, old fashioned dance moves such as the pony and the swim. If not you're into that kind of dancing, this DVD probably isn't for you. Also if you feel silly and embarrassed when you're dancing in your living room, you may find it hard to get into this DVD.

This is a good DVD for beginners as well as more experienced dancers. The moves are simple and easy to learn, but if you're move advanced, you can work on adding more style to the moves. Either way it's an enjoyable and effective workout.

I personally find the instructor cute and fun, but she may not be everyone's cup of tea. She's young, perky, and upbeat, maybe too much so for some people, but her teaching style/attitude works well with the kind of dancing she's teaching. She's definitely cutesy and high energy, and the workout is as well.

There are also a number of backup dancers in this video. I usually like it when there are backup dancers because they show how the moves can be done differently by adding a bit of their own personal style to the moves. That's always nice, and it kind of is in this case as well, but a few of the backup dancers in this video are just distractingly overenthusiastic. Two of the backup dancers, in particular, try so hard that they end up really exaggerating the moves and looking rather silly or even a little crazy. This isn't too big of a deal, but if you find things like that distracting it may be hard for you to get past that in this video. Just a warning.

Overall, I think this is a great video for people, both beginners and more experienced dancers, to get a good workout while having fun. I definitely get sweaty and tired after doing this, and I definitely enjoy the moves. So if you want a fun, flirty, playful workout this video is for you.