The Fitness Dance

I must open by stating that I despise the commercial diet and fitness industry. I am a larger woman and I absolutely do not apologize. I think this entire obsession about burning fat is over the top, to say the least. What is really sad is that yoga, an ancient spiritual discipline that has nothing to do with the fitness industry has suddenly been marketed for weight loss and this culture's hatred of fat. Even worse the art of Bellydance that caters to and honors the large woman has been attributed to fat burner and abdominal flattening (BTW no one ask me if I want flat abs)

I am against the fitness industry, but that does not mean I do not believe in exercise. Truthfully, I love exercise, especially dance. I have used and thoroughly enjoyed every gym membership I have ever had. More recently, since a work injury, I have not been able to afford a gym membership. I have thus invested in a home gym that includes a few fitness toys and many workout DVDs. A few of my friends were worried that I had developed fitness DVD addiction. Given what I have disclosed, I feel I am a great person to review fitness DVDs. Out of the twenty-something DVDs I purchased I am happy with only a handful.

Hula Rocking and Tahitian Hip Hopping: Island Girl
I honestly fell in love with the Dance workout concept when I discovered Island Girl Natural Journeys. I have been a Bellydancer for nine years and have always wanted to learn Polynesian Dance. I have all of Kili's DVDs and absolutely love all of them. This DVD series has it all- great user friendly well-organized choreography, beautiful Hawaiian scenery, and a competent instructor well versed in fitness and Polynesian Dance. The DVDs start out by showing the dance choreography, which is encouraging because you know that you will be learning it. The workout teaches several traditional Polynesian Dance steps while vigorously exercising. As the workout progresses, new movements are added and combined with previous steps. At the end of the workout you do the entire dance choreography. It is a really fun and vigorous workout and now I can hula!

The fitness industry puts an enormous amount of emphasis on abdominal exercises. Since I don't buy the fitness industry I don't really know why crunches are so important; I do know that crunches are not fun and the last time I tried them I hurt myself and was miserable, unable to move my neck for several days. My personal reason for strengthening abs is to take strain off of my back, not to injure my neck. What is so wonderful about the Island girl series is the dance steps that work the abdominal in a safe, empowering and enjoyable way.
I love the whole series, but these are my favorites:

Victoria Johnson: Cardio Soul
It is very refreshing to see a black woman fitness instructor- Victoria defies the blonde workout bunny stereotype. Victoria is a knowledgeable instructor delivering a safe, fun, dance infused workout. What is so wonderful about her motivating style is that she inspires with a dignified pep, encouraging tone with a dash of highly sincere self-esteem lingo. Her bright smile and self love make you feel like a girlfriend sent you her DVD to workout to. This may sound clique, but it is true and I have actually had friends who were also my aerobics instructors, so I can say this with honesty.
The production of her DVD workout series is nothing short of remarkable. It is the most thorough set up I have ever seen. She doesn't miss a beat, pun intended. Cardio Soul has three levels beginning, intermediate and advanced. Victoria lets you know when the workout has reached beginning level and suggests clicking back to the warm up to cool down. I actually skip to the cool down at the end of the entire workout. Once I felt ready for the intermediate workout, I kept going and was altered to the end of the intermediate workout, again skipping to the cool down. The very best part is that between each section, beginning, intermediate, advanced she facilitates a heart rate! The screen shows the time lapsing and she instructs accordingly to find your heart rate and target zone.

Dance with Lisa: Salsa
This is another tremendous Dance Fitness workout. The choreography shows her proficiency in Dance and fitness training. The workout is fast paced Salsa, clearly for cardio fitness. What I love about this workout is that although she doesn't really slow down to demonstrate the dance steps during the workout, she includes an entire section at the end that breaks down each step, slowly and effectively. Before I did the workout, I did the breakdown of the steps several times so that I could learn the steps. That way I could go through the workout without stopping.

This dance workout has no resemblance to demeaning fitness- industry- flat- abs- workouts. Lisa is dressed simple and comfortable, in clothes befitting a salsa dance class. She does not wear excessive makeup. She is in shape, obviously from years of dance experience, but not excessively skinny. I don't recall her ever talking about flat abs, fat burning or weight loss. The focus is on the dance, the steps and getting a very vigorous workout.
I love the Salsa DVD. I also have the Hip-Hop workout, which is harder, so I am working up to it.

Alan Harris:
This guy is an absolute doll! He makes it very clear that his mission is to help women take care of themselves. His sincerity beats all! He is high spirited and really funny. When I am feeling down and unmotivated I pop his DVD in. It is the best DVD for a beginner to start a workout program. It is short, simple and easily modified. His personality is what makes the workout fun. I would venture to guess (without medical expertise) that this would be a wonderful workout for an extremely heavy person who is caught in the cycle of a shut in sedentary lifestyle, because to work out would be to suffer ridicule from others. This person desperately needing to move and this workout could help since it can be modified to very low impact.