This DVD is ideally aimed at under 20’s and first time exercisers who need a bit of motivating to become active. If you want to encourage a child to dance without imitating provocative moves from Christina Aguilera then this DVD will give some dance move ideas from Street Dancing to working your way round a night club.

One of best aspects of the DVD has to be the music. The on-set DJ providing tracks from artists including Dizzee Rascal, Black Eyed Peas, Ellie Golding and Rhianna. Extras on the DVD include the soundtrack only when you want to listen to the music without the workout as well as original videos for other tracks. It could be a great alternative to put on when you are getting ready to go out and want to experiment with some dance moves with your girlfriends. But as an exercise routine I find pointing at a guy you fancy and strutting backwards is not that effective as a cardio or toning workout. However as an introduction to workout videos the dance routines are easy to follow and remember. Many advanced DVD’s often just shout grapevine or downward dog and expect you to know what they are and how to do it. Whilst instructions by the presenter, Gareth Walker, to push through the nightclub doors or look for your phone whilst may not be established terms for exercise moves they do help you remember what you should be doing.

Fortunately you don’t need to feel intimidated by the dancers, Gareth Walker hides under baggy T shirts and long shorts and the girls, whilst thin, have little muscle definition perhaps inferring that this workout is not going to tone you and develop muscles but rather just provide a fun dance workout another indication that this DVD is aimed at teenagers.

Road Test

To evaluate the cardio benefits of the DVD I wore a heart rate monitor throughout the workout. Next to each section I have highlighted my Average and Maximum Heart Rate for that section. My heart rate throughout the workout can be seen here. To allow you to compare the effectiveness of each section the relative heart rates for my age/gender are: Between 105-135 is considered as light intensity or recovery zone; 136-153 is the zone for fat burning and weight loss; 153-176 is for higher level aerobic activity.

The ‘Warm Up’ section is easy to follow and a very gentle warm up. (Avg HR 114; Max 137)

The ‘Tone’ section is one of the most effective sections allowing me to maintain a workout in the aerobic zone, training here will develop your cardiovascular system. (Avg HR 147; Max 171)

The ‘Shake it Move it’ section is all about having fun and learning funky dance moves. Expect to be flicking your hair, shimming your shoulders and strutting your stuff. (Avg HR 133; Max HR 146)

The second dance option ‘Pop it Lock it’ incorporates the hottest craze right now, Streetdance, a genre that has been taking our screens by storm. From Britain’s got Talent winners Diversity to Cheryl Cole’s Fight For This Love video everyone has been embracing Streetdance. This section is dedicated to learning the moves and as such does not give a great workout. (Avg HR 128; Max HR 146)

‘Burn it Lose it’ is for the more advanced fitness fanatic as it is an aerobic dance option. It is a high impact section aimed to get your heart beat pumping and provides you with a cardio workout. It includes everything from boxing to squats. (Avg HR 140; Max HR 159)

‘Legs Bums and Tums‘ is a stationary routine of crunches and yoga positions so not intending to raise your heart rate. The positions are efficiently described with one of the girls demonstrating a simplified version for beginners. Although the routine contained nothing new if you have ever taken part in any other ab based workout before.

Overall

If you are a regular exerciser looking for a challenging work out then this may not be the DVD for you and if you are over 25 you may feel a bit stupid if you ever get caught doing the routines in your living room. This DVD is most suited to teenagers and total beginners to exercise. Although the music is enjoyable to workout to or listen to, the moves are aimed to appeal at a young audience and if you are even moderately fit you will find half of the sections not challenging enough and as a consequence quite boring and frustrating.

A plus point is that the DVD also suggests a basic week long diet plan if you are looking weight loss and is an enjoyable introduction to starting to become active. Also it doesn’t assume that your living room is the size of  dance studio and as such you only need a small space to move around in. Finally beware that you will soon outgrow the routines but at least you still will have a well-mixed soundtrack for your next party.

Pump It Up- Body Burn DVD is available from retailers including HMV, Play.com, Sainsbury’s, Amazon.co.uk and LoveFilm.com

Release Date: 27th December 2010

With music from Trudie Styler’s husband Sting, this is a good beginners home fitness DVD. The routines performed and narrated by James D’Silva are repetitive and along with a footwork tutorial easy to master the moves. You don’t feel intimidated by Trudie as in spite of her ballet and yoga background, never looks like she is pushing herself and the flowing dance movements look like she is taking part in some expressive dance class rather than a challenging exercise workout. It definitely looks like they are having fun even if you just want to laugh at them and the voice over.

One problem with the DVD that I found was that it was very impersonal and there is no encouragement or personal interaction. The warm up routine just begins with a voice saying ‘..And prance and prance and second position, first position…’ without an introduction or description of what second position entails. I also found it strange having a narrator to the routine rather than an instructor talking you through as they or the class do the workout. I thought this was because French and Greek languages were offered at the start but actually that is just for the menu, the rest of the DVD is only in English. Trudie gives a one sentence introduction to the cardio workout and James the stretch workout but I missed someone to keep telling me to keep going as the routine intensified.

The 25 minute core stretch workout is only with D’Silva and again the unique voice over. This is described as a workout that ‘isolates and works every muscle in the body whilst elongating and aligning the skeletal system’. I would love to have discovered if this was true but the entire work out requires a foam roller, something that is not indicated by the accompanying literature. Unlike other workout videos where substitutions can be made if you don’t have the correct hand weights or step, there is no advice given how to modify the routine if you don’t have a foam roller and I can’t think of what could be used as a suitable substitute.

There is also an 11 minute Express workout which contains much of the extended cardio routine but is much more cardio specific with a lot of the slower moves and stretching missed out. As an added bonus there is music from Stings Album ‘Songs from the Labyrinth’, interviews with Trudi, Sting and James and behind the scenes footage.

Whilst I agree with the DVD claims that ‘it allows you to dance, stretch and improve balance through fun and energetic dance routines’, I’m unsure if the word Cardio should be included in the title. The 22 minute cardio dance segment is not what I would consider fast paced as it contains a lot of yoga stretches and positions.

I wore my heart rate monitor during this segment as you can see here, although my heart rate briefly reached 149bpm (74% of max HR)  it averaged at 126 bpm (63% of max HR). It is generally accepted that 60-70% develops your endurance and is considered the fat burning zone whilst 70-80% is the aerobic zone, which will develop the cardiovascular system improving the delivery of oxygen to the working muscles. So I would consider this may suit someone looking for a fat burning rather than cardio workout.

Overall

If you are a beginner to exercising this is a fun gently introduction and I recommend using the footwork tutorial first to learn the moves. However whilst it is fine as a low intensity fat burning workout I doubt it would get many people into what would be classed as a cardio/aerobic zone. The stretch moves are also described well and repeated slowly so beginners can understand and follow although you would need the added expense of a foam roller whilst the more advanced exerciser who already own one may find the routine too simplified.

Available from Sainsbury’s, LoveFilm.com, Play.com, Amazon.co.uk and other retailers.

Release Date: 14th June 2010
Running Time: 1Hr 18Mins

Also read our reviews of other recent fitness DVD releases:

The FIRM: Power Half Hour designed to produce maximum results in a minimum amount of time

5 Day Fit Weight Loss designed to add variety to your routine with 5 different fat burning workouts

The following workouts are included:

Budokon for Weight Loss with Cameron Shayne uses a combination of yoga, martial arts and meditation to raise your metabolism. What I liked about this session is that instead of demonstrating the poses himself, the workout feels like yoga and martial arts expert Cameron is taking a class and the 6 other people in the video are students. So instead of just telling you to lengthen your spine you can see how he corrects someone’s bad posture. The routine is slow but provides you with a good description and learning experience of yoga poses used in many other workouts.

Walking for Weight Loss with Debbie Rocker is a routine that just revolves around walking. I was a bit sceptical how you can just walk 30minutes but as you start marching on the spot listening to Debbie’s motivational talking you increase the exercise intensity by lifting your legs higher or speeding up or incorporating your arms. Although it is a routine very suitable for beginners, one thing I really liked was that it was great if you had little room to exercise in you could easily do this workout without worrying you didn’t have enough space.

Dancer’s Body Workout with Patricia Moreno is a dance routine that will help you burn calories and sculpt a more lean body. As someone who has no co-ordination when it comes to dancing I liked the slow repetitive development of the movements, slowly moving to the complete routine. Also Patricia described the movement before you did it not during so you already knew what was coming up next.

Cardio Burn Yoga with Patricia Moreno claims to use yoga to rid the body of excess fat. Patricia talks you through the movements describing exactly what to concentrate on. I found it useful that unlike some yoga workouts where the instructor expects you to know what a downward dog is Patricia talks you exactly through what your arms should be doing when you can’t look at the TV as your head is looking at the ceiling or what legs should be doing when you are staring at the floor.

Cardio Burn Sculpt with Tanja Djelevic uses a mixture of cardio and sculpting to not only lead to weight loss but also flatten abs, slim legs and tone the upper body. As it was described as a cardio workout I wore my heart rate monitor during the routine and the results can be seen here. Although it was easy to follow I felt I still benefited from the routine with the first 15 minutes clearly being a cardio workout. Exercising at 70-80% of your maximum heart rate is considered the aerobic zone, which will develop your cardiovascular system and improve the delivery of oxygen to your working muscles. After the initial warm up my heart rate was predominately within this range peaking at 170bpm (85% max), with the final 15 minutes a slower sculpting session.

Overall Review

A fitness DVD suitable for beginners and intermediate levels. Instructors comprehensively talk you through each routine and overall the DVD provides enough variety to maintain your exercise motivation, working all muscle groups through cardio and stretches.

Release Date: 10th May 2010

Running Time: 2 hours 41 mins

Available from LoveFilm.com, Play.com, Sainsbury’s, Amazon.co.uk and other retailers.

Also read our reviews of other recent fitness DVD releases:

The FIRM: Power Half Hour designed to produce maximum results in a minimum amount of time

Trudie Styler’s Cardio Dance Flow designed to help improve balance, endurance and help tone your body

I admit that although I am physically fit to keep up with the routines and I know the names of a few yoga positions I am not an aerobics expert. Having said that, I think that this DVD is definitely aimed at the high intermediate or experienced aerobic class participant.

Whilst it gave me a good cardio work and I certainly felt the effects the next morning, I did find it confusing at times due to the speed in which Emily speaks and the number of different moves included in each repetition. I doubt I will ever learn the fast, ever changing routine, even if after 10 sessions. A criticism I do have with the DVD however, has to be the screen shots which sometimes just show Emily’s upper body when I would rather be watching what her legs are doing during new complicated leg combinations

Kelsey is there to provide the beginners modification. Although, instead of just showing how to do the workout without free weights or not including the optional jumps, I wish she put in more effort or enthusiasm into her movements as she should be motivating you to do the same.

With the total DVD only lasting 30 minutes it is not something you will be returning to everyday if you want variety, but if you are a hardcore aerobics fiend and one day you miss your regular class this could be a perfect substitute.  There is no chance to rest during the half hour routine and when wearing a heart rate monitor my average heart rate was around 72% of my maximum, reaching as high as 172 beats per minute. So clearly within the zone considered as an aerobic exercise. My heart rate throughout the workout can be seen here.

Overall

An intensive body firming and cardio routine that works the entire body. Fast paced, probably most suitable for more experienced exercisers. At only 30 minutes this DVD lacks variety to be repeated everyday but excellent as a one off workout or part of a varied exercise regime.

Released Date: April 2010

Running Time: 32 minutes

Available from Sainsbury’s, LoveFilm.com, Play.com, Amazon.co.uk and other retailers.

Also read our reviews of other recent fitness DVD releases:

5 Day Fit Weight Loss designed to add variety to your routine with 5 different fat burning workouts.

Trudie Styler’s Cardio Dance Flow designed to help improve balance, endurance and help tone your body.