Customer Reviews

Crunch - Cardio Groove [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This video contains music and dance moves that the kids today like. I really have a difficult time getting my couch potato up and moving. When I first purchased this video my daughter didn't want anything to do with it, but I slipped it into the VCR anyway. Just one look was all it took and she jumped up dancing. She welcomed the challenge to master the moves, and now she is begging for more.

The reviewers who said this was fun & that Malin Zaki was friendly, lively, relaxed, enthusiasm was infectious wasn't kidding. This workout was a lot of fun because of her great personality & you can see the other 8? women were all having fun dancing as well. For once, all the women behind her could dance, including her little sister. They all had great style, enthusiasm & body awareness. They were all different shapes & races but all about 19-30.
It's set in the Crunch gym with big metal objects trying to look "urban". The camera work is a bit bad, I've seen worse, but it does cut off the feet way too much. It's the only downside to the video, but Malin, the dancers, the moves & the great teaching make up for it.
She shows you the move first in tempo, then just shows you the legs in 1/2 time 2x, then the arms 2x slow, then together 2x slow then at tempo 3x. If the arms or legs are very easy, she only shows it 1x slow.
The moves are complex, there's even one from Janet Jackson's If video. But in showing half time with cues it was easy to pick up. She has great cuing time & explains the moves well. I didn't get it right the first time of course, but I know I will almost have it down by the 3x & then polish it up.
Since it's done slowly, you won't get your heart rate up unless you keep "the bounce" or after several viewings, you can do it full tempo as she teaches. I've done that on other dance workout videos.
It felt like working out with your girlfriends.
The video may be old, but the moves are still cool & still used in dance videos.

I would have enjoyed this video if it weren't for the fact that the camera man /editing team sucked horribly. The camera only did a minimum of long shots (which are absolutely necessary in an exercise video) and insisted upon switching angles ever 3 seconds. There were an abnormal number of close-ups that blocked off any view of the feet and so, as a new viewer, I became lost very, very quickly as to what steps I was supposed to do. So quit it with the torso shots and show me the foot movements, already!

The moves in the video are very, very complex. If you're a dancer or if you have a really good memory for dance moves, I'm sure it'll be no problem. For people like me, however, who have a hard time learning complex steps, the exercises were very difficult to learn, even with rewinding.

The lead dancer (is there a better term than that?) was a good leader and I liked how she explained the steps as she went along and prompted the viewer with her good humor to do their best, but the terrible camera work combined with very hard steps made this a video that I rarely ever use.

I recommend this only for people who had no problem learning complex steps. For the rest of us poor schmos, however, I suggest trying the Cardio Salsa video instead, which is much less complex and has far fewer close-ups.

....this is a bad hip-hop dance class. I would say that I'm at an intermediate aerobics level. I didn't even really break a sweat with this tape. I don't even think a beginner would break a sweat. I love fitness videos and this is one of the worst I've come across lately. This tape tries way too hard to have "flava". Really annoying. Then again I could probably tolerate that if I got a workout from it. It's a 30 minute tape and 23 minutes are spent learning the "funky" moves. A real waste of time. Also, I found it annoying that the instructor and her cohorts and wearing cumbersome baggy jeans during this workout.

The lead instructor is so endearing, her smile so infectious, you cannot help having a great time. No exaggerations here. If a funky (tho now seriously dated) dance party is what you are after, this is the one. I never understood why Crunch didn't make this instructor a Superstar: she's wonderful; she completely ingrates herself. Whether you watch it once or master it, you won't regret the modest financial output. Fun is the predominant word. It's *the* most fun I've ever seen any instructor have while still keeping her head; this girl is just it.

The tape is a perfect set up from the first frame: they teach you the routine slowly, step by step (fabulous instruction) then they do it a few times at half-tempo, then a few times at regular speed, and you add each new routine to the last you learned until by the end you've learned .. a heck of a lot. And you really do *learn*.

Great, great fun. 10-stars. Just remember the moves are outrageously dated now. Don't dance them in public. *grin*

This video was loads of fun. The choreography was funky and the class was enjoyable. The only problem was it was way too easy! If you're looking for a fun, short dance class this is great, but if you're looking for a challenging cardio workout forget about this video! Still, I will use this if I need an energy boost and am too tired to do something harder. This is good if you're in a bad mood or need to wake yourself up!

This is a great tape for anyone who enjoys hip hop dancing - not just teenagers. I'm 28 and I love this tape because it makes exercising fun. Yes, the steps are a little tricky at first if you've never done them, but once you know the steps it's a lot of fun. The instructor does keep saying, "One more time," which really means "Five more times" but that's a minor annoyance. All in all this is a fun, fast-paced and energetic workout.

I found this tape enjoyable once I got the dance steps down. It took me a couple times and some of them are tricky. It definitly would help having a dance background. My biggest complaint with the tape is the instructor kept saying one more time and I never knew how to correctly pace myself.

When beginning this workout, I found the hip hop moves very difficult to master. For the first set of steps, I had to rewind a few times to get the foot work right. After the first few difficult minutes, the rest of the video is pretty much impossible. I found my self rewinding too many times and still not being able to keep up. Now when working out to this, I basically stay within the first two portions and rewind again. The instructors were very upbeat and enjoyable to watch, but impossible to follow.

This is great beginner dance workout. Great for the days you don't want feel like working out so you put this tape in and dance. Even if you don't get all the steps just have fun the instructor is enthusiastic and has some moves.