Customer Reviews

Crunch: Step & Sweat [VHS]

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

 

 

I usually really like Crunch videos, but I can't recommend this one. I've been doing step aerobics for 8 or 9 years, but I found the moves in this video to be too complicated to be effective. You spend so much time concentrating on trying to follow them, you end up hardly breaking a sweat. Also, the production quality is not up to the usual Crunch standards, either. If you want a short, fun step workout, skip this one and get Reebok's Dance Step with Petra Kolber -- like this video, it has a quick pace and assumes you are an intermediate-or-better stepper, but it uses basic and moderately complicated moves instead of the unnecessarily complicated ones this video uses.

Just in case you didn't believe the other 8 negative reviews posted here, I thought I'd chime in with one more. THIS ROUTINE IS UNNECESSARILY COMPLICATED. I'm no beginner - I've done tons of step workouts and can pick up all kinds of routines, but this one is ridiculous. One quick move after another - hardly any teaching and you don't build on the moves you've learned. The moves are not very natural or intuitive either. It just doesn't end up being effective. Even after you learn the moves (at least 3 or 4 tries), you still end up taking too many unnecessary steps for the overly complex routine. The extra step time would be better spent on some power moves or squats or something that would give me more bang for my buck, so to speak.

I bought the DVD of this, which was bundled with the Crunch Fat Blaster. It's a good thing the Fat Blaster was also on this DVD or I'd return it. The Fat Blaster is a MUCH better workout.

... I'm not the most advanced stepper, but certainly an intermediate one. Not only is the routine complex - which would be okay in itself - but it goes against the way our bodies naturally move! So the whole time I felt like I was on the verge of tripping over my own feet! Understand, I gave this the good ol' college try - and stuck to it through the end on 3 occasions. But even after learning the moves, it still just felt wrong... I gave it two stars for the cute lady on the left which I think now stars in V.I.P.

This tape was so annoying at first, thanks to the tricky footwork, but after 3 tries, I finally have the moves down and I'm enjoying it. The problem is that the moves are alot more complicated than they need to be for a good workout, and rather than build on the steps you've learned, the instructors removes steps as the routine advances. That made me want to take this one to the used CD/video store, but now I'm glad I didn't.

The music really gets you going, and you feel like you're dancing rather than exercising much of the time. The best way to learn the moves quickly is to watch the instructor's legs carefully. It takes some concentration at first (more than one should have to suffer through in a step video), but after that hurdle is past, you'll find this to be quite a fun video.

I consider myself an advanced stepper, and this tape was extremely hard to follow with overly complicated moves.
Your money is better spent on Kathy Smith Fat Burning Breakthrough or Crunch - Fat Blaster the Next Step.

I have had my share of step choreography over the years. I have to agree that this tape was frustrating. I literally had to lower my step, rewind the tape and do part of the workout over again just so that I could feel like I had gotten decent exercise time in. A lot of the time, I was so busy trying to get the steps that I found myself not stepping on the step, and what good is that? I imagine with a few tries, I would be able to get it down. Mostly though, I think it is poor cueing from the instructor more than anything else. She switches feet without saying anything and changes the steps midway. You truly need a high tolerance for frustration to do this workout.

I purchased this video without reading the reviews and wish I had. It was the worst step video I've ever seen. I've been stepping for many years now and consider myself advanced however it would take months of rehearsal in order to get this one down. The warm up stretch is worthless; I can't believe they haven't been sued for causing some kind of injury. When they show you a combination on one leg, they don't necessarily show it to you on the other so you get an uneven workout. The instructor's cues for the next step are late or missing so you have to really memorize the routine. I think what they are trying to achieve is more of a dance style type step video. If that's the case I recommend Reebok Step Rhythm and Moves. It's quick, it's funky, it's dance and Petra Kolber is one of the best instructors ever. DON'T BUY THIS TAPE!!

I purchased the DVD with Crunch Fat Blaster and Step & Sweat. The Step and Sweat was the most confusing and unenjoyable workout. I am a step instructor and I found the work out very difficult to follow, the camera angles added to the confusion and the cues were terrible. I found myself either maintaining a basic step or just watching in order to get my bearings. I recommend the Fat Blaster - the work out is both challenging and fun.

This is a great workout if you are short on time. If you read the other reviews of this video, you realize it's not for beginner steppers. You may have to give yourself extra time the 1st time you do this workout to rewind and get the steps in your body, but after you do that, it will get your heart pumping, and you won't be bored. It starts out with the instructer saying, "This isn't the same old up up down down routine," and that is true. Good for experienced steppers who get bored with basic steps and knee raises for 45 minutes.

I was not at all impressed with this tape. I've been stepping for years and can pick up difficult choreography quickly, but this was ridiculous. This had terrible cueing combined with terrible camera work. I did not even break a sweat because I was trying so hard to see what she was doing! I'm sure this tape can be accomplished once you've watched it numerous times, but if she had broken down the moves, it would have been a lot easier to follow the first time through. I wouldn't recommend it.