Customer Reviews

Dancing with the Stars: Dance Off the Pounds

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Let me start off this review by saying that "Dancing with the Stars: Dance off the Pounds" is my favorite DVD in the "Dancing with the Stars" (DWTS) series of workout DVDs. The styles of dance were fun, actual routines were taught as opposed to just unconnected moves in previous DVDs, and I actually worked up a huge sweat! The choreography was a bit complex, but I really enjoyed the challenge. Beginners to fitness and dance may be a bit frustrated at first, though. There is no warm-up, therefore the viewer has to either do his own or just let the beginning of one of the workouts act as the warm-up. The DVD was divided into the following four parts of the workout:

Swing - Led by Kym Johnson, it is the most basic of all the routines. It's almost an intro to the Jive, which is a style taught later on in the DVD. I found the moves to be rather easy to follow; although there is really no breakdown of the steps. It includes moves such as triple steps, rock steps, kick-ball-changes, sailor steps, Charlestons, and many more. It has quite a bit of hopping of kicking (at a rather slow speed, though), and it will really get the heart rate up. Kym is very motivating and sweet to the viewer; I like her as an instructor. This was my least favorite of all of the segments, but I still enjoyed it immensely.

Jive - Lacey Schwimmer leads this fast-paced routine. All of the moves are incredibly fast, and I could easily see a dance novile becoming completely confused and annoyed. Lacey teaches the moves very quickly and prefers going from the top a lot more than making sure you have the moves. She breaks down the really fast, complex moves which is something Kym never did.. Moves included are more triple steps, kicks, Charlestons, heel bops, jump steps, and more. Lacey is very chirpy, so she may possible get on your nerves if you don't like that kind of instructor. This was my second favorite routine on the DVD.

Quickstep - This was the most challenging of all the routines, which may have been partially due to poor teaching by the instructor Dmitry Chaplin. Don't get me wrong, I really like Dmitry; but he just didn't teach the moves well. He seems to be better at showing rather than telling. The moves taught were really fast and sometimes hard, but Dmitry broke most of them down really slowly. The many break-downs did make my heart rate go down a bit, but I just do the quickstep segment first and let the beginning low cardio segment count as my warm-up. There is lot of movement in this routine and a lot of jumping steps, as well. Some of the moves included are the box step, pendulums, knee bops, shuffle hops, and many more. The quicktep had the most challenging footwork by far but arguably the most fun.

Cool-Down - All of the instructors take turns leading the cooldown, which is comprised of many stretches. Unfortunately, they don't stretch the calves, neck, glutes, or arms that well. But it does excellently bring your heart rate down.

Overall, I thought it was much better than the previous DVDs Dancing With the Stars - Cardio Dance and Dancing with the Stars: Latin Cardio Dance which were both a bit too boring and slow. Beginners may like those better, though. I also enjoyed this video much more than its sister DVD Dancing with the Stars: Dance Body Tone that wasn't very effecting in either toning or cardio departments. I reocommend getting this DVD it if you are a fan of the show, or if you want a fantastically fun, old-school, cardio workout. Beware if you are a beginner, though, you might not get the steps right away.

I'm a DVD dance-workout junkie. I buy *everything* dance-dvd, almost. This is the best of the four Dancing with the Stars workouts. It's not modern dance - it's super-cute jive, swing and funky-quickstep. It's a great workout.

The first segment is adorable and sweet learning the American dance 'the swing' (triple-step, rock-step, the sailor, etc.). Great intro to what's to come on the dvd. It's not slow either.

The second instructor and routine really shines, is a crazy-fun good time; the pace increases as you are taught the taught the international version of 'swing' which is called 'jive' (faster triple-steps, kicks, heel-bops, Big-X step, swivels, the charleston, the Lindy,etc.) High-impact and difficult cardio which can be modified by not doing arms.

The last segment is a suave, dressed-in-black quick-step routine that is explained well and, tho different, has the same great dance-flow as the first two parts. Make sure you watch it to the end it just is a sophisticated blast! Great job of teaching old dances with a totally-modern feel! Gene Kelly would approve.

I go back to this DVD as a "serious" fat-burning workout because it's a smiling good time that really makes you sweat and laugh. It's pure dance-cardio with, again, great flow. You ARE dancing, not aerobics pretending to be dance. Beautiful choreography that works. It's fun, not lame, slow, or dull, if you know what I mean. Just good times, dancin' hard like it's 1920-1945. And, whoa, did they move it back then. The dvd includes the option doing the workouts with music and instruction or just music so you can cut out the chattering once you're proficent and just dance. Love it. Super-fun. Good for beginners and established dancers alike, this is a serious workout worth the $$.

(A similar buy is the spectacular "Dance with Julianne: Cardio Ballroom" (purchased after this dvd review) which is also fantastically-fun cha-cha, jive, etc,-- another dancer from the Dancing with the Stars franchise.)

This DVD is a VAST improvement over the previous DWTS DVDs. First off there are less sections, but the segements are longer, which I like more since I think choppy short segments don't give you an adequate workout.

Lots of cardio in this DVD, and while it is a whole lot of fun, it is very challenging. I was soaked after doing the workout. To give you an idea of my background, I am an intermediate level in fitness DVDs and I have been dancing since the age of 4.

I decided to do this DVD from start to finish so I could see the quality of the workouts and time it as well.

The first section is Swing with Kym. This is great, alot of what you may have seen in the Jive sections if you got the first DWTS DVD, but it is still a very good workout. Kym not only does swing, she also adds in some Charleston, which was a nice change since I've never done that. You may be a little lost if you don't have any background in dance, but Kym does do her best to explain moves like pas de bouree the best she can in the few seconds she has before jumping in. Definitely gets your heart rate up with kicks. This was just the first section and I was tired after it--and I still had two more sections to go!

Next up was Lacey with Jive. Whoooo!! This moves fast and is similar to the swing section, but the moves are smaller and more precise, so it is more difficult since you have to keep your moves compact. This one was a real burner AND the steps while a lot of fun, again are hard to get down on the first try if you don't have a dance background. And it goes REALLY fast. I even had a hard time keeping up and just had to triple on the spot a few times. She also throws in some little X jumps and squats which were unexpected but complemented the moves quite well and were REALLY intense layered with all the moves in the routine. I thought this was the hardest section until I got to.....

Quitckstep with Dmitry. This dance I am totally unfamiliar with, as is most people, so it starts off a little slower in the breakdown of moves. But don't let this fool you, this section must be a HUGE calorie burner because there are a lot of jumps and hops, and the pace speeds up as you go along. Dmitry was great and is absolutely adorable! He is a good teacher for the amount of time you get, and does his best to break down these moves that go so fast and look so easy, but take so much effort. He also throws some jump squats in at the end of the routine, which I enjoyed and felt the next day!

Then there is a short cooldown with all 3 instructors, about 8-10 minutes if that. The cooldown is adequate and by that time I was so tired, I just didn't care and any stretches felt good.

This is an excellent video and is sure to burn major calories and fat. Here I am the next day and my butt and legs are sore--almost like when I go for a run! It is that good. And it has to be great cardio. I am so glad since I hate doing cardio, this is fun and something I will actually look forward to doing!

A couple of cautions: 1) There is no warm up here (which is odd since it is such an intense workout) so if you need a warmup do some light strecthing or aerobics.
2)These are fast dances, so you will lose time frequently in your first few workouts. I know I did. So that kind of messes up the routine as you go along. But please don't get discouraged. Just triple step or march in time until the routine starts and try again.

All in all,excellent cardio DVD if you are looking for something different and love to dance. I also purchased the DWTS Dance Body Tone and will try it later this week! I will post a review of that as well, but I think "Dance Off the Pounds" is top-notch!

Good points: This video is a good workout. It will make you sweat and work your leg muscles as much as other cardio workouts.

Bad points: Unless you're someone who really knows how to dance or follow dance steps instantly, you will probably feel discouraged and frustrated like I did. Their feet move really fast when demonstrating the dance moves for the first time, and only demonstrate it two or three times quickly before moving to the next move. There are almost no slow demonstrations of the footwork, so for most of the dvd I was just flailing and kicking around the living room, attempting to copy them somehow. This wasn't helped by them wearing black pants in some or most of the dances, making it hard to tell whether their leg is moving in front or behind their other leg.

Summary: If you are really good at dancing, can learn complicated dance moves by watching 10 seconds of full-speed demonstrations, or enjoy flailing around trying to dance as your workout, you'll probably enjoy this DVD.

I purchased this a couple of years ago and only used it a couple of times. Not because it isn't good, but because I have been unmotivated to do any type of workout. However, I did like this dvd and am going to be looking to work out consistently and I will be going back to this dvd. Other reviews that have stated that there is no really instruction is correct. But no one says you have to get the moves on the first try. I am by no means a dancer and have probably the worst coordination of all of them, yet after a min or so I could get the moves and they repeat the routines a couple of times so eventually I got used to the moves and was able to do them the whole way through (unless, of course I needed to stop to breathe). I needed something that I could classify as "fun" that still gave me a workout and this was it. I think you could do a lot worse. I have absolutely NO dance experience and still found this to be a good dvd and one I will begin using in the coming week to get back on the wagon.

If you're an experienced dancer, this video is a decent workout. If you're a beginner, this DVD is not for you. Dance steps are not explained. Instructors assume you know what they mean when they call out the moves. The only section that could possibly count as an explanatory workout is the very last, but it is not noted as such on the DVD. No warm up is given.

I love this video, it is so much better than previous DWTS workout videos. It is up tempo, and you definitely work up a sweat. Fantastic!

I have been wanting to take a dance/aerobic/zumba class for some time, but my own schedule had stopped me. Seeing this video and knowing others had lost weight by dancing I gave it a shot. The dances are fun. But the instructions are sorely lacking. I teach Tai Chi, mainly to seniors and children where we break down the steps slowly. This tape is taught more with a mind set that people already know dance and have been dancing.

How would someone know that when after kicking the front foot out, it should then go behind the next leg. Teach people how to "feel" the triple step. Take it one step at a time for them and build speed. What foot do you hop on? How is the ankle turned and will you move on the floor with that heal/toe, turn the waist move? How about a window showing you doing the dance from behind for those that have trouble with left and right orientation when being faced from the front, because people learn differently.

Finally, most of the cool downs are completely inappropriate for people that have just begun again to exercise. Advanced Yoga is NOT safe for everyone. I'm not old, but not young anymore either. My muscles are strong due to the Tai Chi I've done over the years. So I'll use the DVD for the first two dance routines because I wanted an exercise that raised my heart rate, but I'll do my own cool downs, not theirs.

To the creators of this video I ask "You want to help people lose weight, but who are you making it for? Those bare-wasted beauties in the back-ground?" Yet again another health video meant for thin people who already have a wide range of motion. Do another DVD, and break down the steps, show how each step is taken, how the ankle turns, shifting of the weight so people can learn SAFELY; Then allowing them to rejoin the dance routine after they have a firm grasp of the movement. People with confidence will continue using your DVDs.

I give this video a 2 star for catering to the health spa crowd and not the people that need it.

I love this video. I usually feel uncoordinated and clumsy when it comes to following a video but this one is perfect. It is not so easy that I'm bored, but not so hard that I would be discouraged. After about a month and a half of using it I can do the the swing, and jive with no problem at all. I am still learning the quickstep.

As far as a workout, I have lost about 10 lbs (changed eating too) I feel like my waist has seen the most change. I don't usually loose there, I think it is because of all the movements in the video.

I really do not like exercise and with this, I can't wait to get back to it. There have been weeks that I have danced everyday.

The best thing I can say about it is this. . .I dance with the video but I also find myself practicing through out the day. I'm really DANCING ALL DAY!

I'm a workout dvd junkie as well---but this video takes the cake! You will notice major difference in your body in weeks! At first it may seem a bit confusing---especially the quick-step, but after my 3rd try at this workout I seemed to be in sync. Just keep going!! It may take you longer but the results are so worth it!