Customer Reviews

Fit to the Hits with Tamilee: Rock Hard Assets & Motown Moves

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Finally! A series that pumps up the music and focuses on having fun and being yourself.

I have done plenty of other workouts that are much mroe intense and much more difficult than this one, but they can never be as rewarding as this workout is. At the end of Denise Austins' Ultimate Fat Burner, I am ready to go to bed and hide - I do not look forward to doing it again, even though it is a very well designed and effective interval training circuit. With this workout, however, I am energised and pumped and am itching to do the workout again - and for me, this is key.

Even though the workout is not difficult, I found myself having so much fun that I was willing to put more energy into it than I would in other workouts. This was because I responded to Tamilee's prompts of 'giving it all you've got', and 'letting loose'. Somehow she just managed to lure me out of being in a tight aerobics shell and break out into dance. I shall admit that there have been moments where I have been so into the groove of a particular step in a combination that I keep on doing it instead of moving on.

Tamilee is good at cueing, laid back and motivating without being girly, mushy or perky. In both of these DVDs, she does breaks out into song - more so in Rock Hard Assets than Motown Moves - this doesn't bother me too much, but some people have based their entire judgement of the workout based on her singing. For chrissake, once you've got the moves down, you can switch to the music only version if it bothers you that much. For me, the breaking out into song contributes to the laid-back-be-yourself-cut-loose-have-fun atmosphere.

The moves are not complicated. Tamilee cues very well and takes you through difficult moves at half time before performing the move at tempo. If you can do a mambo, toe-taps, a pony or a step-touch - then you can do either of these DVDs. There are a several bits of the workout which are high impact, and she doesn't tell you how you can modify them, so you just have to think of how to modify yourself. The Motown Moves DVD has more high impact segments than the Rock Hard Assets one, so I consider Motown to be easier.

ROCK HARD ASSETS - Songs in order of appearance:

1 - Free Ride (Warmup)

2 - Your Love is Driving Me Crazy

3 - China Grove

4 - Rock 'n Roll Band

5 - The Kid is Hot Tonight

6 - Free Ride (Cooldown) <--- liked the song so much, they put it in twice

MOTOWN MOVES - Songs in order of appearance:

1 - Signed Sealed Delivered (Warmup)

2 - Sugar Pie Honey Bunch

3 - Nowhere to Run

4 - Uptight

5 - This Old Heart of Mine

6 - I Heard it Through the Grapevine (Cooldown)

I personally prefer Motown Moves to Rock Hard, simply because I know almost all of the songs. If you don't know/like either of the style of songs of these DVDs and are absolutely uncompromising in this, then DON'T buy these DVDs.

Now, some things that bother me about the DVD - and this is common to both of the Fit to the Hits workouts. Why the exercisers in the DVD wear school-girl theatre costumes is beyond me. Perhaps it is to try and contribute to the relaxed atmosphere that Tamilee creates with her attitude; but really they look a bit out of place for a workout. I personally prefer a streamlined appearance to the exercisers in my workouts - something that the producers of Denise Austin's recent DVDs have done very well. (Personal Training System, Blast Away the Pounds, Burn Fat Fast and Power Zone: The Ultimate Metabolism Boosting Workout).

The other thing I'm not too impressed about is the 4min Natural Journeys advert that precedes the workout. There is no way to skip over or fast-forward this advert, and is quite frustrating. If you have any of Natural Journey's more recent DVDs - like Sara Ivanhoe's 20min Yoga Makeovers or Rainbeau Mars's Yoga For Beauty series - they have changed the prdocution so that you can fast forward through this advert. It is a shame that it is not possible on this DVD though.

A lot of reviewers have complained that they have yet to find any cardio by Tamilee that matches the toning workouts from 'I want that body'. They might be interested to know that on each of the Fit to the Hits DVDs, there is a bonus cardio workout from the 'I want that body' series. On Motown Moves there is a Cardio 1 segment, and on Rock Hard there is a Cardio 2 segment - both of them are 15minutes long, and is based on toning movements at a high pace that elevates your heart rate to mimic cardio.

Summary:

- Fun dancy cardio; steps not too difficult

- Good cueing

- Occasional breaks out into song, bad clothes

- Good extras

- Good music!

Tamilee is great, enthusiastic instructor. The sequences are easy to follow and provide a challenging aerobic workout. The special feature "Cardio Blast 2" made my legs and buns burn! As for her singing, you can always to the workout with just the music and no direction. I suggest those who do not like it, check out the additional audio features on their DVD.

I am not an aerobics instructor I am a busy busy busy mom of two small busy busy busy boys.
I found the first dvd (haven't tried the second) refreshing and definately a work-out for the lower body. You should probably know that I haven't worked out for quite a while so I did sweat, I am definately looking forward to tomorrow and dvd no. 2 . Seems like you could really get in to it or take it easy whatever your level of fitness is.
Yes, she does sing a little but so will you the music is hoppin and makes you want to sing and dance.
Thanks for such a fun product.

I've watched both DVD's several times and it looks like so much fun that I want to join in, but my two left feet just can't seem to get with the program no matter how hard I try. Tamilee goes over the moves again and again, but I just can't seem to pick it up. This one just isn't for those of us who are severely choreography challenged. Guess I'll just have to keep marching in place and doing knee lifts with Leslie Sansone.

I've only used each one (very beginner here) once, skipping the extra blast. Unfortunately, I'm having to return/replace due to Rock Hard being defective. I didn't have a problem with her short bursts of sing-a-long, but I felt she had a few lyrics wrong ;o) Either way, Tamilee is still my favorite!

Tamilee Webb is my favorite instructor, and these workouts are fun and great for a beginner.

I have had this set for awhile and tried the Rock DVD yesterday. What a fun and great workout. It is so fun you barely notice that you are getting a workout! I love the rock songs on it too...gotta try the Motown one next!

Tamilee Webb is one of my favorite instructor, and I am a great fan of her series "I want those..", but these dvds were a disappointment for me. Did not like the music that was played, maybe that was the reason why. Sure, some fun moves like the drums & guitars, but I wouldnt play it again. Selling these series to someone who will appreciate them..

I like Tamilee, but these two are dogs! Note to all fitness instructors: do NOT sing along to the music. And wear actual exercise clothing!