Customer Reviews

Patrick's Step My Way

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

 

 

Let me start by saying this DVD is HARD. I would like to think I am an advanced stepper, but I struggled with this DVD at first. I learned the choreography and now the DVD is fun. If you are a beginning stepper, I would highly recommend you not purchase this DVD; you would quickly become discouraged.
The DVD consists of a warm-up, 3 step segments, a bonus step segment, and a cool-down. Patrick is a good leader, and the cueing is timely. However, I don't think Patick breaks the moves down well enough to make the choreography easy to learn. Patrick moves from the basic step, to the advanced step in one motion, without demonstrating in slow-motion the advanced moves. He spends too much time showing the basic version, and almost no time demonstrating the advanced version. He also loves turning around the step. If you're an advanced stepper, and love complicated choreography, this DVD is for you. This DVD really raises your heart rate, and once your learn the advanced steps, this DVD is really fun.
As an aside, the women stepping with Patrick have "normal" body types, which is always good to see.

If you love to dance and you love step this is your dream come true! Patrick never ceases to amaze me with his fabulous, creative choreography. Although this is not for the faint of heart don't be intimidated, Patrick shows many levels and options in every single combination. He really knows how to bring out the dancer in all of us. As always, exceptionally well cued and tons of high energy fat burnin' fun!

I love this DVD. I have been looking for a step DVD like this for a long time and I'm almost upset I hadn't bought any of Patrick's DVDs sooner.

As a dancer and an advanced stepper, I found this DVD to be a nice steady-state cardio workout (though I think if I used 2 risers instead of 1 it could have a more "interval" feel to it). I love step workouts with complex choreography because it makes the time fly by while at the same time giving you a great, fun workout. I found Patrick's cueing to be impeccable and his method of teaching to be really effective.

There were 3 combos (plus 1 bonus) in the video and each combo was broken down by first teaching it with the utmost basic steps, then layering and layering on choreography and changes until you had a quite complex combo. I was able to do the whole DVD from start to finish without any mishaps or fumbles (which is not what I found with some of the Amy Bento DVDs that I love so much), and I think it is because of Patrick's layering method and his cueing.

Now, this DVD is labelled "advanced". I think the misconception (among the people who have given it negative reviews) is that in this case, I believe "advanced" not only implies having had stepping experience (names of basic steps, experience facing different directions, etc), but also, I think it implies that the stepper have a good understanding of spatial orientation and movement/rhythm. Lacking these things, I think that is where the layering could get confusing because Patrick loves to "step his way" and change direction and work across and around the step. Not to say that you can't learn the combos with more practice, I just think that it is impossible to truly enjoy the video if you are tripping all over your feet and not knowing which way to turn. If you don't like complex choreography, I recommend Gin Miller's Simply Interval: Short and Sweet DVD.

Besides the semi-poor DVD quality, there's nothing negative I can say about the actual workout. The combos are fun. The music is upbeat and fantastic. Patrick and the girls can really groove and look like they are really enjoying themselves. To address another reviewer: I think the girls are really fit, and beyond that, they are downright cool! Even just between segments, when they're just supposed to be marching in place, they are grooving like they are the 2 coolest chicks at the club, and I'd love to be down with them! I know some people can only be inspired by extremely thin and perky instructors, but for me, I've walked out of many classes and stopped many programs because the instructor (though thin and model-like) had absolutely no cueing ability, rhythm and just looked/grooved plain-cheesy. So, to each one's own. But this dance-y/complex step DVD is definitely for me!

I really enjoy this dvd. I have all of the equipment used, so that's a bonus already. But by varying the weights for your fitness level, you can get in a full-body strength training session. I think Patrick's personality really makes if fun, as well.

This was the worst video I have ever seen. The people doing the video were big. Hello... I am not going to do your workout if it obviously isn't working for you. And the music was weird too. Lesson learned.