Customer Reviews

So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit: Tone and Groove

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I just received the So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit Cardio Funk and Tone & Groove dvds yesterday (I tried CF yesterday and T&G today), so my reviews will be based on my first impressions, and then I'll edit them again later regarding the long term results.

First thought-I LOVE these dvds! Because the routines were explained well and taught in a progression, I was able to pick up the choreography for each dance the first time through, though I felt all of the routines were definitely challenging and VERY effective as workouts! After just finishing the second dvd today; my muscles are sore, I'm sweating, and I feel fantastic (and like I worked really hard)! The dancers were all very energetic, encouraging, and none of them ever missed a beat/step on the routines. It was exciting to see all of these great personalities from the show (definitely 5 of my many favorites) choreographing, dancing, and having such a blast out there-and it's even more fun to dance along with them!

Getting down to business, the menu screen has a 'Play All' option which takes you through the warm-up, all 3 routines (with instructions), and the cool down. In the 'Workouts' section, you can choose between the 3 routines (with or without instructions) and the bonus workout that combines the three styles with some extra steps (also with our without instructions). The Warm-Up and Cool Down sections are taught by the whole group of dancers, switching off. They're the same combination of dance-infused stretches on both dvds and they've got a funky flavor going on the Warm-Up and more of a bluesy tone on the Cool Down. I found them to be fully effective in preparing me for the workouts and cooling me down afterward, as well as enjoyable ways to begin and end the session. For extra entertainment value, the dvd also includes interviews with the three dancers featured on the front cover, as well as with Nigel Lithgoe. The dancers' interviews include behind the scenes clips from their workout rehearsals, taping, and photo shoot, as well as them just goofing off with each other and having fun. I expect that all fans of the show would really enjoy these parts as much as I did. :) Anyway, I chose to 'Play All' and then perform the Bonus dance with instruction and my total workout time for each day was about 1 hour and 40 minutes! That will be reduced without the instructions, though I think it's always good to get the extra benefit of performing the moves slowly and isolating the muscles whenever there's time. Seriously, for only $11?-What a tremendous value for the money!

On this dvd:
-Twitch-Hip Hop: Oh yeah! This is an awesome little hip hop number! I thought he really did a good job of teaching basic popping for it as well! I found tremendous arm and leg benefit in this one. My thighs, in particular, were burning by the end of it.
-Katee-Jazz: This is a cute and sassy dance that includes arm and leg extensions, jumps, hip sways, and even her famous `awkward dance' with the elbows transformed into a standing, twisting, knee lifting, sit-up! This one is really good for your waist, abs, legs, hips, and backside and it's a ton of fun.
-Dmitry-ChaCha: Man, this one really worked me!! I thought Dmitry did a fabulous job of breaking down the movements and really demonstrating the correct technique in each of the steps. This one is really fast once the music starts, even at the slowest speed (especially those twists! Whoo!), and with no prior training in this area, I found it to be the most challenging (in a VERY good way, though)! Any fat left on my waistline and legs had better beware with this one!

The video clip at the top of the screen will give you a nice preview into how the steps are taught and the types of moves you'll be doing. I'm so excited to have added this fitness dvd into my collection and hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did! ***** Difficulty: Intermediate/Challenging (At least a little dance training recommended, if not required).

I also reviewed the other So you think you can dance get fit: Cardio Funk, and they are quite similar, so I'm posting the same review slightly modified for this version below. I will say that I liked Twitch's hip hop routine on this one a bit better then Lauren's on the other, and Dmitry's cha-cha felt the most like I was actually learning to move more like a dancer. If you were only going to get one I would say maybe get this one first, except I really like Travis's contemporary routine on Cardio Funk as well.
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Especially while the show is airing, who doesn't want to feel like they can be part of So you think you can dance! Totally fun to dance with a bunch of dancers from past seasons, and get a great workout at the same time.

Three different styles of dance routines (hip hop, jazz, and cha-cha), you can pick one or do all three, and there are separate chapters for the instructions to learn the routines that you can skip and go straight to the workouts after you get them down. Learning the steps is nice and slow, and easy to follow or repeat if you get lost. Then in the workouts they start with doing the routine counting, and get faster, add music, until it's more like a performance at the end - just music no counting at full speed. There is also a bonus dance workout that mixes the styles together. The dancers on the video are Travis, Katee, Dmitry, Twitch, Lauren, and Courtney.

My only slight complaint is the music is a bit generic, so you aren't going to feel like you are telling any kind of story in the routine like from the show, but after all it is an exercise dvd, so this isn't that big of a deal. It would be cool if they came out with a couple that were focused more on just dance so you feel more like a real routine though. But for now I'm pretty happy they did this at all, and the other one Cardio Funk is great as well!

Tone and Groove is exactly like the first dvd of this set, "Cardio Funk". Both are actual DANCE dvds that give you a serious workout. Anyone watching might go:- "Ok, that doesn't look hard." No dance looks hard, but omg try and do it. The warm-up in itself is a great workout, just that.

This dvd is so fun. I love the jazz section, and the hip-hop is so laid-back and fun and calm, you feel great, Twitch is a wonderful instructor; the Latin section of this dvd is really sexy and sauve.

I'm not kidding, this dvd will get you into serious shape. It may look simple, but try and do it? You'll be sweating. It's so much more fun than a treadmill. This dvd has you jumping up, dancing around, bending, stretching, and laughing.

It's so underrated. You honestly will not be disapointed you got it. It's expertly done and so much fun.

With the title, you would think you are getting a workout DVD that is focused on toning. That is not the case. Although this DVD focuses more on toning than the average dance DVD, it does not focus on it enough to make you sore the next morning.
I'm going to break down this review into each section.

Warm-Up-Quite a bit longer than the average warm-up, this features the same moves as in it;s partner DVD. However, it features a different song, and the instructors (all six of them instruct the warm-up) are wearing different clothes.

Hip-Hop-With Twitch, this hip-hop routine focuses more on dance than that of the routine on the partner DVD. Twitch is a good instructor really telling you how to do the routine, and he even teaches a little bit of popping. It doesn't tone that much, but if you were to work something it would have to be the back muscles.

Jazz-This routine, led by Katee, is the most toning of all three workouts. It'll work your abs, triceps, and biceps if you do the moves correctly. It is a little feminine, and I thought some of the last moves were stripping moves, but it is still fun.

Cha-Cha-This is the shortest routine, with Dmitry teaching only three moves which you do on each side. It focuses on your calves, but once the music starts, you find yourself trying to catch up rather than focus on technique. Fun, but not what I expected.

Bonus-It says that it puts all of the routines together, but you really learn more new moves than you do familiar ones in this section. It doesn't focus on toning at all but on cardio.

Cool-Down-Relaxing, but once again it is the same as the partner DVD with different music and outfits.

I took a star off because it isn't toning, but otherwise I would have given it 5 stars. It is a lot of fun, and it is a great cardio workout regardless of what the title is.

I'm not going to break this down for you since others have already done it, so I'll just say that I love this DVD. I own several other dance DVDs, but this one and Dance with Julianne: Cardio Ballroom are my favorites so far.

I do think the music choice could have been better, but it's not enough for me to detract a star. I'll also point out that during the quickest tempo during Dmitry's routine he didn't give any cues, which I REALLY could have used. That said, it was extremely fast and I imagine it would have been nearly impossible to speak coherently while dancing, but it would have been nice to have a voice over or something. Still, by the time you do the quickest speed, you should already know the routine, so I still won't detract a star. It just would have been nice to have for if/when you get off step. So with that said, I'd give it a 4.5, but rounded up to a 5.

Now for a little about me so you can put my review in perspective. I was never a dancer growing up, so aside from a few bellydancing classes at my university, I'm a complete dance novice. That said, I've been an athlete all of my life and am intermediate (maybe advanced) exerciser. I'm also a former yoga instructor, so I'm pretty flexible and used to putting my body in sometimes strange positions. I prefer kickboxing and HIIT type workouts when I'm not doing a dance DVD or yoga. I found the dances fun and challenging, but doable. You might have to rewind a few times (especially with Dmitry's routine) but if you do everything to the best of your ability, I think even a beginner could eventually do this DVD. I do recommend just watching the DVD, as with all dance DVDs, the first time through without participating if you are new to dancing.

Remember that it's a workout, but it's also supposed to be fun! If you can't pick up the steps right away, keep trying! I know a common complaint with dance DVDs is that it's hard to pick up the steps and you don't get a workout since you're so busy trying to figure out what to do. I've done this too, but if you keep trying, you will eventually get it, and then you'll really be able to get a great workout.

The cardio funk DVD is much better than this one. This one is a little slow and boring and I wish I had not gotten it. If you have to choose one get the cardio funk. I don't suggest you get both.

I LOVE this exercise DVD. The only reason I didn't give it a 5-star rating is because I feel it is too short. I love to dance but hate to exercise. This is perfect. Each dancer went through the steps very clearly and it was easy to follow. If I forgot or missed something, I just went back and repeated it. The cha-cha was the one that really burned my abs & my legs.
Again, I just wish there are more routines and even longer routines.
I have to caution that you have to like choreographed dancing to like this dvd, AND able to remember the steps. Otherwise, no matter how slow and how thorough the instructor goes through the steps, you're not going to be able to follow them and do the exercises effectively. I don't think the instructions can be any simpler.

So You Think You Can Dance has been by far my favorite summer show for the past five seasons, and the two Dance Get Fit DVD's are the two greatest things to come out of it recently! Both DVD's are such an improvement over the regular tired old dance DVD's of contrived "hip-hop" moves and oldies music. For watchers of the show, the teachers and back dancers are beloved outstanding dancers from past seasons, whose energy and enthusiasm far exceeds that of regular fitness instructors. I rate this as intermediate level with some impact. Total beginners would be frustrated, as there is an assumption of knowing a few basic dance steps such as "pony", etc. As with the Cardo Funk DVD, I felt I got a good workout only by doing the entire workout, which was about 1 1/2 hours. But the time just FLEW by. Actually, this is a revision of my original review in which I rated it 4 stars instead of 5 because I considered it more of a lower impact cardio workout than a toning one. I changed my mind after doing it a few times, resulting in stiffness in my sides; I really felt it in my abs. I tried to re-rate my review to 5 stars, but wasn't able to. So I want to emphasize that these three workouts really do emphasize abs, butt and thighs. I attribute the ab stiffness to Dmitry's latin dance workout (..."and twist and twist and twist and twist..."). As it starts it seems so slow and easy, but wow, does it turn into a workout!

I consider it somewhat an interval workout. The slow intervals are during the teaching portions of each of the three dance sections, which are taught one-on-one with the individual dancer/instructor. Then some more dancers join in and the tempo increases, then music is added, and finally the whole crew is added and the music is at full tempo. One extraordinary thing you NEVER get in a fitness video is the amazing chance to watch the workout choreography you are doing, being performed and interpreted by a whole cast of professional dancers, seeing how it can be tweaked and made both more intense and more interesting.

This was particularly the case with Dmitry's cha-cha. Wow, when he lets loose with the music, he's doing the same choreography he just taught you, but he's flying! Also, Twitch's hip-hop was the REAL thing and so much fun! He explains what "popping" really is! And the jazz routine with Katee totally works your abs and is very sexy and fun.

In order to get the full workout, be sure to do the bonus workout too. To do this, initially click on Full Program at the Menu. After Dmitry's workout, it segues to the Cool Down. At that point, fast forward all the way and it will take you back to Main Menu. Click back on Workouts. In that section, click on the fourth option, bonus workout, then choose the option Instruction for bonus workout. With the instruction and dance, this adds an additional 10 minutes. The three instructors from the DVD pick some moves from their workouts and casually throw them together into a casual dance. Once this is done, you then have the option to return to Main Menu and can still do the Cool Down.

My only other complaint about the pair of the SYTYCD DVD's is that the choreography of the warm-ups and cool downs in both are identical. With the wonderful and original choreography in everything else, this was a bit of a disappointment. Again, on further reflection, pretty much all classes or instructors on fitness DVD's use basically the same moves for warm up and cool down. But don't let this stop you from buying both! They are both SO WORTH IT!

I'm constantly looking for high intensity dance dvds because as an ex-cheerleader I have to constantly change my routines or else I'll get bored and this dvd gave me that needed change in routine and at the same time high intensity cardio.

I love it!I get bored easily with aerobic videos, and was pleasently surprised to find that this one kept my interest. I recommend this to all my friends.