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Debra Minghi, the peppy leader of
Debra Minghi's Gospel Moves Workout, was trained by Bob Fosse and once toured with
A Chorus Line, which is no surprise to anyone working out to this video. The entire routine seems adapted from that Broadway hit. You half expect the band of dancers to break into a gospel rendition of "One Singular Sensation." In other words, if you enjoy jazz-dance moves and want the extra uplift of gospel music to fuel your aerobic workout, this is the tape for you. Minghi leads a relatively easy- to-follow program of several routines emphasizing jazz-dance lunges, squats, and lots of arm flinging and head-rolling. The music is appropriately energizing and uplifting, provided by a live gospel choir called Voices of Joy.
The 45-minute routine features a seven-minute warm-up, 30-minute cardio section (including three 10-second heart-rate checks, along with a chart of where your target heart rate should be, depending on your age), and an eight-minute cool-down with minimal stretching. (You may want to add some additional calf stretches, after all the tiptoe moves in the main workout.) The workout itself touches on spirituality only fleetingly, as in naming one step segment "The One-Two-Hallelu," but for anyone craving at least a nod to the spiritual while tending to the needs of the body, the Gospel Moves Workout fills the bill divinely. --Anne Hurley
