Dancing With the Stars: Cardio Dance for Weight Loss

A fun way to get a work-out.....
I have tried about four of the Dancing with the Stars workouts but have only purchased, one, which was the Dancing with the Stars "Dance Off the Pounds". Here's my take...Each I felt were well done, but it really depends on if you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced exerciser.
The one dvd I do have is an intermediate/advanced workout. I do have dance experience, I like a fast pace and I get bored easily and need to be challenged. If you are looking for an easier one that I liked, the Latin Dance one with Cheryl Burke is a good one for a beginner.

This dvd is good, depending on what you like. Some of the basic moves you will use in each dance are outlined by your instructors, Kym Johnson & Mark Ballas in the 7 minute warm-up sequence. I'm not sure I love the warm-up and the instruction in that section, but it is not a huge deal. The three types of dances that you will do are the Samba (17 minutes), the Salsa (16 minutes) and the Jive/Swing (15 minutes). The...

Mark Ballas has ENER-GY
This latest DVD from the DWTS DVD line has become one of my favorites. Again, I like to see different instructors and it's great to see Mark Ballas as an instructor. He does a great job, breaking down the steps and doing them slowly, at first.
The first section in the Samba, which focuses on the abs. Next, both instructors lead the Salsa, which is good. I like doing a different routine. But the real workout is the swing/jive, led by Mark. This is fast action, high intensity cardio, which will enhance weight loss.
The front of the DVD says: "Perfect for Beginners!" but I would classify this as an intermediate workout because the last section is very intense.
AS another review pointed out, the warm-up section is sort of a "dance lesson", which is fine, but do you keep wanting to "learn" th moves to warm up?
The DVD also lacks a cool down segment, which you need after burning up the dancefloor during the swing/jive.
So I do my own stretches, no big...

Has something for almost everyone
This DVD has quickly become one of my favorites, however I do have to call it out on having false advertising. On the front it clearly says "perfect for beginners," and as other reviewers have said, that's not exactly true. With that being said, this is still an intense workout that will definitely give you weight loss and a whole lot more.

There's about a seven-minute warm up to start things off. It may be what the producers thought was perfect for beginners, because it breaks down key steps of each dance style. Mark Ballas and Kym Johnson, the instructors, really teach fundamentals of the first few steps they'll actually show you in the dance routine to come. Was it a warm up? Not really. There's no stretching or anything that will particularly get you loose and ready to go. After viewing this the first time, I now skip it and warm up with the beginning of one of the routines.

SAMBA - 17 minutes - Kym leads Samba, and I think she does it very well...

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