CIA 9003

This workout was a real treat. Usually CIAs take me a long time to learn and I often only do half a workout because I get weary of "taking it from the top" so many times. Well, I got 95 percent of the moves on the first run-through, no previews, no rewinds and I never got bored!

Instead of taking from the top, there are two distinct combo sections. Within the combos, he's constantly inserting new moves in the middle, rather than the end, so the sequence always seems fresh and fun.

I am an advanced exerciser who likes high intensity and moderate choreography. Cathe Friedrich's cooldowns are about as dancy as I ever get. CIA 9003 has lots of pivots, spins, scoops, ski side to side, half jacks, grapevines, lunges, knee-ups, scissors, all put together so you are moving non-stop. Greg also throws in some high-intensity drills here and there: tuck jumps, plyo jacks, etc. The tape went from an A- to an A+ when he started throwing in heel-jacks. Such a simple move, but nobody does them anymore and they are so much FUN!

I'm looking forward to doing this tape again.

Greg has again put together an excellent high/low workout (60 minutes). I love the way he incorporates high intensity with athletic-style moves that are interesting but not dancy. This is not my all-time favorite Greg workout, but it's right up there. Grade A+.

The second part is Sharon McCaffrey with an odd routine called Step Trance-n-Dance. It's supposed to be step and yoga combined. I didn't care for it -- I thought it was a little on the boring side. Grade C.

I totally agree with Maryann--I had a blast with Greg's hi lo workout. Even though Greg says early on "I'm not a dancer", nevertheless his lighthearted combos reminded me of Kari Anderson's recent work--the music was the same of one of her Great Moves tapes, I think, and that reinforced the comparison. Greg's workout is easily worth the price of the video. I did wish I had a bit more room in my workout area, though.

Sharon's step workout almost defies description. I found myself just staring at the TV--what was this? I might call some of the moves "yoga inspired" but this is nothing like any yoga workout I have ever seen. Sharon does the workout with bare feet. I tried it that way, and was very uncomfortable. I guess I just decided that step and yoga must be mutually exclusive. The workout stressed me out rather than relaxing me. I give Sharon credit for trying something different, but unfortunately, I don't think it works.

I'll keep this one for Greg's workout, but I'm afraid I won't be doing Sharon's again.

I know their are alot of mixed reviews of this workout but I happen to really like this tape. The first section with Barbara McDermott is sprints. She has a recovery period using the same routine but she does that so you don't have to keep thinking about choreography. The sprints are fun, not too intense or hard to learn but they did get my heart rate up and I had fun with it. This section lasts 36 minutes.

The second section is stepping/toning intervals. Maria has fun and easy to learn stepping routines with intense toning using the step. I only used 5lb weights and really felt it. The first toning section you lunge onto the step doing up right rows, the second section you do dips off the step doing bicep curls and the third section you do squats and side leg adductions using the step and doing military presses. She does enough of them to really fatigue the muscles. This section is 33 min. long.

The third section is my favorite. It took more time to learn the routine, but once I started to catch onto the moves I had a total blast. She incorporates some sprints in the middle that really have your heart rate soaring and then you do one more short step routine and end with a tough ab workout and stretch. The stepping lasts 30 min. and the ab work lasts 6 min. I really liked the fact that the choreography was easy to learn, fun and intense.