Solid Gold Cardio

I've done the combos from this DVD 10 times in the past 15 years, so not regularly but enough that memory helps with the complexity. This is more fun that it is intense. There is quite a bit of high impact, but it shouldn't leave you dripping after the main workout. Found the music positive and familiar, though couldn't have said what era the songs came from as that doesn't info doesn't stick with me - not that interested.

Recently did it the first time after having ruptured my ACL, so not as much gusto went into it, but certainly did all the twist, turns, and impact - just didn't jump as high as typically would. Came away in a very good mood, which is normal for me after one of Christi's workouts.

Have no complaints about the number of people on the floor, nor about cueing only the most complex version. I'm just not that fussy - my focus is on the centre front with the occasional distraction from Teresa during the workout, or Julie's cardigan (about to fall off) during the cooldown.

The DVD:

There are hoards of options and a lot of content on this DVD but all the extras are identical to those on Solid Gold Step so if you use both - the cooldown can become tiresome quickly.

Breakdown - Everything Platter:

(99:43) Total Duration

(3:17) Christi's X-tra Quick Warmup

(90:35) Workout

_____(44:52) Cardio

__________(24:35) First Half

_______________(6:18) Combo 1

_______________(3:37) Combo 2

_______________(5:06) Combo 3

_______________(9:34) Combo 4

__________(20:17) Second Half

_______________(3:19) Combo 5

_______________(4:28) Combo 6

_______________(4:04) Combo 7

_______________(8:26) Combo 8

_____(45:43) Strength

__________(9:51) Nate's Squats & Pushups

__________(10:16) Michele's Core Ball Work

__________(5:49) Julie's Abs

__________(8:42) Michelle's Back & Behind

__________(11:05) Maria's Pilates

(5:51) Christi's X-tra Stretch

Not included in the mix above is the cooldown (5:18)

Mixes / Menu items:

(50:10) Straight to Solid Gold Cardio (combos 1-8, cooldown)

(56:01) Aerobic Platter (combos 1-8, cooldown, x-tra stretch)

(35:44) Kwiki Platter 1 (combo 1-4, cooldown, x-tra stretch)

(34:43) Kwiki Platter 2 (quick warmup, combos 5-8, cooldown, x-tra stretch)

(54:51) Strength & Stretch Platter (quick warmup, strength, x-tra stretch)

Sub-menus from the main menu can get you to every chapter given in the Everything Platter above so picking an addon strength section, or making your own mix by choosing from the 'Solid Gold Cardio Combos' menu - quick warmup + combo 3 + combo 7 + cooldown + x-tra stretch, as like Cathe's mix/match, you're returned to that submenu when the selected chapter ends. Hence my 'hoards of options' comment above!

Also included are the Move Master - Christi in slow motion going through the combinations, and mixes that have:

• quick warmup

• choreography 101

• one combo

• x-tra stretch

There are 8 of these mixes, being one for each combo, but the choreography 101 are the same. It's a nice addition to help beginners with complexity to get a lighter workout and slowly build to do the whole main content. I think it's a thoughtful addition.

Level: Inter/Advan

Impact: Mixed

Choreography: Complex

Length: 50 minutes (4 minute warmup, 41 minute workout, 5 minute cooldown)

Instructor: Christi Taylor

Solid Gold Cardio is a dancy, twirly, complex workout! It is the antithesis of Totally Hot Cardio. There are cha chas, mambos, grapevines, twirls, interesting arm movements, and intricate footwork. The moves don't confine themselves to just side to side. There's a lot of floor space covered to the front and back, plus the sides, without making it a complete space hog. That's not to say this workout can't be done; it just can't be down in one (or two or three) tries.

I do agree with one reviewer on collage who stated "Some of the more advanced moves are more complex but don't to anything to increase the intensity." This is true, but it makes the workout very interesting. It also makes you feel like a dancer if you can get some of the more complex stuff. The intensity is made up with all the arm movements. I found that in this DVD Christi teaches the steps very quickly. This workout is FAST paced.

The music is pretty good, but with the name "Solid Gold Cardio" I was expecting, I don't know, more hits from the 70s to be played. They started off with a rendition of "We Are Family" and I was all hyped up. That was, however, the only "solid gold" you got. The rest was more recent stuff.

One other thing I liked in this DVD: hardly ANY mistakes! In Christi DVDs, usually everyone is making some goof up, even Christi. This is usually endearing, and I love to see who is going to make a mistake. On this one, I didn't see any, which was amazing to me. This workout was fast and intricate, and these ladies filed it nicely. Plus, I found Teresa to be adorable and she seemed to be having so much fun.

There are also some nice extras on the DVD: The Movemaster, Choreography 101, an Abs segment, Pilates segment, and a few others I haven't previewed. Most of the bonuses are led by guest instructors. Since I like doing abs after cardio, it's nice that I don't have to pop in an extra DVD to get my ab work out of the way.

PROS: Complex, intense cardio with a good breakdown. Christi cues well, is her usual enthusiastic self, and the music is good. The moves feel fresh and different, although if you are a Christi fan, you will notice some comfortable favorites that have been tweaked.

CONS: Christi works out with two exercisers in the front doing the advanced steps and four modifiers in the back. Sorry, but that's too many people on the floor. Half the time, you don't see them because the two advanced exercisers in the front are hopping in front of them. She should have had only two modifiers, then maybe everyone could have been seen.

OVERALL: A-

I'm reviewing this workout after doing it a few dozen times, although I've probably only done some of the bonus segments once each.

General workout breakdown: This 45-min. hi/lo or floor aerobics workout (25 minutes for the first half, 20 for the second) is followed by a 5 min. cooldown plus has the option of an extra 3-min. warm up (which consists of basic moves plus some dynamic, or as Christi calls it "rhythmic," stretching) and a 5.5 min. stretch (which begins seated but ends standing and covers most of the lower body as well as the lower back and some upper body). Note that the bonus warm-up, cool-down, and bonus stretch also appear on Solid Gold Step.

Christi combines standard hi/lo aerobics moves with a bit of a dancey flair. Moves like v-steps, knee lifts (be prepared to do a lot of these), hamstring curls (and be prepared to do even more of these), grapevines, alternating heels, kicks, pivots, shuffles, and marches get jazzed up as the routine progresses. Although this isn't straight up dance, even with the mambos, cha chas, and sambas, Christi's ability to match moves to music and make them flow together in a sequence will make you feel almost like you're dancing.

Christi's teaching method: Christi begins with basic steps but quickly layers them, either transforming the moves, changing the order and/or rhythm, or cutting down the number of repetitions. She'll begin with a few counts of basic moves, then layer it up, run through the new variations of the moves a few times, then put them together and lay the next base layer for the rest of the combo, repeat, and then run through all of the parts of that combo several times. Once she's done that you'll TIFT (take it from the top). She often uses the "watch me" method, although here she and her two "flippers" will launch right into the final variation with just a warning that a move change is coming up. I appreciate that when alterating the base moves Christi only changes one thing at a time and almost always gives you at least one chance to see and then do it on each side before adding any other changes.

Christi teaches things symmetrically, and she balances out run throughs on both sides, more or less. Christi never weaves, or slices and dices, combos; she'll always do combo #1 on the right (or whatever side she does first), combo #1 on the left, combo #2 on the right, and then combo #2 on the left, and so on.

In addition to the main step workout, this DVD contains 45 minutes of strength add-ons taught by members of Christi's classes on the Solid Gold series who are solid instructors in their own right. These add-ons also appear on Solid Gold Step.

- Julie's Abs (5.5 min.) has two women, one of which modifies; Julie begins coaching but joins them for basic crunch (with several arm variations shown), oblique crunch, crunch w/ legs in tabletop, crunch w/ reverse crunch, crunch w/ reverse cruch / leg push-up, oblique crunch w/ ankle over knee into 4-part series (adding in reverse crunch / lift), and tempo pulses reaching towards legs.

- Nate's Squats & Push-ups (9.5 min.) has two women, one of which modifies; Nate usually joins them but once or twice stops to coach during squats, push-ups, static lunges, triceps / narrow push-ups, wider / plie squats, push-ups w/ 1 leg slightly raised, and finishing with one more round of regular squats, triceps push-ups, and wide squats. You change the tempo as the set proceeds (e.g. 2 and 2 or 3 and 1).

- Michele's Core Ball Workout (10 min.) coaches one woman through wall squats with the stability ball, adding in small balls (suggested substitute: pillows) between the feet and knees, push-ups against stability ball at wall, push-ups against stability ball on the floor (Michele demonstrates a full plank option, adding in 1-leg lift, too), crunches over the stability ball, and pikes on the ball.

- Michelle's Back & Behind (8.5 min.) has a man and woman showing different variations as Michelle joins them for "dips" (e.g. bridge, either on the floor or w/ shoulders on a step, w/ or w/o weights; Michelle does straight up and down as well as side to side), side-lying leg lifts up & down (either on the floor or with torso on stability ball, w/ or w/o weights), and quadruped leg lifts & lowers and bird dogs w/ opposite arm & leg extended (either on floor or draped over stability ball). Michelle does regular tempo, pulses, and holds.

- Maria's Pilates (11 min.) coaches two women in Pilates breathing on back, the hundred, footwork-type series (extend legs out at 45 degrees, adding in pointing & flexing), half rollback, single leg circles, single leg stretch, double leg stretch, double straight leg stretch, criss cross (aka bicycle or obliques), spine stretch forward, swimming, double leg kick (upper body part only - so no leg kick!), child's pose / shell stretch / little piece of heaven, and ending standing for breathing.

Level: I'd recommend this to experienced exercisers at the intermediate through low advanced level who are comfortable with complex choreography. Christi's choreography is not the most mind-numbingly complex out there, but you do have to enjoy choreography. Even though this has modifiers, if you're new(ish) to complexity and/or Christi I'd recommend Christi's Still Jumpin"and/or Totally Hot Cardio first (or, if you're a real newbie, Mission: Possible, CIA 5004, Funktional Fitness, or Cardio Collectibles).

This was my second Christi and my second complex aerobics video (my first being her Totally Hot Cardio). I followed the modifiers for a long time until I felt confident with that. Then I slowly added in bits and pieces of the full routine as I felt able, until one day I was doing the full thing. I found this trickier to pick up than Totally Hot Cardio because Christi cues the full version only, whizzes through four combos without a lot of breakdown in parts where you seem to need it most, doesn't TIFT from the top as often which makes it easier to forget earlier combos, and includes a lot of pivots and direction changes without a lot of cues on which way to go (I can still find myself going the wrong way if I don't play close attention). This can still give my heart a good workout: this past time I wore my heartrate monitor, which showed me in my moderate to moderately high zone, although I felt like I was working harder than that, as I didn't even have the energy for all of the higher impact moves.

Class: 6 women join Christi, who instructs live, for the hi/lo. The four in the back row, wearing all black, stick with the lower impact / less pivot-heavy version of the routine, while Christi, Julie, and Theresa (here with the three flopping small pigtails on top of her head as her crowning glory), wearing blue shirts with their black pants, show the full shebang. Having four modifiers makes the set a little busy but improves the odds that one of them is likely to be visible for those who need it.

For the cool-down 10 women and 1 man join Christi (in their "normal colors," although some of them seem to have amped up their wardrobe - I know I would if someone asked me to wear my usual workout outfit to a filming, although I personally would have left the bandana and midriff-baring top under the denim jacket or hoodie at home). They're all bunched up, so if the regular workout inspired thoughts of claustrophobia you may want to do your own cool-down…

Christi is alone for the bonus warm-up and stretch portions (as well as for the MoveMaster).

Music: a mix of upbeat instrumentals and (remade) vocals, including "We Are Family," "Bye Bye Bye," "Should I Stay or Should I Go," "Larger than Life," and "Rock Your Body." Yeah, the late 90s - very early 00s boy band tunes were on their way to "dated" by the time I picked this up not that long after its release. But, hey, The New Kids on the Block made a comeback recently, so perhaps someday these songs will be retro cool again and the peanut gallery downstairs won't feel as compelled to make fun of me for having them blare out from the TV (eh, most likely not on the latter).

As mentioned the cool-down and stretch song, with more of a hip hop / rap feel to it, is done by Christi's son, and it's not bad at all (if you can get past the proud mama's constant mentions of how great it is during the cool-down).

Set: the 2003 CIA set with neutral walls and kind of an Asian flair, with what looks like rice paper screens and vases with branches. Out of all of the CIA sets this may be one of my favorites, as it's uncluttered, not distracting, and actually a kind of space I'd like to spend time in during real life.

Production: clear picture and sound, with Christi's voice clearly audible over the music. The camera angles are the usual CIA and thus mostly helpful. There's a few odd shots and edits in the cooldown, or maybe I'm just paying too much attention to that stuff because there's not much else to do during the cool-down...

Equipment: You'll want sneakers that won't get caught on your carpet or floor surface (if relevant). The bonus segments require a mat (or equivalent), light dumbbells, a stability / Swiss ball, two small squishy balls (unweighted is probably fine, if not better; substitute = towels), and maybe a step.

Space Requirements: This requires a good deal of horizontal (side to side) space: ideally you should be able to do three or more grapevines across your space. The first half covers more vertical (front to back) space than the second: ideally you should be able to walk at least 5 or 6 steps from the back up to the front. If you cut down on the traveling you can make this work in a large living room rather than a studio, but no matter how much I try to keep myself at the back of my space during one combo in the first half I always find myself running out of room for the "serve it up" move. At a kind of uncoordinated 5'8" I need at least 5"forward and back x 8"side to side for this one.

DVD Notes: The main menu options are Aerobic Instructor Training promo, Introduction, Straight to Solid Gold Cardio, Solid Gold Cardio Combos (X-tra Quick Warm-Up, First Half beginning at combo #1 / #2 / #3 / #4, Second Half beginning at combo #5 / #6 / #7 / #8, Cool Down, X-tra Stretch), Cooldown, MoveMaster, Choreography 101, Bonus Beauties (Julie's Abs, Nate's Squats & Push-ups, Michele's Core Ball Workout, Michelle's Back & Behind, Maria's Pilates, Christi's X-tra Quick Warm-up, Christi's X-tra Stretch), Combination Platters (Kwiki Plater #1 = Combos 1-4, Cooldown, Stretch; Kwiki Platter #2 = Warm-up, Combos 5-8, Cooldown, Stretch; Aerobic Platter = Combos 1-8, Cooldown, Stretch; Strength & Stretch Platter = Warm-up, Nate's Squats & Push-ups, Michele's Core Ball Workout, Julie's Abs, Michelle's Back & Behind, Maria's Pilates, Stretch; and Everything Platter: Warm-up, Combos 1-8, Cool-down, Nate's Squats & Push-ups, Michele's Core Ball Workout, Julie's Abs, Michelle's Back & Behind, Maria's Pilates, Stret), and Credits.

Comments: Honestly, this isn't my favorite among Christi's hi/lo offerings, mainly because just a few too many repetitions makes it drag on and gives me time to nitpick things I don't love about the choreography. I have a high TIFT tolerance, especially if I love the routine, but Christi does 4 (count "em, 4!) TIFTs at the end of the first half, plus the warm-up becomes the first combo without a whole lot of modifications, so by the end you've stepped back with a knee and so on a lot. I would rather Christi have thrown out the warm-up combo to build up a new one or split up the TIFTing to do some in the middle of the combo, as she sometimes does, or something rather than just rack up the final TIFTs. Fortunately she only does two TIFTs at the end of the second half, although except for the third combo and its extended breakdown / build up I like this part of the workout better and wouldn't mind another run through. I do agree that some of the parts that are broken down are the parts that don't really need it, which doesn't make this any easier to pick up or less tedious. And that cool-down is a lot of standing in one place swaying hips and arms, with Christi coming off as kind of bossy ("Don't do it yet; you'll ruin it"); it's the type of thing that's fun live once or twice, but with repeat viewings it feels uninspired.

Of course, pronouncing this "not my favorite Christi" is like saying white chocolate is "not my favorite kind of chocolate": I still like it better than a lot of other things out there, and I'll reach for it without too much persuasion when I want a little variety.

This video is in two parts--each complete workouts on their own if you're pressed for time. The first section is mixed impact with slightly more emphasis on high. But as always there are modifiers showing a low impact version. It is very fast-paced except in the middle where it slows down somewhat with a heel-toe-heel grapevine combo that is pretty simple which Christi breaks down far too much. Other than that, this workout is very dancy with pivots, hops and hop turns and gets very intense during the high impact "heel, heel, kick, jog" combination. But as usual, the music is fun and highly motivating. I frequently have to stop myself from singing out loud so that I don't get short of breath. I must admit I usually find myself grinning like a loon when doing this workout.

The second half of this workout isn't as difficult and I don't like the music as much. But it's still very much fun and there are a couple of tough combos such as the shuffle-touch-turn and the hop turns with the backwards grapevines.

This high/low workout is quite fun - after you "get it." It's not as well-taught as Christi's earlier workouts and can be frustrating, but you do catch on after awhile. Frankly, if it had been made by any other instructor, I probably wouldn't have bothered to put forth the effort to learn it. But Christi is my #1 instructor, so I stuck with it more than I would have from someone else. It has great music, which also ups the fun factor by a lot. I recommend this only if you've been exposed to Christi's other workouts. If you start with this one, you'll probably end up crossing her off your list because of the frustration. And that would certainly be a shame, because she has the best and most fun cardio workouts on the planet. :)