Yoga Moves

I thought this would be a yoga workout (silly me), but it's a low-impact aerobics workout. Molly claims that it is based on yoga moves, but it is not yoga-like in the least. She does do yoga in the warmup and cooldown, but the body of the 45-minute workout is strictly low-impact aerobics and it's definitely not my style. If you are into low-impact aerobics, low enough that you can do it in bare feet as she does, this might be just your thing. I didn't ever do it -- but it looks like she keeps the intensity up really well. Her style is just slightly dancy, and she does a lot of movements that take you from side to side across the room. If I were rating a low-impact aerobics workout, I'd give this an A. But since it's marketed as yoga, I give it an F.

Dance Away - Get Fit with the Hits (Beginner/Intermediate-Floor Aerobics)

This series features music from various decades; I have the 60's and the 80's tapes. Choreographer Molly Fox is the instructor, and while she comes up with some interesting combos, her cueing is not very good, especially annoying because you have your back to the TV sometimes. The (low-budget) sets, outfits and dance steps reflect their theme decades; the 60's tape has ponies and twists, the 80's features funky, breakdance-inspired moves. What stands out are the songs, the Original Hits by the Original Artists - the Monkees' "I'm A Believer", Aretha Franklin's "Who's Zoomin Who", etc. If you're really fed up with generic workout music, you might like these, as a friend of mine did. Otherwise, not much bang for the buck. Fuzzy EP recordings. Grade: C

This was supposed to be a yoga inspired aerobic workout at the intermediate level. It might be yoga inspired but it certainly wasn't aerobic, at least not for me. I consider myself at the I/A level. Sorry, but this one goes back. I do aerobic workouts to elevate my heart rate and to break a sweat in which neither occured during this tape. (On the other hand, a beginner may enjoy this video; the moves were fluent and not difficult; and the set was pretty and calming).

Time: approx. 50 minutes
Level: Beginner/Intermediate

If you are looking for a yoga video to build flexibility and strength, this is NOT the one to buy. Although the warm-up and cool down feature yoga poses, the heart of the video is a very dancey aerobics routine.

In addition to being light on the yoga, this video is devoid of a class, interesting set, inspiring music, and challenging combinations. It's not a bad or unsafe workout, but the title and cover leads one to believe they might be doing more than 10 minutes of yoga. Then, the routines you DO get are boring.

I would rent/borrow this one before purchasing, to make sure it's what you want.

Fox has good video presence (ie. she's got a good personality and voice that's easy to listen to), but her poor cueing is saved only by her highly repetitive combinations.

First of all, the title is a misnomer. This tape does not really consist of "Yoga Moves" at all. It is an aerobic dance workout with moves "inspired" by the principles of yoga, as the video's cover puts it. If you think you are buying a tape which consists of yoga postures done in an aerobic way, you are going to be disappointed, as I was. The only part of the tape that has any moves remotely resembling yoga is the warm-up which consists of 6 sets of a simple sun salutation varition; then it's on to the body of the workout.

Remember that interpretive dance class you took in college? Well, this resembles it. Molly has divided the workout into 6 sections: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Rain Forest, and Child's Play. It is mostly free flowing dance type moves. Molly does them barefoot, but says athletic shoes are fine. There is a minimum of direction, but the moves are simple and Molly does them several times and then moves on. She does not go back after teaching a section. The intensity level is beg/int and the aerobbic portion of the workout is about 35 minutes long. The impact level can be modified to low or high impact depending on how much jumping you want to do.

The set is blue with 2 back-lit pyramids and a sun shadow projected on the rear wall. The music is a gentle synthesizer and pan flute. It is not intrusive at all. Don't be put off by the new agey appearance, there is nothing mystical mentioned in the tape during the actual workout.

The end of the tape is labeled "cooldown" but it is actually a stretch, as there are no movements other than stretching in this final section. Here again, Molly does bring in some basic elements of yoga, but not very many. The stretch isn't that different from that in many aerobic tapes.

I think this tape would be best for an intermediate exerciser who loves freeflowing dance type movements. After you learn the workout, (which won't take long) you can just let yourself go with the music. If you like this type of movement, you'll have a great time.