I bought this DVD after being disappointed with the Kelly Brook 'Strictly Come Dancing' one, as people highly recommend it on this site. I am relatively fit with daily walking and 2 gym sessions a week (mainly for weights). I also used to be a fitness instructor so I have an understanding of teaching exercise safely to beginners. Having done - so far - only the Super Pump workout (the one with the extra abs session stuck at the end), I'll say first of all that my overall impression is a good one. The instructor is great, non-intimidating and reassuring. She also does some of the movements in a lower impact form and tells the viewer to copy Davina if they want the option with the jumps etc. Davina is....well herself really. I found it a bit annoying in the warm up when she was pretending to find it really hard, when it clearly wasn't (it was easy even for me!). But I think generally the 'annoying' moments are few and can easily be ignored. Her introduction to the DVD was actually very motivating and full of common sense.
My main criticism is that some of the routines were not explained very well. The instructor went straight into them without first breaking them down for the viewer. I found myself totally lost a few times. I am sure that with a couple more viewings anyone will be able to pick up the routines, as it's not a heavily coreographed video (which is good if you're like me and you want to burn calories rather than spend hours learning a step).
My second issue is that some of the kickboxing type of move could have done with a small tutorial at the beginning, because kicking around in bad form could injure you. I did kickboxing-type aerobics classes before so I knew a bit of technique but I still struggled a bit with the moves. I have Billy Banks' Tae Bo DVDs and he always, *always* gives you a tutorial first.
Finally, and this is a regular problem with fitness dvds, the camera work! Why can't they STOP zooming to the upper bodies of the presenters during a complex aerobic routine? Can they not understand that the viewer NEEDS to see their feet to be able to follow? That was the single most annoying thing in what is otherwise a very good effective workout.
I initially did the Super Pump section without the abs but it kind of finished too soon - it does feel a bit short! - so I went back to the one with the added abs section and fast forwarded to the abs bit. The abs workout that follows is very good and very safely taught.
Despite my criticism, I'd definitely recommend this DVD and I'm looking forward to trying out the other sections once I have mastered the Super Pump one.
UPDATE: I have now done the other part of the workout, the 'toning' one, with the extra legs session at the end, and I found it a lot harder than the cardio workout. I train legs regularly in the gym but still, I was sore for 3 days! So far I've used the DVD 4 or 5 times and I can already see changes in my body shape. To those saying that it's not challenging, my comment is that the instructor does give you the option to make it harder or easier throughout. Yes the moves in the cardio workout are slightly repetitive, but this is IDEAL for people who want to get fit rather than spend the first 5 sessions just learning the moves. And it really is great if you don't have much space around you, which might be the reason why they keep the moves quite simple and confined to a small area. I will also add that the steps that do require co-ordination can be mastered in a couple of sessions (as I have, and I'm really hopeless like that) so again, this is really good to get fit straightaway with no frills.