Strictly Come Dancersize [2007] [DVD]

After being amazed by the fabulous dance moves on Strictly Come Dancing I purchased this DVD which asks you to "join us in recreating the moves from Strictly Come Dancing in your own home and getting fit at the same time". The DVD is presented by Karen Hardy whose energy, smile and enthusiasm are infectious and Erin Boag who is the owner of possibly the best abs in the word and whose name should be placed next to the dictionary definition of graceful.

The DVD starts with an easy to follow warm up set to the Black Eyed Peas' "Mas Que Nada". It sets the tone for the workout and left me warm and raring to go on with the dance sections.

Cha Cha Cha - Set to Toploader's "Dancing In The Moonlight" and presented by Erin Boag. This works your waist, bottom and legs and although more low impact than some of the other sections, the twisting movements really will help to tone you up.

Salsa - Set to Gary's Gang's "Hot Hot Hot" and presented by Karen Hardy. The moves are great once you've mastered them and certainly start to raise your body temperature even more. This is the one that I found the easiest to follow and will work your waist and arms.

Quick Step - Set to "Sing Sing Sing" and presented by Erin Boag. My absolute favourite on the DVD. This is a high impact and great section that's guaranteed to leave you sweating and panting for breath by the end of it. It's not easy and some of the moves are difficult to master but it's so much fun and seeing Erin move really inspired me to stick with it.

Jive - Set to Elton John's "I'm Still Standing" and presented by Karen Hardy. Another great high impact section that really will work your legs and bottom. The heel toe section still has me practically tripping over my feet but it looks amazing and I'm improving every time I do this. Most of the moves are easy to follow but challenging.

Samba - Set to the Strictly Come Dancing theme and presented by Erin Boag and Karen Hardy. This is my least favourite of the exercises. I don't find it as high impact as either the Quick Step or the Jive and I don't enjoy doing the moves all that much. For me the moves didn't seem to flow as well as the others and it felt more disjointed however it still is a good workout and more fun than many other exercise DVDs on the market.

The cool down is set to a slower version of the Strictly Come Dancing theme and it's a really nice way to end the DVD.

One of the main complaints about the DVD is that the instructional sections that are placed before each dance are difficult to follow and you have to learn about twenty moves in one go. You don't. Nobody is going to be able to do each dance perfectly on the first go. You wouldn't expect to be told the basics about driving and then get into a car for the first time and be a wonderful driver remembering everything and this is no different. Whilst I have a good level of fitness I usually do aerobics and I am not gifted at all with dancing, however I found that watching the sections and then giving them a go the best way for me and after the first couple of times you will improve and hopefully have fun whilst toning up and getting fitter. It will probably seem confusing when you start but persevere and I really think things will start to fall in place.

My only real complaint about the DVD is the format of it. It would have been nicer being able to have a pick and choose function that would allow you to select the exercises you want to do and in what order and then just get on with it rather than having to keep changing things with the remote after each section. Oh and some extra features would have really improved the DVD.

I would definitely recommend this DVD for an effective and fun workout but if you're not prepared to put a bit of time and effort in to learn the moves then forget it and go for an aerobics DVD instead. This is not an easy workout but I think it's well worth the initial confusion and two left feet feeling for the sense of achievement and more toned body you'll have when you do master the moves. Remember you only get out of exercise what you put in.

I bought Latina Size last year and really enjoyed it but I enjoyed this one more. Yes the steps are difficult (I am not a dancer but I can pick up moves and steps quite quickly) and take time to master but for me if its too simple I got bored easily. I find that if you do it properly (once you have managed to master the footwork) it should leave you out of breath.

Cha cha - Done to dancing in the moonlight, quite fast footwork but good fun.
Salsa - Done to Feeling hot hot hot. this is my favourite, love the moves and the music makes you feel like your in Cuba!
Quick step - this one is the most physically demanding. I still havn't mastered all the footwork because some are quite complicated but a great routine to work your legs
Jive - done to I'm still standing. I find the leg kicks difficult to get the hang of because they are done quickly but I'm slowly getting there. Quite demanding but the first half of the chorus is quite slow and so theres a chance to get your breath back
Samba - Done to a version of the strictly theme tune. this dance is not as long as the others which is a shame because it is a nice routine. Good thats its at the end because its lower impact than the rest so a good set up for the cool down.

All in all, although it can be difficult, its worth persevering because it's great fun!

Ok this is seriously HARD! harder by far than any other dance type workout I have ever tried. But stick with it!! I now really love this workout!!

I consider myself pretty co-ordinated, and have always loved dancing (freestyle) and aerobics (though I am not a professional dancer and have never done any formal dancing, so do not know the moves they use at all), but at first I was ready to give up and throw this out the window!! but I knew from some of my other 'dance' type DVDs - which were not nearly as difficult, that if you take the time to master the steps they actually eventually seem quite easy. (I had to do that with a few bits in Paula Abdul's Cardio Dance and 10-minute Dance Solutions with Jenifer Galardi..) If you persevere and barrel through that exasperating "I just can't do this!!" feeling, you'll get there..

Most other dance DVDs are not really that dance-y. This one really is!! You actually feel like you're dancing!! which feels fabulous once you've eventually mastered most of the moves! Watch for the Ben Fogel move (my name for it) in the Samba, it's fun and easy.. and 'The Killer'!(also my name for it)in the Quickstep - took FOREVER to master - but now it too is fun - though very fast!!

I found the instruction and description of fast steps not clear at all and quite difficult to follow. Watching the moves would normally be helpful, but they are done so quickly, and the camera angle changes so often that it is really difficult to figure out what the heck your feet are supposed to be doing! Also at times they are just showing the upper body, so you can't even see the feet to figure out what you're supposed to be doing! And there are other times when there are so many turns, how are you supposed to watch what you're supposed to be doing?? (the key is don't! watch and memorise the step placements first, and then try them over and over.)

I felt terribly frustrated the first few days, but I decided I was going to stick with it, and focus on just one or two of the sections at a time (Salsa and Quickstep as Salsa was reasonably easy so at least it boosted my confidence a little 'o)). I went through the instruction sections for each a couple of times, and then the dance sections over and over. (Trust me, doing these two sections a couple of times is MORE than an adequate workout!!) For the first few times of each, I spent much of the time falling over my feet, and making up my own moves in places because I just could NOT get the hang of it.. But when I started to 'instruct' myself on the difficult moves, by watching the DVD really carefully and slowly, and saying the steps in my head, right foot forward, left foot down, right foot back etc. and then paused the DVD to practice on my own til I'd mastered each little section of moves before I moved onto the next, I started to get the hang of it a bit more. (with The Killer - say: forward down back, forward down back - I found that really helped!)

It took me a week of doing the workout every day, before I felt MILDLY confident and started having fun - albeit with much of my own fill-in moves when I couldn't keep up.. 'o) I'm now in my second week and I haven't completely mastered every move, but almost (sometimes even the 'basic' steps are hard to figure out!) ..but I am now REALLY enjoying this workout!! It's a lot of fun - and a great workout! Karen and Erin are really good fun to work out with..

It's hard to pick a favourite 'dance' section, as I'm really enjoying them all.. but possibly the Quickstep is my fave, closely followed by the Jive and Salsa, and the Cha Cha WHEN I can get it - some days I can, other days I can't!! (weird..)

The Salsa I found the easiest to learn, then the Jive, Samba and Quickstep. At first I found the Cha Cha almost impossible, so avoided it while I focussed on the others, but I tried it yesterday, and was surprised to find it a bit easier (though still difficult in some places). Perhaps because my confidence and agility, and ability to move my feet quickly(!) has increased since doing the other parts of the workout this past week. So I can now ALMOST do all of the dances, and find them a lot of fun, and a really solid aerobic workout. You will sweat! especially in the Quickstep and Jive..

I find the cool down (which is also a wee bit tricky in places at first) relaxing and enjoyable, but I feel the need to add some solid stretches for the legs afterwards - particularly the backs of my ankles and upper thigh (standing up, lift foot with hand to bend back at the knee so foot touches bottom, knees together and hold 20-30secs) - to not have muscles feeling strained afterwards.

Also, doing the Jive straight after the Quickstep is MURDER on your legs, ankles and hips, so I skip to the Samba after the Quickstep, and then back to the Jive after the Samba, and that works really well as the Samba is a bit slower and not nearly as tough on your legs and ankles.

I also feel the need to add my own abs workout after I'm done, as these don't get worked much, so I just do about 5 mins of that when I'm finished. (I do Paula Abdul's final abs section from Get Up and Dance - as once you've done it a few times it's really easy to remember without the DVD..)

So I guess if you don't mind putting a lot of effort into a workout and taking the time to learn the moves by going over and over and OVER them, you'll likely come to really love this, and I think it really is worth the effort.. but if you want something you can learn pretty quickly, then this isn't the DVD for you.. I'd encourage you to give it a go - do the workouts regularly for a week, and if you're still not enjoying it or still don't get it, you could always re-sell it on Amazon quite easily.. 'o)