Customer Rating: Summary: coordination needed Comment: I agree with some of the other reviewers in that this video is a good workout and the time goes quickly. However, I am both a beginner and not very coordinated... I find that by the time I figure out what the instructors are doing they have gone on to a different step. In those times, I just make up my own steps. The complicated (for me) steps keep me from rating this video higher. Customer Rating: Summary: It Works Because It's Fun Comment: I bought this video along with a step video by Kathy Smith. Kathy Smith's moves were much too complex for me and I stopped using it. However after a day's work and doing home chores, I look forward to doing Jane Fonda's video. I have never done the whole step section at one time, but find it easy to choose 2 or 3 segments (the instructors take turns) and I often find myself saying "just one more segment." The moves are simple, but interesting, and the music is fun. All 3 instructors are good and upbeat. It really gives me a workout and leaves me feeling positive because I have enjoyed myself and exercised at the same time.
I've only done the ab section (by Jane Fonda) once, but will do it again because it's easy to follow while giving my abs a good workout. Customer Rating: Summary: Love It! Comment: I love this work out! The step aerobics are great for any level, for you can adjust difficulty by arm movements, or higher step. I have been stepping for years and found this in a thrift store for only $1. Well yes it was well worth it. The moves are fun, and the ab routine at the end is really great! Customer Rating: Summary: Better instructions would have been helpful Comment: I am totally new to aerobics and was looking forward to this video tape as a refreshing change from Pilates. But after having done the exercises several times, I would not recommend this tape to a beginner like myself.
Positives first: Jane Fonda's instructions to the abdominal workout are terrific. She has a natural talent for this and is therefore very easy to follow and listen to. I will continue to do these exercises, as I can feel and see them working. If only I could say the same about the aerobic workout....The aerobic workout simply doesn't work for me, due to lack of proper instructions. I wish the instructors would spend less time exclaiming "Give it to me!" and "All right!" and more time explaining the actual moves. Like another reviewer mentions, it is sometimes hard to follow the moves as you see the instructors almost exclusively from the front. It would have made a big difference if they would have stood in front of mirrors. Again, I am new to this, and I am sure the video works well for more experienced people. I, on the other hand, find myself just following the moves the best I can, and I am sure glad there is no one to video-tape me -- especially since my three-year-old daughter, upon seeing me doing the aerobic steps in a rather uncordinated manner and swinging my arms at random, said: "Mommy, you're no good at this!"
Customer Rating: Summary: Intermediate Level Stepper Comment: You can get an excellent workout and have fun doing it. The level of difficulty can be adjusted for your fitnesss level. Good music and easy to follow steps. Even though this is an old tape, it still gets the job done.
This multilevel class is safe for and accessible to beginners, and just right for intermediates. Three of Fonda's able and motivating instructors teach the 45-minute step class. Half the room does lower-intensity moves; the other uses higher steps and higher-intensity techniques. The teaching technique is excellent: a pattern is taught on the floor before taking it up on the step. One participant does the routines totally without the step to guide beginners or others who don't feel comfortable using the step. The patterns never get very complex, but they are varied enough to keep you interested and energized, and you can adjust your step height to make the workout harder if you wish. The instructors cue seamlessly. Fonda herself teaches the 10-minute abdominal segment, with enough variations of the standard crunch to keep your abs contracting and your mind engaged. --Joan Price
