I am so disappointed with this! I saw it at Best
Buy for $8.99, and debated with myself over whether to
buy it. I find the "cheapo" ones are usually
that way for a reason. Then, I saw on the back cover that
David Gray is an instructor at the Voight Fitness and
Dance Center. I thought, "Wow! If he's good enough
to teach for Karen Voight, he must be tough!" WRONG!
This 60-minute low-impact workout won't even make you
breath heavy, let alone sweat. David is a good
instructor, and extremely well-built, but he didn't get
that way from doing this workout! Don't waste your money
on this one.
Annie S.
This was an impulse buy for me, found in the bargain bin.
I got it home and thought, "Oh, NO!" A mediocre
production effort of 1991 (adjust your tracking!), the
video is highly representative of the youth culture of
that year. The workout includes moments where the class
stops to "vogue" and they all wear acid washed
jeans in the cool-down session.
At second look,
however, I am finding that I LOVE to do this tape.
Structured more like a jazz dance class rather than a
traditional aerobics class, you can make this workout as
easy or as difficult as you like. It is all contingent
upon how much ENERGY you contribute to the steps (ie. if
you just half-commit to lunges, they won't do much for
you.) Gray is wonderful at pulling the energy out of
me...he and his smiling class are having so much fun and
I want to, too. The choreography is simple and the moves
are not very tiring, but at the two heart rate checks, I
was surprised to find that mine was right on target.
There is a perfunctory toning section towards the end
of the tape consisting of plies, rond de jambes, push
ups, cruches, and so on. Again, it's not killer by any
stretch of the imagination, but if you focus hard on your
muscles and go for proper form, you will get something
out of it.
Finally, I was pleased to see that the stretch section
was longer than many of my other tapes.
Despite the mediocrity of production and the fact that
only six years later it seems "out of style", I
really like this workout. Gray is very fun to follow and
is obviously excited about fitness. The music is better
than average-- 1990's dance-club mixes. I like to do this
one when I want to have a good time and/or am sore from
doing a workout with weights.
Karen
I agree with Karen, the reviewer who said that this tape
is fun to do. No, it's not in the category of the Firm in
terms of a challenging workout. And no, the tape quality
is not the best, as it is rather cheapo and requires
fiddling with the tracking.
But David Gray is a lot of
fun to work out with. I like the moves, and I can follow
the dance steps fairly easily (I am not great with
complex choreography, I will admit), and Karen is right
-- it is the effort you put into it that makes the
difference. I enjoy the music, because I love working out
to dance music. The funkier the music, the more
motivating for me. I bought Jane Fonda's Lean Routine
hoping for something like Funk Factor. Talk about a
routine that's hard to follow! If I have to play it every
day for a week just to learn the darn routine, it's too
complex for me. Variety is what keeps me going with video
workouts and I don't like a workout that I can't use just
occasionally without forgetting the whole routine. Funk
Factor gives me enough danceability to make it fun, and
it's simple enough that even an uncoordinated clod like
me can follow it.
My rating: B. (Would be a B+ if video quality were
better.)
Kathy Diemer
3/97
