This is a 45 minute Crunch video featuring Jeanette Jenkins in a kickbox and dancing fusion aerobic workout. No equipment needed except sneakers and it is all done standing. This is filmed in the usual Crunch studio with the typical 20-something whooping girls (Cat from the Barry Bootcamp and 10 Minute Solution Rapid Results Fat Burner is the beginner modifier), who are all dressed up in “dancy” wear. The music was mostly generic but had a tango dancy theme. I wasn’t so sure about the kickboxing and dance fusion (I tend to get confused with dancy choreography) but I really wanted to try out Jeanette Jenkins, who tends to have pricy videos but I got this DVD at a bargain for about $7. And Crunch videos, while they aren’t usually challenging, are just so much fun!

Well after doing this workout today, I can say some of my presumptions were true but I was also surprised at this workout. Yes, the choreography was difficult to follow (both the kickbox and dance parts), but not so much so that it was frustrating. Also, it was tough! I was expecting a beginner-intermediate workout, as most Crunch workouts are, but this was tough with lots of high impact, quick transitions, and just an energetic pace! I was thankful to see the cool down at the end! Jeanette would have you do a choreographed kickbox set, then a choreographed dancy set, then a blend of the two for several sets, then the blend for shorter sets. There were three big combos that made up the workout (of which were chaptered and you could choose separately them on the DVD). The dance portions of the second combo were the most confusing, but it was all fun and I was able to follow along. There was quite a bit of boxer shuffle hopping, jumping jacks, and even some jump kicks, so it was fairly high impact although the kicks and punches were mostly kept low impact. There were a lot of both punching and kicking and I wouldn’t say Jeanette favored one over the other. There was of course lots of twisting of the torso to work the waist area. The dancing included some pivots, hip gyrating, and lots of big arm movements which kept up the intensity.

I did make the workout tougher by wearing 1# weighted gloves throughout, and chose to keep it all high intensity, and for those reasons it was a TOUGH workout for this high intermediate exerciser. For those interested in pedometer metrics, this workout has over 4,500 steps! I was thrilled to achieve that many steps in barely 45 minutes. This workout wasn’t AS fun as Turbo Jam but I think I’ll be picking it up frequently for variety. I agree with Bubbles in that I think Crunch was trying to go for a Turbo Jam “feel” (the whooping, the playful feel, etc.) It was a good purchase and I’d recommend it to those in an intermediate range who enjoy kickboxing and dance aerobic workouts. I think a beginner would get too confused with the choreography and might get discouraged with the fast pace, and an advanced exerciser would probably want a more advanced workout. Overall grade B+!

Instructor Comments:
This was my first experience with Jeanette. I thought she was a lot of fun, very enthusiastic and bubbly. I appreciated that she mirror cued especially with somewhat complex choreography. I had a little trouble keeping up, but I think it’s more her style I’m not used to than any inadequate cuing, she did mention beforehand the upcoming combo every time. On the whole I was very pleased and think I’ll be buying some of her other workouts in the future!

Emily B.