I think of this workout as the video equivalent of eating a Luna Bar – light, tasty, full of energy and whaddayaknow, it’s kind of good for you too. Gay does a superb job of mixing in reverse v-steps, shuffles and turning step-touches that will have you spinning all around your step, with good old cardio-pumping lunges around the world, kick-straddles and over-and-overs.

Gay is an excellent instructor and meticulously cues every move. The music is a happy mix of current pop hits that will have you singing along to “Oops, I did it again,” “What a girl wants,” “Walking on the Sun,” and “CC Rider.” . Gay is not one for tricky rhythm changes, she sticks to the basic 4-count for the whole workout. You easily could adapt the intensity to make it intermediate or advanced, depending on how much range of motion and power you put into the moves.

The warm-up is very thorough. Gay uses the time to introduce a couple of the trickier moves you’ll see again in the body of the workout, including the reverse v-step and the v-slide. She also cleverly adds rhythmic stretches into the actual routine, so your heart rate keeps gently climbing while you’re loosening up your hamstrings and quads. Then she moves into the heart of the workout. There are 4 combos and Gay does the usual CIA take-it-from-the-top (TIFTT) thing: as she adds each finished combo to the routine, she TIFTTs the whole routine twice and then goes on to teach the new combo. She is proficient at layering and basic steps quickly morph into pivots and shuffles and reverse steps. If you’re nervous about the fancier steps, it’s very easy to stick with the base moves during the routine and still get a good cardio workout.

Each combo has a snazzy little move that makes it fun: combo 1 has a series of triple shuffles circling the step, combo 2 lets you go from a reverse-v into a turning knee-up on the step; combo 3 includes a knee up, walk-and-mambo back, shuffle up into a double-knee -- and combo 4 is my favorite with a jazz square, v-slide, step touch around and power hop over the step. Some of these choreography blocks will have your back to the TV set, which takes a little more time to learn, but you can do the basic move until you’re comfortable flipping around that step like a little whirling dervish.

The heart of the workout is not very long – the 4 combos take 34 minutes total. Then it’s on to the cooldown. This is a fun cooldown, but there were too many run-throughs and I think it would have been more fun with a few less filler moves.

Instructor Comments:
I think Gay is terrific. Her cueing is great, she is warm and natural in front of the camera and I love her choreography. She incorporates plenty of sophisticated steps, but moves so crisply and cleanly that she’s easy to follow. During one of the moves where the cast’s back is to the camera, she says, “How do you like our butt?” Any instructor who can joke about her butt has a special place in my heart. (At the bottom of it, of course. Hee hee.)

Daphne M