Have you ever bought what I call a "sleeper" video? You know, a video that you don't expect much from it but you buy it anyway because maybe you're curious about it or the price is right. Well Kardio Kick is my "sleeper" video.

This video is 30-35 minutes of intense Kickboxing aerobics. It is filled with simple, basic boxing and kicking moves but these basic moves are guaranteed to make your heartrate soar. Gus Gates is the kickboxing instructor who leades Cory, Cameo (Cory's Sister), another instructor (did not catch her name), and a Fabio look-a-like (I think his name is Darren) through this workout. The workout is divided into 5 minute segments, giving you a total of 30 minutes of actual cardio work. I find this a particularly excellent video to do on those tough days (stressed out from work, kids, etc...) when you need an outlet. I have rid myself of a lot of stress using this tape and feel soooooo much better every time after I have used it.

The video production itself is a little on the cheesey side and the set is kind of dark. Also, all of the participants are not working out at the same time. In one of the segments, Cameo is just in the background lying down like she is going to take a nap or something. I did not understand the reasoning behind this at all. In another segment, Darren is not participating in the workout but is in the background just punching a punching bag. These shots of the participants not participating I found kind of anoying but funny. I could not help but laugh when Darren acted like he was punching the bag "really hard." But I think he got most of his workout in on this segment by just swinging all that long hair around. However, if you can get past the "cheese" factor in this video, You will have fun and get a great workout. For real added intensity for advanced exercisers, try doing this tape and a jumproping workout. I did this tape once and tacked on Aerojump at the end. I think I managed to do about 20 minutes of Aerojump before I had to stop. Talk about a great workout! That is definately a combo I will be using again and again.

Instructor Comments:
In this video, Cory is mostly a participant who occasionally gives some good form pointers. Gus Gates, who is a Black Belt Karate champion is the real star of this video. He makes the video fun and cues very well

Tiffanee Saunders