Jump & Stomp

Marcus Irwin
Year Released: 2002

Categories: Floor Aerobics/Hi-Lo/Dance , Step Aerobics


This was not one of my favorite Marcus tapes, which surprised me since it is one of his newest releases. The two main reasons for this are that is a combo step/hi-lo workout and also that he does not have as much variety in the combos as I would like. Some of his new combos, are simply variations of the ones he just finished teaching. Also, the choreography resembled his older tapes a bit too much for me.

The total workout is 70 minutes and does not include warm-up or cooldown.

The step workout was only 28 minutes, which is a little shorter than I would normally want. It contained 12 combos, about half of which were 16 counts and half 32 counts. Most of the 32-count combos contained earlier 16-count combos, or were variations of earlier combos. This routine felt a little repetitious to me because of it. I prefer Step Express and Step by the Numbers over this step workout. There really was not any new or exciting choreography in this tape, which I found disappointing. A nice difference in this workout from his others though, is that he does much less marching in place and he teaches at a little faster pace than normal, so the intensity is probably a little bit higher.

The hi/lo workout was 42 minutes, and included 12 combos also. This workout did have a surprise which was a full 64 count combo with all new pieces taught towards the end of the tape. It was an indication of how much fun a real workout from Marcus would be, however it was not taught in a totally balanced way. The choreography in this section was typical Marcus, which means I enjoy it, but overall, it did not feel much different than his other tapes.

The production quality on this tape is a little worse than his previous set of tapes (the ones with X in the titles, like Step Xpress.) It is not unbearably bad, but it isn't great. Also, the music was the same music he has used in other tapes. I like the soundtrack a lot, but not every time I work out to Marcus.

Marcus is his normal charming self in this video. In fact, I think I loved him more than usual, because he reminds me a lot of Christi her when he sings his cues. He yells out 'Whee' a few times, and he really likes to laugh at his mistakes, and those of his group, and I really enjoy all of that.

This is not a bad tape at all, and if you want to try Marcus, this would be a good tape to try, since you get to see his step and hi/lo. However, I decided to trade the tape, because in the end I do not think I need every Marcus tape out there. His choreography was not different enough from other tapes to warrant keeping this tape.

Lisa C

12/17/2003