If people fall into either the Tae Bo, CIA 9809, or Power Kicks camps (as Renee suggested), I am firmly in the Tae Bo camp. My alternate camp would be CIA 9809. I do not care for Power Kicks. Since there are so many reviews for Power Kicks, I will not go into detail about the workout. I will mostly compare it to Tae Bo. One of the things that I love about Tae Bo is how motivating I think it is. It can get me out of bed in the morning to workout like nothing else can. If you have no trouble getting out of bed, then Power Kicks may be for you. I did not find it motivating at all. It is a good workout, and very well-conceived and executed, but I was watching the clock the whole time. In contrast to most other reviewers, my heart rate did not get as high as it does with Tae Bo advanced tape or with the 9809 workout or conditioning segments. In fact, I often do the Tae Bo basic tape with weighted gloves, and I get sweatier in 25 minutes with the Tae Bo basic than I do with all of Power Kicks. I was just generally underwhelmed with this tape. Was it fair for me to compare it to Tae Bo and 9809 when I tried it out? I do not know if it is fair, but it is realistic. I will be comparing them as I choose my workouts in the morning, and I will not be reaching for Power Kicks anytime soon. I was completely underwhelmed by the tape. I do want to end on a good note, though, so let me list the things that I liked: I loved the ab exercise where you go into a push-up position from your elbows. I will use that one everday, because I think it will help me with push-ups. It is really an imaginative exercise. He also has this fun move where you hop to the side, punch, punch, machine-gun your arms, and then jump to the front. That move made me smile. But, alas, just the idea of doing Tae Bo makes me smile, so I remain firmly in that camp.

Instructor Comments:
He is a nice enough fellow. He gestures a lot when he speaks, which I find distracting, but most people don't. As I said in the review, I compared him and his workout to Billy Blanks and Tae Bo. I do not think Aaron comes close to Billy's level of charisma. But he is encouraging and enthusiastic. Much has been said about the background exercisers, but with the exception of the push-up segment (where one of them was so lame that she should have just done them from her knees), they did not bother me. In fact, it made me realize how skilled the background exercisers in every other video are. These women just looked like pretty normal (even high-end) people in any exercise class.

Pilar