Intense Step

Dawn Pappas
Year Released: 1996

Categories: Step Aerobics


Major disappointment. I watched this on TV before I did it, and it looked very good. I was wrong. This is a mish-mash of "stuff" with no apparent rhyme or reason to it. I have many videos that are challenging to learn but are fun enough that you are motivated to learn them. Not this one. My personal rule is to do a video 3 times before reviewing it, because I think it takes some time before you can really make a good judgment. I have to confess, I only did this one 2.3 times and then quit in disgust.

There are 2 sections: cardio and toning. The cardio is about 30 minutes. It's a bunch of quickly-changing steps that seem to have no relation whatsoever to one another, and to call anything here a "routine" would be a misnomer.

The toning section is a little better. There are 2 tough sets of pushups, some glute/hamstring work (on your knees) that will make you burn even if you don't use weights, and some abs. The abs are monotonous and ineffective. (Crunch fast 8 times, pulse 8 times, repeat with knees up, repeat with legs up, etc., ad nauseum.) She could have at least thrown in some obliques.

I rate this a D+. It's not as bad as some I've seen (at least your heart rate gets up there), but I don't recommend it unless you like frustration.

Annie S.

09/30/1997