Music: boring instrumental
Length: 50 minutes. 45 minutes of aerobic movement with a 5 minute cooldown
Energy Level: high
Choreography:combo easy & complex step aerobic
Production: ok.

Powter is, of course, an acquired taste. And I have always hated step aerobics. The simple movements are boring; the complex movements confuse me endlessly (I can never figure out which side of the step I should be on, which leg should be up, and which leg should be down, etc.)]. Powter's tape is no exception although she adds to the pain a series of arm movements which boggle the mind. In the initial warmup, you do 75 consecurtive lat pulldowns (while your legs are doing a variety of different steps) and in the cooldown you do 105 consecutive lat pulldowns. A while after the first 75 pulldowns, when your arms are burning, she tells you that you can change your range of motion. The cast includes people of all sizes and conditioning with and without steps of different heights. Powter, to be fair, constantly reminds you of low and high intensity alternatives, but those arms just really get to me. I do this tape only on days when I feel in need of punishment for over-indulgence. It is excruciatingly boring.

Diane Danielle