I’m reviewing this after doing it several times a while ago.

General workout breakdown: 27 minutes of cardio with 7 minutes of warm-up and 8 minutes of stretch for a total of 42 minutes

Level: I would recommend this to a low to mid-intermediate exerciser. Prior experience with TaeBo, kickboxing, or martial arts is necessary as there is little explanation of technique beyond a few form pointers. I’d call this mid-impact: there are some jumps and shuffles, but no jump kicks or things like that.
This workout is a good bridge between the TaeBo Basic series (often 20-30 minutes long and without combinations) and the Advanced (50 minutes or more). It’s not as intense as any of the Advanced series or the Ultimates.

Class: about a dozen women and 2 men of various ages and sizes. Shelli counts out by 8 and serves as Billy’s model for several moves.

Music / Set / Production Notes: The non-descript instrumental music consists of a repetitive beat. The interior set has blue carpet and brightly colored walls and painted. The routine is slightly better designed and the production is slightly better than earlier TaeBo.

Equipment needed: sneakers

Comments: You will need a bit of space for this workout. You should be able to take a small step and kick to each side as well as to the front plus take a step or two to the back.

DVD Notes: This GoodTimes special has NO chapters. Zip. Nada. Zilch. You might as well have a VHS.

Conclusion: Eh, I traded this away. I tried three different TaeBo workouts and never fell in love with Billy. I needed more of a warm-up than Billy provides, and his Tai Chi-based cool downs never did much for me. The movements felt too fast for me, particularly since I was doing these when I was still relatively new to kickboxing. (Yes, I could skip the double time, but I could also find other workouts that don’t have these nearly out of control movements.) As a perfectionist, I go nuts when things aren’t even, so Billy’s 6 cycles on one side and 3 on another drove me crazy. And Billy’s just too much for me.
That said, I do recommend this to TaeBo fans ready to move on from the Basics but intimidated by the Advanceds at this time.

Instructor Comments:
Billy is very enthusiastic and encouraging--a bit much for me. His cueing is improved in this video over the previous one I had (the original TaeBo 4-pack), but he still does not work each side equally or give you enough warning of his intention to change moves. (I know this just isn’t me because Shelli stops a couple of times to see exactly what Billy is doing.) It seems you either love Billy and his motivational speeches or they do nothing for you; I happen to be in the latter camp.

KathAL79