Go-Go is another YBB video filmed live in the Swerve studio with Gillian, Teigh, and a class of their students (along with Ravi, the drummer). The longish (9 minutes) warm-up begins as usual in a seated position with a rubbing together of the hands to create tapas, or heat. Ujayyi breathing comes next, although Gillian and Teigh provide little instruction on this beyond "breathe slowly through your nose." Next comes a kriya, a flowing two-part movement performed on the inhale/exhale while mentally repeating the mantra sat nam ("truth"). After holding your arms in a mudra (gesture) and setting your intention for the practice, you'll move to a hands and knees positon for spinal rolls. Next comes down dog, another kriya, and boat pose; the warm-up finishes with rolling up your mat in sync.

The cardio portion of the workout consists mainly of 70s-type dance moves. As always, Gillian and Teigh teach in a TIFT fashion, although because the moves are generally pretty easy to learn, I find their TIFTing more tolerable than I might otherwise. Below is the sequence of the moves included (hopefully in the correct order!) along with a brief description of each:

shimmy--shoulder shimmy performed while leaning forward, then while stepping each foot forward in turn
side push--a single hand push to the side while moving your hips to the other side
mask--pulling a single hand across your face ala Pulp Fiction
skip to the side--a sort of bop to the corner while alternating moving the hands forward, then rolling both shoulders back together as you bop back
step jack with chicken and tequila--a no-impact jumping jack performed by stepping out on one side, then the other, followed by flapping your arms like a chicken to each side and bringing your arms forward and back in the way that Pee Wee Herman danced to the song "Tequila"
jerk--raising your arms alternately overhead while bouncing from side to side
YBB bunny hop--hop to one side, look forward, hop back, then do a goofy run in the middle before repeating to the other side and ending back in the middle with a "serious" run
???--I'm not sure of the name of this one (gas something?), but it's basically a booty shake from side to side, move forward, repeat, move back, and do it double-time
turning jerk--same as the jerk, but starting facing one way, then do a 180 turn while jerking double time, then repeat to the opposite side
water gun--hop forward like you are pointing a gun, hop back
pony--a simple spin while raising and lowering your arms
thumbs/hitchhike--hoping several steps forward and then back, first moving both thumbs back, then one arm at a time as if you were hitchhiking

The cardio segment stops rather abruptly after about 16 minutes, and Gillian and Teigh quickly have you move into a first position with your feet to set up for some ballet legs work. This segment is quite short (3.5 minutes), and although I used my ankle weights, I didn't feel I got much out of it, mostly because the repetitions were too few (just for comparison's sake, I really DO like the ballet portion from the original/basic YBB video). Basically, you do a few leg extensions to the front, move the leg behind you and do some leg lifts, balance while moving the leg in and out, then bring the leg front and down before moving on to the other side; there is one longer set followed by two quick ones. I will most likely skip this section when I use this video in the future.

Then it's back to the floor for some glutes work using the YBB squishy ball (I used my Pilates fitness circle, which I've found to be a good substitute in all the YBB workouts I've tried). Although this segment was only about 4 minutes long as well, I felt the work a lot more here, both in my glutes and in my inner thighs. You remain on the floor for the cool-down, which starts with a nice, 4-minute stretch segment focusing on the hips and glutes. The last 2 minutes of the cool-down are performed in a seated position: you'll do another Kriya, again repeating sat nam silently to yourself, and then finish with a self-love mudra and mantra for a total workout time of just under 40 minutes.

This is the second YBB Live! video I've tried, with the other being Hip Hop Abs. Although I found the cardio in this video to be a bit more intense than in HHA--there is more hopping and jumping, and my HR stayed in the zone virtually the entire time--I preferred HHA for several reasons. First of all, although the moves in Go-Go are easy to learn, they didn't feel quite as fun to me as in HHA. Also, because some of the moves were pretty goofy (especially the chicken!), I often found myself doing my own thing rather than following Gillian and Teigh exactly. Secondly, I noticed that Gillian and Teigh didn't cue as well as usual here, making several mistakes and sometimes failing to accurately mirror cue. Third, as mentioned above, I didn't get much out of the standing ballet moves, and I can't envision repeating ever this segment. In conclusion, I felt that this workout could have been improved by having a shorter warm-up, longer cardio section, and skipping the standing ballet portion to go straight to the floor work, where some abs work could have been included. But despite these criticisms, I DID enjoy this workout, and I look forward to adapting it to fit my needs in the future.

Instructor Comments:
Gillian and Teigh have a nice rapport with each other, and they smoothly go back and forth in their teaching. As mentioned above, however, I felt that their cueing was somewhat off in this video. In addition, although I do like them both, I find them to be a little "over-the-top" at times; their ponytails, cutesy clothes, and "love yourself" attitudes are sometimes a bit much for me.

Beth C (aka toaster)