One on One Circuit Training

Gin Miller
Year Released: 1994

Categories: Floor Aerobics/Hi-Lo/Dance



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This was my favorite One On One video that Shape put out. I just love circuits. Especially a great put together one like this one with Gin. Gin has such a great personality. Not too crazy like her New Body workout but more toned down like her Best of Step Reebok TV. She is full of laughs! I just always reach for this video when I need a great circuit workout but not Firm. In this video you do a few minutes of high impact aerobics and then toning and then back to more aerobics and so on. The aerobics are high impact but Gin tells you to do low if you want. She does some fun easy combo's like step together step hop. Some other moves are fun like boxing (jabs with a boxer shuffle and upper cuts) and then you chasse around the chair. This video was made before the kickboxing was in so Gin really was predicting the future. She also does high impact jacks, power squats and running forward with kicks to the side and scoops too. The choreography is very easy but high impact and Gin teaches it so well that it's very easy to do. The toning is pushups, lat rows using dumbells, side delt lifts with dumbells, tricep dips off the chair, bicep curls and squats and rear leg lifts. Gin says, "If you have big buttocks, have great big buttocks!" She has such great comments all throughout this video. I used my heavy weights since Gin only does 1 set of reps. The set is bright with lot's of tv's and some plants. This video is a great workout if you don't have an hour. It's a great all round video in just 30 minutes. The music is VERY GOOD! Jazzy and upbeat. The cool down is a nice swing jazzy tune. It is all instrumental. You will have to add ab work though. But I always add Firm abs or Keli's Abs and more to go with it. I love it how Gin gives a wink at the end right before the cool down. This is a superb 30 minute video that I highly recommend!

Instructor Comments:
Gin should have been a comedian! She has such a humorous way of teaching that makes you laugh and have such fun while working out! She has a great muscular build that is inspiring and her strawberry blonde hair looks great left long and curly. It frames her face nicely. She has superb cueing and safety tips all throughout this video. It IS really like Gin is right there being your personal trainer.

Mandy Lee

10/08/1998

I love this tape for when I'm on a limited time schedule - particularly to try and get a workout in before work. It gets your heart rate up and gets in at least a little toning. What I like best is the quick transitions between aerobics and toning - a lot of tapes give too big a pause while you get your weights, and meanwhile your pulse rate plummets. Not so with this tape - Gin keeps you moving the whole time.

At the same time, it's only an intermediate level workout - not a great challenge to me at this point, but there aren't a lot of advanced selections when only have 30 minutes.

The choreography is easy to follow, a tribute to Gin's great cuing. You can do this tape without even looking at the TV, just listen to the instructions. Nothing too dancy.

Instructor Comments:
What I like about Gin Miller is that she doesn't take herself too seriously. She jokes around a bit which makes the workout more fun, but it doesn't sacrifice a bit of her top notch cuing. I also like that she's not as incredibly tiny/petite as many other instructors - which gives me more of a realistic role model/goal.

Celia M.

02/15/1998

If this was twice as long, it would be wonderful. Unfortunately, the total workout is only 30 minutes, and about 10 of those are devoted to warmup/cooldown.

This is circuit training. You do high/low floor aerobics segments interspersed with dumbbell toning segments. She manages to pack a wallop into the high/low -- I had no trouble keeping my heart rate up. The toning leaves something to be desired, but that is mainly because of the short timeframe the workout is done in.

I would recommend the full-length Step Reebok Circuit Training with Gin Miller over this one. But if you're one who doesn't have time for a full hour, this might be for you.

Annie S.

09/15/1997

This is a high/low floor workout, and very good. The moves are athletic-type and not real dancy. It's about intermediate level both in terms of intensity and choreography. After the approximately 30 minutes of aerobics, there is another 20 or so minutes of toning. It's not high-power toning, just some basic exercises that get your muscles moving but not "pumped."
I like this one and give it an A.

Gin is either high on drugs or in a *really* good mood in this one! (I'm sure it's the latter, of course.) Wow, is this a change from Step Reebok! She cracks jokes and cuts up all through the workout. It helps make the class even more fun, but if you did this 2 or 3 times a week, it might get on your nerves. Personality aside, Gin Miller is one of the best instructors, and one of my favorites. I'll never cease to be amazed by her *perfect* cueing. I think one could do her workouts with their eyes closed; she's that good.

This 30-minute workout follows a simmple format: 3-5 minute cardio segments followed by 1-2 minute toning portions. Both parts are very basic: the cardio is simple and calisthenic based,with marches,chasses,some rudimentary shadow boxing. The only "dancy" moves are a grapevine and a slide/squat combo Gin calls the ballet move. You can increase the intensity by doing the higher-impact variations suggested and/or using light wrist weights.

The toning is also fundamental-pushups,lat raises,bicep curls,etc. You can up the "umph" factor by using heavier weights.

The standout features of this tape are its flexibility and its simplicity. It's very easy to follow (Gin's famed cuing skills are very evident). There's a certain amount of joking and banter,but it never intrudes on the instruction.

Two samll drawbacks: no ab work (admittedly difficult to work into this format) and a short series of rear leg raises that have no apparent purpose (I substitute lunges).

This is a good tape for beginners or anytime you need a short workout that's not too taxing but still lets you feel like you really did work out.

Michelle Bourg

09/08/1997