CIA 5002: Step and Interval Step

(Warmup 8 min; Step 40 min; Cooldown/Abs 12 min; Warmup 8 min; Step/Weight Intervals 40 min; Funk Cooldown 12 min)

Here's one for the guys, or guy-watchers: two one-hour step workouts, each taught by a male instructor. The first is one long combo taught in two parts by pleasant, low-key Kirk Moore. Mostly it's very basic and non-dancy, though the second half is intensified by high-impact moves such as "power jogs" and "footballs", making the final run-through quite a killer. A couple of complaints: the cooldown lasts about 10 seconds, and Kirk gets his lefts and rights mixed up occasionally. There is also a reverse turn step which is not favored by the Reebok camp (Kirk's a Nike acolyte). A brief ab workout follows.

The second hour consists of step/weight intervals taught by Robert Sherman. He's somewhat loud and talky (reminds me of "Body by Jake") but he's a decent instructor; he doesn't rush through the weights like many instructors, and even shows how to safely pick up and put down the weights. This particular workout is more intermediate than advanced; the step intervals are somewhat simple and slower than I'm used to. The strength exercises focus more on the lower body than upper, and one exerciser uses tubing instead of dumbbells.

In this female's opinion, men might like this tape; the steps are basic and uncomplicated, and the long length of each workout will build both endurance and coordination.

Sue B

11/30/-0001

Kirk Moore is a basic yet powerful instructor. He queues well, but he does get his left and right mixed up a few times. He also participates in Karen Voight's video "Strong and Smooth Moves". Robert Sherman is also a solid instructor, but a bit chatty.

CIA 5002 is basically a good workout. The first part with Kirk Moore is a step workout with the intense stepping lasting approx 45 minutes. The first part is basic. The second part took me a few times to get it right; I was always on the wrong foot, and it took stopping the video and watching Kirk before I could figure out what I was doing wrong. This was his repeater/off to the slide/slide combo on the second part. I feel he could have queued that better. I agree with Sue's review; he got his left and rights mixed up a few times. It ends with a VERY short ab section; don't know why he put that in, its not long enough to really do anything. Basically Kirk's part is a good, non-dancy workout.

Robert's part is a 45 minute interval step class. It's also not a bad workout. I find that I get a better workout from the toning part with a band. I also do a few of the segments over again to lengthen the tape. I feel the last step segment is kind of confusing, but all of the other step segments are fairly simple. All in all it is a decent interval step workout. I like the 3 min step with 1 minute of weights interval; I've done the 10 minutes of aerobics with 5 minutes of weights, and I don't like that format as much. Robert is a little annoying in this tape.

This tape will deliver a decent workout for the intermediate to advanced stepper.

Grade: B

Kathy Lapinski

11/30/-0001

Instructor Comments:

Kirk Moore is low-key, and often a little underenthusiastic. Robert Sherman is the complete opposite -- he's chatty, funny, and a bit flamboyant. Although some found him annoying, I liked his individuality.

The first section is a 40 minute step workout with Kirk Moore. The choreography is pretty basic, with simple steps combined in add-on sequencing. There are across the benches, straddles, a reverse turn step, and lots and lots (wayyyy too many)of knee-ups. I didn't really like the step section. I found it very repetitive because the combos take far too long to build. I probably have not done this video more than 5 times, because I found it plain boring. Also, aerobically, this video didn't seem to raise my heart rate very much. Admittedly, I am an advanced exerciser who has cut her teeth on Cathe Frederich and Karen Voight. Nevertheless, CIA markets itself to an advanced video market. This tape could rightly be categorized as intermediate/advanced. The Robert Sherman section is a circuit/interval workout, with short step intervals interspersed with even shorter weight work. This part of the video, like the first, was completely unchallenging to me, and a bit choppily choreographed. Things just didn't seem to flow together well. Also, both the aerobic sections and the weight training were far too short to achieve beneficial gains in muscle or aerobic conditioning. Grade: B-

Eulonda Skyles

11/30/-0001