Step 'N Time

I originally bought this video because the advertising for it (found on most of the BodyVision videotapes, usually at the end of the tape) indicated that there would be music from the 50's, 60's and 70's. This claim is also printed right on the front and back of the video tape cover itself.

I have only been doing step aerobics for the last 4 months or so, and while I often still have 2 left feet, I do enjoy stepping to tunes I recognize, where the beat helps carry me along and distracts me from how much I'm working.

This video tape, however, does ***not*** live up to the advertising. The music is your standard unidentifiable instrumental step-paced music, and while it is not necessarily unlikable, it is definitely not what I was led to believe would be on this tape.

The other annoying part of this tape is that Cory's cueing ranges from average to incidental to non-existent. I am willing to give her some benefit of the doubt, as I am not the most coordinated person in the world. However, I usually have a better time at picking up a combination if it is broken down at the beginning and each part worked through before it is all put together. Cory is very lax at cueing at the start of this tape, and she doesn't get better at it until more than halfway through.

There are 2 heart rate checks - one at the midpoint of the workout, and one at the end of the cooldown. The "heartbeat" sound as the time is counted off can be distracting as you're trying to count your own hearbeats - I ended up muting the tv during this time.

The production values vary from average to below average. Cory and her group are matted against a varying video display, and the sharpness of the picture suffers when the contrast is too extreme between the people and the video display behind them. There is the usual amount of whooping and hollering that you might find on many other tapes, but not as annoying as other instructors who are guilty of this.

I've already got a lot of good beginner/intermediate step tapes (Kathy Smith, Susan Powter), and didn't really need just another average one. I wouldn't have bought this one if I had known that the music wasn't what they said it was. I hope this review will help keep someone else from making the same purchasing mistake I did.

The good news on this tape is that it is usually priced under $10. Mine's going to the used book/tape store, where someone will get the chance to buy it for $7.

Michele H.