Simply Interval

This is a 43 minute athletic interval step workout led by Gin Miller. Gin works out with Mandy, who always shows the modified version. The set is plain but neat. The dvd is nicely chaptered throughout, and you have the ability to select which combo you want to do off the main menu. Unfortunately, you cannot program the cycles you want to do from the main menu. That would have been awesome! The music, although not memorable, has a driving beat. I did recognize one song from Amy Bento’s All Step Challenge 2. The workout consists of eight cycles of athletic drills off the step. Each cycle consists of a unique combo that is repeated throughout the cycle:

Warm Up – Consists mostly of basic steps, knee ups, and marches in place. A bit of stretching for the calves, legs, and upper body complete the warm up.
Cycle 1 – 5 Knee Repeater – starts off with a simple 3 knee repeater, then 5 knee repeater, then 5 knee repeater with power. Next Gin adds on a basic step and V-step to complete the combo. Modified Move – keep out the power.
Cycle 2 – L-Tap to Scissors. Starts off with L-step and scissors. Next Gin adds on a basic, which turns into a hop across the step, ending with lunges off the back and side of the step. Modified Move – keep out the power, and keep everything to the front
Cycle 3 – Leap, Dig, Lunge. Combo starts out with traveling side arabesque (I think that’s what it’s called) which turns into a leaping side arabesque. Next move is heel digs and lunges off the floor. The lunges can be high or low touching the ground. Modified move – keep out the power
Cycle 4 – 3 Press Lunge. Combo starts off with 3 press lunges off the back of the step, popping up onto the step for a quick scissor off the step, before switching to the other leg for a 3 press lunge. Gin then turns that 3 press lunge into a 3 press traveling lunge across the step. Modified Move – go shallower on the lunges and instead of powering up to the step, simply hop on gently and leave out the scissor.
Cycle 5 – Shift Kicks – Starts off with just shifting your hips side to side without the feet leaving the move. Elevates into shifting your hips with feet off the ground, almost like a skier move. Then you step onto the step and kick to the front. Gin then adds punches and power to each move (leaping onto the step with a kick to the front and side, opening legs wider during those side skier moves). Modified Move – take out the power and feet stay on the floor.
Cycle 6 – Swim and Kick. Starts off with front kicks while doing breast strokes with your arms (hence the “swim” in swim and kick). Then you kick and tap the foot out three times to the side (think Cathe’s hip hop repeater move). This turns into a a squat explosion in the middle. Yea, it’s hard to describe. You end it with 180 degree squat jumps off the step. Modified Move – take out the power
Cycle 7 – Lindy Tap Pendulum. Combo starts off with a double shuffle, step back , straddle, and tap the step. Then you pulse three times with one leg, pendulum, and press three times with the opposite leg. Modified Move – no power.
Cycle 8 – Jacks Up and Down – starts off with two jacks on the step, step down, three jacks off the step, step up on the step, three lunges off the step, and then four jacks off the step. More power is added by adding pulsing jacks, air jacks, power lunges, and the like. Modified version – no real modified version is shown for jacks, except not making them “quite” as hard. Mainly, no air jacks or squat jacks.
Cool Down and Stretch

Each combo starts off with the base move, which is made harder through more power or lunging lower and deeper. Gin always shows a hard, harder, and hardest variation of each move. The hardest move is always last thankfully! After you do the drill for a bit, you do one minute of interval blasts, which, strangely enough, is the same move you were just doing, just done a touch quicker with more power. None of the cycles are strung together; after you complete one cycle you are done with it.

Although Gin says in the guidelines that beginners should not try this, I think it’s good for all levels. The workout is excellently chaptered and low impact/lower intensity options are always shown. The moves are not complex, and the choreography is athletic. Beginners can watch Mandy and stay with the base move, intermediates can pick and choose which moves they want to do, and advanced can stay with the advanced moves. Those with knee issues that still want a good workout can complete the whole workout non-stop and stay with the low impact options.

This workout was a sweat fest! I really liked it . Gin was fun without being over the top, and the moves were simple.

What I Liked
The moves had a lot of variety if you wanted to add or take away intensity. The music was pretty good as well. This would be a good workout if you like basic choreography but want to get a good sweat on. Although I prefer more dancy choreography, I enjoyed getting my sweat on. I also liked that each cycle was its own unique combo. Once you did a combo, you were done, and those moves were not revisited.

What I Didn’t Like
I wish that the intervals were different than the actual combinations, like in Cathe’s Imax workout. It would have broken up the repetitiveness. It was almost at my monotony edge. Also, they showed the perceived exertion chart after every cycle. I didn’t feel like it was that necessary. At some times, it was hard to hear Gin talk over the music.

What You May Want to Look Out For
This workout has quite a bit of impact. Luckily, Gin shows modifications. Additionally, there can be a bit of TIFTing during each cycle, as there aren’t a lot of moves involved throughout each cycle. Luckily, there is no repetition between cycles; each cycle is its own unique combo.

Instructor Comments:
Gin was enthusiastic and an inspiration to watch sail over the step. She is obviously very fit. Mandy was great too. I liked that she modified but still looked engaged and like she was working hard.

bubbles76