Cardio, Core and Calm

Rob Glick
Year Released: 2004

Categories: Floor Aerobics/Hi-Lo/Dance



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I’m reviewing this workout after doing it at least half a dozen times in the two years or so that I’ve had it.

General workout breakdown: This DVD includes about 32 minutes of hi/lo aerobics, 10 minutes of abdominals and core exercises, and 5 minutes of floor stretches. I can’t say I did the abs portion more than once, so I’ll let others comment on that. The hi/lo aerobics consists of a few combinations sliced and diced into one big combination, so of course there’s TIFTing (taking it from the top). Rob uses much of the traditional repertoire (chasse, grapevine, hamstring curl, V step, etc.) and some of the “Latin” moves (like mambo).

Level: I’d recommend this to someone who’s at least an intermediate in terms of cardiovascular activity and who feels comfortable with complex choreography. I consider myself at least at a high intermediate level in terms of cardio; this video got my heartrate up but didn’t wipe me out. I can pick up any Christi Taylor, Marcus Irwin, etc. hi/lo choreography within a couple of times. This video did take me about a week to learn, but much of the learning curve was due to the fact this was my first experience with Rob.

Class: two other fitness professionals (one man and one woman) join Rob.

Music: upbeat music typical of Sara City productions.

Set: somewhat dark set with wood dance floor and large white blocks with various vases and columns arranged on them.

Production: good picture and sound, but certainly nothing special. Most of the time the camera shows all three exercisers.

Equipment: sneakers (make sure you can pivot).

Space Requirements: enough space for at least two big steps to each side, front, and back.

DVD Notes: The DVD is chaptered into introduction, warm-up, aerobics, abs/core, stretch, and credits. It starts right in.

Conclusion: This is a nice workout for those looking for something to rotate in with their Christi Taylor, Marcus Irwin, etc. I don’t seem to reach for it often, for whatever reason.

Instructor Comments:
Rob is encouraging and professional. He cues well. He’ll sometimes talk you through a combination or demonstrate it before having you try it.

KathAL79

03/17/2005

A winner! I knew I would like this as soon as the warmup started. The very first move is really fun, as well as the rest of the warmup, and the warmup song is the same as the first song in Christi Taylor’s Hi/Lo Heaven, which makes me happy every time I hear it. There are 3 combos with advanced choreography and the overall intensity is intermediate. Rob’s breakdown and cueing are great. He is easy to follow in this workout if you can follow Christi. Actually, I wonder if he’s been taking lessons from her. :) I did find the last combo a little confusing. All the moves in the third combo are side-to-side, and I was stumbling in my efforts to remember which move I was supposed to be doing. But it was still fun. The cardio section is 34 minutes including the warmup and cooldown, and then there is a 10-minute core section, and finally an 8-minute stretch. The core section is fantastic! He starts you off pretty easy, but then he fools you with some really tough core work. You really get a workout in just 10 minutes. The ending stretch is very nice. Grade A+!

Instructor Comments:

Annie S.

09/19/2004

This DVD is 48 minutes and is chaptered. It has about 30 minutes of cardio (about a 7 minute warm-up) a 10 minute core segment and the rest is a thorough athletic stretch. Each of those segments has a chapter point.

The high-lo moves are dancy but learnable. Not as hard as Christi. And very fun – but there are a lot of mambos and chasees (sp?) so if you don’t like those moves, you may want to stay way. The moves could all be done low impact if necessary but you could move high if you wanted.

The set and music was way improved over previous Sarah City productions that I own. This was more on the caliber of CIA. The music was a lot of fun especially the last reggae number.

The core work had some basic moves and some new moves I had never seen, including a scissor leg move where you move one leg out to the side and around and alternate. The stretching was a nice end to a well done routine.

Instructor Comments:
Rob is an excellent instructor and a very skilled at cueing. Cueing high-low is much harder than cueing step because it moves faster and Rob delivers. He is also graceful and athletic at the same time. I think he might have some kind of dance background.

Rob is definitely one of the better video instructors out there and I hope to see more of him in the future.

Christine Miyachi

08/21/2004