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Old 10-23-04, 09:28 AM  
Debbie S.
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Good point, Alan. I also wonder if someone like me, who was introduced to step workouts when they first came out, has an advantage. The choreography was much more basic back then. I remember when I started back up after my surgeries in 1998, the choregraphy was much more complexed than when I stopped in 1994. The CIA step workouts were exceptionally complexed and til this day, I have yet to master any of them.

Even today's more basic step routines isn't as easy to learn as the earlier workouts. Plus, the bpm in the earlier workouts was quite a bit slower, too!
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Old 10-23-04, 09:51 AM  
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Alta - I get SOOOOOO frustrated when I hear people characterize Cathe's step as uncomplicated and athletic. Uncomplicated and athetic to me is running. lol Gin Miller is the next step up. (BTW, although I don't know you, I consider myself a gross choreo klutz and got through Gin's Simply Step the first time without harming myself or anything else. And KS's GBT was my very first step workout, and I picked it right up). Cathe can sometimes be tamable, but she completely disheartened me with PowerMax, which I finally managed to survive, only to be blown away by the %&*(^ cool down. Hello??? And her moves are repeats only if you've bought all of her step tapes, which I quit doing after the PowerMax episode. One of the reasons I have been completely intimidated by the IMAX's is the thought that she'll expect me to go hard and do something tricky at the same time. (IMAX2 sits defiantly on my shelf, unopened.) I can do HST, but only if I don't try to be choreoperfect.

Part of my "problem," I think, is that I'm also not interested in learning complex choreo. I am a runner/weight lifter at heart, and to me, things don't really need to get a whole helluva lot more complicated than that.

What may or may not be incongruous here is that I do pick up many boxing/kickboxing routines fairly easily. Not sure what that's all about, except maybe that there's no long routines to memorize...
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Old 10-23-04, 09:52 AM  
Kimberly33
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Random thoughts

Quote:
Originally Posted by suzy
Hmm...I guess I'm a klutzey, directionally impaired choreo queen.
LOL! That's prime material for a sig!

You know, I wonder how much of what plays into this is frustration-level as well as choreo learning ability. I've noticed in these discussions some people say "I'm really bad at choreo--it takes me several tries to learn it" and some who say, "I'm pretty good at choreo--but it takes me several tries to learn it." I think this is a variation on Alan's point, nothing deep.

BUT, here's the good news for the truly challenged--if you do it anyway, you might be warding off Alzheimer's! There's only one person out there proclaiming this, but he's very big into the notion of a Learning Vaccine. So, while you might be frustrated, at least you might be getting something out of the learning process that the less-challenged aren't!
(does that help at all?)
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Old 10-23-04, 09:57 AM  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kyra
Part of my "problem," I think, is that I'm also not interested in learning complex choreo.
That may be the case for me as well. I get a major brain workout in the office every day, and I treat exercise as an antidote rather than another brain challenge.
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Old 10-23-04, 09:59 AM  
Mollie F.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Debbie Stout
I also wonder if someone like me, who was introduced to step workouts when they first came out, has an advantage. The choreography was much more basic back then.
Good point, Debbie. I started doing step in classes when it was first offered, and I've never had a problem picking up step choreography. I find hi-lo a bit more difficult, but I'm really a choreo queen who can pick up on all the choreo the first time through a video, but I find TIFTing very helpful in this endeavor. There are some moves I can't catch the first time through, but by the end of the workout I usually have them nailed.

I do think that a lot of this has to do with learning styles. I've always been a pretty flexible kind of learner, but I've noticed with physical activity, whether it's knitting or working out, I learn most quickly when I can watch someone else do something while I imitate them. I find that some cueing actually confuses me when I'm on the right track from watching. You also have to remember that you can/should learn from your mistakes, rather than getting frustrated by them. I'll miss something, but I'll note that it's something that I screwed up, and I'll be on the lookout for it the next time it comes up.
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Old 10-23-04, 10:16 AM  
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I have trouble learning choreography too. Charlene Prickett helped me to advance a little bit. I was trying to learn the first section in CIA's Step Til You Drop (the first edition) and I couldn't get the hang of it. Collage rates the complexity as moderate. So I moved on to another new DVD that I had purchased, Charlene's Crazy for Step, in which Charlene includes a separate tutorial chapter. I practiced it, learned Crazy for Step and then finally I was able to learn the first section of Step til you Drop. Now I'm trying to learn the first section of Step Heaven. I'm okay until Christi moves to the front of the step, but I think I will get the hang of it. I won't even think about the second section yet. And there are some videos that I've completely given up on and traded away - Breakthru Cardio Step with Tracy & Michelle - YIKES!!!

Alta, I read your review of Chizel It and quite frankly, it seems more my speed.
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Old 10-23-04, 10:31 AM  
Rhae
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Another question/thought

I am not directionally challenged and very easily know my right from my left, so it is very frustrating to me when the instructor mis-cues that as I get confused well before I am even moving. I can get used to this in a workout that I know it is always going to be the opposite of what they say, but when they go back and forth on this it can really become a problem for me. How does that affect those of you who have right/left problems?

Another thing that gets a little harder for me is when the TV is to the left or right of me or the step is turned vertical to the TV and the workout uses all sides of it. I get a little lost on whether I am mirroring the instructor or just doing exactly what they are doing, which sometimes gets me coming back from the wrong direction or ending on the wrong side of the step.
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Old 10-23-04, 10:38 AM  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Loretta S.
Alta, I'm left/right impaired too, but for whatever reason, my brain just gets choreography. And you are right, I just can't understand what it would be like to not be that way. I don't think I've written any reviews for anything that has choreo involved.
Me too. Sometimes I wear a sock of a different color on my right foot to help me follow verbal cues -- I think I get choreography visually first.
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Old 10-23-04, 12:49 PM  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by new2me
Choreo Klutz here!! Today I wanted to try Christi's new Funktional Fitness workout (ordered it because it said it was supposed to be easier choreography)...I started out by trying a couple of the MOVEMASTER segments. HA!!! Even with Christi turned the same way, I couldn't follow the first two combos in the MOVEMASTER!
The two "easy as pie to learn" workouts I was referring to are Christi's FF and Gin's "Simply Step". I watched the FF clips at Collage and said, "No way!".

But, I broke down and ordered Gin's SS last night. I'll give it a shot. (And be sure to gripe about it here if I can't get it. LOL!)

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Old 10-23-04, 12:58 PM  
Loretta S.
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Gosh Kimberly, I'm glad to know that I'm warding off Alzheimers by doing Christi videos. My husband will be thrilled to know that as well.

Sharon, you're a genius with the socks. That makes sense to me. I'm always the person who say turn left, and then points right when I'm in the car.

Debbie, I think you're right that those of us who started out with step when it was new had an advantage. I learned a lot from Charlene. One thing I've always liked about her is that she doesn't cue right and left, she just says this way and that way. It helps me a lot. Also I think that learning drill team and cheerleading routines in junior high really helped activate the choreography neurons in my brain. Even though is was a long time ago.
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