Dance Off the Inches: Dance It Off and Firm Up!

VN:F [1.9.13_1145]

A 41-minute low-impact cardio dance workout that includes a bit of light toning in its final segment. Bethany Lyons instructs.

Advanced beginning exercisers who have a flair for dance. There is a 13-minute “step guide” for ten of the moves, and you should definitely spend time there first, since many of these moves involve out-of-the-ordinary combinations.

This showed up at just the right time — I’d been getting a great assortment of sculpting workouts, but my library of cardio dance DVDs was starting to feel tired and same-old, same-old. I was so excited to finally have some new dance choreography that I threw the disc on without bothering to refer to the step guide. Fortunately, I’ve been doing cardio and aerobic dance DVDs for years or else I would have been pretty lost. As it was, this workout kept me on my toes the entire way through, and I loved every minute of it. I loved it even more the next day when I went back and learned the steps properly with the help of the step guide. So don’t copy my mistake — do the step guide first. Lyons teaches you the important moves there. In the actual workout, you’re expected to know the moves already, and she does not slow down for you lazy people who didn’t study the steps before doing the workout. This makes for a fast-paced workout, unlike some other DVDs where they go into half-time (and so does your heart rate) to learn the moves. You’re always on the go here. The first two routines are all fun, sexy, hip-swinging dance steps; the third is a dancer’s-style, light toning segment with lots of plies, squats, tendus and other graceful moves. You may remember Lyons from her Crunch Yoga Body Sculpt workout. I liked it, but thought Lyons was a little too energetic and lively for a Yoga routine. Here, she is totally in her element. She is the perfect cardio dance instructor — fun, upbeat and she generally cues well. Wanna dance without sacrificing calorie burn? This one’s for you.