A 45-minute cardio dance workout from The Firm Alison Davis instructs.

Intermediate exercisers — there's quite a bit of cardio and Davis gives it to you fast. If you are dance challenged, you will probably want a less complicated workout.

This cardio dance routine veers quite a bit from the usual Firm workout: there are no weights used, and the steps are quite complex. As a result, many Firm fans may be frustrated by this disc. The steps really are not easy to learn, unless you are nimble on your feet and complicated cardio dance DVDs make up a regular part of your fitness regimen. On the other hand, if you love learning new steps and you are an intermediate cardio dance enthusiast, you'll probably enjoy this workout as much as I did. After a couple of tries, I got most of the moves down, I never had to slow down and I think I rewound once or twice on the "Jive" segment (there are 4 themed segments in the workout). The "Jive" routine was the toughest routine to learn; the "Club" and "Latin" segments are easier to pick up. Davis's moves are loaded with style and attitude, and once you know how to do them they are loads of fun (and heart-rate raising too!). The final 10-minute segment is a light dance-tone blend that has you doing lots of plié squats. There are also three express workouts, each one combining one of the first three dance routines with the dance-tone segment and cool down. The "Club" express is the best one; I don't recommend the "Jive" express since you're immediately thrown into an intense cardio workout without a proper warm up. Overall, this seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it disc and I happened to love it a lot. But then, I'll take a dance DVD over a kickboxing workout any day. If you're like me, then you'll want this workout too.

 

Note: this DVD is also released under the title Cardio Dance Express.