Note: I received a free copy of solibeat for review purposes. All opinion, however, are my own
When I first go into the world o’ blogging one of the first blogs I stumbled upon was The Fitnessista. Gina’s blog about fitness, easy recipes, living healthy and every day life in Arizona soon became a favorite of mine. I was super excited to have the opportunity to review Gina’s first fitness DVD, Solibeat, which is a dance based cardio workout she created with another dancer friend Sasha.
I know some people are hesitant to try out dance based work outs but for me it’s my favorite form of cardio (no offense to running, you’re just not remotely as much fun….) Not mention Zumba is my favorite class to teach since it’s the most creative… and once again the most fun. Since I already love dance based workouts I was super excited to try out this DVD.
What makes solibeat unique is the live drumming. Hearing those drum beats brought me back to freshman year of college when I was required (no joke) to take African Dance. There was nothing more amazing than sweating it out every Thursday morning in African Dance. Some of the rhythms on the DVD are even the same ones we used in class– djole was a personal fave of mine. I think one of the great things about live drumming is you don’t get sick of it the same way you do with a song. If you’ve heard the same lyrics a million times it can get irritating but it’s not the same with a beat.
I really loved how there were 2 options, 1 where the dance steps were broken down and another where there’s no talking just all dancing. The broken done dances are great for those who are a wee bit intimidated by dancing.
The choreography is a lot of fun and similar to zumba in the sense that basic steps are repeated over and over again but embellished. At first the switching camera angles threw me off, but I started to get used to them and found it helpful to see a side view of what a particular movement looked like. Doing these African Dance moves for the first time in 5 years reminded me of why we were all in such great shape freshman year– this stuff makes you sweat!
I highly recommend this DVD to fellow cardio-dance enthusiasts. It’s easy enough to follow without compromising a good workout.
Aw man, now I want to go back to freshman year and take African dance.
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