Crunch: Cardio Salsa

I've been getting into more dancey videos lately, and I have several other Latin-themed ones that I enjoy, such as Kathy Smith's Latin Rhythm Workout. Unfortunately, I found Crunch Cardio Salsa to be mostly disappointing.

The chapter menu breaks down the workout into nine total segments (times are approximate): 1) introduction (1.5 minutes), 2) warm-up (6 minutes), 3) salsa combination (6 minutes), 4) meregue combination (5 minutes), 5) merengue salsa combination (5 minutes), 6) salsa combination (5 minutes), 7) latin funk combination (5 minutes), 8) cool down (4.5 minutes), and 9) credits.

The warm-up, which I thought was too long, didn't get my heart rate up at all; the moves were very slow, although easy to follow. The first dance segment was better, and I started to get into the workout a little more. The merengue moves kept my heart rate up, yet there was a lot more jumping/hopping, and the moves became a bit harder to follow. The second merengue section was better, but then again followed by a more complex segment, and by the "funk" section, I wasn't feeling very funky. Even the cool-down seemed kind of slow and boring to me, although it was shorter than the warm-up. But the thing that disappointed me the most about this workout is that after I was finished, my HR monitor showed that I was in my zone for less than HALF the cardio section!

So, for a workout that clocked in at 38 1/2 minutes total, I really didn't feel like it was time well spent, and I probably won't be keeping this one.

I was a little skeptical about buying this DVD as I was unsure about how difficult the choreography would be. I ended up enjoying the workout. The choreography was mixed throughout the workout and was not too difficult with the exception of a couple of places that the choreography was a little difficult to keep up with.

The workout is broken up into sections, so in each section you do a different salsa-type step. This allows the choreography to vary throughout the workout so that if there is a section you do not like you do not have to do it for very long.

Crunch Cardio Salsa is 35 minutes of fun, beginner-intermediate floor aerobics. The moves are dancy, but there is nothing too complex. I found that I could usually intuit what the next moves would be, indicating that the choreography flowed well. There is a high goofiness potential, with lots of hip shaking, hand flicking, cha, cha, chas, and mambos. That is fine with me! I work out in my home for a reason. The music is decent, with a "live" drummer (not really sure if he is truly live.) The drummer appears to have taken a few hits off the bong prior to filming. Giselle is encouraging and appears to be having fun. I got a good solid intermediate workout by adding some impact to the mambos and really throwing myself into the workout. This workout is what you make of it. It can be totally low impact.

The DVD is chaptered well (as are most Crunch DVDs), with each combo getting its own section. I would have liked to run through all the combos once at the end, but strangely, Giselle does not do this.

This DVD is well chaptered, fun, provides a decent workout, and low priced. Check it out.