Party Rockin Step #2

This step workout is led by Cathe with backgrounders Cedie, Jai, Brenda & Amanda.

Total runtime: 52:25

Warm up (6:15)

Combos 1-6 (32:00 approx)

Finished product/Combos 1-6 (7:00 approx)

Stretch (6:40)

After Cathe teaches each combo, she runs through the combo 4x, except for combo 6 which she jumps right into and is pretty simple. The format of the "finished product" is combo 1 both sides, 8 alternating knees, combo 2 both sides, 8 alternating knees, etc.

Unlike Party Rockin"Step #1 (PRS1), I was able to catch on to all of the choreography in PRS2 the first time through with a little rewinding/replaying in a couple of places. I do Cathe step on a regular basis. Combos include oldies such as figure 8s, v-steps, reverse v-steps, over-face-in-overs, A-steps, shuffles, shuffle repeaters, triples around the corner, and of course power 7s and power 15s which I didn't mind in this workout because of how they were worked in. Everything was in moderation and not too much of any one thing such as endless knee repeaters (there were a tolerable number of knee repeaters).

New (to me) moves included a squat on the step with crescent knees, power boxes, a toe-tap repeater, and a couple of fancy-ish footwork things that were simple to pick up. The combos all felt new and fresh to me despite use of many classic moves.

Note: There is a jumping jack incorporated into combo 1 & jumping jacks incorporated into combo 3, i.e. L-step, double jack, L off the back, plyo jack. There's also a burpee while straddling the step in combo 6. I just did another straddle jump up instead because I didn't feel like going horizonal.

I noticed the first half of each combo seemed somewhat easier and lower key, while the second half usually included power moves (except combo 6 which has the hard stuff at the beginning). I was able to modify most of the power moves that were too difficult for me to keep up with and maintain good form. Because of this pattern, I was happy there were no official "blasts" between combos because the second half of each combo did a good job of keeping my heart rate up.

For example, the second half of combo 2 includes a series of pushing up for 4 with right foot on the step, then you go over and push up for 4 with left foot on step, then over and 2 & 2, then 1 & 1. Combo 3 ends with an L-step jumping jack/plyo jack sequence. I thought the end of #4 was the most brutal with "power boxes in a squat formation" followed by power scissors, repeat. Combo #5 includes 3 power turn squats. Combo #6 has no breakdown but is basically a lot of straddle jump ups and downs followed by familiar choreography from the warm up.

Cuing: I thought Cathe's cuing was good in general if (like me) you like cuing just before or on the move. For those who prefer more advance notice, there may be room for improvement. In combo #3 Cathe uses a very helpful hand cue to point which direction you should be pivoting on top of the step.

I did the entire workout on a 4" platform as I'm currently overweight and out of shape. I would rate this as advanced intensity-wise as the step combos in Step Blast or Body Max 2 and more advanced than PRS1, but not super advanced.

The combos move very quickly and I think Cathe struck the perfect balance of TIFTing in this one. The moves were all choreographed very well to the music. I like that there is a temporary banner thing that appears at the bottom of the screen at the start of each combo to let you know what combo # you are on. I also appreciate the quick and thorough warm up. Like PRS1, the warm up is a learned combo, parts of which will reappear in combos 5 & 6.

For me, it was a party-in-a-box workout because the choreography and music made me forget how hard I was working. I actually was surprised because I was expecting to prefer PRS1.

Cathe uses recognizable "soundalike" songs recorded with different artists & lyrics. I recognized the melodies from Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble", Madonna's "Into the Groove", Kelly Clarkson's "Catch My Breath", P!nk's "Who Knew", Lady Gaga's "Born This Way", and Rihanna's "Umbrella" among others.

Party rockin step couldn't be further from the truth: this workout is so fun, I did it three times the first week I got it! LOVE this one! Six creative combos that are challenging enough to be fun yet not so hard to be frustrating. There's a nice mix of older moves like the shuffle repeater with some new ones like the squat crescent knees. You do each combo, then at the end she puts them all together. Her cueing is pretty much either *just* before or right on the move. The sound alikes are a little less techno-y in this DVD than some of the others I've done of this series, which IMO is a very good thing. The triple tracks feature is perfect for those of us who don't like the different lyrics.