Spicy Step, Step by Step, High Low Cardio

I'm only reviewing Step By Step and it'll be brief.

I'm intermediate, love complex step. This was not complex at all.

This is targetted at beginners. She actually teaches what an L-step, turn step, V-step etc are, so for a newbie stepper, it'd be great! I used an 8" step and kept strictly to the workout until The Weave, where I added all the air I could. It wasn't TOOOOO easy though, I just wanted to 'finish off'. The moves lend themselves VERY well to adding intensity (pop the knees & over-the-tops etc) because there's a minimum of dancy moves like pivots & grapevines with one foot on the step that do NOT lend themselves to adding air much at all. This is EASILY adaptable to make it harder without any thought at all - you could concentrate on the work load instead. Bit of 'taking it from the top' but not to the point of thinking "ooohhh, not AGAIN!"

One camera, from the front. Set open & light. Music there, but nothing special, nor awful.

Breakdown:

(8:31) Warmup, includes about 1min stretch

(50:15) Workout

_____(7:20) Combo One

_____(5:58) Combo Two

_____(1:10) From Combo One

_____(4:14) Combo Three

_____(1:52) From Combo One

_____(6:46) Combo Four

_____(4:12) From Combo 1 - the whole thing, done twice through

_____5:38) The Weave (one side of all four, then other side of all four)

(4:45) Cool Down (includes 2:44 stretch)

I have now done Step by Step twice, and Spicy Step and High Low Cardio one time each. I am not very good at giving break-downs of each workout so I will try to just give my impressions.

First of all, let me begin by saying that I am a Jenny Ford fan! Her personality in each of these workouts is so pleasant, easy going and her cuing is superb.

Let me begin with the most difficult, choreography wise. Spicy Step is a intermediate/advanced workout that clocks in at an hour. Jenny does a nice, somewhat complex warm up which is never seen again after the warm up. She builds upon her combos, using a "watch me" style to change up the original base move and strings together about 5 or 6 combos. For me, it was difficult, only because my memory is not good enough to remember the original base move so sometimes, I had to improvise since her twirls and turns are a little big much for my cranky knees. She does not remind you of the original, easier move-I presume because this workout is categorized as Intermediate on the packaging so the assumption is that you can follow the changes. In spite of this, I enjoyed it and the music was Latin style, instrumentals from what I recall.

High Low Cardio is 35 minutes long, and although it is a beginner work out, Jenny uses some old, classic moves but really changes things up and keeps it interesting, even for a seasoned exerciser. I really enjoyed this on one of my light days and I intend to use it regularly.

Step by Step is by far my favorite of the three. It is a 50 minute workout that I would consider low intermediate. Jenny puts together a nice warm up and 4 combinations that she strings together at the end. The time flies as she uses classic moves and then makes them a bit more complicated. She always has a modifier and reminds you of the original base move that she built upon. With this workout, I was able to do all the more advanced changes that she made (yes they were not that complex but they were fun). I could not believe it when it was over. It was fresh and fun.

All three of these workouts are done in a cheerful, yellow, living room. The music is fine and Jenny gives you exactly what she promises. I am so happy I have these. They really are a great value for the price.