Winning Beginnings

This is a video showing choreography specifically for warm-ups. It is meant for instructors, but it is a great low-impact and low intensity workout. I have been using it as I recover from a back injury. It does not get my heart rate up very high, but it is a lot of fun, and it allows me to do two activities I love (step and hi/lo).

There are 10 (32 count) warm-ups - 5 step (23 minutes) and 5 hi/lo (22 minutes). One hi/lo combo is longer, but it is the most boring warm-up of the group. Most of the step warm-ups are on the floor and use the step more as a prop, for mambo-ing on type moves, although the 3rd combo does some double-repeaters and walking on the step.

Every combo was fun and typical Marcus, which means creative and dancy, but not funky-dancy, and also means that the choreography really flows well. The choreography is a little less complex than his regular tapes, but still interesting. I found the step choreography to be more interesting than the hi/lo.

I love the music in this workout. It is all fairly new, and the quality is better than most of his videos. It got a little scratchy for about 1 minute in the 4th combo, but otherwise pretty good. The production quality is fine. I would say it is better than his other videos, however the set was a bright yellow, which might bother some. The picture was slightly fuzzy, but it did not bother me.

This is, of course, a low intensity workout. Most Marcus workouts are moderate intensity, but this is even lower. I have enjoyed using this tape in the past when I needed a warm-up, or on days when I wanted something light. Right now I cannot do any impact at all and have learned to enjoy low intensity workouts, so this workout is a welcome part of my collection.

I would recommend this video to Marcus fans who do not mind a light workout on occasion, or to beginners who want an interesting low-impact workout that is not boring. If you are looking for intensity, however, you will not find it in this tape. It is hard for me to say for sure, since I have been doing complex tapes for over 6 years, but I believe a beginner who wants to try choreography might really enjoy this workout. I would also recommend it if you think you could use a tape of warm-ups to use for combining with other workouts lacking a good warm-up.