Zumba Fitness Exhilarate: The Ultimate Experience DVD Set – A Review
As soon as I heard that the new Zumba Fitness DVD Set was being released I pre-ordered it. I had already owned the previous 2 versions and so I was ready for the new one.
If you are brand new to zumba then the Zumba Fitness DVD Set is a great way to learn the steps at your own pace and in the privacy of your home. With a total of seven DVD’s you will find a variety of workouts and you should not get bored with it for a very long time.
One nice feature on these DVD’s is the ability to turn off the verbal cueing. Have you ever done the same fitness video over and over and get tired of hearing the instructor’s voice say the same things each time you watch it? Well with the Zumba DVD’s you have the option of turning off verbal cueing, so you can watch the instructor but not hear their voice, and at the same time just listen to the music as you do your workout.
With seven DVD’s in the set you may not know where to start. For the complete beginner start with the “Step by Step” DVD which will teach you all the basic steps.
In this DVD, two Zumba instructors break down the steps for you for various rhythms including merengue, salsa, reggaeton, calypso, cumbia and bellydance. They do it very slow at first and then have you do it uptempo.
Next pop in the “Activate” DVD. This is a 45-minute easy-to-follow class that uses all the basics you just learned in the Step by Step DVD. Also on this DVD is a “tips” feature that answers questions such as “what do I wear for zumba?”, “what if I can’t keep up?”, “how do I move my hips?”, and “how will Zumba change my body?”
The next DVD you can try is “Exhilarate” which is a full-length zumba class featuring Beto who is the creator of Zumba.
If you are in a hurry and want a quick, high-energy workout use the DVD “Rush” which is a 20-minute non-stop zumba class. Also featured on this DVD is a section on cutting and ripping Zumbawear to make them more unique, which is popular among zumba instructors and students.
“Mix” is a fun workout with a variety of world rhythms. This DVD also has a section where they break down the moves for you. This time you learn Bollywood, Quebradita, Hip Hop, Sino Fusion, French Reggaeton, Flamenco, Axe, African and more Salsa and Bellydance. There is also a “Meet Beto Perez” clip where he talks about how the zumba concept got started.
The Zumba Fitness DVD Set comes with a set of one and half pound toning sticks (they shake like maracas). You will use this on the “Ripped” DVD which features a Zumba Toning workout and the new Sentao workout which uses a chair as a prop.
Finally the “Fitness Concert” DVD shows you how you can workout and feel like you are at a concert at the same time. You will see lots of lights, smoke and live musicians along with thousands of zumba dancers. It was filmed at the 2010 Zumba Instructor Convention.
So there alot of workouts in this set and if you do them a few times a week you should definitely burn some calories. Beginners will also have a chance to have the steps broken down (which you do not get if you take a live class.)
The only negative thing I could say about this set is the packaging. The DVD’s come in this “accordian-like” cardboard but the DVD’s don’t stay on. They keep popping out and falling. I would have rather had them in one small cylinder type of container so they would stack neatly and stay put.