Anyone with a TV will remember the raunchy video for Eric Prydz's Call On Me dance tune, which featured lots of attractive women (and one man) doing a sexually charged aerobic workout. If you liked that, you'll love this, because the DVD was inspired by that video and features most of the dancers who appeared in it (including Juan the man, for the ladies). With this in mind I think this workout would appeal more to a youth audience, with a preference for commercial dance music.

DURATION - 20 minutes
ROUTINE - Lots of side and forward lunges, a sexy box step, lots more hip gyrating and rib isolations (moving the top of your body keeping the bottom still). Then it moves into basic Salsa steps which are easy and fun. The end of the dance section features the title track Pump It Up with some fun energetic bouncing/skipping type moves.
WILL IT KILL ME? - It gets easier the more times you do it but the first few minutes are very hard work on your thighs (especially after the warm up).
MY OPINION - I really like the variation in this section because although the beginning is hard going the whole section gives you a good workout if you persevere with it, with the slower Salsa section and then the energetic Pump It Up finale to raise your heart beat again (especially good if you're going on to the Hi Energy).

DURATION - 21 minutes
ROUTINE - Fast paced dancing but the moves are easy. Lots of jogging with different arm exercises. Variations on punching. I find the pendulum swing quite funny to do. The tune is then slowed right down and you enter Dance Section 2, repeating some of the moves from Dance Section 1 and then learning more Salsa steps. The pace picks up again as Call On Me, the inspiration for the DVD, comes on. Although the moves are very sexually charged they do actually give you a good workout and are quite tiring!
WILL IT KILL ME? - Most likely, yes. I have not completed this in its entirety yet!
MY OPINION - This section is great. Although it's really hard work at first it does give you a sense of satisfaction when you've been doing the DVD for a few weeks and realise that you can complete two whole tunes. Then again, it does also make me wonder how I got so unfit when I used to dance energetically to a whole hour of music which was a lot faster than this! As with Dance Section 1 I like the variation in pace because it'd be too hard going for most people without the Salsa to break it up.

DURATION - 8 minutes
ROUTINE - 32 'three quarter/lady' press ups and 64 stomach crunches (varying from normal to side crunch). The next exercise looks easy to watch but it's quite a strain on your whole body - balancing on your front, keeping your body straight, with only your forearms and toes supporting you (twice for a count of 8). Then you lie on your back and do lots of hip thrusts/bum crunches.
WILL IT KILL ME? - The press ups and crunches are really hard on the arms and stomach if you're not used to them, as I wasn't. This whole section gets easier the more times you do it.
MY OPINION - I think this is quite well structured for a toning section because it take you from your front to your back and then front and back again - which is good because it gives certain parts of your body a rest while you do the others. All of the exercises are very taxing to me (ie. I normally miss a few of each thing) apart from the bum toning which I thought was a bit too easy as I never particularly find my muscles aching when it's finished.

As is standard with all exercise videos there are warnings at the beginning which you can't skip through. Read them thoroughly once and then after that just put the DVD on while you go and change into your outfit and get a drink.

- Extra stuff - This has a Behind The Scenes Featurette which is a 'making of' type clip with no speaking set to the Call On Me music. Better than nothing but not really worth watching more than once. Also in this section is a advert for the Ministry Of Sound Annual 2005 and instructions on how to get dance ringtones.

Using this now for two months almost every day for a maximum of 20 minutes I have found that my body looks more toned again. I was actually quite surprised because so far I have not been dreading it too much each day, so it doesn't seem like too much hard work. As the weeks have gone on I have found that I can get nearer the 20 minute mark without dying. With time I expect I'll be able to go over it.

I think this DVD would be great for anyone like me who is not overweight but would just like to improve their general fitness with a good cardiovascular workout whilst at the same time toning their body without building unattractive muscles. It's probably quite important that you don't strongly dislike the music though because that'd make it hard to motivate yourself to put the DVD on. If you're unfit like me you'll find it hard going at first but satisfying when you complete more and more each day.