Pump It Up - High Energy (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Educational Value	Good
How good are the presenters?	Good
How good is the content?	Excellent
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	More difficult dance moves which is good, more sections
Disadvantages:	Steps could be too complicated for anyone just looking for a simple workout

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Already taken in by the first two releases in the Ministry of Sound's Pump It Up exercise DVD range there was no question in my mind that I HAD to have this as soon it came out! I guess MoS want to target people wanting to shift the post Christmas bulge (no bulge for me, I just like dancing as exercise!!) which is why for some odd reason they release their DVDs on 26th December. Shame, because it's a perfect Christmas present! Anyway...on to the action...

PUMP IT UP HI-ENERGY

Being the third in their series I guess they wanted to offer a little variation to what the other two DVDs had offered. The first one 'The Ultimate Dance Workout' was purely aerobics with some dance steps - simple but hard to keep pace with if you're unfit, the second one 'Beach Body' was more focused on toning, so with the third one they decided to make one section a demanding aerobic routine and the other section a more complicated dance orientated workout. To do this they enlisted the help of Agata Pienio, an award winning fitness instructor, and Sean G. Huston, the chorographer behind the critically acclaimed 'Call On Me' video.

The workout's structure will be familiar to anyone who's seen the other DVDs - the instructor Fiona Fagan (who also instructed the Beach Body DVD) is set front center shouting out the next moves and the other brand new dancers are to the side of her and behind. Throughout the workout there are little sections where you can either follow Fiona or choose a slight variation on what she's doing. Kate (to the right of Fiona on the screen) will do an easier variation and Tristan (the guy at the back) will do a slightly harder one.

The workout comprises 5 sections:

1) WARM IT UP - pretty self explanatory ;)
DURATION - 5 minutes
ROUTINE - Just a few simple backwards, forwards and side to side steps with basic arm movements to get you warmed up. If you get stuck on this bit then you don't stand a chance at the rest of the workout!
WILL IT KILL ME? - Not at all
MY OPINION - I don't like overly long warm ups but I think that the 5 minutes spent doing this warm up could have been better spent with some more stretch-orientated moves. I guess they were trying to make it less boring but I find that after this I'm not really warmed up at all - so often I don't even bother using it.

2) BURN IT UP -
DURATION - 20 minutes
ROUTINE - This workout is broken down into two main sequences - A and B. You start off by doing a few simple steps but every time you repeat them there is something new added, which makes it more challenging and also less boring! You also end up alternating between A and B which helps to keep you on your toes. Sequence A builds up to being a series of grapevine steps with arm movements, gentle leg lifts, 360 degree turns and side steps. Sequence B involves more energetic leg lifts, marching on the spot, shuffle steps, high leg-lift jogging and star jumps.
WILL IT KILL ME? - Possibly if you're very unfit. I am not especially fit as I get lazy and end up forgetting to do the workout, but it's quite good with this one because whilst it's hard going at times it is managable so you probably won't give up.
MY OPINION - I think they've got the balance just right in this section because it's relatively detailed so you don't get bored and builds up to being pretty frantic but then also has a sort of built in warm-down at the end which concludes with you doing sequences A and B really lazily to ensure you don't just stop dead after going full pelt.

3) DANCE IT UP -
DURATION - 20 minutes
ROUTINE - There are lots of different steps incorporated into this routine including various leg lifts/kicks, sexy hip movements and a short section of boxing punches. The 'resting' steps are the forwards V step (one foot to one side then the other foot to the opposite side) or a march. Whilst you're doing the basic step to keep moving Fiona will show the next dance step which you'll then copy.
WILL IT KILL ME? In terms of exercise this section won't kill you, but if you're malcoordinated or just a terrible dancer then you might get frustrated to death!
MY OPINION - I like this layout because once you've learnt the new step that Fiona's demostrating you can just do the same as her and not be doing the boring fill in steps. The steps get more complex and involved as you go along this section, so it's quite good because you don't have much time to get bored in this section!

4) TONE IT UP -
DURATION - 10 minutes
ROUTINE - It's all very simple to follow because it's just a series of standing squats, lunges, sit ups and bum toning butt-clenching.
WILL IT KILL ME? The squat/lunge section at the beginning is an absolute killer. Although it is managable and makes you grateful that you're then lying on the floor for the sit ups!
MY OPINION - This is a pretty good toning section for me, but it doesn't do anything for your arms if that is an area of your body that needs toning (unlike the Beach Body DVD that has a lot of different press ups included).

5) COOL IT DOWN -
DURATION - 5 minutes
ROUTINE - Obviously there is no routine as it's a cool down and no, it won't kill you! It's very easy to follow with slow music and a focus on relaxing. There is a bit of breathing at the beginning and various stretches - standing and lying down.
MY OPINION - I often get lazy and don't bother completing this after my workout, but as cool downs go it is quite thorough for 5 minutes of your time. The stretches are the right ones for the areas that you've been working.

CONTENTS OF THE DVD

As is standard with all exercise videos there are warnings at the beginning. As with all DVDs you can't skip the copyright notice, but luckily you can skip the health/safety advice so after reading them once you never have to again!

Once it's loaded up there are several options:

- Introduction/tips & techniques - This features a short intro with Fiona Fagan who explains what the workout will be like and then runs you through a few tips on how not to injure yourself. She also explains a few of the foundation steps eg. grapevine as the screen cuts to shots of the dancers doing the steps so this would be helpful if you wanted to try the steps before beginning the routine.

- Play full workout - Pretty obvious this one!

- Skip to section - This goes to a sub menu where you can choose which of the five sections you'd like to complete. At the end of each section it automatically leads onto the next unless you choose to go back to the menu.

- Create workout - Takes you to a screen where you can choose which order to complete the sections in. It automatically selects the warm up and cool down so you just re order the other three. I suppose it saves you from using the DVD buttons in the middle of your workout.

- Extra stuff - As on Pump It Up Beach Body there's a little video diary of them doing the auditions, choosing costumes and doing rehearsals etc. An interesting thing to watch once :) There's also some rubbish 'interviews' with the dancers which is basically just a series of rubbish questions and their responses.

- Videos - Features 6 full length dance videos taken from the DVD's tracklisting: Tom Novy - Your Body, Jacques Your Body, Dancin, Pump Up The Jam, Feel The Vibe & Nookie.

- Options - This gives you the choice of listening to the whole soundtrack without the workout playing (just has a Pump It Up logo and picture on the screen) or playing the workout without Fiona Fagan's instructions with the 'commentary off' option (probably one for the lads to leer at without Fiona shouting back at them!)

MY OPINION

In my flat I only have about two metres square to practise this in but it's not too much of a problem. It's a bit of a tight squeeze when I'm doing the high kicks in the Dance It Up section but that's also because I'm rather tall. Ideally you'd have a massive dancefloor to shake your thang but it's quite possible within this space as most of the moves are done just a short distance from side to side and forwards. Other than space you don't really need anything else to do this workout. If you have a hard or cold floor I guess you may need a mat for the sit ups. I normally wire my DVD up to the hi-fi to make the workout more enjoyable as the music's pretty good going for aerobics.

I find it's best to do this workout in the morning because it will make you sweat so you'll want to hop in the shower afterwards. Don't do it immediately after breakfast or you may be seeing it again :-/ leave it at least 30 mins before jumping around like a mad woman.

This DVD has had really mixed reactions from other reviews that I've read. Some people love it because it's fast paced with more dance based moves, and others hate it because they don't like Fiona Fagan and/or can't follow the more complicated dance steps. I definitely agree with the first people and love this DVD much more than the Beach Body one. I have always loved dancing and this DVD is just what I want in a work out. It is on a par with their first release The Ultimate Dance Workout because although the moves were simpler in that, the main dance section is VERY hard going and will have you really out of breath (the Pump It Up section on the first DVD still remains the hardest to complete!) The key to liking this DVD is either to pick up all the moves quickly and copy them perfectly every time, or just do your best and make sure you keep yourself moving to get your heart rate up...just picking up a little more of the routine each time! As long as you don't get irritated by not perfecting the steps you should be fine.

The DVD was released last December in 2005 retailing at £19.99 but you can pick it up cheaper now.

If you want to know whether it's for you or not then see if you answer yes to these questions:

1) Do you like, or at least not mind dancing to commercial dance music?
2) Do you find slim attractive girls an inspiration to keep fit rather than getting annoyed seeing them looking good?
3) Can you do the hokey cokey without getting your legs tangled up?

*** For people who loved Deanne Berry aka the sexy instructor from Eric Prydz's Pump It Up music video, and lead in the Ultimate Dance Workout DVD, she's back this year presenting the 4th installment in this series 'Burn It, Lose It' released 26th December 2006. I'll be getting that!

Entire tracklisting:

Axwell - Feel The Vibe
DHT feat. Edmee - Listen To Your Heart
Max Graham Vs Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart
DJ Sammy - The Boys of Summer
Angel City feat. Lara McAllen - Love Me Right
Stunt - Raindrops
D.O.N.S. Feat. Technotronic - Pump Up The Jam
Les Rhythmes Digitales - Jacques Your Body
Joey Negro - Make a Move
Steve Mac Vs Mosquito feat. Steve Smith - Lovin' You More (That Big Track)
Porno - Music Power
Jamesy P - Nookie
Tom Novy feat. Michael Marshall - Your Body
Aaron Smith feat. Luvli - Dancin
The Thrillseekers - Dreaming of You

.....Thank god they finally ditched both the Call On Me and Pump It Up tunes as they were okay, but getting VERY old!!