Rosemary Conley - Shape Up And Salsacise (DVD)

...I had!

Rosemary Conley's Shape Up and Salsacise does pretty much what it says on the tin. The DVD contains different workouts centred around the dance of the Salsa, a Spanish dance. There are also some tone-up section for you to do as well, but I will explain these further on in the review. I didn't know much about Rosemary before watching this DVD, but I did know that she is a weight-loss guru and knows her stuff, so I had quite high ...
...ease yourself into the workout. Rosemary leads the workout, with 4 ladies in the background also doing the moves with her. These 4 women have actually lost many stones between them on the Rosemary diet so they quite a good advert for her diet plans! The moves in this section are quite basic, to a nice latin-ey sounding track. This lasts for 20 minutes, including both a warm-up and a cool-down, and although it is the level 1 workout, I did feel like ... more

I have been on a task to lose some weight after having Harry, as I never really shifted those baby pounds (naughty me). I've done well through healthy eating, losing just over a stone and I am now back to the weight I was just before I got pregnant. However, I like to do a bit of exercise every now and then just to keep fit, and I also want to tone up as well...this is the bit I am still trying to work on! I already own a few exercise DVD's but I fancied a change. When I saw this DVD in my local charity shop for just £1, I couldn't resist. I set about trying it that afternoon and realised how much more fun this DVD was than the other aerobic workout ones I had!

Rosemary Conley's Shape Up and Salsacise does pretty much what it says on the tin. The DVD contains different workouts centred around the dance of the Salsa, a Spanish dance. There are also some tone-up section for you to do as well, but I will explain these further on in the review. I didn't know much about Rosemary before watching this DVD, but I did know that she is a weight-loss guru and knows her stuff, so I had quite high hopes that this DVD would be pretty good. After all, the box makes the claim that you can lose "up to 500 calories!" by doing this workout. Hmmmm.

Ok, well the dance sections of this DVD are split into 2 levels. Level 1 is called Latin Combos. It is probably best that you start at this section if you aren't too fit, or you aren't a co-ordinated dancer, or simply if you want to ease yourself into the workout. Rosemary leads the workout, with 4 ladies in the background also doing the moves with her. These 4 women have actually lost many stones between them on the Rosemary diet so they quite a good advert for her diet plans! The moves in this section are quite basic, to a nice latin-ey sounding track. This lasts for 20 minutes, including both a warm-up and a cool-down, and although it is the level 1 workout, I did feel like I had done exercise after completing it.

The next section, which is Level 2, is called Let's Salsacise. This section is much more energetic, and you will also need a basic understanding of all the steps in Salsa to do this. I didn't do this section until I had done the previous section a few times so that I knew the steps and could confidently pull them off. This workout also lasts for 20 minutes but the pace is much quicker, and Rosemary works you a lot harder in this section. Again, there is a great backing track with songs from Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez to keep you going, and is great fun to do.

The best thing to do with these workouts, after mastering the basic steps, is to combine both the Level 1 and Level 2 workouts for a really good workout for your body. It is the combined workouts which Rosemary says can help you lose UP TO 500 calories in one go, pretty good going really! The 40 minutes went quite quickly for me, and I found Rosemary encouraging, but not irritating, unlike some other presenters of fitness DVD's I own! It is quite focused and there is no mucking about, so it is a serious, but in a way, fun workout to do.

Now the DVD also comes with 2 tone-up sections. These both last for 10 minutes each and each one focuses on different areas of the body. The first one focuses on your Upper Body and your abs. The second is your hips and thighs. Again, I would say to start off with one at a time, particularly if you aren't used to exercise, but once you get used to them, it is quite easy to combine the 2 into a good 20 minute tone-up programme. The sections are with Rosemary and 2 of the ladies from the dancing sections. One of the girls follows Rosemary, whereas another does a more basic version of a stretch or move, handy for those of us who aren't super fit or bendy! You are ideally supposed to do these with Rosemary's "Toning Band" but I just use a couple of cans of beans as weights, and these are fine for me. Again there is nice music played in the background, with tracks such as Tears for Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Sugababes "Hole in the Head" and also by them "Round Round".

Also after the workouts is an extra feature, which is Rosemary herself talking about her GI Jeans Diet. This is a 6 minute segment presented by Rosemary. She tells us about the principles behind the diet, and shows us different foods in the diet. This is useful for those considering joining Rosemary's diet club. After this is a 4 minute segment telling us more details about Rosemary's team during the exercise parts. It is nice to know how much the ladies lost, and its great how wonderful they all look now!

So would I recommend this DVD? Yes, I would actually. When I bought it, I wasn't sure how much I would like Rosemary Conley, because as I said I didn't know much about her. But she is a very good instructor, really encouraging with a kind voice which motivates you. One thing which did annoy me was that she didn't tell you the steps before they happened so you have to join in as you get what they are doing, but after a few times you get to know the routine and what steps are coming up when.

I would say that the DVD is good for people who can't dance because it starts you at the basics, from teaching you the steps, right up to a big routine once you have got the hang of it. It is equally good for those who are quite good at dancing as you can just do the whole thing straight through and get a great body workout. If you do this with the tone-up sections 3 or 4 times a week, you will definitely notice a difference. I've done this 5 or 6 times now, and it is great fun to do each time. I feel like I have done some good exercise, and I am starting to tone up too, expecially at my waist and legs. I also feel the tone-up sections really make a difference too! The modern soundtrack has a good beat and makes for good salsa music, and it is just a very enjoyable workout routine.

You can buy this DVD on Amazon for £6.98, and you can also buy it in a Double-Pack with Rosemary's other Salsa DVD, Slim and Salsacise for just £8.98, which is better value than the individual DVD! Total running time for the single disc is 92 minutes, and is Exempt from Classification.

Rosemary Conley has over 35 years experience in helping people to get fit and lose weight. She has a successful slimming club, Rosemary Conley's Diet and Fitness Club, running all over the country, with many books and DVD's available to complement her diet plans. Rosemary received a CBE in 2004 for her services to the fitness and diet industries. You can find out more about Rosemary, her classes and diet/fitness plans on her website; www.rosemaryconley.com.

Thank you for reading, and happy dancing! 

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