I have no shame in admitting I'm a lazy so and so when it comes to exercise. If I can drive there, I will. This however, means that I am extremely unfit and get out of breath relatively easily. I wanted something that was sort of fun rather than a boring aerobics video with an annoying instructor shouting things, so when I saw The Hotpants Workout DVD by Dan Karaty I thought 'great!'

THE HOTPANTS WORKOUT

Dan Karaty is a choreographer for pop stars such as Kylie, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera (no, that is most certainly not why I bought it). He leads the workout with four female backing dancers and does all the bits and bobs on the 'extras'. The front cover is decidedly tacky, but who cares? It looks promising on the back cover.

The workout comprises of 6 sections altogether which I'll explain now:

1) BOUNCE

FOR - bums and thighs
MUSIC - a slow sexy R & B groove
DURATION - 7 minutes
NEXT DAY 'OW' FACTOR = none
MY OPINION - this is an easy groovy routine which gets you nicely warmed up and doesn't require any practise or coordination.

2) SLIDE

FOR - inner and outer thighs
MUSIC - a medium paced funky groove
DURATION - 7 minutess
NEXT DAY 'OW' FACTOR = slight bum ache & ache between shoulders
MY OPINION - if performed on its own this isn't a tiring sequence. A couple of the steps take a little practise and require coordination but once you've mastered them it's really quite an enjoyable routine.

3) RUSH

FOR - fat burning
MUSIC - fast(ish) euphoric trance
DURATION - 6 minutes
NEXT DAY 'OW' FACTOR = upper arm shoulder ache & bum ache
MY OPINION - this is probably my favourite routine - probably because the music is the best of the lot. I also like it because it incorporates breakdowns in the music for stopping and stretching your muscles to avoid cramp. It does require a little bit of coordination to complete this routine but I find that it comes naturally.

4) GROOVE

FOR - waist and hips
MUSIC - slow vocal groove
DURATION - 7 minutes
NEXT DAY 'OW' FACTOR = none
MY OPINION - this is one of the less demanding routines. The only thing that could possibly challenge you is keeping your balance on one leg. If performed on its own this routine warms me up and gets my heart beating but I don't perspire.

5) TWO STEP

FOR - thighs
MUSIC - unsurprisingly, a two step garage beat
DURATION - 7 minutes
NEXT DAY 'OW' FACTOR = yeowch! This one tightens my calves for a couple of days
MY OPINION - I find this the most energetic routine. It is hard work on the legs and requires fast footwork. This has my heart beating fast and I always work up a sweat! Dan explains the most complicated step in slow motion which might be useful for people who can't grasp it so quickly. I found the steps easy but I think they could challenge some people. It is reassuring to see that even Dan & the girls are sweating after this one!

6) ABS, GLUTES & COOLDOWN

FOR - tums and bums
MUSIC - same as BOUNCE
DURATION - 6 minutes
NEXT DAY 'OW' FACTOR = tight stomach muscles
MY OPINION - it is easy to follow Dan's muscle stretches although I always end up entirely knackered halfway through the sit ups (there are 88 in total!!) the reason these are so hard is because Dan says you mustn't let your shoulderblades touch the floor (so you're basically just clenching a little bit, not going all the way up and back down).

CONTENTS OF THE DVD

When you load up the DVD there are two pages of warnings about the DVD which you should read once. Unfortunately when you continue to use it you can't skip these pages - but don't stress, just change into your exercise clothes and get a drink while it's loading.

Once loaded you have a menu with four options:

Play DVD
Play routine
Chapter selection
Special features

Play routine gives you the option of playing the whole 6 sections that make up the routine. Chapter selection gives you a menu of the 6, of which you select one to play. These features are practically the same, but I guess they do no harm.

Play DVD takes you to the intro with Dan doing lots of show-offy dancing (alright, enough thanks!!) It's nice in a way though because after the dance he introduces himself and explains the purpose of the DVD (to tone/lose weight off bum, thighs & stomach). It also introduces an ex-dancer called Hannah who had trouble with her weight. After practising this DVD every day she lost a considerable amount of weight and they show her progress in this section. Those using the DVD for weight loss may find this inspiring, but I would rather put on a little weight so it's of no use to me. In addition to 'Hannah's story' they show the producers who made the tunes for the routine, which was more interesting to me.

The special features duplicate Hannah's story and then have several gallery pictures of Dan and the female dancers. It's better than nothing but not something you'd probably look at more than twice (unless of course you're male).

THE FINAL VERDICT

I bought this DVD with the intention of just keeping fit and keeping my body nice and toned. I felt a little bit of an idiot jumping around in my living room at first, but soon got used to it.

Now I have completed all of the routines I like to mix them around and do different ones together. If you buy this/already have it you'll know what I mean. You don't have to complete all of the sections, and apart from BOUNCE and COOLDOWN I think you could perform them in any order. I don't do this anywhere near every day but I do like to have it in my DVD player for when I want exercise which is more energetic than yoga.

I would almost guarantee that if you completed the whole DVD every day you'd lose weight. Even 'two-step' on its own has me sweating like a bastard - and I very much doubt I could complete all 6 sections at one time - I'd probably faint!

I think this is a well designed routine because in each of the 6 routines Dan slowly builds up different elements of the routine, making it more complicated with each repetition. This means that you're never doing exactly the same thing for more than a few seconds and so it's hard to get bored. I expect with time I'll grow a little bit tired of the routines, but as the music is generally quite good and I don't use it every day I should imagine I'll use it a lot before getting a different DVD.

Another great thing about this is that you don't need any bulky/expensive equipment to exercise - you just need a DVD player and away you go!

I'd definitely recommend this to the ladies out there who want something relatively fun just to keep themselves nice and trim.

The Hotpants Workout is £11.99 from play.com (free P+P)

 carly_pussycat - Ciao UK ©