I decided to start my fitness regime permanently at new year - I've been doing exercise video's on and off for a few years now, and as I tend to get bored easily, I am always looking for new ones to keep me interested. I browsed Amazon Marketplace over Christmas and settled on Tracy Shaw's Salsacise for hips and thighs, mainly because it was one of the cheapest ones I didn't already have! I must confess I'm not a great fan of Tracy Shaw, but don't let that influence your decision to purchase this, because luckily Tracy doesn't speak through most of it! It's actually an Australian (or kiwi?) guy called Michael Betts who does the instruction in this DVD, and he's pretty pleasant to watch - not too irritating.Tracy also has another Salsacise DVD which is simply called 'Tracy Shaw's Salsacise', but I don't think it's necessary to buy that one first, as all the moves are explained well in this one.

****What is Salsacise?****

Salsacise is basically a term that someone has come up with to describe a combination of Salsa dance moves with basic aerobic exercises. If you are thinking of learning to Salsa, or fancy yourself as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, this is NOT the DVD for you. Most of the moves in this DVD are basic lunges/squats with a latino shake added in for good measure.

****And who's Tracy Shaw?****

Tracy Shaw was in Coronation Street for quite a few years and played Maxine Peacock, the dippy hairdresser who was bludgeoned to death by Richard Hillman. Still don't remember? She was accused of beating her husband up on a plane or something similar, and there was a scandal when she did some advertising campaign sitting in a Kwik Save trolley holding two melons with bruised legs! I suggest if you still don't know but want to, it would be easiest to google her name, rather than have me badly explain!

****Intro****

When you first load the DVD, you will be presented with a menu. This gives three options - Play which is obviously just to play the workout, Chapters - with this you can choose which section of the DVD you would like to do, and Extras - these are just extra footage, see near the bottom of the review for more details.
Select Play and the DVD starts with an introduction from Tracy. Dressed in what looks a lot like a red bra and knickers covered in spangly bits. Michael is just as oddly dressed wearing jeans and a vest - I mean, who wears jeans to go down the gym?!
The background to the workout is what looks like a dodgy Spanish restaurant. The workout is done on a wooden floor, and at either side of Tracy and Michael are tables, each with a lamp on it. There is a huge gold palm tree on either side (Who knows why?!) and a glittery sign saying 'Tracy'.

****The Workout****

The DVD is split into seven separate sections, the details of which are below. Each section lasts about 6 or 7 minutes, making the total workout time around 49 minutes.

1. Warm Up

As you probably already know it is always important to warm up before doing any type of exercise, as this warms and stretches your muscles, which in turn prevents injury. This starts with small lunges, and then gets on to mambo and cha-cha-cha moves, which are really easy and work the legs and bum. This also incorporates a few stretches, and by the end of this section you really do feel warm!

2. Salsa Split

This section contains a very strange movement called the salsa split. Michael build up the move by starting with a mixture of a grapevine movement (step behind step tap!) and marching on the spot. The march soon becomes a V step, and then the V step builds up to a salsa split. I suppose that really it's just a fancy V step. You V step twice turning your toes out very quickly, and sort of wiggling. You may find this move difficult at first, I know I did, but the more you do it the easier it gets. This move By the end of this section you really will feel like you're working out

3. Latin Lunge

This section is a mixture of squats and side lunges. You can really feel this on your inner thighs, and I know when I first started this I was really unfit and found this really hard. You will soon get used to these moves, and I think this is probably the most effective section of the DVD for your thighs, because as they say, 'No pain no gain.'

4. Booty Burner

This move is to work your bum. It alternates side stepping and the mambo/cha-cha-cha combo you were shown in the warm up with leg lifts. It starts with side stepping and then a move they call a 'leg lift side'. As you can probably guess this involves lifting you leg to the side. This section is fairly easy compared to the Latin Lunge.

5. Side Slimmer

The first time I did this section of the DVD I thought it was very difficult and gave up. You will need an exercise mat for this section as most of it is lying down. It involves sort of lifting yourself up and down on your side, and is very painful! I have managed to do about half of it since, but usually just skip past this bit. You may also notice about this section, that Tracy is no longer wearing her hair down as she has in the previous section. It is now in a spiky bun, which I guess means they don't film this all at once.

6. Tum Tightener

Again you will need an exercise mat for use with this section. As you may guess from the title, these movements work your stomach muscles. Some moves from this section are 'the plank' which is basically getting on your knees and elbows and staying in a pose. Also lying down on your stomach and lifting your head up and down. Some of the moves in this section can be difficult and usually I only half-heartedly do this section because I'm fairly knackered from doing all the previous sections.

7. Cool Down

The cool down is almost as important, if not more important, than the warm up. This incorporates various stretches, which cool down and relax the muscles. If you want to be able to move in the morning this section is a must! This is a combination of slow moves and stretching, and is very easy and relaxing as it is supposed to be.

****Does it work****

Yes! I actually started to notice a difference after 3 days of doing just 5 sections (I didn't do the side slimmer or tum tightener at first because it was too hard!). My inner thighs felt firmer, and after about a week all of my thighs seemed firmer, if not slimmer.

****Negative points****

Aside from the fact Tracy can be quite annoying and looks somewhat unnatural doing these moves, the main negative point is that this is not a full body workout. There are almost no arm moves at all, which means you could end up with tiny legs and huge arms! Also, if you want to actually learn to Salsa, then this is not the way to do it, there are not enough salsa moves included in this DVD.

****Music****

There is latino music playing in the background which at times can become quite annoying. It is just a tune, no words, but if, like me, you can't stand it, it's easy enough to turn the volume down!

****Bonus DVD features****

There is a photo gallery which features still photos of Tracy making the DVD.

There is also a behind the scenes feature, which is, quite honestly just as dull. This basically shows the guy painting the huge 'Tracy' sign which hangs in the background of this DVD and Tracy having her make-up done (probably the same paint).

****DVD Cover****

This features a picture of Tracy in her spangly bra and knickers, and states that 'Ex-Coronation Street star Tracy Shaw brings you a new butt-busting, thigh slimming salsacise routine!

****Prices****

Like I said I got this from Amazon Marketplace for about £3.99, but I've found some different prices on the net, if you're interested in buying this.

Amazon: £16.99 (!)
Amazon Marketplace (at time of writing): £3.77
HMV: £16.99 (free delivery)
Play.com £5.99 (that's more like it)
Blah.com £5.99

****My Verdict****

If you want to tone up your hips and thighs I would definately recommend this. Even if you're not very fit at them moment, as the DVD is split into sections, you could start off just doing one or two and build up to doing the whole workout over time.
All in all I think this is a really good exercise DVD, and would recommend it to anyone who wants to have fun getting fit.