Hollyoaks: The Dance Workout [DVD] [2004]

Ok

very misleading, no dancing involved at all. very hard to follow where and what your supposed to be doing without looking at the telly at all times - the free supplimentry strech and tone dvd was better and thats not saying much.

i bought this for an ex girlfriend many years ago. i've never used it but she lost her fat arse soon enough after i bought it, but it came back, hence the "ex" bit. guess it works then, for a bit at least. may dig it out as those hollyoaks girls are hot. guess that's why most guys bought it really....?

Well, I bought this purely because it was in the bargain bucket. It starts with a segment showing the girls going to rehearsals and getting make-up done. I assume this was to pad it out a bit...Then you get the warm up. This is really easy going and I have no real complaints about it.Next segment is the main workout. Um... no dancing involved that I could see. However, the exercises are simple and easy to follow, the girls look great and the instructor is clear and very unirritating. Could have done without him saying "enjoy the burn" quite so much though!! The workout is tough enough to make you sweat but not so tough that you will want to jack it all in and and lose all hope of ever keeping up.Next there is an utterly unhelpful dance segment which invloves a lot of posing and is totally unfollowable and just looks like a cheesy music video. This bit is blatantly not meant to be followed and is essentailly there so that men can enjoy themselves privately. Just skip it if you are actually trying to do a real workout.The cool down is again, simple and easy and I have no complaints.Overall:The Negatives: You do have to look at the the screen the whole time until you have done the DVD about 10 times. The music is basically the same song being pumped up and then chilled down over and over. Also there is a rather pathetic attempt to be sexy being made by Jodi the whole way through but I guess she got told to do that!!!The positives: It is a decent workout that is easy to follow and quite fun. Surely that means it does basically what it says on the tin even though the "dance" element is slightly debatable? Finally, this workout requires no equipment and just a wee space in the middle of your living room.Overall, give it a go if you want to get fitter - but not if you want to be a dance diva!!! And when you are done with it, lend it to your boyfriend!!

If you're into Hollyoaks when these 3 were in it (I don't watch it so have no idea if they are still in it!) then you'll enjoy the interviews and behind the scenes for a few minutes - but that part isn't going to get you on your way to getting fit.The girls - Abi, Sarah and Jodi - enlist trainer Tristan Temple for some simple lifestyle tips and to design a dance workout. Tristan seems an amiable guy but he does take a back seat and gets cut out of a lot of shots. It's really all about the girls and although there is flesh on show, it's not too over the top (well, almost).The girls do pretty well considering they look completely out of their comfort zone and only Jodi seems to half enjoy it. But to give them credit they do push through the pain and try not to show it.I certainly can't call this a dance workout as there is really no dancing going on - unless you refer to the 5 minute pop video of the girls prancing about. It is an extremely simple routine with some floor work. No previous experience of anything is required - it's that simple - so excellent for beginners and those with not much co-ordination. Simple but could get tough for a beginner so take out the jumps and only do what you can.If you are a regular exerciser you can add in more intensity by putting more effort into the jumps - it certainly works and you can build up a bit of a sweat. It's not a long workout (14 mins cardio & 9 mins floor work) therefore can suit a variety of people especially those with limited time but the warm up is a bit too long for my liking - it's not as if you're gonna be doing that much exercise. However you could use it as a relaxation session after a hard day - same with the too long Cool Down.The main workout is in a nightclub setting and there isn't a lot of atmosphere to be honest, minimal instructions (although so simple it is not a problem), the girls don't really say anything and are not miked-up anyway but the music is good enough to get you through.What you get:Warm Up = 13 min 40Breathing, gentle jogging, arm reach, body rolls, side stretch, shoulder roll, rib cage shift, hip rotation, leg stretchDance Workout= 23 min 10Walking, marching, back & side lunge, punching, side steps, knee lifts, hamstring curl, jogging, high knees, pendulum leg swing, jumps, body twists, plie squats. On the floor: pelvic raises and sit upsCool Down = 13 minBack stretch, cat stretch, thigh, calf, hamstring and shoulder stretchesMrsGoldsmith's RatingsFun: 5/10Not that inspiringFitness: 5/10Not bad for beginners but too shortValue: 5/10Useful for some

I chose this workout DVD as I quite like the girls characters in Hollyoaks and they have nice figures so thought it would be inspiring to watch. I also wanted a funky dance workout as it is a bit different to the ones I've tried before. When I watched the DVD I was a little disappointed - the introduction goes on for ages about the daily routines of the girls and how they eat and exercise, I found this a little uneccessary. Then the workout - the warmup is good and did what it said it would. The main workout (where I was expecting the dance) was okay. I think if you had never been to an exercise class before it might be a bit hard to follow the moves as no spoken instruction was really given and sometimes the move changed without any warning and I would suddenly realise that I was doing something different to the DVD! The warm down was quite nice with lots of stretching. The dance never really happened, the last section ("Freestyle") which was just fancy arty shots of the girls prancing around in short skirts wasn't quite what I had hoped for and I would have felt a little silly dancing round the front room on my own. Others may enjoy this though. Although it may sound like I didn't enjoy this DVD, that isn't really true - I found that the workout worked my muscles and did get my heart rate going. I think it would be better named a "toning" workout as I think it will certainly acheive this.