Island Girl Dance Fitness Workout for Beginners: Cardio Hula

I checked out a VHS cassette of Cardio Hula (another exercise video by Kili) from the local library and fell in love with the very essence of getting in shape via such sensual exercising! Working out can be a chore as we all know but I wake up and look forward to getting in the groove of moving to the beats of Tahitian Hip Hop. It is absolutely wonderful! Don't think for one minute that you won't work up a sweat or that it is pretty easy because it moves at a much slower pace that the typical cardio workouts. If you think that, you're in for a surprise. The moves are very concentrated, meaning the work is penetrating deep within the target areas being worked during that particular segment therefore, you don't have to kill yourself doing a thousand reps a minute. Every time I do the workout, I SWEAT. Not only are you getting a great workout, you are learning some pretty sexy moves in the process. You will fall in love with the Tahitian moves, begin to feel and look sexier, and your man will want to get involved as well! (~_~)This workout is great for any age, especially those that may be limited in range of movement. It doesn't push you to complete moves that are visibly unattainable. Do what you can at your own pace and watch your physique and general appearance improve as well as your psychological disposition. No time to waste! It's so much fun> Buy it and get to shaking those hips already!

Please understand this a workout. So if you are looking for a dance instruction DVD this is not it. Kili take you through a really fast warm up. So plan ahead if you need a longer warm up. She takes you gracefully through a 20 minute Hula workout. It covers five basic moves in Hula along with some low-impact cardio. I say low because it really is for beginners. If you do not have a work out routine I take it easy while working out with the DVD there is a lot of thighs and calf working. It closes with a short cool down so you might have to continue to cool down during the credits. I really enjoy the DVD and I add on her Tahitian Cardio to get a longer work out by skipping the warm up section on that one. Then cooling down. Kili is a great teacher and I agree with others sometimes the dancers move out of sync with the music so if you aren't giving your undivided attention to the DVD you might be behind. Over all it's a great low impact cardio workout. My only complaint is it isn't long enough!

I'm more of an advanced exerciser, so while I don't use the Island Girl Dance Fitness series as the core of my rotations, they do have a place in my workout rotations. For instance, even as an advanced exerciser who really, really likes working out, there are days when I just don't feel like working out, but I know I should. Enter the Island Girl workouts. They make an excellent "active rest day" workout, as well, to use between more vigorous workouts. Of course, beginners might be just pleasantly challenged enough but not intimidated by these workouts to spark branching out into other kinds of workouts. Intensity-wise, they fit the bill for a beginner.Or, get an Island Girl Fitness DVD just for the fun of it.Another benefit to this workout series is that I don't move like this naturally. I'm not a natural dancer and I gravitate toward more athletic workouts. So the Island Girl workouts provide a certain challenge to me, just learning to do the moves. It's actually pretty challenging to try to move one's feet, and move one's hips, and on top of that all, do arm movements with a measure of dancer's grace. I have done each workout in this series a few times apiece, and I still don't have it down yet. I do not believe it is impossible, though, and as Kili, the instructor says, "practice makes perfect!"As for Tahitian Hip Hop in particular, I've always been so intimidated by any kind of hip hop dance workout, because usually they're incomprehensibly difficult for me to do. This workout is not, because the only real hip hop elements are some snappy upper body moves superimposed on hula hips, and the music is a strange yet pleasant combination of Tahitian-esque drums and a hip hop-like melody throughout. It's pretty amusing, actually. As for calorie burn, you probably shouldn't focus on that vis-a-vis this workout or this workout series, but I burned about 90 calories during this one today, which is about average for me for the Island Girl workout series.Just as you would expect from an aerobics instructor from Hawaii, teaching a Tahitian or hula-inspired workout, Kili is a friendly and pleasant instructor, completely non-intimidating, and she teaches the moves in a good flow. Don't expect to look like Kili just by doing the Island Girl workout series alone, though. When Kili says hula is her "secret weapon for looking bathing suit-ready year-round," keep in mind that she was part of a professional dance troupe on Maui, performing hours a week and practicing even more, and you can be sure she's doing some type of weight-bearing exercise, so eventually, you should do the same, if you want results like Kili's physique. Also, don't expect to be the dancing star at your next luau just from what you learn in any of the Island Girl workouts. Think of it more as a light exercise video with some hula moves and terminology thrown in, and you won't be disappointed.In the meantime, if you're up for a fun workout and you're looking for a little taste of the Islands, give this workout, or any of the workouts in the Island Girl series, a chance. If nothing else, you'll have a half-hour vacation from whatever the weather's doing outside your particular window on any given day. Lots of fun!

I bought this because it had so many good reviews but this DVD is strange. The warmup starts abruptly. She doesn't indicate that we are doing a warm up, she just starts dancing. She tells you to do a plie, but if you aren't a dancer, what the hell is a plie? She expects that you already know how to do that move and doesn't instruct further upon it.The worst part is she never shows you the proper stance to be standing in. It's clear her knees are bent, but she doesn't expalin how far to bend, how far apart your feet should be, do you tuck in your bottom, push it out? I took belly dancing class and they were very specific about your stance because too much or too little can throw your back out. I can't tell from the DVD what is the correct stance because of the skirts they wear.The dancing was pretty and so was the scenery. I think once I pick up a different dvd that explains the stance and the moves better, I would go back to hers. I don't feel as though she gives enough information. I also get really irritated with her showing you a move and then saying "this is blah blah blah, this is what it looks like." Yeah thanks. I'd really appreciate it if you told me how to do it. Maybe I'm just dumb, but I don't learn by being shown, I need verbal instructions. My boyfriend and I both found this DVD confusing and not terribly educational. The dance is beautiful and once I have some understanding of proper posture and such, I'll go back to this one.