REVIEW: Samba Party: Brazilian Rhythm Celebration with Vanessa Isaac

Review: Samba Party: Brazilian Rhythm Celebration

Vanessa Isaac, 2005

This is a 35 minute cardio workout done on a really cool set. Vanessa and 4 background exercisers are on a platform surrounded by a "Brazilian village." You can also see a live band playing different drums and such in the background. You will not need any props for this workout.

After a nice active warmup you move into a stretch and then onto the body of the workout. This is a add-on style workout where Vanessa teaches us a move and then moves onto the next move. After going over each move a few time, she adds a new move and then we string them together. I liked this format and didnt feel it was too much TIFT-ing (take it from the top).

I am NOT a dancer and I had NO trouble following this workout at all. Vanessa is a very good lead and her cueing was great. I was also not bored with this workout so for me, she did very well with balancing how many times to repeat each move and how long to spend on each one. I liked this wokout and could definitely find a place for this in my workout routine.

I really got a great w/o with this dvd this AM- but Vanessa seems to just be having a good time dancing that you can easily forget that this is a fitness dvd. She doesnt comment "bikini body, shape those abs, widdle the middle" etc. which upped the fun factor even more. I could really feel my core being worked in a lot of the moves.

While this is a dance workout I actually saw some "basic" aerobic moves hiding under the Latin flare, which made the moves easier for me to catch onto and made it easier for me to up the intensity of each move a bit. I think done as is, this is an intermediate level workout that is easy to modify up or down. I enjoyed this one!!!