Natural Journey's Cardio Hula Review

 Natural Journeys Island Girl Dance Fitness Workout For Beginners: Cardio Hula
Kili, 2004

This is a 30ish minute hula workout led by Kili with 2 background exercisers. It is set outdoors in beautiful Hawaii w/ greenery and the ocean & a mt (volcano?) in the background. I love outdoor sets!!! and this one is absolutely gorgeous. You wont need any equipment for this workout. The dvd is chaptered so you can start at any chapter.

I felt like this w/o was mostly hula work with just a few additions (knee ups, hops) to up the cardio effect. The workout is built add on style so Kili teaches you a hula move, then another & then adds them together. By the end of the workout you have learned an entire hula dance. Before the workout begins they demonstrate the dance & tell you thats what youll be learning- I was leary- but sure enough I could perform the entire routine by the end of my 1st attempt!

This workout is really a core cardio workout- I really felt it in my love handle area- lots of hip sways!! There are a few body weight lower body work- but this is a cardio w/o w/ a focus on the core. My heart rate was elevated, probably similar to a walking workout cardio-wise. You will perform hula moves such as pliets w/ arm movements, torso twists, hip sways (throughout), some ballet style lower body toning (pliets, pliet pump), mambo w/ hip sways, a static lunge & squat w/ bicep pumps, side mambos, etc.

I would rate this a  low intermediate core cardio workout. The moves were easy to catch onto but the routine is not boring or repetitive at all. If you are a hula pro or a dancer- maybe this would be too easy for you choreo-wise but I really enjoyed this and had a lot of fun with it! I will definatley be using this w/o alot as I love standing ab work and core cardio workouts. My obliques were really feeling this the next day! I received this workout from Natural Journeys to review.