Island Girl Dance Fitness Workout for Beginners: Tahitian Cardio

This workout definitely isn't for any major fitness buffs looking to get even more buff, but for the regular gals, it's very fun, motivating, and relaxing, even though you're sweating at the end! After just one week, I'm already seeing my hips and waist start to slim down. I've been working out nearly every day for the past 2 months and had hit a plateau. Then I tried this and in one week, it kick started me back into losing weight - I lost 2.5 lbs just this week and my only exercise was doing this video!Unless you're familiar with hula dancing, it will take 2-3 watchings to get the routine down. The first 2 times, I was constantly rewinding to try to be able to learn what they were doing. But just go for it and you'll pick it up quick. Just remember to keep your knees bent and it will be that much easier, as well as more effective. After a week, there are still a few places where I have trouble (I'm not the most coordinated when it comes to moving my hips and arms and feet all at the same time) I've found that the better I get at the video, the more of a workout I'm getting. I'm usually dripping with sweat at the end, but didn't feel like I'd worked that hard, until the next day :)What I really like about the video is that it's broken down into 3 parts - the workout, where Kili shows you the dance, then breaks it down over the course of about 27 minutes; then there's the dance itself, where the routine is repeated 3 times for a total dance time of 3 minutes; and finally the cooldown, which brings the total video time to about 36 minutes. I find that I have so much fun doing the workout, that I will keep rewinding to do the dance 3-4 more times before moving on to the cooldown.Kili is an excellent hula instructor, and her two assistants are beautiful. Seeing how graceful the three are and how beautiful the dance looks really motivates me to try to get to their level. Kili has a very soothing voice and not at all annoying like a lot of video workout instructors.What I don't like about the video is that in a few places, especially towards the end of the dance portion, the camera angle makes it harder to see what the girls are doing below the waist - but once I got the routine down, that wasn't an issue anymore. Also, when doing the bumps towards the end of the dance portion, the girls start moving a lot quicker and it's kind of hard to keep up, but that's getting easier the better I get.Overall, I highly recommend the Tahitian Cardio with Kili. I love it so much that I'm planning to buy more of her Island Girl DVDs and have recommended it to all my friends

Fitness level: basically nonexistent. I started working out about a month and half ago. I was already getting tired of the couple of DVDs I had so I wanted to change it up. I got this one partly out of curiosity and partly for entertainment. I've only used it a few times but I like it, it's more fun than my other DVDs. It's good for days that I really don't feel like working out or need a break from heavier workouts. I still have a hard time keeping up at times - trying to remember all the moves, keep the right form, and figuring what the hell I'm supposed to be doing with my hips. This learning part is true for most workout programs though. I'm not sure I would count this as 'cardio'. I knew going in that this wasn't going to be like my kickboxing workout but I was sweating by the end of it. You really have to watch what they do with their legs and hips to understand how to do the moves (I'm really not a dancer). You have to stay in a slightly crouched position for most (if not all) of the workout, just a head's up. If you do all the segments it's right about 35 minutes if I remember correctly. However, the first segment is her talking and then going through the whole dance just to show you what you'll learn. So maybe only 30ish minutes of actual movement (cool down/warm up included). I usually do my stretches while watching the first segment. If you're physically fit, I'm not sure you would get much benefit out of it. For someone like me, it's fun workout and it makes me sweat. Overall, I'd recommend giving it a try if you're looking to change things up.Edited to add: I decided to do this workout after reviewing because I realized that it had been awhile. It was definitely harder than I remember. Staying in that plie squat position for most of the 30 minutes can be hard. My knees are a problem sometimes, I felt it a couple times during the dance. Probably because I was out of position, when I adjusted my stance it felt better. My heart rate isn't up like when I do cardio but I paid attention this time and there was an increase. I was definitely sweating by the end of it. I still struggled with doing the hip movements while moving to the side or front/back. Overall though I was able to keep up better with the moves. During the cool down she doesn't always explain the movements you're doing next so it can be hard to keep up. Decided to bump it up to 5 stars after doing it again.

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The Island Girl series is my favorite go-to set of workouts in winter. The workouts are fun, feeling more like dance than an exercise class. That's really the best thing about them. They are some of the few exercise dvds I've tried that have me looking forward to working out when I would otherwise be tempted to be a couch potato. I particularly like the Tahitian Cardio for the emphasis on hip work and the graceful movements in it.On the technical end, it has what I look for in a workout dvd. There is a warm up and cool down. Kili teaches "mirror" style so it is easier to follow along. The camerawork shows the full body unless it is appropriate to zoom in to show the movement in detail. It is filmed outdoors against a beautiful Hawaiian background. The music is an upbeat traditional sounding Tahitian drum piece that really sets the mood.The intensity level is moderate. I tend to use this the most after the holidays when I have been in an exercise lull. It is just the right amount to get me sweating without me thinking "Enough already!" There are some standard aerobic exercise movements in it to work more muscle groups. While I would have preferred just dance movements, the aerobic ones are kept to a minimum and serve a purpose.This may not be to the taste of people who are hardcore fitness or hardcore Tahitian dance buffs, but for the average person like me, it's a great way to keep motivated to keep moving.