Title: Leslie Sansone Just Walk: 5 Boosted Miles (Anchor Bay Entertainment)
Price: $14.98
Wait, didn't you just review a Leslie Sansone DVD Jan. 11? Yes, this is another one.
Target audience: Grandma (aka this writer) and other people -- with or without grandchildren -- who are old enough to remember the heyday of group aerobics classes, as well as anyone else of any age who likes group aerobic dance classes that aren't too dancey.
Hmm. Did you happen to get a chastising phone call from an elderly person who did not appreciate being called "Grandma" after the last review appeared? No comment.
Format: Widescreen stereo DVD containing one aerobic dance workout broken into five chapters (15, 14, 13, 12 and 18 minutes) as well as a stand-alone chapter with instructions on
"boosting" 10 steps used in the workout.
The chapters can be played in sequence for a 72-minute workout or individually.
Menu options allow you to turn off her vocal instruction and listen to the beat-control electronica music while you try to imagine what she's saying.
What's boosting? Isn't that street lingo for larceny? Rather than taking anything away, here it means adding something: intensity, and also impact. You boost a step by changing it into a different step: walking becomes jogging, sidesteps expand to wide skaters with a hopping toe tap, hip rocks become full-body flouncing side to side, taps to the side become hopping leg swings, and so forth. The instruction chapter walks you through 10 steps amenable to boosting.
Gear needed: Shoes.
Space required: at least 8 square feet.
Is this a low-impact workout? "If you follow the beat and walk through the program you're going to get a great workout," she says, but if you boost the steps when she does, the workout will be higher impact.
What's great about these workouts? They are easy to follow and Sansone doesn't try any tricky moves that might be dangerous, ever. She's playful with the backup dancers, many of whom are familiar from earlier Just Walk DVDs.
Anything likely to surprise fans of Sansone? No.
Who is the presenter? Sansone has been teaching aerobics since the 1980s, when her first class met in a church basement in Pennsylvania. Her Walk at Home collection includes more than 100 fitness DVDs and four books. She carries eight exercise-leader certifications, including the American College of Sports Medicine and the Cooper Institute. She's a member of the National Fitness Hall of Fame in Minooka, Ill.
Did you include that Hall of Fame because Minooka is fun to say? No comment.
ActiveStyle on 01/18/2016