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About a year ago I purchased Dance Off the Inches a cardio workout where you burn calories by dancing. I liked the DVD a lot and enjoyed doing the dances on the DVD. I also liked the way things were broken down and how the workout had a counter below it telling you how far you have gone in to the work out. The moves were a little challenging but easy enough to get within a couple of tries. Since I really like the DVD but get bored of any work out of after a while I was really hoping that they would come out with more Dance off the Inches DVD’s and they did. Shortly after the first DVD they came out with Dance off the Inches – 15 minute express, http://www.epinions.com/content_231142690436 and just recently they came out with Dance off the Inches Fat Burning Jam, and Dance Off The Inches - Tummy Tone Party Zone and Dance Off The Inches - Sizzling Salsa will be released shortly.

The minute the two new DVD’s were released I had them on order and on their way to my house. As soon as I got Dance off the Inches Fat Burning Jam I popped it into my DVD player.

Dance off the Inches Fat Burning Jam

Dance off the Inches Fat Burning Jam is about 30 minutes long and is a cardio workout that helps you burn calories while dancing. In all of the Dance off the Inches DVD’s they call this a dance party.

After a short introduction by the instructor, Michelle Dozois, the other girls in the video are brought out and are introduced, only one of them is recognizable from one of the other Dance off the Inches DVD’s that I have seen. The instructor is also different than the instructors on the other Dance off the Inches DVD’s. While the dancers vary in age, they are all pretty much fit, and there do not seem to be any beginners among them. I am happy to say that not all of the women are young, there are a couple who are closer to middle age.

The workout takes place in a studio type atmosphere with a large window behind the dancers.

I was disappointed when I did not see any counters at the bottom of the screen like the one in the original Dancing off the inches DVD.

The music is nothing to write home about, and nothing I have really heard before, it seems to have been created specifically to go along with the DVD. While it is not great music it is certainly adequate for the DVD and actually helps pace the workout.

There is no equipment other than a good pair of athletic shoes required for this work out.

The Workout

The workout has a short warm up, 3 dances, and a short cool down.

The warm up takes around 3 minutes. In the warm up you are just basically doing rhythmic stretches. You do things like shoulder rolls, head rolls, hip rolling, and ab isolations, you do them all to the rhythm of the music. There is not a great deal of stretching and the moves are extremely easy. This warm up would not be adequate for more intense workouts but it works for this one, you will find out why in a moment.

The first dance starts out really slow. The instructor introduces the individual moves one by one, and then you practice them after you learn them. She then teaches the next move and after you practice it gets added on to the first move and this is the pattern. Each of the dances has about 4 moves that connected together to form a routine. As you learn the dance the music seems to get a bit faster. Because it kind of takes a good amount of time for the first dance to get going it kind of extends the warm up so by the time the dancing gets a little more intense your muscles are good and warm. The first contains lots of hip movement, side to side and rolling. The moves are all pretty simple and not very intense.

The second song picks up a bit with the intensity, and this is a Latin dance. You learn the Cha Cha, and the Mambo and you do lots of hip shaking and toe tapping. It took a couple minutes in to this song for me to start feeling my heart pumping a little bit.

The third dance is what I refer to as the “Repetitive Beat Dance” song. This is of course my wording and not the instructors. I found the music for this song to be really competitive, and not real exciting. The beat is however really fast which means that you are going to be moving at a more rapid pace during this sort. You do things like you might do in a regular aerobic work out like “Out, Out, in, in,” and quick lunges; some drags and other movements are added in to make this a little more dance like.

The cool down is approximately 3 minutes long and contains some very light easy stretching mostly of the lower body.

Did I Feel the Burn?

As I said above I didn’t really feel like I was doing much of a workout until I was half way in to the second dance, and then I did feel it a little bit. But I am no stranger to more intense workouts so for a beginner this would be a sufficient workout.

There is pretty much no toning benefit to speak of in this workout and that is OK because it is basically a cardio workout. The 30 minute time frame qualifies this as enough cardio for your daily dose. The workout is somewhat fun, but in my opinion is really not all that creative. It seems like it was just a slight variation from several other DVD’s I have done in the past, particularly the Latin part. I can not even begin to tell you the amount of exercise DVD’s I have done that contain those exact same moves.

I did not feel any soreness the next day. The DVD is adequate for good cardio heart health but not long enough or intense enough to burn a lot of calories. So I would say it is only minimally effective for fat burning. But anything is better than nothing and this is a great place to start for beginners. Those who are more experienced with this type of work out will find this a DVD that could be used to burn some calories when you are short on time or don’t have the energy to do something more intense.

Final Thoughts

This DVD is not nearly as good, or as fun as the first one. I really missed the little thing that tells you how long you have been working out and how much longer you have to go. Although this workout is slightly longer I also found the moves in the 15 Minute Express work out to be more fun and creative. So of the three of the DVD’s I have done so far this one is my least favorite.

The dances are very simple and great for beginners or those who have two left feet. The instruction is very good, and you will have no problem mastering the moves by the 2nd or 3rd time you do it. I also didn’t find this DVD to be very creative and the moves reminded me more of slightly jazzed up versions of aerobic moves rather than dance moves. So if you have ever been to a low impact aerobics class these are the kinds of moves you will be doing with this work out. There is just enough flair added in however to qualify these as dance moves.

The duration is short it is only a 30 minute work out but that is a sufficient amount of exercise for good heart health. Typically I prefer to do cardio for at least 45 minutes to an hour, as you normally don’t start to hit your stored fat until you have been going for 20 minutes. For me personally this work out could be a little more intense. This is a work out I would do if I didn’t really feel motivated to work out, as it is light and easy and you don’t need a whole lot of energy in the beginning, by the time you need the energy you are ready for it and that is a good thing.

I would recommend this work out for beginners, those who are not that coordinated but like to try anyways, for a quick cardio work out when you are short on time, or for those lazy days when you just don’t feel up to a more intense work out.

The work out is not great but it does have some redeeming qualities that make it OK, and therefore it just makes on to my list of workouts that I would recommend.


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4