A Whole Lotta Bouncin' Going On! Definitely a Challenge.
Written: Jan 09 '05 (Updated Jan 09 '05)
Product Rating:
Pros: Funky "get moving" music, a nice set, fun to watch instructors
Cons: Very little verbal cuing or explanation, very fast paced
The Bottom Line: If you like reggae/funk music and don't need to be told how to do every step, this is an energizing and challenging aerobic workout. Could strain the knees though.
This tape was originally released in 1995 but had been getting good reviews on many exercise video sites and I was looking for something with a funk/reggae beat to work out to. I found Jamaica Me’Swet on eBay for a few bucks and decided to give it a shot.
THE SET
The set is a beautiful white sand beach in Jamaica and the cool down takes place outside a Jamaican hotel and resort. It is very inspiring to keep the reggae spirit and flavor of Jamaica alive.
THE INSTRUCTORS
The lead instructor is Michelle LeMay. Behind and with her are three women and a very good-looking Jamaican man who teaches one of the songs and is one of the more entertaining aspects of the work out. This guy can dance!
According to the box, there is a special appearance by dance hall queen Patra on the warm up part of the video where her hit song “Worker Man” is featured. Since I don’t know who Patra is nor did I know the song before I did the workout, it meant nothing at all to me.
THE WORKOUT
Entirely set to reggae/funk music, this is 100% dance. Because Jamaican music has that certain beat that makes you want to bounce, I found myself doing a whole lot of bouncing during this 45-minute workout.
Miss Jamaica (at the time I assume) opens the video and explains why it’s so great to work out to the Jamaican music and then is back during the workout to throw in a few words and after to explain that we would be cooling down. She is totally unnecessary and a bit annoying.
You start with a quick warm up and move right into the dancing. It’s fast paced and there isn’t a lot of cuing or instruction. You just listen to the music, watch the dancers and go. One thing that sort of threw me at first was the two main instructors (LeMay and the male instructor) would suddenly be wearing different clothes in mid step. I would be watching the screen and suddenly, instead of a bikini top and loose black pants, LeMay would be wearing low-slung jean shorts and a red workout bra top. It wasn’t a big deal but that continued throughout the video for no real reason other to remind me that I was the only one doing this tough work out in one take. I forgave the producers when the Jamaican guy switched outfits and, eventually, ended up shirtless. It kept my interest when I was wearing down!
The box says that moves including the Butterfly, Rake, Fly-Away, and the Square are taught during the workout. Well, I’ll be. No one bothered to mention the names of any moves so, if I learned those, I had no idea I was doing so. The video could have used some explanation about what moves we were performing rather than assuming viewers knew the names of the moves already.
The dances are not easy to learn and the pace is fast. If you need a lot of cuing and a lot of instruction, this tape is not for you. Because I just like to boogie to music and I know I will never be a dancer or really know any of these dances, I just went along with the music and watched what everyone else was doing. It was somewhat frustrating, however, when they would close up on someone’s face when I needed to see their feet to know what they were doing, but I improvised.
You can see that these people really like to dance and they know what they’re doing. This doesn’t feel at all like an exercise video. It feels much more like a dance party on the beach. I enjoy that change of pace from the usual now and then.
You almost need to be rubber legged to do some of the steps, though, and it is quite a challenge throughout. Still, the way the dancers/instructors groove together and seem to be “winging it” rather than sticking to an exact format inspires everyone to just wing it and get down with the music rather than concentrating on counting or emulating the exact movements in the screen.
The cool down is very well done. Suddenly we are teleported to a Jamaican resort with a beautiful pool and rock waterfall. The instructors are perched on the rocks and in front of the waterfall and the music plays on as they bring our heart rate down and stretch our muscles so that we aren’t too sore the next day. I enjoyed the cool down more than anything else! They never speak a word during this phase and you simply follow what the others are doing. Since the cool down is typical of almost every cool down, it's not at all difficult to follow the moves.
The entire video is 45 minutes. You warm up for a few minutes, work like crazy for about 35 and cool down for a few more. The last few minutes of the tape is the instructors showing off the clothes they wore during the routine and other Jamaica Me’Swet clothing and talking about the resort that was featured in the cool down. It’s nothing you will want to see after the first time and you can just shut the tape off after the last cool down stretch.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Although it is 10 years old, there’s nothing “old” about this video except for the weird clothing changes mid stride. The music is very upbeat, the instructors seem to really get into what they are doing, and, if you don’t really need a lot of instruction, this is one heck of an aerobic work out.
If you get frustrated easily or want to truly learn the whole routine step by step, you probably should stay away from this workout. It’s a fast-paced dance party and not a lot more. But, even I, a complete klutz and a total non-dancer, managed to get through it and feel it the next day (BOY did I feel it). This is definitely an intermediate workout and anyone who is not used to fast-paced aerobic dance routines will probably need to pause the tape or simply stop dancing and march in place to keep their heart rate from soaring too high. But that’s OK. The idea is to workout to the best of your ability and to monitor your heart rate and modify if it is goes too high. Beginners (like myself) can work up to doing the entire workout without modifications and can “grow” into it as they increase their aerobic capacity.
One caveat: It seems like you are bouncing for the entire workout. If you have bad knees, this could cause a problem for you. The bouncy nature of the music and the dance steps leads to a whole lot of bouncin’ going on which is great for the legs and thighs but could potentially give a person knee pain. Since I had knee surgery a while back, I was especially worried about this but my knee feels fine after the bouncing. Still it’s something people should be aware of.
Even after 10 years, this workout continues to sell at many stores and is even in a DVD version now. You either will love it hate it depending on how much instruction you need and whether you really want to work out so fast paced and cluelessly. I will continue to use this video but not on a regular basis. It’s a fun change from the usual instructional videos and the music certainly is infectious. If you can get the video for a good price, it’s worth a try!
Recommended:
Yes
Viewing Format: VHS Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
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