DANCE That WALK – 5000 Steps in One Easy Low Impact Walking Workout DVD (PAL)

I bought this DVD primarily to learn basic dance steps for amateur dramatic purposes. I am in early middle age and in fundamentally good health, but I lack coordination and have extremely sore knees because of decades of working at a desk (yes, I’ve tried a sit-stand desk; long story!) The dance steps are very simple, but as I have almost no body awareness, I had to stop the DVD, put it on slow-motion and sometimes use the ‘step’ (frame-by-frame movement) function in order to work out how to do them. Is she moving opposite arm to leg? Is she hopping or just moving her foot in place? Which leg is behind and which in front? etc. Most people will not need to do this, I am sure. Because my knees are so very painful (impossible to get anyone medical to commit to a diagnosis), unfortunately I found the marching on the spot did hurt by about halfway through. This was in spite of doing the routine on carpet, in trainers, with insoles. For the same reason, I skip the fast cha-cha-cha foot change, instead just standing still on the spot until it is time to switch foot. I must stress, most people will not have this difficulty. So instead of the marching, I just keep doing the most recent step, and wait for Gina to change to the next step, then do that. Gina is cheerful and charming without that false enthusiasm that some presenters have. The music is slightly cheesy (I think these tracks are written specially for the DVD) but it is fine. I’ve only had the DVD a couple of weeks but already, I find I have that bit more flexibility and energy. There are 14 tracks and the whole thing lasts 45 minutes, which is a reasonable amount of time to find most days. Some days, I just do a few tracks. Some of the steps are on more than one track anyway, although not all the steps are. All in all, I would say this is a very good DVD indeed, and doesn’t irritate upon repeated viewings. It’s easy to follow, with the caveats above for people with very bad knees or unusually poor coordination! I've tried a couple of other dance/fitness DVDs recently and they had to go to the charity shop because they were too difficult and fast, impossible to follow (weird camera angles or odd point of view changes) and with annoying presenters. I am sticking to Dance That Walk, though.

Excellent DVD low impact & fun, best exercise ever, learnt some new moves & tips & I could keep up, I finished the whole DVD in 1 session. I am a older lady. It's suitable for all ages, I have been walking for a couple of months for my health, but the weather's not always great, but with this DVD you do 5000 steps in it, which is great, you feel refreshed & good about yourself & as you have enjoying do it, Gina gives good clear instructions with each set of exercise' s, anyone can follow, glad I got bought this & since this one I have bought more of Gina Exercise DVD's & do them alternatively, I highly recommend these exercises.

Very easy to follow and fun

I was expecting some sort of step routine designed perhaps for those of us with Fitbits etc trying to get to 10,000 steps a day - or more. I often walk on the spot if I have to. So my expectations were reasonably low. Instead what I got was a great dance DVD with relatively (almost very) easy dance steps - so you aren't just walking on the spot but doing dance steps like cha cha cha, jive and quick step. It's easy and broken into sections of about 4 minutes each so you can do a quick 20 minute section if that's all the time you have. And you're learning some dance steps! And you get quite a sweaty workout if you do the whole 45 minute DVD - it goes quite fast. It's just under 5000 steps I think - which is great. It's a real bonus to get an easy to follow dance DVD when I expected something a lot less interesting. It's far less fun working out at home than in a group but needs must sometime and this is great.

While I love the SMILE and sway dvd, I'm not so fond of this one. It's really good exercise if you're after a bit of music, LOTS of walking and a few dance steps thrown in that never even become any type of routine, but it seems rather disjointed and rather disappointing. And as a disabled person, I'm used to adapting exercise DVDs to suit, but this one doesn't really give many opportunities to do that - it's just walking (arm swings and body movements to simulate walking in my case), and then 4 different movements per section. Very disappointing.

After being an avid gym bunny for many years, then being diagnosed with chronic fatigue, I found it extremely hard to do any working out. Of course I gained a lot of weight from being inactive. I wanted something that was very low impact and that I could do at my pace. The first session I did, after 25 mins, I had to stop, out of breathe, and energy. But felt really good for achieving something positive for me. I know in time continuing using this exercise dvd, I will get fitter and loose a little of the weight gained. I am starting to look forward to doing the exercises more and more. A simple thing I had lost. The different tracks are fun, and the steps really easy to do, no complicated sequences to remember, and each track is the right length that you don’t get bored repeating actions over and over again. I love this dvd, and looking forward to, in time, ranking it up a bit.

I have already written personally to Gina to say just how fit for purpose this DVD is. Unlike some I have tried, it is absolutely not a struggle to get through it because it is divided into small sections so the time just flies by. That said, at the end of 45 minutes I am completely bathed in sweat and feel I have had a really worthwhile and productive workout out and yet I am not hugely uncomfortable and feel really motivated to do it all again the next day. I have tried a lot... a LOT...of exercise DVDs, but this is absolutely the best. Maybe if I were twenty years younger I might find I needed something a tiny bit more challenging but as it is, this one really hits the spot (and if I am feeling hugely ambitious I dig out a Zumba Country DVD of which I can manage about 10 minutes!) Well done Gina, Mila and Sarah: next stop, Cardio Party!

I am 66 and have sore knees, which I"m sure would feel better if I lost some weight. I wanted a video with some dance like moves, but not complicated so I could just work out. I also didn't want knee twisting moves. Those don't work on carpet. I worked out in my living room which is small so if you live in a small space this works. Gina is fantastic, very pleasant. This workout has 3 levels...Her "Mum " is in it. I followed her most of the time. I realized how out of shape I have become...The workout is 45 min. and I wanted to stop after 30, but I pushed myself. The moves are fun, not too complicated. The music was great! The songs weren't too long and repetitive which helped me to stay with it. I like this workout because its good for old out of shape people, but will still work for younger more fit and energetic folks. No pounding in this work-out, but I worked up a sweat an d found myself smiling at the end.

Really like it. Easy to follow. Is there any level-up recommended to me?

This was a fun workout for me! It's definitely more a dance workout than a walk, but there is marching in place. I used to workout out to Sweatin' to the Oldies, and Zumba (both as a participant and an instructor). I had to quit instructing due to arthritis in my knees. That took a toll on my mental state too as I loved instructing Zumba. With Dance That Walk, I was able to get some of that back without the impact. I loved getting to dance again, to a variety fo music. If you are familiar with dance steps and their names, this is easy to follow. If you aren't, I could see it would be a little tricky, but hang in there! Have fun, just keep moving and pick things up as you go. The workout is repetitive enough, you'll eventually get it. If not, who cares?! Enjoy the music, the vibe and do your own thing - you're home, no one's watching! I am definitely glad I added this to my rotation.

SMILE – Social Movement Improves Life Everyday is a wonderful concept. The SMILE team’s mission is "to make exercise fun, low impact and accessible for all.” Their other DVD is a dance workout done while seated in a chair – developed out of their experience of teaching ballroom dancing in nursing homes. I am now aware of all this and applaud it, but on my first trial of the workout, I personally found the big SMILE logo on the back wall just (annoyingly) kept making me think of a dental practice! The white setting and bright colors reminded me of children’s TV programs, as did Gina’s incredibly cheery attitude – so if you want to do this workout with your kids, as some reviewers have done, I imagine many children will find it attractive. Sadly, I don't have kids, so I personally found it a bit “over the top.” But I do love the fact that Gina’s Mom is one of the dance demonstrators (someone my age). Most of my workout DVDs are by Americans. I’m Australian, so it was refreshing for me to have a “local” leading the workout. American audiences might well love Gina’s voice, as we are told the Aussie accent is popular in the USA. (It’s not a “broad” accent, so I don’t think there’d be too much difficulty understanding her.) I agree that the title is a little misleading. It’s really not a “Walking Workout” – at least not anything like Leslie Sansone’s. (I have a few of hers, and I think “Dance That Walk” is much more complex.) This is a series of dance steps, interspersed with walking on the spot. If you found the dance steps too difficult, you could walk in place and just enjoy the different paces of music for each track (and the bright, cheerful colors). If you’re not familiar with the dance steps already, it might take a few attempts to get the hang of them, as there is not really any teaching or breaking down of the steps. But that’s the benefit of a DVD – you can go over any section as often as you need. And by not breaking the steps down slowly, the great thing is that this is a non-stop workout from beginning to end. (14 tracks) It takes me about 1 ½ hours to walk 10,000 steps. This workout goes for 45 mins, so the claim that it’s over 5,000 steps seems pretty accurate to me. And, being dance, the pace is faster than I would walk. I definitely worked up a sweat and enjoyed the variety of dances. Congratulations to Gina and her team at SMILE.

I love the video, and even used to follow Gina on fb and Youtube! Sadly, this is the only workout of hers I STILL do and LOVE! I did buy dance that walk 10 min Latin workouts/dances..whatever that one is called..but I never do it anymore either! See, I am 49, now my arthritis and other health issues are very bad, and so I need TRULY low impact only! And this video, this first DANCE THAT WALK, is amazing, fun, TRULY LOW IMPACT, plus still burns calories! And as I said I used to like her other stuff, but it seemed like she started to change, and get in to popularity and typical over the top workouts, and she used to swear by the low impact only, cause as she said back then, it still works, without hurting your joints! I also have pelvic floor issues, so again, everything must remain truly low impact, and this dvd does, and I will forever do it. I truly wish Gina would have stuck to being true to herself, and also staying truly low impact! But I have this original dvd, and will always love it, and always use it! I highly recommend it, just not any of her other dvd's nor that you follow her on fb or You tube, as again i feel she has changed, and her workouts are definitely not low impact anymore as well! I hope this helps. :)