Wedding Blog

This is the first in a series of reviews I’ll be sharing of workout DVDs. I easily get bored at the gym, so I’ve grown to love the variety of workout DVDs. I went on an Amazon and Collage spree several months ago and bought a bunch of different DVDs to try. Over the next few months, I’ll be reviewing them for Weddingbee readers who want to tone up before the big day.

The first DVD I tried was The Bollywood Dance Workout. I was so excited to try this DVD! It’s an exercise DVD that incorporates bhangra dance into a cardio workout. For those who aren’t familiar with bhangra, it’s fast-paced Indian dance music with a great drum beat (download Punjabi MC and Jay-Z’s Mundian To Bach Ke/Beware of the Boys for a great example of bhangra + hip hop).

I popped in the DVD, pushed my furniture out of the way, and sent Mr. Jasmine away so I could dance like no one was watching

The host of the Bollywood Dance Workout is Hemalayaa, an upbeat instructor who loves to encourage viewers to “shimmy, shake, and play” to the bhangra beat. Although she’s a bit cheesy, she gets major points from me for having a real-woman’s body. She has curves, even a bit of a tummy, and she looks fantastic. She starts with a nice warm-up, leads the viewer through several dance routines, mixes in a freestyle bhangra session, and closes with some relaxing yoga-inspired stretching. The dance routines involve some dance moves she calls “feeding the chickens” and the “gorilla walk”, which will definitely make you feel like an idiot. And that’s before she asks you to do the running man. Let’s just say I was really glad I didn’t have a roommate to witness my sad, uncoordinated hip-shaking. But it was also really fun to be so silly and the music was upbeat– I actually had a really great time. And while I wouldn’t call the workout extremely intensive, I was definitely sweating and had a bit of soreness the next day.

The Bollywood Dance Workout is not for someone looking for a high-impact cardio workout. But it’s really fun and could be a great DVD to try if you like global dance/music and want something unique to mix up for your gym routine.

Image courtesy of Amazon