Island Girl Dance Fitness Workout For Beginners: Cardio Hula / Hula Abs & Buns Set

Even though I had previously watched a demo of this on Youtube, I was surprised that I liked doing the workout as much as I did (still do) and I love pretty much the whole series. This is a great product for those who might be a bit lazy or struggle with motivation such as myself, just starting off with exercise, or hoping to do something mellow a few days out of the week. If done correctly, you get a mix of low-impact cardio in and also muscle toning, though this would not be ideal for someone who is looking for any intense calorie burning alone. This has also really helped my bad lower back area out tremendously and I often feel energized once I'm done.I tend to be lazy and get bored quickly with any and all exercise; however, I love dance-related workouts because they manage to make things fun and not just your cookie-cutter aerobics workout, and I think it's good to mix up your routines every now and then. In fact, when I'm feeling the least motivated, I just pop in an Island Girl disc and let the music play, then I'm suddenly all over it.The Island Girl series not only manages to keep things fun and has makes the time go by fast, but you even get a little bit of a sweat from it and feel it working your muscles. The scenery is beautiful and the women are realistically healthy-looking, which I also happen to find inspiring. I've been seeing results, especially where the obliques (love handle zone) are concerned as well as with other parts of the body, and relatively quickly, too. Even better is the fact that it doesn't feel like you're working out, making it so you're unlikely to give up halfway through.I do have some dance background from my youth, but little-to-no experience where this type of dance is concerned. It's a bit like belly or Latin dancing with the use of figure-eights and so on, which I also sometimes do, and does take a little getting used to, but if you just do what feels right you'll eventually get the hang of it. If you struggle with it, try doing the routine all the way through as best you can, and then practice in the mirror or on your own. Everyone that I've gotten in on this comments that once they get the hang of it they catch themselves doing it while doing other things about the house, which I am in the habit of as well.This set in particular is well-made, giving you the option to select parts where you want to start off. For instance, you can easily skip the introduction or move on to just the final routine if you wish to. You can also select for the disc to play without narration and music-only. Although the instructions and editing are not perfect, Kili gives far better cues and instruction than many of the other dance-type workouts that I have and seems easy to follow.

I bought this because my mother has been taking Tahitian Dance, and she raves about what a great workout it is. I couldn't find any decent classes nearby, so I saw this and figured it was worth a try - for the price, what did I have to lose?I wasn't expecting a whole lot for 2 reasons:1. I get easily bored by repetitive work out/cardio videos.2. While I've not really done Island/Tahitian dance, I've taken dance classes and Hip Hop for years, so I was a bit worried because the videos are listed as "for beginners".Well, I was pleasantly surprised! It wasn't the most intense work out ever, but I definitely felt it in my legs, and I broke a little sweat. Most importantly it was FUN. The time just flew by.It seems like beginners would be able to pick it up pretty easily - though I might not be the best judge, since I dance already.I loved it, though it would be awesome if there were Intermediate and Advanced levels available as well.EDIT:While I still agree with the above, I have one gripe about these videos. The music was probably dubbed over after the workout was recorded, and at times the movements Kili & Co. are doing don't sync up rhythmically with the music track. As a dancer that is really annoying. It's impossible for me to dance off rhythm. I have to stop watching her and do the dance movements whilst just listening to the music.This is only noticeable when they perform the full out dance sequences. During the work out/step instruction it seems to sync fine.For beginners, especially if someone is "rhythmically challenged" and hoping to learn/improve rhythm, this is not going to be helpful.The "workout" is still fun, easy, and low-impact. Just be aware that when you are doing the full-out routines, if you're in sync with Kili the whole time, there will be times when you're actually off-rhythm.

these are 2 fun work outs, they really do work your muscles and help you loose weight if that is your goal. however the instruction is very poor. you go from a basic step to a difficult variation with out any instruction on how to do it. in one section you go from a basic Kaholo (hip sways + a step) to a kaholo with level changes with out her actually showing you how to do the level changes. I actually have to stop my work out and watch her carefully over and over in some sections until i figure out how to do it. over all its a nice video once you have the dance down.. but getting there is not easy.

I wanted a low impact dancing cardio that would promote hip flexibility (to minimize hip fracture should I fall...I am 62) as well as increase my cardio/pulmonary endurance in a more gentle manner. IN the beginning, I was only able to do about 10 minutes of this program. After about 3 months, I was able to do the entire program. Now I use the DANCING WITH KILI chapter as a warm-up/cool-down for other programs that focus on lower/upper body strength-training. Sometimes, in the afternoon, I do 10 minutes of hula with Kili simply for the sheer pleasure of moving my hips! In spite of some of the negative reviews on Kili's other hula dvd's, I have purchased all of them! I love the diversity and the fact that I can adapt them to suit my personal needs once the hula 'motions' have been mastered.I have been doing yoga for 5 years and qigong for about 4 years. I was amazed to discover that hula (as done by Kili)allows me to move QI as I dance! I love this aspect of hula! Also, my joints have loosened far more rapidly with hula than they ever did with yoga. I suspect that this might be caused by the fact that yoga was developed for men by men while hula (as taught by Kili) is for a woman's body!