What you’ll definitely need: WATER!! And plenty of it! Also, a little room to dance around in. Of course, the workouts and the toning sticks are provided for you.

What might need: Since the toning sticks are crazy light (1 lb. each ??), you may want to throw on a pair of weighted hand gloves if you have them. I’ve also tried just using regular hand weights but at the fast pace of this workout and since the toning workout is “dancey,” they were a little difficult to handle. (Not impossible, but difficult.)

The workouts are a lot of fun. The basics “workout” isn’t really a workout but breaks down the moves using a 3-step process working up to the full dance move. (I’d break it down but there’s 20+ moves) This is about an hour but, I feel, well worth the watch, even if you are a seasoned dance dvd phenom. And if not, the moves are super easy.

The other actual workouts, of course, use the moves from “basics” but I was pleasantly surprised that were more styles of dancing included other than Latin. Cardio Party has an “American Mix” section that features a bit of country dancing and an ode to 1950s Americana. (Still need a mental picture? Think of the dance stylings of the movie, “Grease.”) There’s also some African steps that are really fun, too (you’ll see them in Zumba Sculpt and Tone and in Zumba Live). You’ll also see some bellydance (sort of) .

A few things that might trip you up: the cueing, though not terrible, could be a bit better. During the “basics” workout, Tanya (??), the girl who co-hosts the workout with Beto, says to just keep to beat. This tidbit really comes in handy because there are a few (VERY few but noticable) editing issues. So you might think you’re on the wrong foot when in reality, the editor messed up. But no worries, the scene will cut and everything is back to normal. (In other words, just keep in step with the beat of the music and eventually, you and those working out of the dvd will be back in unison.) Lastly, Beto has a REALLY rich accent so it can be sort of hard to pick what he’s saying at first. I found, after doing the workouts a while, my ear has become more apt at understanding him–so maybe it will for you, too.

A couple of personal pet-peeves: the toning sticks. They seemed like a great idea but the constant raddling kind of started to get on my nerves. Also after each routine, there’s this pause to introduce the next routine. I’m not really sure about how I feel about this because sometimes I think “thank goodness, I thought I was gonna die.” But other times I feel like the breaks just slow down the workout. Jury’s still out on that one.

Overall: What else can I say that I haven’t already. I really dug this workout. ‘Nuff said.

*Side note: I know there has been some debate over price on this item. I love this workout and bought this from Amazon (only 60 bucks + free shipping at the time), but seriously, it’s really not worth spending over $100 for.
Rating: 5 / 5

fitness
Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation System DVD Set.

fitness
Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation System DVD Set.

fitness
Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation System DVD Set.

fitness
Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation System DVD Set.

fitness
Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation System DVD Set.