Hot Dance and Mighty Bands are two complete workouts. The first is high-impact; the other is high-intensity. Each has a different instructor and stands alone with its own warm-up, cooldown and stretch. Hot Dance is led by Dori Sanchez and features Cher's personal Body Confidence -- she works out in a black fishnet sequined body stocking. In both the eight-minute warm-up and the 24-minute aerobic routine, diverse moves are slowly introduced and strung together, linked by the "break." Both routines are very repetitious. When the cooldown arrives at the 32-minute mark, you're eager for some new moves. Although Dori puts some dance flavor into the steps, she's not a motivating instructor. She rarely smiles or looks at the camera. The music is motivating, but so loud that Dori's cues sometimes can't be heard.

Mighty Bands was designed so Cher could develop upper body strength without using what she refers to as "frightening weights." Cher gets one-on-one personal training from Karen Andes for this 45-minute workout. Alternating between upper and lower body exercises, Karen uses wide exercise bands for squats, lunges and shoulder, back, biceps, chest and calf exercises. No abs -- very unusual for a toning tape! In Mighty Bands the reps are not in sync with the music which is so loud that often you can't hear Karen when she instructs or counts. Karen also talks directly to Cher, not to the camera. Cher's jokes and comments might distract Karen, because she often loses count of the reps. Because the sets can range from 8 to 24 reps, you may find yourself wondering "When is this set going to end?" There is not enough time to get set up in the starting position for a new exercise and not enough instruction about using bands properly. Bands apply resistance to the muscles differently from dumbbells, so experience with bands is needed for this workout.

Two sisters, Alison and Shannon, team teach this dynamic and fun advanced floor aerobics workout. Shannon jumps right into the lively 144 bpm warm-up with enthusiasm and high energy. She smoothly introduces steps, changes them slightly, and rearranges their order without ever missing a cue -- a good preview of what's to come for the next 57 minutes.

The main workout is four separate blocks where the sisters trade off the lead every few minutes. Alison starts each combo, teaching a few steps, combining them, then taking it from the top (TIFTing). Shannon does the same, then they combine both parts by slicing and dicing and TIFT the new combo three times. Each block takes about 10 minutes, and after the last TIFT you won't see it again. The music gradually speeds up with each block too so by the last one you're zooming along at 160 bpm (jogging speed). This block format makes it so easy to do as much as you have time for. You can make it a 20, 30, 40 or 50 minute workout.

The patterns are easy to learn, as both of sisters do an excellent job of teaching and cueing. They warn you when they're combining something differently, point in the direction you're going, and tell how many more you'll do verbally and by holding up fingers. They combine many interesting moves that flow together well, like three ham curls/run/run, a six-count double reverse mambo, kick/cha-cha/v-step, squat/hesitate, step/knee lift/rock back, jazz square/three knees and many more. The workout does take quite a bit of room as one block has a double walk forward and back while another has a double grapevine and a third has a grapevine and three ponies in the same direction. They add impact and a few turns, but those moves never take over the workout and they are easy to ignore if you need to keep impact low or don't like twirling around. One of the three women behind them always does the low-impact version. (Often she looks like she's doing the low-energy version too!) They do lots of clapping which can be quite energizing...it feels like a live class.

After the fourth block Alison teaches a fast-paced three minute higher-impact sprint, then Shannon leads the short cool down which can also be used as the warm-up for the Power Mat Science portion if you do this section separately. But there are no leg stretches here, so if you're stopping for the day, add your own.

The 23-minute Power Mat Science section is taught by Shannon, with Alison showing an easier version of each exercise. They do the usual Pilates exercises, the Hundred, scissors, bicycles, swimming, leg circles and planks with yoga poses sprinkled in and a 4-minute total body stretch at the end.

Donna's poured her trademark energy and enthusiasm into this rotation of three very different workouts: Circuit Toning, Kick & Jab, and her specialty, Dance Aerobics. With short warm-ups and final stretches, each 20-minute workout can stand alone, but they go by so quickly that you'll find it easy to do two or three if you have the time. Donna is a terrific instructor, an excellent cuer and a bundle of energy. You go girl!

Donna doesn't waste a minute during the Circuit Toning. You'll move quickly through short 8-rep sets of seven upper body and ten lower body exercises. Weight training experience is needed for this workout, because in each set you're often testing your balance and core strength by alternating two moves (lat row and overhead press, squats and outer thigh lifts), or combing upper and lower moves (squats and triceps press, biceps and glute lifts). Five sets of ab crunches end the workout.

Next you're on to Kick & Jab-kickboxing, Donna-style. With her usual sparkle and spunk she warms you up, then turns sideways into a fighting stance to lead you through a series of alternating punching and kicking drills. While Donna shows good form, not much time is spent teaching form so this section works best for intermediates with some kickboxing experience. However, the tempo is a leisurely 126 bpm, so you can punch (with jabs, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts) and kick (side and front) with out feeling rushed, losing your balance or sacrificing your form. You may not stay aerobic the entire 20 minutes, but you should work up a good sweat as you activate every muscle in your body.

Dance Aerobics is Donna's party time. Although the tempo is only 128 bpm, if you let your hips gyrate and your shoulders shimmy like Donna and her crew, and add a bit of "flavor" to standard aerobic moves you'll get a surprisingly thorough total body workout. Donna loves to add sass and attitude to ordinary low-impact moves. Side-to-side walks turn into double drags. Double taps to the side turn into double pumps forward with a booty, booty back. Every foot move has a corresponding arm move like sizzling hands, jazz arms or an arm circle that smoothes back your hair. You'll want to roll up the carpet for this one, as there are lots pivots and tiny foot moves. This is definitely an aerobic workout that will put you in a party mood if you join Donna by liberating your hips and shoulders and "gettin' down."

DVD version includes advanced versions of all three workouts.

Energetic and easy-to-follow aerobics in the morning, well-balanced total body strength training in the evening, that's how Gay envisions you fit these short A.M - P.M. workouts into your busy schedule. Of course these two workouts can also be alternated daily. Gay's excellent instruction and the shortness of each workout make this video a good choice for beginners who are ready for more challenge. More experienced exercisers can combine the AM and PM for an easy-day or maintenance day workout.

The A.M. Aerobics workout has a spirited warm up with dynamic stretches, a proper cooldown and good final stretch. It's a great 35-minute workout for those days when you need to wake up, or revitalize your day, or work off some stress but don't want to think too hard about footwork. Gay keeps the choreography very simple as she builds, a few steps at a time, a low-impact routine of 16 moves. She's very encouraging, points in the direction you're supposed to move, cues every step and never misses a cue. After you've learned the routine, you take it from the top six times. In this peak aerobic push you're moving at a faster pace of 140 bpm. If you like complicated choeography this one won't challenge you. However if you like the satisfaction of practicing a smoothly designed routine, you can work up a good sweat by getting into the rhythm of this routine and making your movements as big as possible. Adam, Gay's exercise buddy, demos more athletic moves while she sticks with the basics. Gay has great rapport with the camera and her audience. You feel like she's talking directly to you and knows exactly when you need to be encouraged or praised.

Gay and Adam are joined by Frank (a well-developed bodybuilder) for the 34-minute P.M. Strength Training workout. After another thorough warm up with dynamic stretches, three lower body exercises -- stationary lunges, squats and plies -- are sprinkled among the upper body sets. Back, chest, shoulders, triceps, and biceps are worked in this order for two back-to-back sets, using either dumbbells or tubing. The sets usually start with 4 slow (up 2, down 2) reps followed by 8 up-to-tempo (up 1, down 1) reps. The abs get a thorough workout with four types of crunches, followed by the final stretch.

Note: If the backdrop for the workout is important to you, be warned that the set is dark. While the spotlighting on Gay and her workout pals is fine -- you can easily see every move they make -- the background is black. Two blue signs in the upper corners advertise Nutrabody and the parent company. They're not huge, and I barely noticed them when I concentrated on Gay, who's so encouraging and dynamic.

If you like Kathie Lee's chatty style, you'll like this workout designed for busy mothers and women over 40. Kathie Lee doesn't lead the exercises; she lets her trainer C.B. do an excellent job of that. But, she does interject many off-hand comments to her sister and two friends throughout, just as if she's on TV chatting with Regis. Five toning intervals alternate with five fast-paced aerobic intervals during the 25 minutes of interval training. In each aerobic interval one simple arm movement combines with one non-impact foot pattern and repeats for a full minute with no changes. The two upper body dumbbell toning intervals work the biceps and shoulders first, then the triceps and shoulders. The lower body toning sets use only body weight for squats, in-place lunges and leg lifts. Five and a half minutes of ab crunches ends the workout.

C.B. does a terrific job of instructing, cuing both positioning and breathing, counting reps, cuing upcoming changes and warning how many reps you have left. She and the class demonstrate excellent form and show beginner modifications for both aerobics and toning. However, the repetition of 70 to 80 identical arm movements at a very fast pace during the aerobic intervals is quite tiring for the shoulders, especially when dumbbell toning follows. Beginners may find the repetitiveness of the intervals too strenuous while intermediates may find the lack of variety too boring.

This short, intense interval training workout provides effective cross training for tennis or any stop-and-go sport. As in the (Functionally Fit) Lower Body Firming tape released simultaneously, Kathy is flanked by two beginners on the outside of the screen and two advanced in the middle who demonstrate modifications that Kathy may not mention. After a thorough nine-minute warm-up and stretch, two-minute high intensity "push" intervals alternate with two-minute recovery intervals six times for a 25-minute aerobic workout. A timer flashes on the screen when each two-minute push interval begins and appears twice more to indicate when there is one minute, then thirty seconds to go.

Each push consists of a three- or four-step combination, some of which is previewed in the preceding recovery interval. The combinations are easy to learn and well-cued. The "functional" leg toning in the recovery intervals includes squats, one-legged squats, dips, balance work and plies. The torso gets three routines for flexibility. The final stretch on the floor is a routine worth memorizing and incorporating into a cooldown after sports activity, walking or running. The variety and energy in this workout make it demanding yet stimulating. If you're tired of traditional floor aerobic workouts, this interval training workout will give you a lively mix of toning in each recovery phase and aerobic intensity in each work phase.

On Kathy's Super Slimdown Circuit DVD with two toning workouts: Secrets to a Great Upper Body and Secrets to a Great Lower Body.

Leslie uses her Walk-n-Tone belt to add upper body toning to this half-hour two-mile walk. Using her trademark very easy-to-follow low-impact footwork, Leslie constantly varies the walking pace from the warm-up through cool down. After a 5-minute warm-up that starts at a brisk walking pace of 130 bpm, Leslie gradually accelerates the pace for the next ten minutes until you reach about 155 bpm -- power walking pace. You stay at this speed for about 10 minutes before slowing down to a strolling pace (120 bpm and below) for the cooldown. For stretching you're on your own. Leslie's friendly, encouraging style, keeps you moving and burning calories with seven very simple steps: walk in place, walk forward and back, walk with feet wide, side steps, knee lifts, front kicks and kickbacks. Anyone can follow along! If you like complex choregraphy this is not the workout for you. But if you like to keep it simple, Leslie's your gal. She's cheerful, motivating, supportive and down-to earth -- it's like taking a walk with a friend.

Because the Walk-n-Tone belt is worn around your waist and you're constantly moving your feet, the toning moves you can do with it are somewhat limited. Most of the time you're pressing your arms to the front, to the side or overhead, targeting the chest, shoulders and triceps. A few sets of chest flies and triceps extensions are included. The biceps and back get no exercises. Early in the workout the moves are done slowly to a 2-up, 2-down count (one slow rep for every two steps), allowing for good control of the bands. However, once the music reaches its peak, the arm moves speed up to tempo and it's harder to maintain control over the bands. You're better off sticking with the 2-2 count here too. Four women join Leslie for this walk, and one isn't using the belt. If you don't have a belt either, you could substitute a wide exercise band, although you may find that it slides up and down on your back too much, or irritates your underarms if you're wearing a tank top. However, because the walking tempo is so fast, you can do all the arm moves without the belt or a band and still get plenty of aerobic intensity. Save your upper body toning workout for another day -- then you can include the biceps and back too.

According to the flashy red cover, Minna's half-hour Emergency workouts -- a Latin-influenced cardio dance party and total body strength training -- are designed to help anyone get into shape for a special event in just 6 weeks. Promises like this on a video cover can be trouble because "results" and how fast you achieve them depends on so many variables: your starting fitness level, your age, how often you workout, how well you eat, etc, etc. That aside, Minna's friendly enthusiasm and upbeat encouragement makes both workouts quite enjoyable as she challenges your balance and coordination in the strength workout and your agility and rhythm in the cardio workout. Minna's a good instructor too. She previews each new strength exercise by doing one rep slowly and offers frequent form pointers.

The 25-minute salsa cardio party uses both athletic and dancy steps as it varies in tempo from 124 for the warm-up, to 132-136 for the cardio and 110 for the cooldown. The choreography isn't too complicated so Minna encourages you to get your whole body into the act by adding shoulder shimmies and plenty of hip action. Boogie jacks, mambo shakes, and cha-chas on your toes make it feel like a dance party -- similar to Donnamite. The footwork stays close to the ground, with many variations on mambos and cha-chas. Add in pivots and circle turns and this is not a good workout for carpet. You don't need a very big floor space but you do need flexible shoulders and hips.

The 29-minute strength workout can stand alone as it has its own warm up. Minna either pairs up exercises or makes a mini-circuit of 3 or 4. For the first 16.5 minutes squats, lunges and leg lifts are either combined with or alternated with basic upper body exercises. The shoulders get six sets, the back gets nine, biceps, triceps and chest each get a few. Nice to see the posture muscles get much-needed attention. A lot of exercises are packed into a short amount of time, so this section is almost aerobic at the same time that it challenges your balance and coordination. The final 7.5 minutes of toning is done on the floor, starting with triceps dips. Next you do side-lying leg presses, chest flies, pullovers, and about a minute and a half of abs.

Using a variety of basic exercises, Minna has combined two very effective methods of fat burning for this workout: cardio interval training and weight training. Minna quickly wins your confidence with her careful instruction and a friendly and matter-of-fact teaching style in this workout which bridges the gap between beginner and intermediate levels and offers an easy-day interval workout for experienced exercisers.

The cardio section is divided into six 4-minute circuits. Each circuit alternates 1.5 minutes of toning with 2.5 minutes of cardio, all at a constant tempo of 122 bpm. This pace is not especially fast for aerobics, so experienced intermediates and advanced will probably find this workout too easy. However it's similar to Linda Evans - A New You in that it allows enough time to move your muscles through their full range of motion smoothly, with no jerkiness or over extension of the joints. These big, deliberate movements should allow you to maintain fat-burning intensity at the lower end of your training zone or help you ease back into exercise after an injury or vacation. Minna challenges your leg endurance with athletic moves like ski squats, speed skating, plyo jumps and kickboxing. You're doing a mini-squat or quarter squat much of the time, which also ups the intensity for your legs. She increases the cardio intensity every 8 to 16 reps by adding either arm moves or higher impact hops and leaps which can be easily modified if jumping is not for you. In each toning interval Minna sets you in the correct starting positions, explains the exercises fully, and cues all the moves very well. She explains which muscles you're using and reminds you to squeeze them fully to get the maximum benefit out of the toning exercise. The lower body is worked fully with many variations of squats and plies, as well as lunges and calf raises. Because of the slow pace here, you could safely hold weight during these intervals for more intensity. The last three circuits also include a few upper body moves like push-ups and rotator cuff exercises, as well as back extensions. No weights recommended here.

Minna continues her thorough instruction in the 15-minute dumbbell toning segment. First you kneel and tuck the dumbbell behind your knee for glute work, then you fine-tune the glutes with side-lying hip rotations. Next shoulders and upper back get three sets, while triceps and biceps get one each. The twelve rep sets use a slow and controlled lifting pace of up-2, down-2. This deliberate pace allows for heavier dumbbells, making this a good choice for beginners to use to advance to heavy weights and for intermediates to use as maintenance. If you do this segment after the circuit training you have a well-balanced upper body workout. If you do this segment alone you need to add come chest exercises. Abs are worked last with upper, lower, and oblique crunches. Again you focus on the quality of your reps, not the quantity, by using a slow pace.

On Minna's Balanced Blend DVD with her Strength & Grace workout.

The contrast between the high-intensity, high-impact boot camp training and the peaceful, relaxing yoga session on this video is so dramatic that it's difficult to review them together. The Total Body Training starts with 15 minutes of a high-impact, intense aerobics with seemingly endless sets of jumping jacks and very simple step choreography--so basic and repetitive that it's boring. Multiple long sets of jacks or repeater steps are alternated with boxing-type bounces on the floor. Upper body toning follows with five sets of push-up variations alternated with light dumbbell sets for biceps and triceps, shoulders and upper back. Next, you do another 60 plie squats and 60 reverse lunges before getting down to the floor for fire hydrants (haven't seen those in a while--they're considered risky for the lower back), press-outs and outer thigh lifts. Now you're ready for abs! First, you do 114 upper crunches nonstop, with variations only in the tempo of the lifts. Then it's obliques, more upper crunch variations and just one set of lower ab crunches. Keith must assume he's teaching advanced exercisers because he moves from one exercise to the next with little instruction or cuing. However, he does give plenty of encouragement in his breathy voice. He often jumps down from his platform to stand between the two women and check their form. Keith's hyper-active coaching style, the relentless tempo of the repetitive exercises and the poor quality sound track doesn't motivate me, but it might work for advanced exercisers who need a drill sergeant to keep them going at warp speed.

The Ishta Yoga session is at the opposite end of the style and mood spectrum. It's quite mellow and relaxing. Courtney shows the flexibility and strength that yoga can produce as she methodically performs a strenuous yoga routine. The poses are held briefly and flow together smoothly. A calm, soothing voice-over cues the poses, positioning details and breathing. Once you've done the workout a few times, these clear instructions allow you to move through the poses without the need to watch the screen. Filmed with the Utah desert canyon lands as the backdrop, the workout ends with the relaxation pose as clouds drift by and night approaches. Unfortunately, you miss this scenery if you close your eyes and truly relax. If you buy this tape for the yoga, you should have some yoga experience and a good deal of flexibility. It's not for beginners.

Karen Voight designed this one-on-one training session for Elle Macpherson to burn calories and build strength by alternating aerobic intervals with long intervals of muscle endurance weight training. The first two cardio intervals are each about four minutes long and use big arm movements, moving squats and traveling steps. The last 8-minute aerobic routine is high-impact with lots of bouncing around on the balls of the feet between sports-inspired aerobic patterns from boxing, basketball, skating, football and swimming. This section isn't easy to modify, so if you need to stick to low-impact aerobics, this isn't the tape for you. Every exercise in the 26 minutes of toning uses a chair, except for the push-ups and back extensions. You sit on it to work the quads, calves, shins, triceps, shoulders, back and biceps. You lean on it for triceps dips and kneel over it for hamstring curls and presses. You lie on the floor with your feet propped on it for many variations of ab crunches and pelvic lifts. Karen and Elle do the final stretch sitting on a rock in the water and are hit by waves as the credits run. All these final stretches start from a cross-legged position which calls for a good amount of hip, back and knee flexibility.

Karen and Elle seem to be having fun during this personal training session, but the entire workout feels rushed--as if they had only one day for filming. Karen is known for her excellent instruction and cuing, so the quick transitions between exercises with scarcely any set up time, the lack of stretching between intervals and the minimal instruction is a surprise. Because of its higher aerobic impact and long sets of dumbbell toning, this workout is best suited for experienced intermediate and advanced exercisers. This workout is out-of-print now. You may find it used.