Kathy smith flex appeal - a belly dance workout review and Ansuya
Today I tried Kathy Smith Flex Appeal - A belly dance workout. I had read some mixed reviews about it, but I wasn’t looking for anything ambitious–just a kind and gentle workout that would get me moving. Since I am in no position to judge, I will not comment on Kathy’s belly dancing technique. This was the first Kathy Smith dvd I’ve tried, and I found her to be a thorough and enthusiastic fitness instructor.
The first 20 minutes was the ’slow and sensual’ routine, teaching the basic steps. These are the moves that make you feel like you’re toning, including snake arms, full body undulations, hip drops, hip circles, and hip and shoulder shimmies. None of the moves were done long enough to really challenge though.
This was followed by a 3 minute routine by Ansuya, who was amazing, pulling together the steps that we had just practiced. On this dvd, Ansuya is just one of the back up dancers, but in real life, she is a professional belly dancer and superstar. Actually, most of the backup dancers seemed quite talented, but they were stuck in the back unfortunately.
The next 20 minutes was the ‘fast routine’. As the title indicates, this part moves quickly, but overall I was able to keep up quite easily (–and gained 600 steps on the pedometer!) She finishes up with a 10 minute ‘flex appeal’ stretching routine, which combines yoga and pilates style stretches with a twist. There is also a 5 minute tutorial with Ansuya and Kathy. Overall this workout was fun and got me moving, and I finished feeling ‘refreshed and rejuvenated’, as promised.
I’m also glad that I tried this dvd so that I had a chance to learn about the talented Ansuya. I hope you enjoy this sample of her beautiful and creative art.
When a workout is fun it always helps out
This sounds like fun to me. I’ve done martial arts for 15 years and I run, but after awhile you need to switch workouts because your body gets too used to what you’ve been doing and plateaus. Maybe I should rent this DVD through Netflix and see how it works out.
I would love to study martial arts! Belly dance is a body mind workout as well, and fun too. The first workout disks I started with, and that I still enjoy are by Dolphina. You can find out about her at http://www.goddesslife.com/.
I also enjoy the Amira Mor Belly Dance your way to a total feminine body workout that I reviewed on this blog. (For me, that one has been the most challenging-it really works the torso!)
There have been other very popular belly dance dvds that I’ve tried that I really didn’t enjoy or get into at all (I just don’t review those ones…), so I think it’s a personal thing. I hope that this one will inspire you, or that you will find one that does!
bellydancing is sexy and good for you? awesome!