Greg Twombly, Sharon McCaffrey
Two complete workouts - workout 1 with Greg, naturally, is a winner - his warm-ups are like a low impact mini-workout - your heartrate goes up right away. He does 38 minutes of hi/lo that is mostly hi. Lots of turns, pivots, jacks, sashays, plyometrics - he makes every workout a lot of fun. I can't say enough about Greg. I love every one of his workouts on every CIA tape he has ever done. After the hi/lo comes a very short (4 minute) ab workout that was quite good - I did it twice to extend it.
Workout 2 - I just watched about 10 minutes of this "weird" workout (I can't call it a workout) - it was yoga on the step - strange - not cardio at all - most participants I've ever seen on a CIA. I am not going to waste my precious time and do this "workout." The tape is worth it just for Greg.
Instructor comments: Greg is the best male hi/lo instructor I have ever seen. I would love for him to do a step workout.
Maryann Parker
12/3/97
I totally agree with Maryann--I had a blast with Greg's hi lo workout. Even though Greg says early on "I'm not a dancer", nevertheless his lighthearted combos reminded me of Kari Anderson's recent work--the music was the same of one of her Great Moves tapes, I think, and that reinforced the comparison. Greg's workout is easily worth the price of the video. I did wish I had a bit more room in my workout area, though.
Sharon's step workout almost defies description. I found myself just staring at the TV--what was this? I might call some of the moves "yoga inspired" but this is nothing like any yoga workout I have ever seen. Sharon does the workout with bare feet. I tried it that way, and was very uncomfortable. I guess I just decided that step and yoga must be mutually exclusive. The workout stressed me out rather than relaxing me. I give Sharon credit for trying something different, but unfortunately, I don't think it works.
I'll keep this one for Greg's workout, but I'm afraid I won't be doing Sharon's again.
Wendy Niemi Kremer
1/23/98
Greg has again put together an excellent
high/low workout (60 minutes). I love the
way he incorporates high intensity with
athletic-style moves that are interesting
but not dancy. This is not my all-time
favorite Greg workout, but it's right up
there. Grade A+.
The second part is Sharon McCaffrey with an
odd routine called Step Trance-n-Dance. It's
supposed to be step and yoga combined. I
didn't care for it -- I thought it was a little
on the boring side. Grade C.
Instructor comments: I vote for Greg Twombly as president of the
United States.
Annie S.
4-11-98
This workout was a real treat. Usually CIAs take me a long time to learn and I often only do half a workout because I get weary of "taking it from the top" so many times. Well, I got 95 percent of the moves on the first run-through, no previews, no rewinds and I never got bored!
Instead of taking from the top, there are two distinct combo sections. Within the combos, he's constantly inserting new moves in the middle, rather than the end, so the sequence always seems fresh and fun.
I am an advanced exerciser who likes high intensity and moderate choreography. Cathe Friedrich's cooldowns are about as dancy as I ever get. CIA 9003 has lots of pivots, spins, scoops, ski side to side, half jacks, grapevines, lunges, knee-ups, scissors, all put together so you are moving non-stop. Greg also throws in some high-intensity drills here and there: tuck jumps, plyo jacks, etc. The tape went from an A- to an A+ when he started throwing in heel-jacks. Such a simple move, but nobody does them anymore and they are so much FUN!
I'm looking forward to doing this tape again.
Instructor comments: Greg has a very natural and easy approach to the camera. He cued very well in this tape and was very easy for me to follow. His style is more athletic than dancy.
Daphne Magnuson
5/6/99
