Marcus Irwin
Instructor Comments: Marcus is just so charming, and an outstanding instructor to boot. He breaks down complex routines in such an easy-to-understand way. I think he might be the male equivalent of Christi Taylor.
Before I start gushing over this video, let me warn you that the sound quality is horrible, and the video quality only a little better, so if this will bother you, please don’t get this workout. But if you’re willing to look past those things, this is one gem of a video. It is meant to teach instructors choreography, so it doesn’t have a warmup or cooldown. It actually has 25 routines (each numbered on your screen so you can keep track), and is divided into 3 sections. Section 1 is the least level of complexity, and Section 3 is the most complex. These high/low routines vary in length, and the total workout time is about an hour and 6 minutes. There are 8 combos in Section 1, 8 in Section 2, and 9 in Section 3.
I would equate Section 1 as equivalent in complexity to High/Lo Heaven’s first part, and Section 2 as equivalent to the second part. Section 3 is a even a little more complex, but the way Marcus teaches it, it is completely do-able. If you can do High/Lo Heaven, you can do this. The overall intensity is not as high as High/Lo Heaven, but I really don’t mind at all. Intensity-wise it ranges from intermediate to advanced. Anyway, with a full hour+ of aerobics, we need a break from the advanced!
This is a great tape for a non-work day, because you’ll want to add stretching at the end, making it a longer workout than usual (probably). I find I really don’t need to add a warmup, because the first couple of routines are more intermediate, and that serves as a warmup for me.
Now for production. The music is great – not as good as Christi’s, but very good. You can hear the music okay, but Marcus’ words get muffled a lot. He talks loud enough, but it sounds like someone put a handkerchief over his mouth. You will most likely end up doing the video on visual cues for the most part, because you won’t always be able to make out what he says. But it’s still not hard to follow, really, because he is one of those instructors whose routines "flow" and you’re just doing what feels right. Picture quality is okay, sort of, but I wouldn’t call it good. It is better than many of the Sara’s City videos.
You can guess my "grade" for this workout is an A. I’d give it an A+ if the production were better. For anyone interested, I got mine at homeworkout.com.
Annie S.
Ann.s@worldnet.att.net
12-11-00
This is from Marcus' second set of Choreography 2 Go tapes. It is not the best produced tape, and I normally care about production values, but I still love this hi/lo workout.
I like the way Marcus presents his choreography. Fast! I get bored so easily, and I cannot stand TIFTing except in very small doses. There is no TIFTing in this video. Once you know a combo it is gone. He might bring back parts of it, to change a little and add to another combo, but there is no taking it from the top.
Marcus presents 25 combos in this video, however many of these combos are only 16 counts. (For comparison, many if not most videos present at least 32 count combos.) I would prefer if there were more 32 count combos, and wouldn't mind if he at least put 2 of his shorter combos together more often, but I prefer this method definitely over endless TIFTing.
For a tape made for instructors, this is actually very well balanced between left and right. Not perfectly, but close enough. Marcus is good at both cueing and teaching, which in my mind are different things. When he is teaching he layers things nicely, so you can stick with the easier move if you want.
The intensity of this workout is pretty moderate, and the impact is more low than hi. I modify it up a bit when I want a more intense workout, or I leave it as when I need something lower impact. I tend to accept that hi/lo is usually going to be done on my less intense days, and so I don't mind the lower intensity.
The style of this video is dancy with lots of mambo's, cha-chas, stomps and pivots. It is not very funky though, for which I am grateful. Like all of his routines, this one really flows well.
I like the music on this tape. Unfortunately, the sound quality is not great, but when I turn my TV up, I can hear the music and it does make me want to move.
Marcus is extremely charming and fun to work out with. He laughs at himself and his crew a lot during the workout. You can also catch him humming the songs and his cues on occasion, similar to Christi Taylor. He reminds me of her in more ways than one.
Instructor comments:
Lisa C.
5/15/03
