Exercise Video Review: Fat Burning Workout for Dummies with Gay Gasper

Fat Burning Workout for Dummies is different from any other aerobics video I have seen because it teaches the basic steps that form the foundation of aerobics. Only after the steps are thoroughly explained are they combined into routines.

The instructor, Gay Gasper, is enthusiastic and upbeat without being annoying. She doesn't whoop. She explains things very clearly. I've done a lot of exercise videos, and I think she is one of the better instructors I've seen.

She starts off with a 12-minute segment that teaches ten basic aerobics steps. On some of the trickier steps, such as the mambo and the box step (which she calls the jazz square), she starts off the demonstration at half speed. Otherwise, though, she keeps going at a normal aerobics tempo, without pausing or slowing down. Because of that, this section of the video is itself a good warm-up and workout, unlike some videos where the instructors stop moving while they explain something, which makes the videos useless after you have learned the moves. She then combines the steps into five routines, followed by a cool-down routine and a stretch.

This could be a great video for someone who has never done aerobics before, because the steps that you learn here are steps that are used in many different aerobics routines, and after learning them you will be better prepared to try other aerobics videos or classes. At the same time, I think the video is interesting and fast-paced enough to appeal to experienced intermediate-level aerobic exercisers.

It's more varied and more dance-like than Leslie Sansome's walking videos, a popular series, often recommended for beginners, that uses only four steps. If you are someone who likes Sansome's videos and doesn't want anything more complicated, then you might want to avoid Fat Burning Workout. On the other hand, if you are like me and you get bored very quickly with the Sansome videos, you will probably enjoy Fat Burning Workout a lot more.