Pump It Up: Dance Mix (A Review)
Sunday, January 6th, 2008A few weeks ago I wrote about some new workout dvds that were about to be released. Since then I bought one of them, the Ministry of Sound’s Pump It Up Dance Mix.
I was confident in the quality of this dvd before my purchase having enjoyed previous Ministry of Sound workouts in the past. I was looking forward to working out to recent dance hits like Let Me Think About It and The Creeps.
The workout is presented by choreographer Gareth Walker (who has recently worked with Take That), and three sexy girls. Sure there wasn’t a man with an afro this time around, but I couldn’t help being enthused by Gareth’s effervescent and camp personality. He was also a great instructor, and I found myself following his dance combos fairly easily. I would say that this video isn’t for someone who doesn’t like dancing or is completely new to exercise, as it’s fairly high-impact and fast-moving video. I definitely felt like I was one of the sexy girls dancing in a music video while dancing along with Gareth (or a sexy girl dancing at a gay club, which is just as much fun)!
The vid was arranged into six sections: a warm up, toning section, three dance mixes and an abs/cool down section. The dance mixes become progressively harder, but they’re not impossible. The basic move during the dance mixes was a “strut” - a brisk sexy walk. Gareth would demonstrate a move while the girls behind him strutted, then he’d call everybody to follow him, so we kept our heart rates up between moves. He broke down the dance combos into smaller chunks, then put them together for a full routine.
You could tell that Gareth had put a lot of his personality into the moves that he choreographed for this video. There were some very sexy moves, and some girly ones. He encourages us to flick our hair at every opportunity…
Here’s a clip of one of my favourite routines, danced to Don’t Mess with My Man by Booty Luv. We flick our hair, say no to a boy, then beckon to him. Another move is a sexy pose for the paparazzi… Observant London-lovers can also catch a glimpse of Tower Bridge in a background on the side-angle shots.
My only criticism of this video would that were a couple of instances when the camera focused on the girls’ legs when a full view would have been more appropriate for the move that they were performing. As this workout doesn’t include resistance training (apart from the brief ab section) you should also do some other resistance work with weights, etc. as appropriate to have a complete workout regime.
Judging by the reviews on its Amazon listing, this seems to be the kind of video that you either love or hate…
Urban Recluse Rating: 
5:21 am on 7-Jan-08
I liked the ‘Visual Aids’ bouncing around with him(loved the blue one) , but I couldn’t stand the Dance Dance Revolution song (circa 1998). I’m joking about the song. Hey, that clip almost got me out of my chair and dancing right along.
1:32 am on 10-Jan-08
Hi Semaj, the girl in blue is also my favourite.
11:52 am on 14-Jan-08
hii everyone this dvd made me loss 4 stoone
i was realli chuffted and am still trying to loss 2 stone
because i want to have a nice figure for my prom hehe x
9:55 pm on 14-Jan-08
3:44 pm on 1-Feb-08
4:09 pm on 1-Feb-08
Hey Vicki, you’re lucky, when I was in school our PE wasn’t always fun. I liked trampolining though.
1:42 pm on 28-Mar-08
miss deborahh can i ask how long it took u to lose the 4 stones please???
6:27 pm on 31-Mar-08
Hi Leeds, I’m pretty sure that Deborahh was joking, not least because her comment was made only a few weeks after the dvd was released…
4:31 pm on 12-May-08
Bit of a late comment. I bought this dvd as soon as it came out to lose my post pregnancy weight. Havin 2 kids means i cant jus jump up n head 2 the gym, plus i missed my nights in the clubs. This dvd and its great music helped 2 create the feeling that i was out dancing with my friends, while at the same time helping me lose weight. I combine this dvd with darcey bussells pilates for a weeks exercise
1:32 am on 15-May-08
Glad it’s helped you, it’s a great workout.
7:46 pm on 1-Jun-08
This workout is sooo hard, i dont think its ment for a smoker like me.
The girls energy just makes you want to get up and dance. I prefair the first Pump it up rather then this one, but its always fun.
7:16 pm on 17-Sep-08
i lost 1/2 a stone in 2 weeks cos of this dvd! it’s A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! people have instantly noticed the weight loss! Im totally hooked!