For four weeks, Just Jhoom! has been putting me through my paces, and it's been immensely refreshing. After a month-long high-impact workout through August, I was after something with a slower pace to ease my muscles and recover some energy, and Just Jhoom! provided it.
But that's not at all to say that it's been a slow month. The routines all have some unique footwork and arm movements, which really sets it apart from generic dance workouts, which I long ago stopped using because they just weren't enough for me anymore. Instead I've found that indie dance workouts - like Just Jhoom! - provide a much better workout through dance than Triple A titles, quite probably because of their niche. And after using three indie dance workouts - Kukuwa, Kelta Fit and now Just Jhoom! - I've also found that indie workouts have cottoned onto something Triple A titles haven't: repeated use. And I don't meant 'every time you do it, you get better', I mean you learn it well enough - which can be just three or four times - that the instruction becomes a hindrance. Having to slow down or stop to be taken through steps you already know is tiresome and lowers the effectiveness of the workout.
None of these indie workouts do this. Like Kukuwa, Just Jhoom! features the instruction separate from the routine itself, meaning that you can just jump straight in once you're confident without having your heart rate drop too far. Instead the slower moves in the sequence let you get your breath back before it picks up again, and there are spoken cues given throughout so you know what's coming next if you are new to it.
Another thing I love about indie workouts is, as I mentioned, niche. Just Jhoom! is a Bollywood dance workout, not just a dance workout, and that gives it some real flavour. Then there's the added fact that it's actual Bollywood routines straight from films, rather than belly dancing, which is a fair description of most other 'Bollywood' dance workouts out there. The music is great, very high-energy, and while most of the movements aren't hard to grasp, they are quite different from typical dance motions.
I used it in my usual manner: learn a routine thoroughly before trying another. I learned the first two on the first day, the third on the fifth, and the fourth routine on the eighth. This means that I get to grips quicker and don't get so frustrated - it's not a race to reach the end of the DVD, it's a workout, and I want to get the best out of it, and spending 20 minutes struggling doesn't do that. So I set out 30 minutes, which gave me the time to truly learn two routines and subsequently get a good, fast-paced cardio workout in. When I learned the third routine, I was already fluent in the first two so I could guarantee a good workout even despite taking the time to learn another, and the same goes for the fourth.
The benefits to using dance workout DVDs this way are that you only spend one day uncertain, and that's the first use. Once you've learned a couple, you can at least do them to your best capacity the next day, and as a supplement while learning a third. No more wasted time.
The next benefit is that it makes the DVD last longer. You don't go through the routines, flail and struggle on them all and decide you don't like them or the DVD and never use it again. It wasn't until the eighth use that I 'completed' the DVD by learning the final routine, and once I'd learned it, I could mix and match easily.
Of all of them, the third routine, Lucky Boy, is my favourite. I love the music, the beat, and the moves, especially the butterfly squat and the give-take kick. Though I am also partial to the boomerang in the second routine, which took me far too long to learn.
The cool-down is nice, too, because while the warm ups feature some dance, the cool down does not, instead it's just stretching with some elements of yoga, which is always good.
All in all, a great month. The movements were unique and a challenge if just because they overruled all the dance experience I have, the music was upbeat and brilliant, the pace was really quite fast and I got a seriously good sweat, and it turned out to be a higher impact workout than I expected it to be. It's true that I'm used to body weight training, kettlebells and HIIT, but taking some time out to do something more fun that still burns calories while giving my weary muscles a rest is a very refreshing change of pace.
I would love to see more of Just Jhoom!, but in my experience, one area indie workouts do fail in consistently is additional content. Generally, they'll only make one DVD, and while it's a strong DVD, there are only so many times you can use it before it gets stale. But I always have my fingers crossed. Just Jhoom! is in a league of its own, and that means there's nothing else like it on the market to even try to measure up.
A full review will be posted next week, but in the mean time, you can get Just Jhoom! on DVD for just £5 on their website for a limited time!
But that's not at all to say that it's been a slow month. The routines all have some unique footwork and arm movements, which really sets it apart from generic dance workouts, which I long ago stopped using because they just weren't enough for me anymore. Instead I've found that indie dance workouts - like Just Jhoom! - provide a much better workout through dance than Triple A titles, quite probably because of their niche. And after using three indie dance workouts - Kukuwa, Kelta Fit and now Just Jhoom! - I've also found that indie workouts have cottoned onto something Triple A titles haven't: repeated use. And I don't meant 'every time you do it, you get better', I mean you learn it well enough - which can be just three or four times - that the instruction becomes a hindrance. Having to slow down or stop to be taken through steps you already know is tiresome and lowers the effectiveness of the workout.
None of these indie workouts do this. Like Kukuwa, Just Jhoom! features the instruction separate from the routine itself, meaning that you can just jump straight in once you're confident without having your heart rate drop too far. Instead the slower moves in the sequence let you get your breath back before it picks up again, and there are spoken cues given throughout so you know what's coming next if you are new to it.
Another thing I love about indie workouts is, as I mentioned, niche. Just Jhoom! is a Bollywood dance workout, not just a dance workout, and that gives it some real flavour. Then there's the added fact that it's actual Bollywood routines straight from films, rather than belly dancing, which is a fair description of most other 'Bollywood' dance workouts out there. The music is great, very high-energy, and while most of the movements aren't hard to grasp, they are quite different from typical dance motions.
I used it in my usual manner: learn a routine thoroughly before trying another. I learned the first two on the first day, the third on the fifth, and the fourth routine on the eighth. This means that I get to grips quicker and don't get so frustrated - it's not a race to reach the end of the DVD, it's a workout, and I want to get the best out of it, and spending 20 minutes struggling doesn't do that. So I set out 30 minutes, which gave me the time to truly learn two routines and subsequently get a good, fast-paced cardio workout in. When I learned the third routine, I was already fluent in the first two so I could guarantee a good workout even despite taking the time to learn another, and the same goes for the fourth.
The benefits to using dance workout DVDs this way are that you only spend one day uncertain, and that's the first use. Once you've learned a couple, you can at least do them to your best capacity the next day, and as a supplement while learning a third. No more wasted time.
The next benefit is that it makes the DVD last longer. You don't go through the routines, flail and struggle on them all and decide you don't like them or the DVD and never use it again. It wasn't until the eighth use that I 'completed' the DVD by learning the final routine, and once I'd learned it, I could mix and match easily.
Of all of them, the third routine, Lucky Boy, is my favourite. I love the music, the beat, and the moves, especially the butterfly squat and the give-take kick. Though I am also partial to the boomerang in the second routine, which took me far too long to learn.
The cool-down is nice, too, because while the warm ups feature some dance, the cool down does not, instead it's just stretching with some elements of yoga, which is always good.
All in all, a great month. The movements were unique and a challenge if just because they overruled all the dance experience I have, the music was upbeat and brilliant, the pace was really quite fast and I got a seriously good sweat, and it turned out to be a higher impact workout than I expected it to be. It's true that I'm used to body weight training, kettlebells and HIIT, but taking some time out to do something more fun that still burns calories while giving my weary muscles a rest is a very refreshing change of pace.
I would love to see more of Just Jhoom!, but in my experience, one area indie workouts do fail in consistently is additional content. Generally, they'll only make one DVD, and while it's a strong DVD, there are only so many times you can use it before it gets stale. But I always have my fingers crossed. Just Jhoom! is in a league of its own, and that means there's nothing else like it on the market to even try to measure up.
A full review will be posted next week, but in the mean time, you can get Just Jhoom! on DVD for just £5 on their website for a limited time!
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