Workout Review – Seasun Zieger: Straight Up Step

So this video isn’t exactly new since it was produced in 2006, but I am fairly new to Seasun Zieger so that makes it new to me.   I re-did this DVD earlier this week and realized how much I absolutely love it.  I would have to put it in my Top 3 step videos of all time (with #1 being Cathe’s Step Blast and #3 being Amy Bento’s Advanced Step Challenge 2).

Seasun’s step workouts are not for beginners or the impatient – not because they are extra difficult aerobically but because the choreography is nuts!  I save myself some of the frustration factor by learning the combos one at a time.  I am less annoyed when I take 15 minutes to learn something new as a warmup than when I spend 50 minutes scratching my head and watching my heart rate fall.  I learned this workout combo by combo until I had it down.

This is Seasun’s third and best (IMO) step video.  The combos are packed with interesting moves and well put together.  The music is instrumental stuff but it has a great beat to me and each combo flows perfectly with each song.  This was a real problem for me in her last video, The Next Step.  The music there was really awkward and I felt offbeat at times because there was no beat in the song.

Seasun created a really aerobically tight routine in this video.  It starts off easy and each combo layers on the difficulty.  Seasun cut way down on a lot of the fun but not particularly challenging turns featured in The Next Step.  This was a good thing because I was sweating like crazy by the middle of the second combo.  At the end of the video, I felt like killing her when she goes through the routine one more time LOL!  Overall though, it was the perfect intensity for me – doable but challenging.

I thought Seasun really shined as an instructor in this video too.  In her first effort, Rock Steady Step, she comes across a little cold and almost annoyed at times.  She is still a fairly straightforward instructor which I don’t mind at all.  However, she was a lot more personable this time around – joking about messing up and being a mother to three boys.  Her cueing is on point – the moves are just complicated.  I think she did a lot better job breaking down the harder moves this time by starting with an easy version and progressing to the more complex one.  Seasun still moves quickly though – the rewind button is your friend!

The workout runs about 55 minutes including warmup and cooldown.  It features 3 step combos and then Seasun runs through all three combos spliced together about 4 times at the end.  If you love step and want to be challenged, give this one a try.

Note: I emailed Seasun through YouTube (since she hasn’t produced a new video in 2 years).  She is planning to get back in front of the camera late this year or early next year.  Yeah!