Reebok Step: The Video

Reebok Step: The Video is the oldest workout I still own. I owned this workout on VHS and did it all the time it back in the 1990s–I loved it then. When I saw it was on DVD and I was rehabilitating from my accident 10 years ago, I bought it and did it then. I always enjoy this workout and it always gives me a good cardio workout when I am not at my best. So I pulled it out. Time to revisit it again.

Reebok Step is led by Gin Miller. This workout was my first introduction to Gin. It is filmed very cool, too. Total DVD running time is 59 minutes. The first 3:30 minutes is an intro–so fast forward to 3:30 since this workout isn’t chaptered and there is no menu–it just starts playing when you put it in your DVD player. The workout itself is 46 minutes long and the last 7:30 minutes is Gin showing you how to use a step and demonstrating the basic steps used in the workout. And the final two minutes is credits.

This workout has a very MTV look–or MTV back when it first appeared in the 1980s. It is in an industrial looking setting. The floor is grating with light coming up from under it. There are racks of TVs and on the TVs is Gin’s face cuing the workout. She is doing the workout, too, with the exercisers, but she is not cuing–just doing. That’s not true–Gin does some cuing with hand gestures that accompany TV Gin’s verbal cuing. The Gin on the TV was obviously filmed at a different time. The music is live drummers all dressed in native attire. Something about the setting always reminded me of Madonna’s music video Express Yourself.

It’s been a very long time since I did this workout–at least 8 years. I did it again this morning and it still holds up. I got a great moderate intensity cardio workout. The steps are very basic and Gin cues and teaches the steps very well. Even a beginner should have no problem with the step choreography. The level of the workout would depend on your step height. Mine was at 8 inches and I got a very good workout. Since there is a lot of arm variations, weighted gloves would also increase intensity. The workout is also a slow build. After the warm up you go through a long (and maybe monotonous?) basic step section. Meaning, you only do basic step w/ no changes in foot work–the only thing that changes is arm variations. Once you get past that, it does get more interesting–and the intensity also increases. Oh, and this a low impact workout–so bonus. I do remember when I was new to exercise (1990s)–or actually, returning to exercise after childbirth, this workout would wear me out. I always used an 8 inch step back in those days, so if you are beginner, this may really challenge you. If it is too much, lower your step height! It didn’t wear me out this morning, but it did give me a very good workout. My current fitness level has declined since starting chemo but it was nice to know it hasn’t declined so far that I found this workout killer. However–this is a good day for me (nearly two weeks since last chemo infusion). This would probably have been a lot harder for me in the week after an infusion.

Reebok Step: The Video is 46 minutes long; 8 minute warm up, 29:30 minutes step cardio (the last 2:30 minutes is a cool down), 6 minutes conditioning and 2:30 minute stretch. During the step cardio, there are two breaks for heart rate checks.

Here are the steps that appear in the workout in the order they appear. But many of them appear more than once, especially when Gin builds basic combos (for example she will add a 3 knee repeater to another basic step). There is nothing complex in this workout. Very basic step athletic step choreography and low impact. The workout starts easy with basic step and different arm movements (this is the long segment). Add jacks on the floor (still doing basic step w/ arm combos). Over the top. V-step. Step w/ knee raise.  Knee repeaters. A repeater combo doing one knee, one side leg raise and one hamstring curl. Front kicks w/ lunge back. Side steps. Turn steps. Over the top w/ knee raises. Rocking horse (though she doesn’t call it that). Lunge side to side off step. Straddle steps. Straddle steps w/ knee lifts.

For the conditioning, you do push ups with hands on step (3 sets of 8 reps), tricep dips off step (3 sets of 8 reps) and basic crunches w/ feet on step; for the crunches you do 3 sets of 8 reps but each set she varies the crunch.