CIA 2903: Stepping Up with Seasun Zieger

If you're an advanced stepper looking for an intense, complex workout, Seasun Zieger's Stepping Up is the video for you. With great music, intricate combos and excellent cueing, this is one of Seasun's best workouts, offering a challenging and high-intensity workout. This isn't for the easily-frustrated, since Seasun is known for quick rhythm changes, hesitations and plenty of pivots, but it's well worth the effort to learn. With the step workout, a tough core segment and 4 pre-mixed workouts, you get plenty of variety and a video with great staying power.

Seasun Zieger is known for her fun, complex step workouts and Stepping Up stands out as one of her best. This 45-minute step routine includes a variety of turns, pivots, hops and off-beat moves that will challenge even the most advanced stepper. The combinations are creative and, though difficult to pick up at times, Seasun's excellent cueing and great sense of humor (at one point she cautions exerciser not to throw their shoes at her) keep you going.

The Workout

The 6-minute warm up starts you off with a bang and actually includes a combination you use in the first step segment, something you'll appreciate just for the extra practice time.

The combos are where the real work comes in because there are some very tricky moves like a turning pivot, a straddle knee combo with an off-beat march, a fun, dancey move she calls an 'Elvis,' and plenty of turns, rhythm changes and cha-chas to scramble your brain. You learn each combo before putting them all together and going through them three times.

The cool down includes a short step segment followed by classic stretches for the entire body. There's also a challenging core section where she does a variety of planks that she holds for what seems like an hour (but is probably just a few minutes).

Stand Out Features

• Creative and Challenging Combos - She doesn't do a lot of breakdown and the combos are very challenging to learn, but patient (and advanced) steppers will pick them up eventually, especially with Seasun's excellent cueing. She breaks the moves down just enough to learn them but not so much that you get bored with the workout. Some exercisers may be turned off by how quickly she moves, but it's worth it in the end.
• Great Instruction - Seasun has a no-nonsense style, but is clearly having fun as she cues you with meticulous timing throughout the workout.
• Great Music - You'll recognize plenty of hit songs like "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga, "So What" by Pink and "Let it Rock" by Kevin Rudolf. It really makes the workout fun to have great music
• Variety and Innovative Moves - The variety of new moves, put together in creative ways, makes for a fun and satisfying workout that really flies.
• Fast Pace - Seasun keeps the intensity up by moving quickly and there are no boring, heart-rate-dropping transitions to detract from the workout.

Drawbacks

The main problem many exercisers will have is finding the patience to learn the combos. While the cueing is good, the lack of breakdown and the off-beat moves can be confusing and there were times I did, indeed, want to throw my shoe at the TV. I found it works best to learn the combos one at a time (perhaps as an add-on to other workouts) to avoid brain overload.

Overall, this is a fantastic workout, although it's tough to learn at first. What I love is that, once you get the moves down, the workout flows well and you start having some fun with the different combos. With some patience and practice, advanced steppers will enjoy this one.