Billy Blanks Jr. Fills Big Shoes in His Own Way (Plus Giveaway!)

Confession: When I got this one in the mail, I was kind of in a bad mood. And the first thing I groaned about was another dance DVD—there are so many lately! The second? Another Blanks on the cover—I mean, really, can the world handle that? Well, bad mood or no bad mood, apparently they can. ‘Cause this DVD grooves, burns and rocks my fit-bottomed world, even if the cover looks totally cheesy.

That’s right, Billy Blanks Jr: Dance With Me Groove & Burn totally made an arse of me. And I’m so glad it did. Taught by Billy Blanks’ son, Billy Blanks Jr. (clever name!) with some help from Jr.’s wife Sharon (who is quite delightful and has some Whitney Houston type-isms, including hair flipping, happy outbursts and calling Africa the “motherland”), the music is fun and so are the high-impact moves. Junior gives you a solid warm-up, three 15-minute each dance segments (disco, African and Latin) and a cool down.

The dance moves in all of the sections are like a mix of Zumba and Jazzercise in that they’re more aerobics than real dance, but really get your heart rate up. And appeal more to someone like me who struggles with more “real” dance-type workout DVDs. The dance sections are broken into basic steps that build together, and he even throws in some little “burns” where he focuses on a certain move like pliés. He also plays what I call “Billy Says,” which is like Simon Says but with dance moves. It’s fun, believe me. Overall, Billy does a great job of breaking the moves down and being encouraging yet not annoying.

There are only two down sides to this workout DVD. First, there are no real modifications shown, so if you aren’t a high-impact fan, then this isn’t your DVD. Second, it’s really hard to hear the instructions in the cool down. Unlike the rest of the video which has fun background music, the cool down features a song with lyrics—loud ones—and it overshadows Billy. Now, this is just a hunch, but I’m pretty sure the woman singing in the cool down is Sharon. Again, supporting the Whitney comparisons…

Overall though, we love Billy No. 2!

FBG Rating (Out of 5):

Instruction: ★★★★★
Long-Term Likeability: ★★★★
Music: ★★★★
Fun Factor: ★★★★
Meets Expectations: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★1/2

Fit Bottom line: Billy Jr., we like how you groove! This is the perfect DVD for those looking for a fun, approachable, high-impact dance workout.

Want to try this workout DVD or Billy Blanks Jr.’s other title Dance with Me Cardio Fit? Leave a comment telling us why, and we’ll select one lucky random U.S. reader to win in about a week via email. G’luck, happy feet! —Jenn