Raqfit - Belly and Bollywood Dance Fitness Workout with Samira Shuruk

This was a very slow dance workout. I became bored while doing it and did not break a sweat. I was not happy with it and have not done it since!

Raqfit is a fantastic workout program, one that will keep the interest of dancers over many repetitions. It is well cued and intelligently designed. Samira takes the best aspects of the ways cardio programs are designed, and combines it with reasonably challenging and varied dance moves from bellydance and Bollywood. I don’t think it’s the best choice for an absolute beginner. If you have no experience with either of these dances you are best off working with a slower-paced program first. But if you are an advanced beginner or beyond, and want a workout that gets you truly, truly sweating but that still feels like dancing, Raqfit is just right.Raqfit has a technique section that’s about 8:30 minutes long, and which covers some of the basic moves, especially from the bellydance segments. These are good guidelines as to how Samira does the moves, say the hip bumps or the shimmies, in the workout. But this run-through won’t be enough if you don’t know how to do them at all.If you play the entire workout, it runs around 54 minutes (this does not include the technique). This includes a warm-up, four basic dance-based aerobic segments, two of which use bellydance moves and two which use Bollywood moves, a smooth, elegant standing cool down, a short pilates-based ab workout, and a quick but effective stretch for leg and abdominal muscles.Here’s what I think is smart, and which (hint to DVD producers!) all DVD producers should do. The DVD also includes pre-programmed “mixes”. So you can do all the warmup and cool down stuff with just the two bellydance workouts, in 36 minutes. Or with just the Bollywood workouts, in 34 minutes. And there’s a “Raqfit Challenge” in which you do everything, but with no breakdown of the dances, so it only takes 29 minutes. So you can choose how to use the DVD based on your dance preferences and the amount of time you have.That said, I loved the explanations. You know how aerobics/cardio videos will show you one step, then add something to it, then add another variation, and then have you repeat the thing until you go nuts? Samira does this, and it turns out that it works fabulously for dance workouts. Why? Because if you need to stay at an easier level, you already know how to do that — you just don’t add the extra arms or whatever. You don’t have to look at what the “beginner” person in the back is doing, you just know to stick to the basics because that’s how you started.And this is sometimes necessary. The dance moves are varied, with turns, changes of direction, asymmetrical choreography, movement on diagonals… the movements are high paced and repeated enough to get you sweating, but there is also a lot of work for the brain to do. I paid more attention to the bellydance moves, but they also were not just the usual hip bumps and drops you see in workouts. Instead, there were pencil turns, hip twists on releve, small hip circles layered on traveling steps, slightly Suheir Zaki-ish vertical hip drops… and in general more things done on top of traveling steps than I’m used to in a workout DVD.In other words, it’s not a DVD you can do perfectly on the first go, but you can grow into it. It’s worth adding that Samira cues everything, all the movements are mirrored, and she often says “the side closest to the tv” instead of saying “left” or “right,” which actually makes it easier to follow. She also reminds you to keep your abs engaged when it’s particularly necessary. I am still trying to figure out how she can look so happy and graceful while I felt like one of those hippos in Fantasia!

RaqFit integrates belly dance and bollywood style dance into great challenging and fun workouts. I do a lot of workouts via DVD since I cannot afford classes or the time, and I was VERY pleased to come across this gem. RaqFit is a great, safe workout. I've tried all of these, and was very pleased with the workouts. The setup is great: warm-up, bollywood or bellydance style workouts, abs section (uses pilates and yoga), and then a cool down stretch. There is also a technique section, that you MUST, not should, watch if you are not a middle eastern dancer. Here, Samira instructs you on proper bellydance stance, and how to do specific movements for the workouts.Samira Shuruk is light, positive, and knowledgeable. She's a great coach, and if you watch her performance, is an excellent, accomplished dancer. One of my RaqFit favorites is the pre-mix sections where I can just select what kind of workout I want without having to bother with the menu. Also, each dance section builds, meaning she has you build each movement as you go into a choreographed dance/workout. Yes, you end up dancing. Samira is a great coach as you go through, and her dancers are wonderful support in offering alternatives to movements. Lots of repetition, and she talks you through the whole process. Great brain activity too. Another favorite is after the cool down, when she reminds you to keep working at each one, and she's right. As you do the routines daily, you get a better work out because you get used to the movements, and as you practice proper bellydance stance, you get deeper workouts. I could talk through all of them, heck, I was laughing at myself (in a good way). The Bollywood workout is much more aerobic than the bellydance, but both get you moving and a good, solid workout. I highly recommend RaqFit as something to easily integrate into your workout regimen. Not only is dance a fabulous calorie burner, but each workout is not longer than 40 min. Perfect to fit in a busy schedule and even my three year old loves to do some of it with me.