Richard Simmons Dance Your Pants Off! [VHS]

Richard Simmons, the great motivator, presents another light-intensity, low-impact, high-energy workout in the style of his popular Sweatin' to the Oldies series. Again live music is the focus--this time 1980s dance hits such as "Celebration," "Flashdance," "Gloria," "She Works Hard for the Money," and "Call Me." Just like in the Sweatin' videos, Simmons leads a large class of people of both genders and all shapes and sizes--all having the time of their lives dancing, singing, and cheering (their noisiness may grate on you after a while). Richard wears his signature shorts and tank top, and his followers wear multicolored casual clothes. The message is that it doesn't matter how you look or how much you weigh--just show up and dance! The dance-style choreography is matched to the music, but no moves require much coordination or memory. Simmons barely cues the changes--just watch and follow. This tape is a lot of fun, especially if you remember this music well enough to sing along! At the end of the tape, the performers dance down the center while we read their names and the amount of weight they've lost. Several have lost more than 100 pounds, and one woman has lost 282 pounds! (No, that's not a misprint.) Simmons is to be applauded for making exercise accessible and enjoyable to a whole population of people who didn't know that workouts could be fun. --Joan Price

Price: $14.98

Click here to buy from Amazon