Aerobicise

My copy of this tape is subtitled "The Beautiful Workout," but I think it's the same one listed here as "Beginning." Forget the workout; videographer Ron Harris was a darling of the Playboy Channel in this era, and his style is evident throughout all four "classes" on this fun, sexy anthology. The individual segments used to run unscheduled on Showtime and I left that channel on continuously in the hopes of catching them. The girls (yes, _women_, I know; but the narrator on the tape says "girls" and that's how I remember them, so girls they remain for this review) were utterly lovely and their dance/exercise movements were like a homing missile aimed at my sense of the erotic. Lots of people dismiss this kind of thing and I guess they have a right to, but I am a little bit proud of the fact that a sexy dancing girl doesn't have to be naked to be exciting. The girls' Danskin leotards don't hide much, but a little goes a long way when you want the sort of thing Harris delivers via "Aerobicise."

I don't know if it qualifies as porn, though it sure ain't no workout video for anyone truly looking for exercise. What it does do is satisfy the same voyeuristic urge that had some guys wanting to peek into a women's (there, see? I grew up and said "women") aerobics class, before Tae Bo had them punching instead of bouncing. Doing that for real would be childish and maybe even a sign that one needs therapy. But this is just a harmless video.

Have fun.

I've actually been looking for the Aerobicise series of videos. I found them once a long time ago at an "independent" store and I should have dubbed them when I had the chance, curses! Aerobicise goes back to the pioneer days of " ON TV", before cable hit the north. The director captured the sexy vibe of the disco scene on video and made you want to be that sexy. Pumping dance hits like "Dancer" by Gino Soccio, those hot workout diva's shimmered with sweat and lip gloss as their blond crimps floated on air with every bounce kick step. The whole event seemed to culminate in a "come one come all" challenge to any would-be lover to out last the stamina and to achieve the glamor that those girls obiviously had in bed as well as in the gym.

This 15 year old (at the time, 1982) watched these ladies on Showtime and thought they were angelic. These were simply some of the most beautiful creatures I had ever seen. Who cares how these segments were shot, they can be used for working out or viewed as erotic video work in themselves. The fact you can watch this and be totally entertained without once "working out", shows that they were more than just a get fit program. I still have a VHS copy of Aerobicise and to this day enjoy the "girls" and the awesome music that is contained therein. Some of these women are now in their late 40's (depending on how old they were at the time). I'd like to see them now and wonder what they have been up to. Probably still very lovely.

I wasn't alive back when this was made, but my parents have a vidoetape of it. I found it and popped it in the VCR, and was surprised at what I saw. First of all, you can't even see half the workout because the camera man practically shoves the camera in the poor women's legs and rear ends! If anyone wanted to DO the workout, they would have been confused since you can't see what the girls are doing. It also doesn't help that the girls almost seem to be doing this erotic dance-thing in it. Seriously, is this a workout or a porno for twelve-year old boys hitting puberty?

My review of "Aerobicise -The Ultimate Workout" was written in November 1983 after watching a Paramount Home Video cassette.

"Aerobicise -The Ultimate Workout" is the third exercise tape from Ron Harris, presenting an advanced level program to augment earlier "The Beautiful" and "The Beginning" workout VHS releases. NOTE: IMDb lumps all of them together into one "Aerobicise" listing, and "Ultimate" runs 104 minutes.

Tape contains two complete programs featuring warm up exercises and climaxing in arduous aerobics segments, plus the usual cool-down finale. With repetitive use of MOR music by Shiva, the pleasant to watch material becomes monotonous. A pioneer in the style and technical aspects of sexy exercise photography, Harris fails to vary his visuals here, with the white-on-white studio background and floor ultimately a detriment to sustaining viewer interest.

With svelte, attractive models, Harris's multiple camera technique emphasizes real-time exercising, with the women really working up a sweat during the pay-off aerobics segments. Unlike the threesomes featured in his Showtime cable tapes and syndicated series, "Ultimate Workout" consists almost entirely of a single model exercising, with one woman (Debbie Bellman) dominating the second half. To compete with increasingly elaborate imitators, Harris will have to devise new and visual motifs for future programs.