BoomerGirl Diary

Exercise is a great stress reliever and, heaven knows, we could all use some relief today! Here's a fun way to burn calories, shrink your waistline AND expend nervous energy, while learning the Salsa, Samba and Merengue.

If you can get past the hair color of the instructors - international dance champions Jaana Kunitz and Julia Powers - the Core Rhythms exercise program is a great workout and not a bad dance lesson.

The kick start disc teaches you the three core movements essential to Latin dancing. It moved way too slow for my taste but I did like the "choose your view" feature which allows you to follow along with a front, back or split view. You can even choose a close up of an instructor's "core" which is, essentially, from bustline to hip.

After you've got your moves down (and it isn't difficult), you can opt for the Quick Workout (20 minutes) or the Full Workout (40 minutes). Sucker for punishment that I am, I chose the full workout which provided me plenty of sweat-producing cardio and left my stomach muscles sore the next day. But, hey, it beats the heck out of doing sit-ups.

The fourth disc is called "Latin Dance" made easy and, although I didn't have a partner, I picked up the basics of the three dances and was able to put them in combination easily. If you've always wanted to try that Salsa club everyone's talking about - or indulge in a "Dancing with the Stars" fantasy, give it a whirl.

Again, for my taste, the routines do get repetitive and the instructors do way too much talking, but if core strengthening and waist whittling is what you want, Core Rhythms is a fun way to achieve your goal.

For more information, check out the company's Web site at www.corerhythms.com. Priced at around $60, it's a chunk, especially these days. But you can always go split the cost with a friend, or a dance partner. And it's still cheaper than therapy.