{"id":1288,"date":"2020-07-18T23:55:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-18T23:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/bollyx-on-demand-review\/"},"modified":"2023-12-26T17:47:34","modified_gmt":"2023-12-26T17:47:34","slug":"bollyx-on-demand-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/bollyx-on-demand-review\/","title":{"rendered":"BollyX On Demand Review: Bollywood Fitness Classes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bollywood exercise classes, like all dance cardio classes<\/a>, are a great way to get in shape while having fun. Since the Latin-dance inspired Zumba fitness brand has found so much success, an Indian dance-inspired workout that features bhangra and Bollywood songs should appeal to the masses, too. (The \u2018sharks\u2019 on Shark Tank sure seemed to think so.) You can find BollyX classes with live instructors, but you can also sign up for a BollyX On Demand membership to take their Bollywood fitness classes online. We couldn\u2019t resist the $49 BollyX Lifetime Membership deal, especially when we saw that the company offers full refunds within 7 days of purchase \u2013 hence, this week-long digital BollyX On Demand review of the workouts and the digital user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interested in Indian dance? Read our interview with<\/em> Bollywood dancer and choreographer, Joya Kazi<\/em><\/a>, who appeared in Mindy Kaling\u2019s TV series,<\/em> Never Have I Ever.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

7-Day BollyX On Demand Review<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The BollyX Digital Experience<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Feel good\u2019 vibes infuse all of BollyX\u2019s messaging \u2013 from their responses to skeptics and naysayers on social media \u2013 to their frequent affirmations of their BollyX On Demand members (regularly calling them rockstars). The brand is consistently welcoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The online portal is home to BollyX classes, which are labeled as BollyX workouts. When you\u2019re indecisive, you simply input how long you would like to exercise, and the platform will select a suitable playlist. Otherwise, you can sort the classes by duration, difficulty, impact level and teaching style (visual or verbal) to help inform which Bollywood cardio workout you choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If none of these suit your fancy, you can customize your own play lists with 400+ tunes from their song library \u2013 otherwise, you can do this from their workout builder. In the song library, you can sort choreography by difficulty, intensity, dance style or stage (warm up, dynamic stretch, etc) before adding it to your own Bollywood dance workout. If you go to the workout builder, you can populate one of their templates with your favorite jams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BollyX account even keeps track of users\u2019 workout progress; so, it’ll tell you how many full workouts and single songs you complete, in addition to the total minutes you\u2019ve spent dancing. (Hint: this is good for those of you who like to track exercise \u2013 or to ensure that you get your money\u2019s worth out of your membership!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Day 1: House Party \u2013 BollyX Workout (32 min)<\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Oh yeah, I definitely enjoyed the Indian dance \u2018house party\u2019 \u2013 even though it just consisted of me bopping along to the Bollywood and bhangra beats. The BollyX choreography is strongly set to the songs\u2019 verses, bridges and choruses, which makes it really easy to pick up. I worried about exhausting my eyes by viewing a screen while I work out in addition to<\/em> staring at a screen for work (and for updating Dance Dispatches<\/em>) all day long. Happily, with the simple choreography, I could quickly peek at the screen for reference every so often to stay in sync with the instructors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018House Party\u2019 BollyX class added good variety to the moves I\u2019d normally default to when working out on my own. And I think all of the overhead arm movements might help me to tone my arms and shoulders\u2026 Fingers crossed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it was the pent-up excitement of completing my first BollyX session, but I felt fantastic when it finished. I enjoyed the variety of songs, and the dance session whizzed by. I logged off, already looking forward to trying another playlist the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workout Rating: 5 \/ 5<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avg heart rate: 126 bpm
Kcal burned: 111
Kcal burned per minute: 3.47<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 2: Find Your Fight! \u2013 BollyX Workout (14 min)<\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I picked this \u2018fight\u2019-based session because I was feeling a little belligerent. But although I worked out some of my aggression, this wasn\u2019t my favorite workout. There are just four songs, and the two that focus on \u2018lower body strength\u2019 have nearly identical choreography (Da Da Ding <\/em>and Boss<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This short online BollyX class session seems to take inspiration from kickboxing, and the last song (Get Ready to Fight Reloaded<\/em>) feels like a very watered-down version of Les Mills Body Combat. In the future, I\u2019ll probably stick to longer class formats and those that contain more varied content. The class still passed pretty quickly, but I didn\u2019t enjoy it as much as the one last evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workout Rating: 2 \/ 5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avg heart rate: 127 bpm
Kcal burned: 54
Kcal burned per minute: 3.86<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 3: Masala Mix \u2013 BollyX Workout (46 min)<\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As predicted, I went back to a longer, more generic workout. While there was a dynamic stretching routine and a song that focused on lower body strength, the Masala Mix playlist was primarily dedicated to dancing. Whoo hoo! The modern Main Tera Dhadkan Teri song <\/em>has a heel, toe, pas de bourr\u00e9e phrase \u2013 while (the slightly long) Nagada Sang Dhol<\/em>, danced by a woman in gorgeous traditional clothes (and two back up dancers), is based on a folk dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I appreciated the variety of the choreography in this playlist, although there were a few that I didn\u2019t particularly enjoy. Perhaps I\u2019ll recreate these playlists, skipping just a few of the songs. From the three Bollywood dance workouts I\u2019ve tried, I have only repeated one song so far \u2013 but as I go through more workouts, I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll come across more repeats. Still, I was happy to dance to Aari Aari <\/em>again, and I\u2019ll create my own \u2018Best of BollyX\u2019 playlist once I have more favorites stocked up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workout Rating: 4 \/ 5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avg heart rate: 127 bpm
Kcal burned: 170
Kcal burned per minute: 3.70<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 4: Seasons of Love \u2013 BollyX Workout (21 min)<\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

There are a few perks from working at home. Enjoying a shower without wearing sandals in a public gym after working out at lunchtime is one of them. I normally eat at my desk, which isn\u2019t a great habit, but it allows me to squeeze in more physical activity during my lunch break. Today\u2019s BollyX workout was quite quick, but it was higher intensity than my usual walks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don\u2019t understand the lyrics, like me, you probably won\u2019t recognize the love theme anywhere except the playlist\u2019s title. It shouldn\u2019t bum you out, though, since the upbeat songs will still get you moving. The repeat of Shankas<\/em> was the best part of the session, and I didn\u2019t add any more songs to my customized \u2018Best of BollyX\u2019 workout. I was a little disappointed at the end of class, since the cool down session lasts 5 minutes \u2013 or about 25% of the entire workout \u2013 and I felt robbed of the opportunity to burn more calories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workout Rating: 3 \/ 5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avg heart rate: 129 bpm
Kcal burned: 45 \u2026 but my fitness tracker burnt out only 12 minutes in.
Kcal burned per minute: 3.75<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Day 5: Custom Upper Body \u2013 BollyX Workout (28 min)<\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Although I\u2019ve already expressed a preference for the dance-y BollyX choreography, an accident and its resulting injuries has required me to create a very focused playlist. I went to the songs listed, selected \u2018upper body strength\u2019 as the \u2018stage\u2019 and chucked them into my customized Upper Body workout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I sat in a chair, a bag of frozen corn propped behind my back and waved my arms around. Even though I couldn\u2019t stand up to groove or twist my torso due to lower back pain, I felt happier after the session. I liked a majority of the songs \u2013 even more than yesterday\u2019s play list (each of the songs had more than 100 likes) \u2013 and my arms and shoulders assuredly got a good workout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

… Who knew that BollyX fitness could function as a seated chair dance exercise, too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workout Rating: 4 \/ 5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avg heart rate: 122
Kcal burned: 104
Kcal burned per minute: 3.71<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 6: <\/strong><\/u><\/strong>Fit & LIT 1 <\/strong><\/u><\/strong>BollyX Workout (14 min)<\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

After taking a lunch time walk and logging off from work, I selected the super succinct FIT & LIT 1 session. I didn\u2019t feel fit or lit, but I got out of my chair, did the arm motions full out and gingerly stepped and tapped my feet on the ground. (I\u2019m sure my average heart rate and calories spent figures would be higher if I danced full out.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four songs started off with Slowly Slowly LIT<\/em>, which is ironically quite fast and spirited. The choreography was very easy to follow along, and I thought there was good variety between the bhangra song and three Bollywood songs. The first Bollywood song had peppy vibes, the second was more dramatic and the last pulled moves from belly dance. Today\u2019s Bollywood fitness class wasn\u2019t exhilarating, but I\u2019ve got no real complaints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workout Rating: 3.5 \/ 5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avg heart rate: 121
Kcal burned: 54
Kcal burned per minute: 3.86<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 7: Bollywood\/ Bhangra Blast \u2013 BollyX Workout (11 min)<\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/strong><\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Oh man, I\u2019m felt pretty achy (maybe I overdid it yesterday?), so I settled for the quickest workout available: the ~10-minute \u2018featured\u2019 Bollywood\/ Bhangra Blast \u2013 and reverted back to my enthusiastic seated chair dancing. I figured the video sequence would be good, since the BollyX team is heavily promoting it… When it began, I realized I had already tried out this Bollywood fitness class on YouTube, and it convinced me to sign up for the BollyX membership in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Bollywood dance exercise class <\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>is in a newer format than the other videos. It lists the songs at the beginning of class (Nishana, Thumka, Kamariya<\/em>) and puts the title up in the top left corner of the screen as each song plays. There\u2019s also a timer in the top right corner, which counts down the entire class. The energetic Bollywood\/ Bhangra Blast playlist \u2013 led by BollyX co-founder Shahil Patel <\/a>and Meredith Miller Higgins<\/a> \u2013 has one of each song (Bollywood and bhangra), plus another choreography inspired by a folk dance called Garba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m glad to end my 7-day BollyX trial on a short, but sweet note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workout Rating: 5 \/ 5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avg heart rate: 124
Kcal burned: 42 
Kcal burned per minute: 3.82<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BollyX Review Summary<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As you can probably tell, I\u2019m pretty happy I snagged the BollyX lifetime membership deal; so I\u2019m keeping it past the 7-day trial period. Comparing it to the monthly BollyX On Demand membership for $14.99 USD, it\u2019ll pay off in just 4 months. But even the monthly fee is reasonable, since taking one full class each week would price out to about $3.00 USD per class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I felt all but one of the classes deserved 3-star ratings or higher (out of 5), and I think the experience will only improve as I get more familiar with the songs and continue to compile my own Bollywood dance workouts. And eventually the choreo will be second nature; so I\u2019ll just be able to turn on the songs and jam. While I may not log in every day, I will surely keep up BollyX digital classes, since dance workouts and my favorite workouts (and I still have a limited amount of Just Dance Now songs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"BollyX<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"BollyX<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Have you tried a Bollywood workout with BollyX online or in person? If so, which type of choreography did you most enjoy? Tell us in the comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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