Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I know that there are a lot of long-term, die-hard Firm fans out there, but I'm not one of them. However, through trial and error, I have acquired a few Firm workouts that I like and use regularly. I had high hopes for this particular workout, as it seemed to combine many things that I enjoy, including moderate-length cardio, 4-limb work, kickboxing, and some functional fitness moves as well. I do feel that this DVD provides a solid overall workout, but some aspects left me feeling a bit disappointed. The workout includes an 8-minute warm-up, 23 minutes of cardio, and an 9-minute cool-down/abs segment, coming in at just over 40 minutes total.
Instructor Allison Davis begins starts off with the warm-up, which felt overly long and boring to me. Admittedly, the moves were pretty typical Firm offerings--eg, march, in-out march, step-touch, back cross, hamstring curl, step squat, knees up, kick front--but it would be nice if the Firm did something different for a change. About 3 minutes into the warm-up, you perform a very brief series of moving stretches. After this, I was thinking that the warm-up was over, but instead, Alison introduces some new cardio moves (v-steps, calf pumps, low jacks, and hops), and THEN, she actually goes back and repeats all of the original warm-up moves! The way this opening sequence was structured just seemed to make the warm-up drag on and on.
Luckily, I enjoyed the workout itself significantly more than the warm-up portion. Alison moves into the first segment of 4-limbed cardio, which lasts about 5 minutes. She suggests 3- or 5-lb. dumbbells; I used the latter but found that they were a bit heavy for some of the upper body moves. She introduces a sequence which is repeated 3 times total, going slightly faster each time: squat with overhead twist press, knees with french press, forward lunge with lat rows, front kicks with forward press, side lunge with upright row, side taps with biceps/triceps press, and finally, rear dip with biceps curl (staying on the same leg each time through). During this segment, my heart rate stayed up, and I enjoyed the functional nature of many of the moves (ie, twisting and bending, similar to what you might see in one of Tracie Long's videos). Next comes a floor cardio segment. This section was okay, but again, it felt rather repetitive, especially because Alison teaches in an add-on "take it from the top" style. She begins with a chasse and samba, gradually adding in a cross step, press foot, pivot, and v-step. Given that this section is 6 minutes long, the simple above sequence is repeated MANY times.
Another 4-limb section follows using the same format as the first 4-limb segment. Exercises here included travel squat with alternate upright row (which felt awkward), front lunge with delt flye, side leg raise with punch, side lunge with lat row, front-side-front step with medial delt raise, and then finally, a rear dip/biceps combo working the other leg. As with the first section, this sequence is performed 3 times total (approximately 4 minutes). The final segment (and the longest at 8 minutes) is cardio kickboxing. I love kickboxing and did enjoy the punching and kicking included here, but I would've preferred more variety and interest in the choreography. The moves included a shuffle with an inner side kick, knee-kick, alternating knees, jabs/uppercuts, jab-cross-knee, and a front kick/punch. It would've have been great if this segment had included some rear/roundhouse kicks, more punches, a few additional combos, and a few additional combinations.
I found the final cool-down to be rather odd. It starts with about 2 minutes of aerobic cool-down work which includes samba with a heel lift, side leg extension with a body wave, squat/round back, and side touch with pull down (as I did throughout the entire workout, I found that the arm movements felt a bit "fussy" here). Then you pick up one of your dumbbells for about 3 minutes of standing abs work. I usually really enjoy working the abs this way, but I found the moves here (twist with knee lift, plie with 1-hand overhead press, plie with twist) to be a bit awkward. The sequence is repeated once on each side. Next comes a 2-minute final stretch; this actually has some nice lunge work, including a side reach and twist. But then inexplicably, the workout ends with 2-minutes of push-ups/plank work--why not put this before the final stretches? I definitely didn't like having to do additional strength work after I had already warmed down (there is only a quick down dog and deep breaths to finish).
The best thing about this workout was that I was in my target heart rate zone for a very good portion, close to 35 minutes. For virtually this reason alone--and also because SOME of the moves were actually fun (just too repetitive)--I will keep this DVD, at least for now. I would recommend this workout to someone who doesn't mind a lot of repetition and who is looking for a basic but fairly intense floor cardio workout.
UPDATE 4/26/07: This workout has grown on me over time. I've found that if I skip the warm-up, the remaining routine feels much less repetitive, and I get a strong cardio workout in under 30 minutes. If I could change my rating, I would upgrade to 4 stars.
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The FIRM Ultimate Fat Burning Cardio DVD DESCRIPTION A workout sure to deliver calorie burning results from FIRM master instructor Alison Davis.
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