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2010 is almost upon us. I am about to embark on a 3 1/2 month fitness rotation that will mostly featured the STS Weight Workouts and the Shock Cardio workouts. Normally I try to schedule my rotation for 1 month at a time only. This is mostly because I have so many workouts and I buy so many workouts, so I always have new workout to do. For 2010, I am going to try to limit my purchases of new workouts. I've organized the cardio portion of the rotation myself. For, the STS weights portion, I am taking that from Cathe's 3 1/2 month STS sample workout. Cathe is suppose to be coming out with a rotation that combines both but it is December 31 and she has yet to do so or post it. I wanted to compare what I came up with to the suggestion she would come up with. I officially start this 3 1/2 month rotation January 3rd and will finish up April 16th. Wow, that is such a long time.

Last workout for 2009 was Tracie Long's Back Up , the fourth workout from the Longevity series. Tracie keeps it consistent in that the workout is also right around the 50 minute mark, 52 minutes to be exact. Like Staying Power this too is mostly a interval style workout. The individual segments in this workout were long and the moves repeated a lot. The cardio segments were functional fitness/sports drill related (i.e soccer, tennis, baseball). The sculpting segments were compound in nature with many exercises working the small muscle groups. Tracie used light, medium and heavy weights for sculpting and she used the medicine ball in the cardio segments. Like the other three workouts, this workout also includes push ups and a core/abs segment. Overall I like this workout. I did think Tracie's face appeared out of focus almost throughout the whole workout. just very fuzzy. The music was good and fit the exercise that Tracie was performing. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Step Forward is a 50 minute plus step workout and it is Volume 3 in the Longevity series that features Tracie Long. Mmmmmm. Where do I start? My first impression is that found it highly repetitious and boring. The step patterns/combinations were very basic. So there was no learning curve at all. (this is not a negative) Tracie takes you through 5 step combinations with the step in the horizontal position and 3 step combinations with the step in the vertical position. As she went through each combination, she showed you varying levels that you could use. Step Forward really works the legs. There were several times throughout the workout I felt my legs fatigue. This is mostly a result of doing the moves over and over again which for me translated into boredom. Within the combinations, there were moves in the workout that I liked, but after the 10th time doing them, I was ready to move on. The last 10 minute of the workout, Tracie took you to the floor for tricep dips, pus

Coming in at around 52 minutes, Staying Power , the second workout from Tracie Long's Longevity series is an interval style workout. That is the first 30 minutes, after the warm up, is interval style. Then Tracie takes you to the floor for the last 15 minutes of the workout. This workout reminded me of TLT (Tracie Long Training) workouts. Although, I will say it didn't have as much functional fitness exercises as the previous series. This interval workout alternated cardio sets with sculpting sets. Many of the cardio sets used a medicine ball and the sculpting sets used light to medium weights. The only time you really needed to grab a heavy weight was during the one arm row exercise. My least favorite sections was the floor work section. This section was loosely divided into three sections, push ups/core, hips and stretch. In the push up section, Tracie takes you through a series of push up/plank exercises. The hip section consisted of doing long lever side hip raises

Finally, we have new workouts and a new series from Tracie Long. The series is called Longevity and the first workout in the series is called Defining Shape . Defining Shape is a 50 minute sculpting/weight and balance workout. I say balance because there were lots of balance moves used in this workout. The sculpting moves are a cross between traditional exercises and functional fitness exercises. Everything flowed really well and the exercise were completed right in tune with the music. The workout itself moved fast. Before I knew it, Tracie was saying let's stretch. Before that, you had a floor section in which you work the lower body doing traditional leg floor work. Prior to going down to the floor, you had as series of standing toning sections that work the legs (i.e. squats, dead lifts and lunges) and upper body (i.e shoulder presses, bicep curls, rows etc). There were also push ups. Tracie is phenomenal. She really has to be one of the top 5 video lead instructors out

I like dance workouts and own quite a few. One of the things I notice about dance workouts is that they can be highly repetitive and many "take it from the top" way too much. Dance with Julianne Cardio ballroom , a 43 minute workout was no different. And while I view the repetition in a negative context, I don't think this workout itself if bad. Julianne is very good. Her enthusiasm (some might say over the top) boils over and spills onto the screen. I think she makes if fun. You can tell she is really working hard. She also does mirroring cuing which is a big plus. The workout is broken down into a warm up, 3 combos, and a cool down. The combos feature dances of the cha cha, jive, and paso. I liked all three dances very much and the music that Julianne selected is upbeat and fits perfectly with each dance. I think my favorite dance is the paso. The only negative that I have for this workout is that it is repetitive. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Circuit Blast is a 44 minute workout that consist of six circuits. I really wanted to start off this review with something like "Circuit Blast, What a Blast?", but I thought it would sound corny. Even so, it does fit. The workout moves extremely fast and was over before I knew it. I love workouts that get in, does its job, and then gets out. All very efficient. I didn't expect that I would like this workout. This workout is part of Cathe's Shock Cardio series and at first I was disappointed that so much resistance work was included in the workout. However, the majority of the resistance work has a cardio influenced. Many of the moves are compound in nature so you are working upper body and lower body at the same time. The workout does use quite a bit of equipment -the Step (with four risers on each side), dumbbells, medicine ball, and a band. I like the music and the set is the same set Cathe used in the STS weight workouts. 4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Lean is the fourth workout from the WHFN FitPrime series. It is 43 minutes long and features Keli Roberts. I like Keli. My very first workout video with her was CherFitness. With WHFN, she felt force to me. Not bad, just not comfortable. She was however precise. She seemed to be bigger than the workout - if that makes sense. Lean is a fusion workout that is suppose to be more cardio. The cardio while cute leaves something to be desired. Even coming off a cold, I felt this workout was too easy. The workout does make up for it in music selection and set design. I don't expect I will be grabbing this workouts again unless I want a super light workout. It is not bad, I just want more. Between 2 1/2 and 3 stars. I can't quite decide. Probably 3.

WHFN FitPrime Pump is a 54 minute fusion workout that combines pilates, cardio, yoga and weights. The major emphasis in this workout is on weights. This workout is lead by Heidi Tanner and contains great music and a stunning set design. Pump, as well as several other workouts in this series are great Recovery type workouts. I am coming off of a cold; and I found that this workout didn't exert me too much, which is good when you are coming off a cold or want a light exercise day. This workouts keeps up the non-dominant training method. The cardio tunes were fun but brief. Nice workout - One that I will keep on hand for less intense days. 3 out of 5 stars

This is a Great Week for receiving new workouts. Yesterday I got Cathe's Shock Cardio Set plus Travel Fit - That is 10 workouts. I really don't plan on doing the Heavy Bonus Bag. And actually I am not planning on doing any of the Shock Cardio workouts until the new year. I am trying to determine where Circuit Blast is going to fit into the rotation. So far from previewing at least, I am looking forward to trying the new workouts. Today, my Longevity workouts from Tracie Long came in. I will preview those when I get home from work or sometime tomorrow.

Friday I caught a cold and today I am just getting over it. I really have to take my hat off to ZICAM. I do think that stuff works pretty well, although it is expensive. It really keeps the symptoms at bay as you go through your cold. So other than taking a couple of Aleve for aches, the ZICAM was all I took. Needless to say, today was the first day I have worked out since Thursday. As a result of being sick, I am altering this weeks workouts to the following schedule: Tuesday - WHFN FitPrime Pump Wedensday - WHFN FitPrime Lean Thursday - WHFN FitPrime Upper Body Burn Friday - WHFN FitPrime Lower Body Burn Saturday - Rest

This week's workout are mostly workouts that I have reviewed before. I didn't workout Sunday. I was supposed to do a Dance Body Beautiful workout but I spent most of Saturday walking the streets of New York, so I rested on Sunday. Monday was 30 Minutes To Fitness Weights . For some reason I am still sore in the leg area from doing this workout. Tuesday's Workout was Core Rhythms Secrets To Sexy Abs . I really like this workout. I think Janna Kunitz is fantastic. Today's workout was Core Rhythms Latin Cardio Jam . Short but good. When I first did this workout, I wasn't thrill but I had a good time doing it today. PreOrders So some of my PreOrders have come it. I got Dance With Julianne Cardio Ballroom and The PussyCat Dolls Workouts . I have only pre-viewed the PCD video and from the warmup I really thought I was going to like it. Then I watch routine/combination and realize that the same 32 count or maybe it is 64 counts is repeated over and over for a whole

FlexPosture is the second volume in WHFN FitPrime series. It is a 54 minute fusion workout lead by Tamela Hastie. The workout is fused with pilates, cardio, yoga, and weights. I found the pilates section to be the most challenging. There wasn't much intensity in the weights or cardio sections. The yoga sections was mostly used for stretching and balance. I think this would be a real good workout to use on active rest days or recovery days. Tamela does a good job in leading the workout. I particularly liked how she focus on breath work. The equipment used in the workout consist of step, light weights, dowel and yoga block. Tamela and the cast exercised barefoot but I wore shoes. The set is stunning and the music is very good. 3 out of 5 stars.

Zumba Fitness 20 Minutes Express Zumba Fitness Flat Abs - Approximately 18 minutes Zumba Cardio Party - About 50 minutes Zumba Sculpt and Tone - 45 minutes These four workouts are part of the Zumba Fitness Total Body Transformation System . Well I don't really think you are going to have a Transformation with these workouts but they are fun and the music is super cool with a great beat. My favorite of the bunch is Zumba Sculpt and Tone. I have reviewed this workout before. My next favorite is probably Flat Abs. All the ab work is standing and I really felt my obliques the next day after this workout. The Express Workout is fun too. I did like Cardio Party as well, although I found some of the tunes to be a bit gimmicky. The workouts are led by the creator, Beto and Tonya - one of the dance participants. I think Tonya is an outstanding instructor. The one negative with all of them is you do a lot of standing around in between the different tunes and sometimes within the tunes while

This review is of Kelly Coffey-Meyer's 30 Minutes To Fitness Muscle Definition Workout 1 only. The last time I did this workout, I did one of the full body pre-mixes and while I like the workout, I felt the pre-mix was disjointed. In workout 1, which clocks in at 41 minutes and NOT 30 minutes, Kelly takes you through several compound joint exercises where all the major muscle groups of the upper and lower body are worked. There were a couple of exercises that even worked the core. After the warm up, Kelly started with shoulders, she then inserted a leg exercise, next came biceps, and then a bicep leg exercise. After biceps, Kelly worked your back. In the back exercise, Kelly has you doing this one arm row catch type of move. I did one set with Kelly. Then I started following Lauren (the modifier) for the next set of these. During the third set, I modified once again, this time doing just a traditional 1 arm row. Something about this exercise, just wasn't clicking with me

Dancing with the Stars Alumni Lisa Rinna creates a workout series called Dance Body Beautiful. The Dance Body Beautiful series contain four workouts. One of the those workouts is titled Ballroom Learn & Burn . I thought this was the first workout in the series but the introduction to the workout cited it as being the second workout. This workout is a 66 minutes workout that takes you through a warm up, 4 dances, and a cool down. The dance sections are: - Super Rumba Burn - Fat-Free Hustle - Paso Doble Matador Burn - Quick Step Power Shred Within each dance section, Lisa first breaks down the step in a 8 count reps, then she walk you through the whole sequence, next you do the dance steps to a slow tempo, then a medium tempo, and then to a fast tempo. The fast tempo is done for a minute and 1/2. The only step I had a problem picking up were the steps in the Fat-Free Hustle and it i

In 2005 or maybe it was 2004, Anna Benson founder of the FIRM started a new venture called WHFN or Women's Health and Fitness Network. Within this venture she created and produced 12 workouts. The 12 workouts were broken up into two series each containing 6 DVD workouts. The two series are called FitPrime and Kick Butt!. The Kickbutt! workouts were a remake of her Original FitPrime workouts and the FitPrime workouts were made up of new material. Metaboost is Volume 1 in the FitPrime Series. It is a 49 workout that has elements of pilates, cardio, yoga, and weights - with the primary emphasis being weights. I like to call these workouts fusion workouts because of the way the different elements are blended together. These workouts and I have had them since they came out was for the most part the first time I was introduce to pilates and yoga. Since this time I have purchase several pilates workouts. The set - absolutely gorgeous. The visual impact is stunning. The music - ter

Amy Bento Kickbox Xtreme is approximately 70 minutes in length and features 5 kickbox combinations followed by 5 intensity drills. I have to say when I first did this workout - probably some two years ago now - I wasn't sure if I like it. It was a new kind of kickboxing and it moved fast. But this workout and Amy really grew on me and I am so glad that I stuck with learning her style because her workouts are a lot of fun. Kickbox Xtreme is one of her three cardio kickboxing workouts but unlike the other two, I feel this one is more drill oriented than combinations oriented. That is because within the combinations you are sometimes doing the same move/reps quite a few times. One of the things that Amy did when she started filming her other kickboxing workouts was she reduce the size of the cast. I like the smaller cast. In Kickbox Xtreme there were 4 cast members plus Amy (very busy). Music: Great Great Great. This workout has bonus section that uses a heavy bag, but I

Amy Bento's In The Ring is a 75 minute kickboxing workout. The workout has 4 cardio kickbox combinations. Each combination is followed by a medicine ball drill. Amy uses an 8lb med ball. I used a 4lb med ball. I loved loved loved the cardio kickbox combination, even though some combinations took me a couple of times through to pick up. I wasn't as crazy about the intensity drills using the med-ball. I thought some of the drills were repetitive. As usual, with Amy's workouts the music was outstanding. Amy always seems to find the right music that will get you pumped up. 4 stars out of 5

Amy Bento leads CIA's 2901 Kickbox Surge & Core Training . It is a 75 minute cardio and core workout, although I didn't do the Core Training section. I love Amy's Cardio Kickboxing and I think 2901 is her best of the three she has out. It is more combination oriented; and the combinations are done to great beat driven music. I know I am getting use to Amy and her cuing because I had no real trouble picking up any of the combinations. That wasn't always the case with Amy's choreography. In Kickbox Surge, there are 4 combinations followed by 4 surges. Surges are the intensity blast within this workout. The toughest of the surges were the pushup burpees. I had the most fun with the combinations. There is a real cool vibe with the moves that Amy uses. 4 1/2 out of 5 stars

It is the last month of the year, so I am going for workout that I find fun. Which for me, means dance workouts. To give it some balance, I have thrown in some sculpting workouts in the form of Kelly Coffey Meyer 30 Minute To Fitness workouts and also Angie Miller Kettlebell Boot camp. It will be the first time for me doing Angie's KB workout. Also I haven't done any of Lisa Rinna's Dance Body Beautiful workouts. So I am looking forward to trying those. Other new workouts showing up for me this month are Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders Dance Workouts, as well as Dance with Julianne and Pussycat Dolls workouts. The last two workout are on pre-order and should arrive around December 15. I have rounded out the rotation by adding in Fitness Favorites (Anna Benson) workouts from her WHFN FitPrime series.

Calorie Killer was part of the Body Sculpting System 2 set of workouts. Of all the FIRM systems BSS2 is probably my favorite. Calorie Killer features Nancy Tucker (also one of my favorites) in a 39 minute workout. The workout is cardio based and it contains the FIRM's signature 4 limb movement. It uses the fanny lifter and the sculpting stick. There are two sets of tall box climbs (not my favorites) and one set Nancy has you disassemble the sculpting stick and use the twigs to work the upper body as you climb the tall box. I love the floor and step aerobics segments. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

From the Body Sculpting System 3, Total Muscle Shaping is a 45 minute Cardio and Sculpt workout featuring Stephanie Huckabee and the FIRM Blue Box. Love this workout. This is one of my favorite FIRM workouts. Stephanie combines upper and lower body moves so you are working extra hard during those sections and she adds cardio in between the weight sets to give the body a break. All three positions of the blue box is used. This is a workout that you can go heavy with. The upper body work done when the box is in the incline position is just killer. Only thing I really didn't care for was the abdominal work that was done on the blue box - working the lower abs in this position was just tough. Great music. 4 1/2 out of 5 stars

This workout - Maximum Cardio Burn - is a 55 minute workout featuring Allie Del Rio. My biggest gripe is that of the 55 minutes only about 35 minutes of it is cardio. So in a nutshell I was wishing for more cardio. This workout is from the Body Sculpting System 2. It uses the fanny lifter and sculpting stick. The sculpting stick is a three piece unit that can be taken apart and used separated. The middle part of the stick is 4 lbs and the end parts - which are called twigs are two pounds each. Allie uses the twigs in an arm sculpting segment. I personally felt the twigs were two light for the sculpting work. My favorite part of the workout was the floor aerobics. Allie came up with some cool and high energy combination. I also like the step combos. The section that I really didn't care for was the four limb sections that used the sculpting bar. Those sections were slow and awkward. Maximum Cardio Burn also features a standing leg toning section and a very tough abdominal se

Complete Body Sculpting is a 45 minute workout featuring FIRM Master Instructor Christa Suggs. This workout is from the Body Sculpting System 3 set of workouts featuring the blue box. Some call the blue box the "death box". I actually like the blue box because it is less cumbersome to move around than the TransFIRMer. The workout is a slower pace workout that alternate lower body with upper body weight work and there are cardio burst throughout. You can go heavy with this workout. The blue box can be and is used in an incline position, six inch position or the full 14 inch position. The set is dark but that didn't bother me. I thought the music was good. When this workout came out several years ago, one of the things that bothered me was that you couldn't always see the beginner because the set was so big and spread out. Great workout. 4 out of 5 stars

One of my favorite FIRM "Pink" workouts is Bootcamp Maximum Calorie Burn. This workout is a 52 minute workout led by Alison Davis. It is done in a circuit style. You have plyometrics sets and cardio sets. The plyo sets contain sculpting/weight exercises that alternate with plyometric type exercises. Some of the plyo moves are ski jumps, burpees, and lunge switches (alternating lunges). The cardio segments are kickboxing and athletic in nature. I thought the workout moved at a really good pace. It wasn't slow, but it wasn't so fast that you couldn't properly execute the move. The music was good and fit with the workout. My one gripe other than the lackluster set was the camera angle/work. The camera angle was focus too much on the beginner modifier, which would have been fine except, Alison was layering moves and often the beginner wasn't adding on the next component of the move, so you would sometimes miss a rep or too until the camera focused back on Ali

The FIRM Power Half Hour is a 30 minute interval (sculpting and cardio) workout led by FIRM Master Instructor Emily Welsh. Not sure about this one. This is my second time doing this workout. The first time I did it was when it was release in December of 2008. I think a person would need to do this workout more than a couple of times to become really familiar with and get the most out of the moves and exercises. That is because the workout moves really fast and has lots of choreograph changes. So to be able to work the move, you really need to know what is coming. The choreograph isn't hard to pick up. It is just by the time you have picked it up, Emily has moved on. I felt that my left side got a much better workout than the right because Emily taught the right first and then the left. I knew what was coming when I got to the left so I was able to execute the exercise more efficiently and effectively. I really like the music in this workout; and as what seems to be the cas

Another week of FIRM workouts. Sunday - Treadmill, The FIRM Power Half Hour Monday - The FIRM Boot Camp Maximum Calorie Burn Tuesday - The FIRM Complete Body Sculpting Wednesday - The FIRM Maximum Cardio Burn Thursday - The FIRM Total Muscle Shaping Friday - The FIRM Calorie Killer Saturday - Rest

The FIRM FIRM Cardio Maximum Cardio is a 45 minute "Hare" workout led by Carissa Foster. Repetitive. That is what I felt when I did this workout. Each of the cardio segments were approximately 5 to 6 minutes in length and you kept repeating the same three or four moves for the entire 5 to 6 minutes. I didn't like that at all. The workout uses a med ball, light hand weights, barbell, short and tall box step. The cardio segments consisted of doing low and hi impact floor aerobics and small box aerobics. The workout does include a set of Tall Box Climbs. Out of the three FIRM Cardio workouts, I like the sculpting segments in this workout the best. I didn't like the warm up however. The warm up used the med ball. The music was good in some spots and in others in was just so so. I remember liking this workout much better than I did this time around. 3 stars out of 5.

The FIRM FIRM Cardio - Power Cardio . This workout has also been re-released as Calorie Killer 2. It is a 45 minute "Hare" workout featuring Dale Brabham. Out of the three videos that came out at FIRM Cardio workouts, this is probably my least favorite. I just did not like the way the workout was constructed; and that started with the warm up. The warm up used dumbbells and the flow of the warm up just was not there. I think the warm up was supposed to be an active stretch warm up. It moved really fast. Sculpting was scattered throughout the workout instead of being just at the end. I felt this really killed the momentum of the cardio. You did have to use a lot of power because you were jumping, plyoing, and hopping in the workout. In one segment you were hopping on one leg. The workout also contained step sequences, floor aerobics and an abdominal set. Weights, a med ball, barbell, and hand weights were used throughout. Giving this workout a lukewarm 3 stars

Sunday - Treadmill Monday - The FIRM Cardio Burn - Tamela Hastie Tuesday - The FIRM Maximum Body Shaping - Tracie Long Wednesday - The FIRM Power Cardio - Dale Brabham Thursday - The FIRM Better Body and Buns- Jen Carman, Jen Peluso, Taber Bruner Friday - The FIRM Maximum Cardio - Carissa Foster Saturday - Rest Sometime this week I am going to try to add The FIRM Power Half Hour with Emily Welsh. We will see if I get to it. I have already reviewed Maximum Body Shaping and Better Body and Buns. So I won't review those again this week. If anyone is interested, they can do a search for those two workouts.

The FIRM's FIRM Cardio - Cardio Burn workout is a 45 minutes cardio sculpt workout. It is what is called a "Hare" workout - heavy on the cardio and light on the sculpting. Personally I wish it was just a straight cardio workout. The first 30 minutes of the video is a mixture of four limb, plyo using the ball and light weights, step and floor aerobics. The last 15 minutes of the workout you are using moderate dumbbells or the barbell for various sculpting exercises. Abdominal work is also included. This workout is lead by Tamela Hastie whom I happen to like. I mentioned this because when you read reviews about this workout - she gets heavily criticized for her performance. One of the main annoyances voiced is that she would say "Isn't this fun" or something similar all throughout the workout. I counted that she said this six times. Although it didn't bother me at all. This workout contains tall box climbs - just a variation on the leg press.

FIRM Parts Tough Aerobic Mix is one of my favorite FIRM parts and compilation workouts. It is comprised of five of the six original FIRM volume workouts (also know as "The Classics"). The volume that was left out was Volume 5. The aerobics in this workout is mostly high impact and the four limb movements that use light weights move at a faster pace and the sets are longer. The workout also uses a short box for step work. Jennifer Lane hosts this workout which clocks in right around 48 minutes. I used to think this workout was so tough. I still broke a good sweat but it wasn't as challenging as I remembered it being. I like the fast pace of the workout and how it moved from segment to segment. There was just enough time in between segments to grab some water. 4 out of 5 stars

FIRM Parts: Light Aerobic Mix or Not-So-Tough Aerobics Mix is a compilation workout compose from material of the original six FIRM workouts. The FIRM Parts series is how I started with the FIRM. I bought the parts series first (I believe there were 7 workouts) and then I went back and bought all the classics. The classics were expensive. The FIRM started their "name change" game with this workout. The original title was Light Aerobic Mix and I think many felt, myself included, that it wasn't so "light". Doing this workout some 15 years later it did feel pretty light and not so tough. It clocks in at approximately 39 minutes and it takes you through a series of low impact, short box step, and 4-limb movements. The workout is hosted by Karen Taylor. Karen ties the different segments together. This is nice in that you get a breather but not so nice when it slow your heart rate. I still like this workout and give it 3 stars out of 5.

In September 2008, The FIRM release three workouts that they filmed in New York. My big griped about these three workouts is that you couldn't hear the music in any of the three. The sound quality is just terrible. If you turn up your volume, then the instructor is super loud. I really feel that this undermines which overall are a great set of workouts. That brings me to my favorite of the three and that is Slim & Trim lead by the FIRM's Tina Smalley. This 40 minute workout uses a 4lb medicine ball or power ball. It still uses the FIRM formula of interspersing floor aerobics with toning sets. This workouts moves. You really don't get a break from once segment to the next. In some spots it was difficult for me to tell when one segment ended and another one began. The aerobics is high and low impact. Also, you are constantly using the ball. Only a couple times were we not doing anything without the ball. My one gripe about the ball is that it is hard. One set,

TransFIRM your Trouble zones is a 45 minute Kettlebell workout. It uses a 5lb kettlebell in what is becoming the FIRM's typical floor aerobics/toning workouts. I am not a fan of the Kettlebell and didn't particularly care for this workout, but I do like Kelsie Daniels. I think she is an awesome instructor and lead. Kelsie takes you through many basic and elementary kettlebell movements. Every once in awhile, you put the KB down for cardio intensity burst. For the most part though, even during some of the cardio work, you are always using the KB. This is not a bad workout. I am just lukewarm about it. Like Dangerous Curves Ahead, this workout had terrible sound quality. 3 stars out of 5

The FIRM's Dangerous Curves Ahead is a 57 minute interval type workout. It mixes cardio and sculpting sets. The cardio contains low and high impact moves. The sculpting sets uses a resistance loop and the FIRM "cardio weights" to tone the body. The majority of the moves are functional fitness and compound movements. The loop is challenging on some of the moves; on other moves it is just simply awkward. I particularly felt the resistance of loop during the hamstring and glute work. Where I felt the loop was cumbersome was during the abdominal section of the workout. Alison is terrific. She is one of my favorite FIRM instructors. My favorite saying of hers is when she says "Let's Dig In". I enjoyed this workout except for one thing. The music. I couldn't hear it. I could hear Alison just fine. When I turned up my volume trying to make the music louder, then Alison became too loud. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

The FIRM 500 calorie workout is a long workout that felt long. Clocking in around 62 minutes or so, it features interval training that alternates between cardio and sculpting sets. I believe that Kelsie, the instructor used 5lb dumbbells. I used my FIRM sculpting balls that came with Cardio Core Fusion workout since I am still working out in my hotel room. While I didn't have a lot of room to move and go full out on the cardio, I did work up a good sweat. I think that what makes this workout challenging is the length of the workout and the functional training moves incorporated. I am also happy to report there were no burpees - well unless you include "the side lunge, then you turn and go down and do 4 push ups". I guess that could be considered a modified burpee. This is my second time doing this workout and like the first time, I was either a 1/2 beat ahead of Kelsie on the cardio combos or a 1/2 beat behind. I don't too often have that problem. Solid wor

Cardio Core Fusion is a 55 minute or so workout. It features FIRM Master Instructor Rebekah Sturkie. It also features one pound sculpting balls The sculpting balls annoy me. Or rather, the straps on the sculpting balls annoy me. I personally think the sculpting balls are too light for any meaningful sculpting but they are great for functional training which this workout has a lot of. This is probably my third or fourth time doing this workout and I like it more and more each time I do it. It does contain burpees. It seems like so many workouts contain burpees nowadays. It is like that is the go to move when you want to crank up the intensity in a workout. Cardio Core Fusion alternates between cardio, sculpting, and ab sets. The majority of the ab sets are standing work. Only at the end is there floor work. Pretty much though, the whole workout works your core hence the name Cardio Core Fusion. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

10 Minute Solution Quick Sculpt Pilates - this was a tough a workout. The different sections included: -Total Body Toner -Buns & Thigh Sculptor -Strength & Flexibility Pilates -Core Conditioning -Standing Pilates Sculpt This workout uses a ball. I had to blow the ball up but it was quite easy. You just blow through the tube and then insert the stopper. The ball is very light and spongy. You use the ball mostly by holding the ball between your legs, knees, and feet. It is intense work especially if you are not use to pilates work. I enjoyed all 5 segments of the workout. Andrea has a nice personality and she cues well. 5 stars out of 5

The FIRM Super Cardio Mix is a 66 minute cardio workout that is signature FIRM. It contains low box step combos, four limb movement, hi-lo floor aerobics, and plyo sets. This is a good workout with good music. It features FIRM Master Instructors Allie Strickland (Del Rio), Carissa Foster, Dale Brabham and Jen Carmen. Along with using a short box, it also used light dumbbells, and a medicine ball. The length of the workout and the plyo sets is what makes this workout tough. 4 out of 5 stars

I don't want to call Super Sculpting a compilation workout, but it is a splice workout or looks like it from the editing. This workout features Jen Carman, Nancy Tucker, Dale Brabham, and Carissa Foster. Jen and Dale lead you through upper body work and Nancy and Carissa lead you through lower body sets. My intent when selecting this workout was to use it as a heavy sculpt day and surprisingly I found it the tempo and reps to be to quick to go as heavy as I wanted to go. So I back off my weight a little bit. You can still go heavy, just not super heavy. I found the pace between each exercise quick. This is a workout where you will want to have your weight selections already laid out. I was late in starting a few of the exercise because I was gathering my equipment. The thing I probably like the least is the way the workout was splice together. Still a great sculpting workout though. 4 stars out of 5

Total Body Shaping Mix is one of my favorite FIRM compilation workouts. It is a 66 minute mixture of upper body, lower body (floor and standing), cardio and abdominal. The sets are challenging. Each muscle group is hit a minimum of two times, with most muscle groups getting worked three times; and often in a different position. You move quickly from exercise to exercise, but the toning sets do allow for going heavy. The cardio burst are a mixture of low and high impact, and each one is choreograph to great music. The choreographing isn't at all complicated. You do a series of moves that layer and repeat themselves several times. If you want to get a taste of what the FIRM was once all about, this is a good workout to start with. 4 stars out of 5

Advance Step Challenge 2 (ASC2). Let me first start off by saying that the choreography in this workout - is IMO more challenging than the choreography in ASC3. It took me longer to learn ASC2 than ASC3 and when I was doing the workout again today, I was still flailing over some of the moves. I think the last time I did this workout was in May. But, it is still an awesome step workout, and part of the challenge is really picking up the choreography so you can do the moves full out. This workout features 5 step combinations all done with the step in the horizontal position. Amy does have a modifier. I did modify a couple of the moves. Amy does provide a preview section of some of the more challenging choreograph moves. There was one move where I felt I needed to review that section. The other moves I was able to get as the combination moved along. The music is fabulous with my favorite tune being the one used for combo 1. "Here We Go Again!" The music really fit th

The FIRM Upper Body Split is a 61 minute FIRM compilation workout. Okay this is not my favorite compilation and that is because out of 61 minutes of working out only about half (maybe a little more) works the upper body. The other half of the workout is abs/core, cardio, and yes some lower body. Now, out of all the FIRM workouts there were to choose from, I just find it hard to believe that they couldn't come up with more upper body work. Although I will say that this was one of the last compilations made and it could have been that they didn't want to duplicate what was in other workouts. I was trying to use this workout as a heavy lifting day for upper body; and in most cases I was able too. There were a couple of tunes were the tempo was too fast to lift heavy. Also several of the sets featured compound movement (working upper and lower body together - i.e. plie with upright row). In this case I only did the upper body part of the exercise. The music is very good,

Advance Step Challenge 3 (ASC3) is exactly like its name implies - an advance step workout. Amy throws choreography at you and it will take even the most experience stepper a time or two to pick it up. But when you do, this workout is fun, fun, fun! Usually when I get a new Amy Bento workout, I will only try to learn a combo at a time. This eliminates some of the frustration with trying to pick up the routine. ASC3 features 5 combinations. Four combinations are done with the step in the standard horizontal position and 1 combination is done with the step in the vertical position. The majority of the moves are athletic in nature with a few mambos and chasse thrown in. After you learn combos 1 and 2, Amy combines them into a mini routine. Then you learn combos 3 and 4 and then they are combine into a mini routine. After you learn combo 5, you go back and do combos 1 - 5 straight through. This is my favorite part. Amy also includes a section in what she calls "Power ups&q

Now I don't do this workout very often and haven't done it in a very long time, but this is a good lower body workout. Lower Body Split is a 69 minute FIRM compilation workout that works all the muscle groups of the lower body except for the calves. There was some calf work in the warm up but that was about it. That didn't bother me because I really don't like working my calves. Although I will say, that indirectly the calves were work during the cardio plyo sections. OK enough about the calves. This workout uses the tall box. I just recently gave my tall box away, so I used the Fanny Lifter and it worked out just fine. I liked the fact that this workout didn't over do the leg presses and tall box climbs. There were two sets of leg presses and one set of tall box climbs and they were a part of the same sequence. I did think that there were a lot of lunge sets and lunge dip combination sets, as well as your squats. This workout did include floor work. The fl

Group shot with Susan Harris. Susan Harris was the instructor in the first FIRM video ever made. It is called Volume 1 Body Sculpting Basics. Susan's class was fantastic. Lots of things to buy Day 1 Group Shot, Before the fun and hurt begin.

From Wednesday October 14 to Saturday October 17 2009 I was in Lexington South Carolina - getting my behind kicked and having tons of fun to boot. I think this is my 5th FIRM Believer's trip. I like going because it always re-motivates me in my fitness and health quest. The instructors who teach at the FIRM are such a vision of what is possible and attainable. This time around the majority of us stayed at the Wingate by Wyndham hotel. It was about three miles from the FIRM studio. Excellent hotel and I highly recommend staying there if you ever go to Lexington South Carolina. And speaking of us, the ladies who attended this year's Fall FIRM Believer's Trip were fantastic to hang out with. Our schedule was jammed pack with activity. I didn't even make all the classes that were on the schedule, but the classes that I did attend and participate in were intense and fun. Looking forward to going back there next year and being in better shape.

Saturday October 10, 2009 Chip time: 33:08, Clock time: 33:21 I have a lot of work to do for next year.

30 Minutes to Fitness Kickboxing is a fun doable workout. Kelly brings her own brand of energy and kickboxing combinations to this workout. Each combination is done in two minute sets. The majority of the sets contain layering moves which I prefer to the sets where she had us do the same moves for two minutes straight. I just felt the layering sets had more variety and were less repetitive. I would classify the intensity as intermediate. The workout is not real high on cardio. There is more of an emphasis of learning the combinations and working the combinations to their full potential. In this workout, Kelly cues ahead of time. There is a PIP box that shows up to visually show you what is coming next as Kelly is explaining it. I didn't have any problem following Kelly's cuing. I did however get tangle up in a one of the arm combinations. My arms weren't doing was my brain and Kelly were saying. The combination was new for me so the muscle memory wasn't there

30 Minutes to Fitness Weights is not just one of my favorite KCM workouts, it is one of my favorite weight workouts. I will say this is a workout that I didn't click with the first time I did it, which has been well over a year ago now. When I was doing it this time, I couldn't remember what I didn't like about it. The DVD consist of a warm up, two weight routines and an abdominal section and there is a premix sections. The first weight routine is chest, legs, and back. The second weight routine is biceps, triceps, and shoulders. Both workouts featured three rounds or circuits of exercises done two times through. In many cases the exercises were synchronized to the beat of the music which I loved. Kelly is awesome in her cuing and her motivation. 5 out of 5 stars

Cathe GymStyle workouts. This is a great series of workouts and each DVD is packed with many options that allows you to mix and match chapter points and also each DVD contains two premix workouts that gives you even more options in how you can do the workout. Each of the workouts feature heavy weight work intermixed with band work. The band work was mostly used for that extra burn "the bonus burn". Gymstyle Legs is a 67 minute workout that features a standing leg section and a floor section. The floor section uses the stability ball along with the band for increase intensity. The high step is also used in this workouts. Gymstyle Chest & Triceps is a 48 minute workout, although when I did the workout this time, I used the time saver option which clocks in at a 33 minute workout. This workout first works the chest muscle group and then you work the triceps. You used your club step in both a flat and incline position. Gymstyle Back, Shoulder and Biceps is a 62 minut