The FIRM Express System - Thoughts on whole system in one place
The following is a review I wrote somewhere else of the whole FE system. I was asked recently by a couple of people about my thoughts on the system as a whole so I am posting my ramblings here.
I have posted thoughts on the individual workouts/cycles in January 2011 portion of the blog.
"Okay. I just recently finished all the workouts in the FIRM Express System. I think many of the workouts are going to start showing up individually or in pairs in the retail market soon. I can give you information on an individual workout if you like but for now most of my comments will be on the system as a whole.
The system consist of:
Kickstart Your Metabolism - Includes 10 minutes Pump It Up and 10 minutes Shortcut to Flat Abs. Jennifer Ray
Cycle 1 Ignite - Cardio+Sculpt , Cardio, Sculpt - 3 workouts each 20 minutes., Emily Welsh
Cycle 2 Accelerate - Cardio+Sculpt, Cardio, Sculpt - 3 workouts each 20 minutes, Rebekah Sturkie
Cycle 3 TurboCharge - Cardio+Sculpt, Cardio, Sculpt - 3 workouts each 20 minutes, Alison Davis
Cycle 4 Overdrive - Cardio+Sculpt, Cardio, Sculpt - 3 workouts each 20 minutes, Kelsie Daniels
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Overall, I like the system. I am in between thinking it is decent to good, but not great. Also, I don't like any one cycle more than the other. There are individual workouts that I thought were great and some just okay.
All the workouts with the exception of Shortcut to Flat Abs include the Mini Burst. The mini burst are 8 seconds of work, 12 second of recovery. I like the idea of the mini burst, I just didn't like many of the exercises chosen for the mini burst. Mostly because the moves themselves are not naturally intensive moves. I think of some of the interval, bootcamp, HiiT workouts out there, even some of the PINK Firms - and all the exercises that they could have use but didn't. Many of the burst seem similar from one workout to the next and there is not a lot of variety.
One of the things that I liked about the system is that the workouts are 20 minutes. Coming home after work and knowing that my workout was only going to be 20 minutes was a big plus for me. No dread factor when it came to these workouts. I was like "20 minutes, Let's Do It". Now, while I like that the workouts were 20 minutes, I didn't necessarily like how they use the 20 minutes.
First of all for a 20 minute workout, about 1/2 of the warm ups used were way too complicated or maybe overly fancy is the phrase I am looking for. The warm ups that were simple and to the point got me into the workout much faster. Also, all the workouts included or tried to include an mini ab section towards the end of the workout. I just really felt this stopped the momentum and it greatly annoyed me in the cardio workouts.
I will say I was impressed by the ending stretch. There were only two workouts that I felt rushed the stretch at then end. The majority of the workouts kept a brisk but unhurried pace.
Most of the main content (with exception of some of the burst) I enjoyed. By the main content I mean the sculpting and cardio segments. Next time I do these workouts again, I will most likely come up with my own burst.
Speaking of the burst and something else that annoyed me is the fact that the count down clock (counting down the 8 seconds) was not in sync with the instructor. Most of the time, the instructor is stopping well before the clock hits zero.
Things that I wish for the system:
1) That they had either made a fourth DVD in each cycle with each instructor doing a mini ab work and a mini stretch. (Although Jen has an ab workout on her DVD)
2) or that each workout had an extended stretch as a separate chapter point added to the DVD. 3) A music louder option.
4) A separate chapter point of all the burst done back to back.
5) A separate chapter point without the burst.
6) A count down clock for the 12 second rest/recovery period too.
I do think the 20 minute are a great way to burn a bunch of calories. With Pump It Up (Jen's 10 Minute bonus workout) I burned 100 calories. For the other workouts my calorie range was (depending on the workout) 123 to 220. "
Thanks for the overall review of the Firm Express system Saundra, I was curious to know how you find the complete system. It's good to know that the workouts are short in length but I'm thinking if the intensity bursts aren't that intense, I don't think I'm going to go with this system. Thanks for the honest review.
ReplyDeleteHi Susan.
ReplyDeleteI hope all is well with you.
And you are welcome. I try but sometimes it is hard when you really want to like something. But other times it is great when you don't think you will like a workout and you are pleasantly surprise by it.
Hi, Saundra-After seeing Firm Express show up on Collage's Coming Soon page, I knew I wanted to read your review. I'm tempted because of the 20 minute length. But I'm not overly impressed with some of the moves in the clips. Do you think that you really benefited from doing this for the full 30 days? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteCarol, yes. I do think I benefited. The benefit for me is that the workouts are 20 minutes. And for those 20 minutes I do think that most of the workouts give you a good workout. I like these workouts for when I want to work out twice a day but I don't want my second workout (for me usually the evening) to be very long. I feel that I can usually find 20 minutes in the evening to get the whole workout in. And I like that.
ReplyDeleteNow, I have only done the workouts once, in January and as evening workouts. During that month I lost over 8lbs but I was also doing other workouts in the morning.
I am planning on doing the workouts again as evening workouts in June and I will be modifying many of the burst as I didn't care for quite a few of them the first time I did the workouts.
I don't believe their claim that doing just the 20 minute workouts 3 times a week, will get you the results of loosing 15lbs or more. However, that is not to say someone hasn't done it.
Have you tried this system again as a PM WO this June? I am really struggling with buying the whole system, but do not want to drop the $$ unless I will see real results. I already WO 6x/week and have only about 10 lbs to go to reach my goal. I also have bad knees from a HS injury. Can you give me your June thoughts and also your thoughts on the overall impact. Thanks! Your thoughts and insight are greatly appreciated!
ReplyDeleteHi Shannon.
ReplyDeleteI did do Jen's two 10 minute workout and all of Emily's three but for the other cycles I have only done the cardio workouts. I still have Kelsie cardio which I have schedule to do this coming Wednesday.
I took out the other cardio sculpt and sculpt workouts because I felt I had too much sculpting going on.
While, I think you can modify any move, I do think the overall impact as designed is not good for bad knees. Last week, I did Alison's cardio workout and during one of the burst she has you hopping from side to side on one leg or foot. I felt the impact of that.
I very much like the concept of the burst. However, I still am not a fan of many of the the exercises they chose for the burst and I tend to modify those or just do something completely different.
Otherwise I like the workouts very much and I especially like that they are 20 minutes.
As far as results, I can't say because I wasn't eating very well at the beginning of the month. For the cardio workouts, my calorie burn has been between 168 to 176 using the bodybugg and between 190 to 211 for my heart rate monitor.
Overall my thoughts are very positive about the system. I don't know if you know or not but, Jen's Kickstart your Metabolism (the whole 10 minute workout) is on Youtube. This is a good representation of the Cardio Sculpt workouts in the set and it gives you a good idea of how the burst work.
Did you lose 8 pounds in the month you tried this? That's not bad considering you said you weren't eating too well, right?
ReplyDeleteI did the FIRM maximum cardio burn a few years ago, lost 20 pounds but hit the plateau with my body refusing to lose anymore. I felt dejected and put on 35 pounds now! Sigh, that's why i trust the FIRM - it was me who put on the weight back on - so was wondering if this one EXPRESS SYSTEM would work.
Yes. In the month I tried this I lost 8 lbs.
ReplyDeleteI worked out twice a day. The FIRM Express was my evening workout and I was doing other stuff in the morning.
This would have been in January and I am pretty sure I was watching my eating then. I would have to go back and look at my journal but considering it was the start of the New Year, I think I would have been paying attention to my eating as well.
Thanks Saundra
ReplyDelete