Saundra

I have not worked out since I did Rock Solid Abs. That has been almost two weeks ago. I have been moving and you never know how much stuff you have until you move. Although I think I burn just as much if not more calories moving. There was a lot of walking up and down the stairs moving boxes, furniture and just overall stuff. Anyway I am just now getting myself organized to actually have the time and space to do workouts. On the menu for yesterday and today - Kelly Coffey-Meyer 30 Minutes To Fitness TLC (Train Like A Contender). I broke the workouts up into its two parts. So first let's talk about Workout #1 Boxing. Actually I will get back to that in a second. Let's talk about the DVD. There are several sections on the DVD and they are: Introduction Warm-Up Quick Warm-Up Workout #1 (Boxing) Workout #2 (Conditioning) Stretch Bonus(Flip Up/Push Up) Premixes Boxing Combos Credits and the Music On/Off option. Because I was short on time for Workout #1 I did the Quick Warm-Up. T...

Probably my least favorite of the WAVE workouts is Rock Solid Abs . This one I am totally lukewarm on. It is 30 minutes and stars Allie Del Rio. I found the music to be drab and uninspiring which could be why I am so so with this workout. There is a lot of variety in this workout. You are working you core seated, standing, lying, stable side and rocking side. Also, you are doing traditional ab work (crunches), functional fitness, balance, stabilization and planks. The planks are kind of cool. You are doing them with your hands on the Wave on the rocking side. Allie also uses a band for added resistance to work side bends and for oblique work. Even with all the variety, I did think this workout "run-of-the-mill". 2 1/2 star

I am still riding the Wave this week with Rock Solid Cardio . (I know that was corny). Ok. So Rock Solid Cardio is 30 minutes. The workout is led by Kelsie Daniels. Kelsie is truly on her game in this workout. I felt the energy coming from her. Kelsie alternates using the Wave in the stable and rocking position. We probably did five changes first working on the stable side and then the rocking side, back to the stable side etc. I really like the cardio sets in this workout. However, like most FIRM workouts they have to throw in a set working with weights and while I thought the the sculpting moves were okay, the moves just really brought my heart rate down. I think this is mostly because the sculpting moves interspersed four limb with isolated weight work and as it is recommended that you don't exceed 5lbs in this workout, the intensity of the weight work lacked any power. This section occurs well after the 20 minute mark in the workout so you do get your heart rate up for 20 minut...

Rock Solid Buns is one of the workouts that came as an add-on to The Wave System by The FIRM. Alison Davis leads the workout and it is 30 minutes long. Along with using the Wave and dumbbells, this workout also utilizes a band. The band that came with my workout was long, pink and had The FIRM logo on it. I did include a worksheet breaking down the exercises. You will notice that I call things Side A and Side B. It was much easier to do it this way than to remember what was left and what was right. This is mostly because there is a lot of compound movement and multi-joint exercises. Alison starts with one exercise say a dip. She does this for a while and then she adds a back leg lift. Nothing new. Typical FIRM just hard to write up when you are trying to make an exercise worksheet. The workout is kind of broken up into thirds . First Part - Stable side of Wave, using dumbbells, standing work. Second Part - Rocking side, using the band, standing work. Third Part - Stable Side, using t...

I am continuing my WAVE workout rotation with Speed Slimming Sculpt . This workout is 30 minutes and features Allie Del Rio as the instructor. This workout is classic FIRM sculpting. The only caveat being that they don't want you to go heavier than 8 lb dumbbells. Every muscle group is hit. The reps are relatively short and you are moving from exercise to exercise at a steady pace. The only time the pace gets interrupted is when Allie points out Wave specific instruction (i.e. how to mount the Wave, how your feet should be position - that type of stuff) or they are moving to a different segment. Allie does a good job in leading the workout. The music is decent. I really like the warm up. Some of the moves used in the warm up, I recognized from the cardio in Aerobic Body Shaping. As in all the WAVE workouts, you are working on both the stable side and the rocking side. The worksheet I have included breaks that down. I don't have a whole lot to say about this workout. It is sol...

From the Wave system, The FIRM's Express Abs is a 10 minute workout featuring Emily Welsh. The workout uses the Wave in the rocking and stable position. Weights are not used in this workout. Breakdown: Segment one - standing warm up - wave on rocking side Segment two - seated on wave - rocking side to side Segment three - Planks. Toes on Wave -rocking side Segment four - standing ab workout on the wave, carving the wave, stabilization work, standing crunches, Segment five - Planks, Hand on the Wave - rocking side Segment six - seated and lysing crunches, Wave on stable side Segment seven - back work, supermans, Wave on stable side Segment eight - stretch, Wave on stable side Lots of balance and core stabilization in this workout. Emily cues very well. She keeps a nice steady pace throughout the workout. This workouts has the same picture quality as Rock It Off. Solid. 3 stars

From the Wave system, The FIRM's Rock It Off is a 40 minute cardio sculpt workout featuring Alison Davis as the instructor. The Wave is a piece of exercise equipment that contains two workable sides. The stable side can be used just as you would use a normal step. It is different from a normal step in that the middle of the step is higher than the ends. Alison calls the middle portion of the step (when on its stable side) the crest. The unstable side is the rocking side of the wave. This is this side where you can really work your balance, your core and your legs. Depending on the position of the wave, you can rock side to side or front to back. Rock It Off Contains typical FIRM cardio sculpt sequences. The sculpting sets are more traditional and less functional. Segment 1 - warm up - stable side of the Wave. Wave in vertical position Segment 2 - total body sculpting using weights, Wave on stable side in vertical position Segment 3 - cardio (step) Wave on stable side in vertical ...

Lower Body Burn is 48 minutes in length and features Melissa Grill. I think the music in this workout is great. I think Melissa Grill is great. While doing the workout, I found myself wondering if Melissa has anymore workouts videos that are out. WHFN is the only place where I have come across her. Now, I have had the WHFN workouts for awhile and I have done most of them three to four times but I could not remember ever completing Lower Body Burn. 10 minutes into the workout I remembered that I never did complete it because I just couldn't get into the workout. This time I did complete the whole workout but it was an effort. Mostly, I think because the pace is just slow. Not the music. The workout itself is just...... Lackluster is the word that comes to mind. There is no intensity and really no burn. I could tell that Melissa was trying to bring some oomph to it, some enthusiasm but at 14 minute and 50 second into the workout, I remember thinking that's all I've done. Th...

Upper Body Burn is volume 5 in the WHFN FitPrime series. It features Keli Roberts as the instructor and it is 55 minutes in length. The workouts in this series are known for working the non-dominant side first. For most people that is their left side, but the workout does not assume this so you are constantly hearing non-dominant and dominant throughout the workout and after awhile the two words start to run together. I mention this because I got mixed up trying to follow the phraseology and I found myself wondering throughout the workout whether or not I switched sides. The WHFN are fusion workouts that combine pilates, cardio, yoga and weights. This workout is primarily weights (used to work the upper body) and the weight work is decent. It starts by working the non-dominant side with lat rows, push ups and single arm shoulder work. The workout then takes you through a series of bicep, triceps, push ups, double arms rows. About 30 minutes into the workout, it comes back and works...