Saundra

Cycle 2:  Peak! is the second DVD in The FIRM's ZipTrainer System.  This systems comes with three workouts. The first workout on the Peak! disc is Cardio 2 .  Cardio 2 is lead by Alison Davis.  Alison's workouts is a 15 minute high energy workout. You are constantly moving and going from one sequence right into the next without much of a break. There are two other cast members, Annie and Stephanie. Annie is performing the advance moves which are often high impact and Stephanie is performing the beginner modifications. This workout features 4 SBT's or Short Burst Training Cycles.  You do two rounds of each SBT. During each round you work for 30 seconds and rest for 15 seconds. The SBTs in Cardio 2 are: Front/back Squat with an overhead raise with the ZipTrainer Step, Skip, or Jump over the Zip Trainers (Dome Positions) with an alternating kickback Hitchkick Football Shuffle into three alternating rows. There are burpees in this workout but they are not...

Tight Buns & Killer Thighs is a 30 minute lower body workout lead by Kelsie Daniels. This workout came out as an add-on to the CardioWeight System. So it to features the FIRM adjustable pink hand weights. The exercises are layered. They start with a basic move and then add on for a multi-compound move. In between the weight exercises, there are cardio burst or plyo sets for added intensity. First group of exercises features a courtesy dip, into leg extension, into a single legged squat with a knee lift. Cardio Blast : Dip press into High Knee Runs, Second group of exercises: Side lunges, outer thigh lift, hip rotation, rear leg lift. Cardio Blast : Hopscotch. Third group: deadlifts, heel push, heel lift, front lunge, glute lift. Cardio Blast : Squat thrust into plank jumping jacks. Fourth group: Plies squats, inner thigh contraction, inner thigh lift. Cardio Blast : Squat jump into side kick. After the fourth group, you do a cool down. Then you go down to the floor for ...

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...

FIRM Express Cycle 4 Overdrive features FIRM Master Instructor Kelsie Daniels. In OverDrive "Now your body is primed for burning overall body fat, blasting belly fat and sculpting beautifully defined muscles." This is a quote from the fitness guide. Overdrive Cardio Sculpt follows the same format as the other Cardio Sculpt workouts. What I like about Overdrive's version is that it does not start with a fancy warm up. The warm up contains no-nonsense typical athletic moves. I appreciated that because I could just listen to Kelsie's cuing instead of watching the TV. With the other ladies, I had to watch the television to figure out what they were doing in their Cardio Sculpt warm ups. The Burst in this workout: Burst 1 - Single Leg Step Leap Burst 2 - Tuck Jumps Burst 3 - Dip Courtesy Jumps Burst 4 - Side lunge and courtesy . Some other moves featured in this workout are: Burpees with push ups, static squat holds with bicep curls, and courtesy dips with rows and tric...

Pump, Jump n Jab Well I wanted to do a Kickboxing workout and probably shouldn't have grabbed this. Not that this isn't a good workout but it really isn't a Kickboxing workout. It is really a Cardio Sculpt workout. Kelsie includes two kickboxing sections as the cardio for the workout. The workout is about 41 minutes long and uses medium weights for sculpting throughout. I used 5 and 7 lbs dumbbells . It is kind of hard to go heavy because of the way the exercises are constructed. There is a lot of compound and 4 limb FIRM signature movement. Kelsie is excellent. The music is so-so. What is great about this workout is that it features two FIRM Believer forum members, Nikki and Jen. They do an excellent job as cast members. My favorite sections, of course, were the kickboxing sections. I would have like to see more kickboxing. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Steamin Cardio This is also my second time doing this workout. I have had the Original FitPrime workouts for years but never got around to doing them until last October. FitPrime Steamin Cardio is an Anna Benson workout and it is led by Kelsie Daniels. Kelsie is absolutely fantastic in this workout. She is so precise in her cueing and in how she performs each exercise. The music is absolute devine and really propels the workout. It is music that you can get really involved with. Most of the workout is synchronize to the music. Steamin Cardio uses the tall step and light weight in some segments. Other segments, include sports drill, kickboxing, latin flavor dancing. The workout has a short core and ab workout. I really love this workout and I am giving it 5 out of 5 stars. Running time is approximately 52 minutes.