Saundra

Abs & Core is a compilation workout by Kelly Coffey-Meyer.  Kelly pulled six ab/core workouts from her 30-Minute To Fitness series workouts to give you a well rounded in-depth core and ab workout.  There are standing segments and floor segments. I did these workouts as add-on workouts; and I didn't remember doing any of the segments when I did the original workouts they came from.  So I think this was my first time doing all of these segments. The DVD offers the following menu options : Mix On e (33 min consist of Kickboxing, Muscle Up, & Circuit Burn) Mix Two (32 min consist of Home Gym Intervals, Muscle Definition, Weights) Kelly's Favorite Mix (33 min consist of Home Gym Intervals, Muscle Up, Muscle Definition) Premixes          Premix One (44 min, All Floor Exercises)          Premix Two (20 min, All Standing and Plank              ...

Cathe Greatest Hits Vol 1 Step is another compilation workout.   The DVD contains a lot of material and if you do the whole thing, the run time is one hour and 38 minutes.  This workout is made of up segments from Step, Jump & Pump, Body Max 2, Drill Max, Imax 2, and Athletic Step.  There are segments from Cardio & Weights and XTrain Super Cuts  that are included as Bonus Chapters. Specifically, the warm up and the four step combos of of SJP are included, Body Max 2 step combo #2 and Drill Max cardio #4 are included, Imax 2 intervals 7-10, the finished combos in Athletic step and the stretch segment in Body Max 2 round out the DVD. DVD Menu:    PLAY    CHAPTERS    PREMIXES Premixes are:     Bonus Circuit Workout 44:50     Timesaver 1 (No Athetic Step) 54:40     Timesaver 2 (No Imax 2) 50:17     Timesaver 3 (No Step Combo Body Max 2) 59:23     Times...

Cathe Cardio Fusion is a compilation workout compose of cardio segments from the following DVDs:  Body Max 2, Low Impact Circuit and Drill Max. The DVD offers these menu options: Play Program Chapters Mix & Match Premixes Credits In Cardio Fusion, Cathe uses the warm up in Body Max 2 (9:24), the finish step combo in Body Max 2 (5:51), the bonus step segment in Low Impact Circuit (10:56), the power circuit segments (sans weight) from Body Max 2, cardio drills from drill max (25:26) and stretch segment from Body Max 2 (6:32). The entire workout clocks in at around an hour and 15 minutes. There are three premixes:      All Step Cardio (48 min)      Mix Cardio (41.5 min)      Mix & Max (80 min) Equipment used is a step and stability ball in drill max segments. I have had this workout for sometime but never did it. It has been quite sometime since I did the original workouts that this compilation wa...

The FIRM Aerobic Butt Busters is approximate 32 minutes in length.  This is a compilations workout with segments originating from the "Classic" FIRM workouts.  The featured instructors are LaReine Chabut, Kai Soremekum, Jayne Poteet, Sandahl Bergman, and Susan Harris. The DVD allows you to select the following segments: Total Workout Warm-Up/Stretch Short Box Aerobics Tall Box/Leg Presses Short Box/Floor Aerobics Tall Box/Leg Presses Stretch Most of the aerobics segments selected were low impact.  I felt during these segments that I had to create my own intensity for more of a cardio workout.  However, the leg press segments did get my heart rate up. This is mostly a lower body focus workout,  but there are some four limb segments in which you are performing shoulder and bicep exercises.  There also is a heavy set of triceps work, plus heavy weight work for the lower body (squats and leg presses). Overall, I thought this was a decent workout...

The FIRM Boot Camp 3 in 1 Mix .  This workout is a compilation that can been performed one of three ways.  It is divided into Workout 1 which is about 42 minutes, Workout two which is about 37 minutes or you can combine both (skipping the cool down of the first workout and the warm up of the second workout) into one long 70 minute plus workout. The workout features footage from a variety of FIRM workouts, Super Cardio, Super Sculpting, Better Body & Buns, Maximum Body Shaping, Cardio Burn just to name a few.  As a result of the variety of workouts, you also get a variety of instructors leading the segments. The workout uses dumbbells, med ball, dowel, short and tall box steps, ankle weights, and barbell.  It is primarily strength and weight work. However, each workout has one or two cardio segments. And each workout has an abdominal section. I did the DVD as two separate workouts.  And I think I like workout two just a little bit better than workou...

It has been a gazillion years since I have done Cardio Step Mix and I remember it being much harder than it was today. Although, I only used a 6 inch step height, maybe next time, if there is one, I will go for an 8 inch step height. But at a 6 inch step height, I pretty much felt that it was a steady state workout with a few dips in intensity. This is a compilation workout that is comprised of various step segments from various FIRM workouts. This compilation is made up of Fat Blaster (Allie Del Rio, Nancy Tucker, Lisa Kay), FIRM Cardio (Heidi Tanner), Power Cardio, (Dale Brabham), Maximum Cardio (Carissa Foster), Cardio Burn (Tamela Hastie), The Tortoise and The Hare (Tracie Long), and Super Cardio (Jennifer Carman, Carissa Foster, Allie DelRio). The step segments are repetitive. Within each step sequence you are repeating the same 4 to 6 moves over and over. Many of the combos use light dumbbell for the FIRM's signature 4-limb movement. That is okay. Just noting that ...

Upper Body Split is another FIRM compilation workout that is 61 minutes in length. It features several FIRM instructors from various FIRM workouts. The segments and FIRM instructors are Pam Cauthen (FIRM Strength), Carissa Foster (Maximum Cardio), Jen Peluso (Better Body & Buns), Tracie Long (The Tortoise, Maximum Body Shaping), Stacey Millner Collins (Prime Power Fat Burning), Tamela Hastie (Cardio Burn), Dale Brabham (Power Cardio), Allie DelRio and Lisa Kay (Fat Blaster), and Heidi Tanner (FIRM Cardio). So this workout is upper body, abdominals, and cardio. I didn't mind the cardio so much but there are a lot of ab sets. Maybe as much as 5 or 6. Now you are not doing them all in a row. They all don't appear at the end of the workout but they are interspersed throughout the upper body sets. My main gripe about this workout is that for an upper body workout you are getting a lot of lower body work as well. This is mostly because many of the upper body moves are co...

Lower Body Split is a FIRM compilation workout. It is a 69 minute workout featuring the following FIRM instructors: Pam Cauthen, Taber Bruner, Carissa Foster, Jen Carman, Tracie Long, Tamela Hastie, Lisa Kay, and Dale Brabham. The workout features various segments from FIRM Strength, Better Body & Buns, Maximum Cardio, Maximum Body Shaping, The Hare, Cardio Burn, FIRM Cardio and Power Cardio. This is a long workouts. Within the 69 minutes, you are doing several sets of leg presses, lunges and squats. You work your lower body both in the standing position and on the floor. The floor work includes shoot outs, lying leg lifts, hamstring curl, table work, and bridge work. However, it is not all standing work and then all floor work. The floor work is interspersed throughout the workout and in between the standing sets. There is a long set of abs or rather 3 short sets at the end of the workout. The equipment list is long: dumbbells, fanny lifter, med ball, barbell, dowel, ankle...

The FIRM's Bust and Butt is a 44 minute compilation workout taken from the FIRM Cardio (Power Cardio, Cardio Burn, & Maximum Cardio) series. This workout features Tamela Hastie, Dale Brabham, and Carissa Foster. This workout wasn't originally in my rotation, but after disparaging it a couple of weeks ago, I decided to add it in to see if my thoughts about it had change. Essentially it has not. The workout is okay. It seem much longer than the 44 minutes. It felt like there was a 100 different changes going on with all the switching between the different leads. And, because of all the switching which is very quick, it is a good idea to have all your weights and equipment set out to where you can easily access them. The sets are very short and the reps very quick. The basic pattern is that you will do 8 of something, switch to a different exercise and different piece of equipment and do 8 of something else and then come back to the first exercise. The FIRM typically...

Tough Tape 2 is a 45 minute compilation workout. The workout is compiled with segments from the following FIRM workouts - StrongBody aka FIRM Cardio, StrongHeart aka FIRM Strength, Better Body & Buns, and Maximum Body Shaping, This is one of my favorite compilation and total body workouts. The workout flows really well but it moves fast. ( Click on the worksheet to left for a larger view of the exercises included in the workout). Because the workout moves quickly from one exercise to the next, you are getting an aerobic benefit as well. You can go heavy with certain exercises. Within each segment there are various tempo changes. All exercises are performed to the beat of the music. This workout it taught in the "Live Class" format. There isn't much that I don't like about this workout. Equipment used: dumbbells, tall step, dowel, and 2X4. 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

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.

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

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, ...

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...