The FIRM Express System Cycle 4 OverDrive - Thoughts

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 triceps kickbacks. So there's lots of layering and combining of exercises in this workout.
The Ab exercise is seated tuck pulls.


Overdrive Cardio could have been a great workout. I think it is a decent workout but I feel the middle of the workout fell flat. The majority of the cardio in the workout has a kickboxing feel. After the warm up, first kickboxing combo and burst I said to myself "This is going to be awesome." However, then we went into the second combo and I was like "oh No - side lunges with weights." Very disappointing. Not only did my heart rate come down but my irritation grew because I just got so annoyed at the use of sculpting moves for a 20 minute cardio workout - especially with kickboxing when there are a number of kickboxing combinations that could have been added in its place.

Combo one - jab, jab, cross, knee kick : Combo two - side lunge knee kick, and then dips with power using weights : Combo three - shuffle side, 3 punches, side kick, front kick, side kick, and knee : Combo 4 - Jab Cross Hook, squat, back kick, front kick

The burst are:
Burst 1 - Hitch Kick
Burst 2 - Side Kick Punch Down using weights
Burst 3 - Right Left Alternating Front Kicks
Burst 4 - Front Back Kicks.

While I like the bursts in this workout, with the exception of the Hitch Kick, I didn't think they were very challenging.

The Ab exercise in this workout is standing side bend and front crunch.


OverDrive Sculpt contains lots of compound exercises. Kelsie uses the layer approach where she starts with one exercise say the deadlift - she does a few reps and then adds biceps curls to the move. She uses this technique for most of the workout.
I do like the sculpting sets, but I am not crazy about the burst which are:


Burst 1 - Tap Reach Down Kick Top
Burst 2 - Alternating Tap Backs with Double Arm Row with weights
Burst 3 -side tap alternating kickbacks with weights
Burst 4 - Shoulder Press alternating knee lifts.
The only burst that really got my heart rate up was Burst 4.
The ab exercise in this workout is plank work.
What I will say about the Overdrive workout is that the makers of the workout do a better job of syncing the count down clock with what Kelsie is actually doing. For the most part, Kelsie ends the burst when the clock hit 0.
.
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OverDrive Cardio Sculpt - 4 stars
OverDrive Cardio - 3 stars
OverDrive Sculpt - 3 1/2 stars

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 16, 2011 at 7:55 PM

    What are your thoughts about the whole Firm Express package? I recently got the DVD's; however, I feel that there were too much footwork involved. I feel my heart racing when doing those bursts but don't really feel the burning in my muscles like I do with the old FIRM videos. I still love my TransFIRMER and will stick with the advanced rotations and work out on the elliptical 30 minutes 4-5 times a week. I think it is good enough for me to stay in shape.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SaundraFebruary 17, 2011 at 7:22 AM

    Here is a brief summary on my thoughts about the whole FE package:
    "I tried out the FIRM Express workouts. Overall I think they are pretty good. If I do them again, I will probably substitute some of the burst (make up my own). Many of the burst lack the "Oomph" I was looking for. I did like the 8/12 concept though. I also like that they were 20 minutes which is ironic because when I first heard the FIRM Express workouts were going to be 20 minutes, I was not enthused at all."

    I would love if they made new workouts for the TranFIRMer. They still use the TranFIRMer in their studio and if you go to their website they offent feature mini workouts using it as well.

    I am going to post a more indepth review of my thoughs of the whole FE system on my blog. I had someone else ask me about it as well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2011 at 7:20 PM

    I really appreciate your honest opinion about the whole FE package. I have tried to ask the ladies on the FIRM Facebook page who have commented that they did not feel satisfied with the FE workouts and/or feel that 20 minutes 3 times a week wasn't enough. They were being honest with their experiences but their comments were deleted from the FIRM FB page. I agree with you that The Firm should make some new workouts from the previous DVD's such as the TransFIRMER and the Fanny Lifter. I feel that I am accomplishing something from using the old Firm DVD's rather than the new ones. Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousApril 20, 2011 at 7:05 PM

    how much weight did you lost?

    ReplyDelete
  5. SaundraApril 21, 2011 at 7:13 AM

    I lost 8 lbs but I was doing other stuff. The FIRM Express system was my evening rotation. I did another rotation in the morning. So I was working out twice a day.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousAugust 24, 2011 at 6:42 PM

    What is the meal plan like for the Firm Express? How many calories per day? Can you please give me some examples of meals and snacks?

    ReplyDelete
  7. MabelNovember 7, 2011 at 4:11 AM

    You lost 8 pounds in how long? I wish more people would post how much weight they lost on this program, it would help readers decide to buy or not.

    ReplyDelete
  8. SaundraNovember 7, 2011 at 6:24 AM

    In one month.
    I did the FIRM Express workouts in the Evenings but I did other workouts in the morning.

    ReplyDelete

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