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If you choose to order The FIRM's ZipTrainer Ultimate Edition , you will receive in addition to the basic set, a 7 pound blue Core Ball and  2 DVDs with additional workouts. Unlike the basic set DVDs, the DVDs in the Ultimate set do not come with a Customize Your Workout feature. However each of the DVDs do come with three options which are to play all, to play the cardio workout or to play the sculpting workout. Any of the three selections will come with a warm up and cool down. The two or four (depending on how you look at it) workouts that come in this set are definitely my favorites out of all the workouts in the ZipTrainer system.  A workout that I think they could have included with the system is a standalone stretch workout.  I think the uniqueness of the ZipTrainer and the added bonus of being able to put it in the dome position would have lent itself well to a stretch workout. If I can nitpick, one of the things that irritated me is that all the instructo...

Cycle 1 Rev! is the first DVD in the FIRM's ZipTrainer System. This DVD comes with four workouts. The workouts are Jump Start (I did not do this workout but I did preview it), Cardio 1, Sculpt 1, and Amp Reps 1. Jump Start introduces you to the exercise moves that will appear in the other workouts.  This workout is led by Emily.  She is the only cast member.  Emily takes you through a series of 8 moves without the use of the Zip Trainer or core ball.  So your are pretending or imaging that you are working with the core ball or zip trainer.  Also Emily introduces you to Short Burst Training (I am abbreviating this as SBT).  In this workout, the SBTs are 30 seconds.  This workout is about 15 minutes. Rev Cardio 1 is led by Allie.  The other cast members are Kelsie and Emily.  Emily does the modifications.  In this workout, Allie includes 4 - Short Burst Training that are 30 seconds each.  Including the warm up and stretch, ...

TransFIRM Your Body Workou t is approximately a 40 minute workout led by FIRM Master Instructor  Allie Del Rio.  Along with Allie, there are four other cast members and one cast member does show beginner modification. This workout is mostly a cardio workout with some light (4-limb) sculpting sets thrown it.   It uses the FIRM's Fanny Lifter (also known as the TransFIRMer also known as The Body Trainer) in all segments. The Breakdown: Allie gets you warm by introducing a mini combo routine using the 6 inch box.  You do this mini combination leading right and then you repeat the whole thing leading left. The next segment is all leg press.   Beginners use the 8 inch portion of the box, while all others used the box at its full height (14 inches).  The next segment is a step routine done using either the 6 inch or 8 inch portions of the box. This is followed by a 4 limb (using light weights) segment and you keep the same box height as the p...

Time Crunch Cardio consist of three 20 minute workouts featuring Allie Del Rio as the lead. The three 20 minute workouts are self contain workouts in that they each contain their on warm up and cool down. There are two other cast members. Jen does advance moves. Rebekah does the beginner modification and she is truly modifying the moves. She doesn't use weight and she does all of the blast with virtually no impact. The three workouts are : Cardio + Sculpt Combo Fat Blasting Bursts Calorie Burning Cardio I have included break downs for both Cardio + Sculpt Combo and Fat Blasting Bursts. Both of these workouts use weights and they have cardio burst/blast. Also, both workouts use a lot of multi-joint compound exercises. Lots of layering. So at any one point you could be doing 4 exercises in combination. If I had to differentiate between the two, I would say Cardio + Sculpt Combos lean towards being slow and heavy whereas Fat Blasting Burst is more fast and light. (Heavy and Lig...

So I was over at Collage Video and someone posted about revisiting old workouts. I have plenty of workouts that I would like to do again but never seem to get to. This is usually because there is something that I want to do more. I will start off adding these workouts to the rotation, but before I finalize it, these workouts usually get kick to the side. So in the spirit of revisiting old workouts, I am going to shove a few of them in - starting with The FIRM's Slim & Sculpt Stability Ball Workout . This is a 30 minute workout featuring Allie Del Rio as the lead. I believe this workout was part of the first or second group of "Gaiam" or "Pink" FIRM workouts. The workouts were not part of a "system" and they went straight to retail. What first caught my attention about this workout was the crappy set. Or crappy by FIRM standards. It look like the inside of a storage room or warehouse, very barren looking. So the workout. It starts with you s...

The FIRM's Hard Core Fusion is a 56 minute workout and it features Allie Del Rio as the lead. This workout was and I guess still is part of the FIRM's Cardio Weight Systems. I privately have dubbed this system as BSS5. This is the system that came with the pink adjustable hand weights. I have the hand weights. I never use the hand weights. Instead, I used my regular dumbbells. This workout follows the classic FIRM pattern of aerobics and toning intervals. It starts with a warm up and then goes into a series of alternating toning and aerobic segments. The final toning segment includes ab work before going to the final stretch. Now the FIRM has always tended to layer moves but in this series of workouts, they started giving the multi-joint/compound exercise moves names. The Dip and Scoop (working legs and chest) Power Press (squat and bicep curl) Butt and Back Burner (deadlift, double arm row, one arm sweep) Corkscrew (lunges front and back with a chop to the ...

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 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...

I did a search of my blog posts and was shocked to find that I have not blogged about The FIRM's Aerobic Body Shaping workout. Aerobic Body Shaping is a 55 minute aerobic & weight training workout led by Allie Del Rio. It is one of 6 workouts that was made for use with The FIRM's TransFIRMer. Aerobic Body Shaping (ABS) does an excellent job of implementing the traditional FIRM style workout of the original (late 80s early 90s) aerobic weight training volumes. It was release in late 2005 early 2006. I can't believe it has been that long ago. ABS alternates sculpting segments with cardio segments. The cardio segments have basic choreography but the moves are fun - very easy to follow and pick up. The sculpting segments have a nice flow and include traditional weight work. The exercises are sequence so you can go heavy with your weight selection if you want too. Also, the FIRM signature moves are included in this workout (i.e. leg press and tall box climbs). ...

It has been forever since I have done Cardio Dance Slim Down (CDSD); and in that time I forgot that I actually like this workout. CDSD is a 40 minute workout led my FIRM Master Instructor Allie Del Rio. The workout features a warm-up, 10 minute club/pop section, 10 minute Latin section , 10 minute disco section and 5 minute cool down. My favorite sections are the Latin and disco sections. This is mainly so because I was actually able to dance those two sections. With the club/pop section, some of the moves aren't conducive to doing on the type of flooring I have, plus this section didn't flow as well as the other two sections. The choreography is not particularly complex. It can be easily picked up just by watching Allie - although she does call out the steps and cues very well. There is a lot of "Taking It From the Top", except for the last 16 counts in each of the combinations. Allie doesn't go back to the beginning. It leaves the impression of the com...

Cardio Sculpt From the original Body Sculpting System, Cardio Sculpt is a 55 minute workout that features Allie Del Rio as the lead. It is mostly a sculpting workout with three cardio segments placed throughout. I thought the cardio segments were rather mundane and very very basic. The first cardio set was low impact, the second was step, and the third was 4-limb movement using the step. This workout utilizes the fanny lifter to help shape and sculpt the body. The workout contains two sets of leg presses, plus the regularly used squat and lunge exercises; as well as traditional exercises for the bicep, triceps , back and chest. Cardio Sculpt does include a floor section where you are working your lower body doing shootouts, leg lifts and leg raises. There is an abdominal section also. I felt the abdominal section was a bit weak. Overall this is a solid workout. 3 stars out of 5.

Fat Blaster This workout used to be a favorite. Not so anymore, although it is still a good solid workout. Fat Blaster features FIRM Master Instructors Allie Strickland Del Rio, Lisa Kay, and Nancy Tucker. Love all three of these women. It is a 45 minute workout that combines different types of cardio. It uses the low step, high step, four-limb with light weights and basic floor aerobics. There are two section were you are using the high step to perform Tall Box climbs and there are three low step combination routines. The music is pretty good and the workout moves at a steady pace. Doing this workout today, the step combinations seem to be mundane and repetitive. The floor combinations were fun, but the tall box climbs were just annoying. I think this was the workout that the FIRM started adding Tall Box Climbs to all their cardio routines. So while I am not in love with the workout anymore, it is still a solid workout and I had a sweat going. 3 out of 5 stars

This workout is 40 minutes in length and is led by Allie Del Rio. Allie is one of my favorite FIRM instructors and this workout is one of my favorite "pink" FIRM workouts. I am not crazy about the "pink" FIRM workouts but if I had to choose the best among them, then this would be one of them. I thought the workout moved extremely fast. However, the exercises were sequence in a way that you could go heavy on some of the lower body moves. I think my favorite part of the workout was the ab set. It was short but had some of my favorite ab and core moves. This is probably my 5th or 6th time doing this workout. I use this workout on sculpting days when my time is short or when I am trying to throw a little variety in my sculpting routine from the more traditional weight workouts that I prefer to do. Many of the exercises in this workout are compound in nature. I give this workout 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars.