Review: The Firm Calorie Killer

Calorie Killer is an all cardio workout from The Firm's Body Sculpting System 2 (BSS2), lead by Nancy Tucker. It is 40 min in length, the cardio section is 31 min. and is intermediate in its intensity level.

The warm up is one of my favorites. It has some kickbox-flavored punches (not true kickboxing, for sure) and some pre-workout stretches. The first section of the workout has you stepping over the Firm sculpting stick. Nancy missed a cue or two. You step and curl the stick and she tells you to curl the second time you do it, not the first. But I love Nancy as an instructor.

The workout includes two different tall box climb sections, a plyo section, a section that Nancy calls low impact but is definitely mixed impact, a step section, and a 4-limb section. The moves were some old some new, mostly new - which I like.

I really, really dislike the music from this workout. I enjoy Nancy as an instructor and some of the choreography is quite interesting for a Firm workout, but I don't see myself doing this workout as often as I would if it had better music.

Sweat factor: 5.5/10
Fun factor: 6/10

Review: Kickbox Xtreme

Kickbox Xtreme is an int/adv kickboxing workout made up of a thorough (and fun!) warm up, a long (57 min) cardio section, a brief (2 min) cooldown, then a 6 min core workout with tubing and a nice (5 min) Tai Chi inspired stretch.

The workout itself has some interesting choreography - I found it really tricky the first few times I tried it. But I think I've done it enough times - and have gotten used to Amy's style and cuing - so that now it seems more athletic and basic. Combo 1 is done with right and left done back to back in add-on style so you do the right then the left, add to the right, then add to the left; you don't do the entire combo on the left, then build it all again on the left. After the combo (which seems pretty short), you do your first intensity blast. The first blast you do three side kicks then to jump side kicks (those are fun). Combo 2 seems short, too. It is set up the same way as the first combo so you do right/left/right/left in add on style. Interval 2 is my favorite. You do jump switches, 3 side kicks, then 1 jump kick (to the front this time). Then you do a combination of combos 1 and 2. Something interesting that Amy does is she throws the intervals in too so you do the final product of combo 1/interval 1/combo 2/interval 2.

The second half of the workout is set up differently. For combo 3 you build the entire combo on the right then do it all again on the left. Amy announces interval 3 as her favorite. It is probably my least favorite. It's called "the weave," you do hooks while traveling forward then come bback with one arm flurrying in the air as you do a sort of shuffling box step back. Combo 4 is set up the same way as comb 3 - all on the right then all on the left. Interval 4 is called "kick walk walk" - Amy says this too is her favorite interval. It is pretty fun - it's a side kick then 2 hops into alternating kicks. Then you go into combined 3 and 4 which is combo 3/interval 3/combo 4/interval 4.

Combo 5 is looooong. It is set up all on the right then you run through it for what seems like a lot of times. Then you do it all on the left. I don't think you do it as many times on the left, but I could be wrong. Interval 5 is more balance than intense, but it does have some lunges and spin back kicks to keep the heart rate up. Then you go into something called "Combined 5," which seems odd because what are you combining it with? You combine the finished product of combo 5 with interval 5 then you go back and do the finished product again and combo 5 again but she does the interval on one side only then does the finished product again then goes back and does the left side before doing the interval again.

The core work uses the step platform a mat, and a tubing. It's partly abs, partly low back.

Amy also included a 6 min heavy bag bonus. It is short, but it is fun. I have a heavy bag and I always chose a premix that includes the heavy bag bonus. Amy does some punches on the bag and includes jump switches and tucks to keep the intensity up.

Overall this is not a very intense workout, but the length of the cardio section definitely ups the ante. Amy's kickboxing form has really improved over the years. This is Amy's first kickboxing workout and her punches leave something to be desired, but her energy is so infectious and her love of music and working out totally make up for it.

Sweat factor: 7.5/10
Fun factor: 8/10

Review: Advanced Step Challenge 3

Advanced Step Challenge 3 (ASC3) is a long step workout by Amy Bento. I think it is the easiest choreography and intensity wise, but do not be fooled, the length of the cardio portion makes this an advanced workout.

ASC3 is made up of 5 combos. After a 6 min warm up (that combines some floor moves with step moves and a brief post warm up stretch, you move into the cardio portion of the workout (which is 67 in long not including warm up or cooldown!!). Combo 1 contains mostly athletic choreography. Combo 2 is athletic as well. After completing combo 1, you do combo 2, then you do a combination of 1 and 2. Then you move onto combo 3, which is the most intense of the 5 combos (including jump kicks, over the tops (using the step laterally), and air jacks. Combo 4 is the 'danciest' and contains the trickiest choreography. Then you combine combos 3 and 4. After that, you move your step into the vertical position for combo 5. This combo is athletic and moves quickly. After combo 5 you move your step back to the horizontal position and put all 5 combos together. Then it's time for a cooldown and stretch.

The stretch is fantastic. It is 14 min long and quite thorough. You do some standing stretches using the step as a balancing stick, then some more standing stretches using a towel, and some seated and lying stretches using a towel.

There are two abdominal workouts. A 15 min kettlebell/step ab workout, and a 15 min tubing/step ab workout. I like them both, but the tubing segment is probably my favorite of the 2. It uses things like balance to engage the abs.

In each of Amy's Advanced Step Challenge workouts (there have been four so far - I really hope she makes many more!), she includes a Power Ups chapter. The 'power ups' are usually around 3 min or so, and are made up of ~3 drill-type anaerobic segments. I think ASC3 has the toughest Power Ups of all the ASC workouts. They include lunges off the sides of the step with a plyo heel click, a jump over the step and back, and a jump onto the step then off with a fast shuffle back behind the step.

This workout contains 6 premixes and the powerups and at least one of the two abs sections is included in most of the premixes.

ASC3 is a long workout but it is fun and Amy's energy is infectious. When you're past the 60 min mark and Amy yells, "Are you with me?!?" you can't help but smile and think (or say), "Yes, I am."

For those of you who want to try Amy's step but are worried about or intimidated by the complexity she uses in her choreography, I would suggest starting with ASC3. Out of the 4 ASC workouts she's made, I would rate them this way, in terms of complexity, from easiest to hardest:

ASC3
ASC1
ASC4
ASC2

Sweat factor: 7.75/10
Fun factor: 8/10

Review: The Firm Total Sculpt plus Abs

The Firm's Total Sculpt plus Abs is a circuit workout from their Body Sculpting System 2 (BBSS2). It is lead by Jen Carman. 

BSS2 uses the Fanny Lifter (which I like better than the Transfirmer or blue box ("death" box), but BSS2 is when The Firm introduced their "Sculpting Stick." I think it weighs 9 lbs. It is a cool concept, but in this workout it is misused in parts. For example, at times it is used for balance, and I actually like that. I also liked using it during the abs section of the workout, but they use it for things like lat pulldowns and 9 lbs isn't very heavy for back work. But I simply swap out to my 18 lb Body Bar for that section. For the other 'Sculpting Stick' moves, I use my 8 lb Body Bar. Works great!!  In one section, Jen uses the Sculpting Stick as a blanancing stick with one hand while she does leg presses holding a dumbbell on her should with the opposite hand. The first time I did this workout I tried that, then thought if I did them that way I would only be able to use half the weight I normally use for leg presses (since I’d be using only one dumbbell) so I ditched the stick in lieu of a second dumbbell. But I have decided that I actually prefer to do them with one dumbbell and a Body Bar. This is for two reasons – 1.) I have plenty of DVDs that do leg presses using a barbell or two dumbbells so I don’t mind doing them a little differently in this workout and 2.) I find that I get a really deep contraction and range of motion when I use the balancing stick.
Jen is strong and cues well in this workout. She is no nonsense and moves quickly. I prefer her in cardio workouts but liked her in this workout. She is much more serious here than she is in Better Body & Buns and Super Cardio, but she seems a little less dry than she did in Body Sculpt from BSS1.

This workout starts with a 5 min warm up and then goes into 33 min of cardio/weights. It is almost all weights; there are 3 brief cardio sections. Low impact floor aerobics, step aerobics (I really liked this section!), and 4-limb aerobics (this section is VERY similar to one of Jen’s 4-limb sections in Super Cardio). The music, for the most part, was really good. Some of it was bad but more than half of the tunes I really liked. After the cardio/sculpt portion of the workout comes a cooldown, a short 4-min abs section, and a thorough 7 min stretch. I really like this stretch.

This workout had a good amount of biceps and triceps work. It felt a bit light on back, shoulders, and chest, but my shoulders and back get worked a lot with kettlebells and boxing, and I could have added some pushups at the end if I wanted to (but didn't have time).

I would consider this a sculpting workout with cardio rests as opposed to a true Firm AWT workout, since the cardio is so sparse. But the leg work got my heartrate up so it did have a cardio benefit during those segments.  A pretty good workout from the post-BBH era Firms.

DOMS-inducing factor: 6/10
Fun factor: 7.5/10

Review: The Firm Super Cardio

The Firm Super Cardio is a rarity in the world of Firm videos, it is a pure cardio workout from the BBH-era Firms. It is lead by four Firm instructors: Jen Carman, Carissa Foster, Allie Strickland, and Dale Brabham.

Allie opens the workout with a 3 min warmup using no equipment. Shoulder rolls, squats, steto taps, etc. This is followed by a brief (1 min) standing stretch. Allie also leads the first cardio 'grouping':

Allie:
Four-limb step work (the DVD participants use the Firm short box, I used an 8" high step-worked perfectly!!) this segment felt longer than it was, but I think it's a good way to open the program – 3 min
'Oof ball' aerobics – 3 min
Plyometrics, jumps, bunny hops – 2 ½ min

Carissa

Low impact aerobics (squats, lunges, kick-ball-changes) – 2 ½ min

Step – 2 min

Mixed impact aerobics (toe taps, kicks side to side) – 2 min (love this section!)

Dale

4-limb aerobics – 2 ½ min

Mixed impact aerobics – 2 ½ min

Low impact aerobics with hop steps, skips, etc – 2 ½ min

4-limb aerobics (weighted plyo jumps) – 2 min

Jen

'Oof ball’ aerobics – 2 min

Low impact aerobics – 4 ½ min

Step – 2 ½ min

4-limb aerobics – 3 ½ min

Mixed impact aerobics – 3 ½ min (this section makes me feel like a cheerleader!)

4-limb aerobics – 3 min

Step – 2 ½ min

Short post aerobic stretch using step – 1 ½ min
Super short abs – 2 ½ min

Carissa
Stretch with some yoga-flavored moods (I do NOT like this stretch) – 3 ½ min

Before I get into the review I would like to ask/mention something.  Jen's last step segment and cool down, as well as Carissa's final stretch are clearly from different workouts than Super Cardio. What workouts are they from???  I would really like to know.  Not only do Carissa's clothes change for the final stretch, but the walls go from pink to green!!

I like this Firm workout.  Parts of it are high impact and challenging, but they are tempered with slower, lower impact moves.  Another nice thing about this workout is that it is totally adaptable to your fitness level or energy level on any given day. You can add plyos when the do wide marches or do wide marches when they add plyos. You can use 2 lb dumbbells during the 4-limb movements or 5 lb dumbbells (or no dumbbells for that matter)!  This workout is much easier now than I thought it was when it first came out (at that time, this was by far the longest cardio workout I owned), but it still gives my heart a good pump.  The music in this workout is some of the best in the latter-day BBH Firm workouts.  All four leads do a good job. In this particular workout, Jen and Allie are my personal favorites but Carissa and Dale are fit and worthy of a leading role.

Sweat factor: 7.5/10

Fun factor: 7.5/10

Review: Atletica

Atletica is a 52 min weight workout lead by Ilaria Montagnani. She uses dumbbells to execute kettlebell inspired moves. It is a fabulous workout DVD!!! It begins with a 4 min warmup. If you've done Ilaria or Powerstrike workouts before, you will be very familiar with the warmup moves; reach taps, squats, calf stretches, plie stretch, etc.

After the warmup she wastes no time jumping right into the first exercise, which is swings using a dumbbell. The workout is set up in circuits. You do each circuit twice before moving onto the next.

The first circuit goes like this:
Dumbbell swings right
Clean and press right
Overhead squat right
Oblique twist upper cut move right (no idea what this move is called but it is the move Ilaria is doing on the DVD cover)
Repeat all moves with the left arm

Second circuit:
Pull back row into squat right
Circle weight overhead into squat right
Side to side weighted cross punches
Repeat on left

Third circuit:
Burpees
Renegade rows right
Plank
Repeat on left

Fourth circuit:
5 sets of 10 pushups
Ab move where you hold weights up in a static bench prench and bring your left leg up to your right hand and your left leg up to your right hand
Russian twists
Repeat ab exercises (no second set of pushups)

This is followed by a 3 min seated stretch segment.

What can I say? I love Ilaria!! She has an AMAZING physique, and she is motivating without being cocky. She never has a 'check out my muscles' look about her. She simply inspires and encourages by using perfect form and giving great instruction and encouragement.

I highly recommend watching the introduction chapter as Ilaria describes and/or demos several moves.

Great workout. Will give you major DOMS in your obliques and shoulders.

DOMS-inducing factor: 8.5/10
Fun factor: 8/10

Review: Super Step

Super Step is a 60 min step routine from Seasun Zieger. It is made up of a 6 min warm up, a 41 min cardio portion, a 7 min core section, and a 4 min stretch.

The warm up consists of basic steps, l-steps, jacks on and off the step, knee ups, and a fun move where you straddle the step, turn to face the inside your step, tap on the step with one foot, then come back to face the back of your step. Combo 1 has moves such as turning squats, a v-slide (which was featured in Seasun's previous workout Stepping Up), a burpee, and my personal favorite move, a jog over with a shuffle rock. Combo 2 has a lot of turns, a giddy up, and some pivots and ball changes. For me, combo 2 has the most complex choreography. Combo 3 has some basic moves like mambos, jacks on the step, tap shuffles, but they are done with directional changes and pauses and pivots so they are never boring.

The music in this workout is pretty good. Some of the songs I really like, especially the song that plays the first time you string together combos 1 and 2. A lot of the music in this workout can also be heard in Amy Bento's Advanced Step Challenge 4.

Seasun seems to be having fun during this workout. She cues really well and I don't recall a time when she miscued. She did forget to mention a "shuffle box" once, and it was during a time when my back was to the TV, but I still managed to get the move so perhaps it wasn't a big deal that she didn't cue that move. A lot of the workout (especially combo 2) is dione with your back to the TV but Seasun cues in a way where you still end up in the correct place and on the correct foot.

I really, really like Seasun. I like that her workouts are challenging to the mind and the heart. They are complex but I still manage to get my heart rate up. You can tell that Seasun really likes what she does. And she is so creative and good at it! I love the way she says things twice (like "One more, one more," or "give me two, give me two"). She also seems to like music, which is always nice in an aerobics instructor.

The music in this one isn't as good as it is in this as it was in Stepping Up, but the choreography is fun, some of the music is pumping and motivating, and Seasun and her backgrounders are energetic and fun.

The abs segment is filled with lots and lots and lots of planks. I liked it. For me, plank work gets tougher the more I do it because after awhile, I don't have to concentrate on my wrists or quads or shoulders feeling fatigued. Those muscle groups strengthen and I'm left with having to totally focus on and use my core. I will keep at this routine and hopefully get better at mainting proper form.

Thumbs up - another fun one from Seasun!

Sweat factor: 6.5/10
Fun factor: 7.5/10