The FIRM Aerobic Body Shaping

[Guest guest]

I think Donna did this recently too, not sure though. Anyway, it was what I decided to do today. I'm on a FIRM kick after spending sooooo long without doing any and I'm loving it! This was Allie as lead and used the transfirmer. I haven't used mine in a long while either (no dust though, like Donna's!) and it was fun! I have done this only a couple of times but it was a while ago and I didn't remember much of it. I did remember getting really messed up on the step parts on the incline but did pretty well today. I really liked using the incline for weight work too, especially as a bench. In this workout, Allie actually demonstrates a lot of the cardio moves for one rep each and explains a little bit about how to do them, instead of just calling out cues that may or may not mean anything to me so that was nice and it didn't slow the pace any. Speaking of pacing, the pace of this seemed a lot more controlled than the one I did yesterday. I still got messed up on some of the steps, but it wasn't as frustrating and again, there was enough repetition that I caught on to most of it eventually. Yesterday's workout was a hare and this was a classic, which I definitely needed. I've been slowly easing myself into weight training and this was a good way to do it. Allie calls for light, medium and heavy weights (mostly light and heavy) and I went with 3s, 5s and 8s, as recommended. I could have used 4s for some work and if I had 9s I would have tried those for some of the heavy work. I have 10s though so I might try those next. The stretch on this one was pretty good too. She doesn't seem at all rushed, though, of course, I would have liked most stretches to be held longer. I liked the music too. I also did the 8 minute lower body bonus workout. That one is just Allie and the transfirmer and is all floor work. Again, nice even, comfortable pace. Lots of bridge with your feet on the transfirmer at 14" and lots of burn. There were other exercises too. Very quick stretch. Nice little add-on. Another thing l liked about both workouts is that Allie seemed really comfortable with what she was doing. She seemed quite natural and that made it a lot of fun too.

All in all, this was a good choice for today. Tomorrow I'm going to be super busy but I think I can do a 30 minute workout in the morning after gets on the bus at 7:20 and before Miriam gets up at 8:00. DH can get Miriam up if necessary too and I can shower while she's getting dressed then still spend some time with her before her bus comes at 8:35! So... if all works according to plan, I'm going to do Burn, Shape and Tone with Rebekah Sturkie. It is one of the 2 express options on Cardio Core Fusion and uses the 2 lb. "toning balls." I loved the full workout on this disc but haven't tried either of the two express versions yet. This one is cardio and total body toning emphasis. Hopefully, it will be good too. I'll post a review when I have time for it tomorrow.

[Guest guest]

I posted this a 2nd time because I made some edits but couldn't delete the first! Sorry 'bout that!

The FIRM Aerobic Body Shaping

I think Donna did this recently too, not sure though. Anyway, it was what I decided to do today. I'm on a FIRM kick after spending sooooo long without doing any and I'm loving it! This was Allie as lead and used the transfirmer. I haven't used mine in a long while either (no dust though, like Donna's!) and it was fun! I have done this only a couple of times but it was a while ago and I didn't remember much of it. I did remember getting really messed up on the step parts on the incline but did pretty well today. I really liked using the incline for weight work too, especially as a bench. In this workout, Allie actually demonstrates a lot of the cardio moves for one rep each and explains a little bit about how to do them, instead of just calling out cues that may or may not mean anything to me so that was nice and it didn't slow the pace any. Speaking of pacing, the pace of this seemed a lot more controlled than the one I did yesterday. I still got messed up on some of the steps, but it wasn't as frustrating and again, there was enough repetition that I caught on to most of it eventually. Yesterday's workout was a hare and this was a classic, which I definitely needed. I've been slowly easing myself into weight training and this was a good way to do it. Allie calls for light, medium and heavy weights (mostly light and heavy) and I went with 3s, 5s and 8s, as recommended. I could have used 4s for some work and if I had 9s I would have tried those for some of the heavy work. I have 10s though so I might try those next. The stretch on this one was pretty good too. She doesn't seem at all rushed, though, of course, I would have liked most stretches to be held longer. I liked the music too. I also did the 8 minute lower body bonus workout. That one is just Allie and the transfirmer and is all floor work. Again, nice even, comfortable pace. Lots of bridge with your feet on the transfirmer at 14" and lots of burn. There were other exercises too. Very quick stretch. Nice little add-on. Another thing l liked about both workouts is that Allie seemed really comfortable with what she was doing. She seemed quite natural and that made it a lot of fun too.

All in all, this was a good choice for today. Tomorrow I'm going to be super busy but I think I can do a 30 minute workout in the morning after gets on the bus at 7:20 and before Miriam gets up at 8:00. DH can get Miriam up if necessary too and I can shower while she's getting dressed then still spend some time with her before her bus comes at 8:35! So... if all works according to plan, I'm going to do Burn, Shape and Tone with Rebekah Sturkie. It is one of the 2 express options on Cardio Core Fusion and uses the 2 lb. "toning balls." I loved the full workout on this disc but haven't tried either of the two express versions yet. This one is cardio and total body toning emphasis. Hopefully, it will be good too. I'll post a review when I have time for it tomorrow.

[Guest guest]

Great review, !The one I did was the cardio based one from the TransFIRMer series with Huckabee. I think it is Ultimate Calorie Blaster or something. The FIRM sort of drives me nuts w/ the workout titles b/c it is always something "ultimate", "super" or "blaster"!

I am thinking of doing a 3 month "Bikini Bootcamp" rotation from the FIRM - I hope to start on Sunday. I have all or most of the workouts since I am a FIRMie from back in the late '90's. Some of the workouts scheduled, may require substitutions since I am not sure if my back can take very long weighted lower body routines. But, I'll sub as necessary. Or, I may do those longer lower body routines wihtout weights. Holding the weights for a long time while doing lower body compresses my spine and it hurts just thinking about it! If we get snow and I have to do shovel max this week I'll probably postpone my start day for the rotation.

Let me know if you would like a copy of it!Donna

From: <nancydewolf@...>Subject: Re: The FIRM Aerobic Body Shaping Date: Tuesday, February 23, 2010, 8:09 PM

I posted this a 2nd time because I made some edits but couldn't delete the first! Sorry 'bout that!

The FIRM Aerobic Body Shaping

I think Donna did this recently too, not sure though. Anyway, it was what I decided to do today. I'm on a FIRM kick after spending sooooo long without doing any and I'm loving it! This was Allie as lead and used the transfirmer. I haven't used mine in a long while either (no dust though, like Donna's!) and it was fun! I have done this only a couple of times but it was a while ago and I didn't remember much of it. I did remember getting really messed up on the step parts on the incline but did pretty well today. I really liked using the incline for weight work too, especially as a bench. In this workout, Allie actually demonstrates a lot of the cardio moves for one rep each and explains a little bit about how to do them, instead of just calling out cues that may or may not mean anything to me so that was nice and it didn't slow the pace any. Speaking of pacing, the pace of this seemed a lot more controlled

than the one I did yesterday. I still got messed up on some of the steps, but it wasn't as frustrating and again, there was enough repetition that I caught on to most of it eventually. Yesterday's workout was a hare and this was a classic, which I definitely needed. I've been slowly easing myself into weight training and this was a good way to do it. Allie calls for light, medium and heavy weights (mostly light and heavy) and I went with 3s, 5s and 8s, as recommended. I could have used 4s for some work and if I had 9s I would have tried those for some of the heavy work. I have 10s though so I might try those next. The stretch on this one was pretty good too. She doesn't seem at all rushed, though, of course, I would have liked most stretches to be held longer. I liked the music too. I also did the 8 minute lower body bonus workout. That one is just Allie and the transfirmer and is all floor work. Again, nice even, comfortable pace. Lots of bridge with

your feet on the transfirmer at 14" and lots of burn. There were other exercises too. Very quick stretch. Nice little add-on. Another thing l liked about both workouts is that Allie seemed really comfortable with what she was doing. She seemed quite natural and that made it a lot of fun too.

All in all, this was a good choice for today. Tomorrow I'm going to be super busy but I think I can do a 30 minute workout in the morning after gets on the bus at 7:20 and before Miriam gets up at 8:00. DH can get Miriam up if necessary too and I can shower while she's getting dressed then still spend some time with her before her bus comes at 8:35! So... if all works according to plan, I'm going to do Burn, Shape and Tone with Rebekah Sturkie. It is one of the 2 express options on Cardio Core Fusion and uses the 2 lb. "toning balls." I loved the full workout on this disc but haven't tried either of the two express versions yet. This one is cardio and total body toning emphasis. Hopefully, it will be good too. I'll post a review when I have time for it tomorrow.

[Guest guest]



Hi Donna!

Thank you!

Okay, I have Ultimate Calorie Blaster (I had to look it up to know for sure what it is called too) and remember liking it a lot the once or twice I did it. I'll have to do that one again soon too.

I saw the Bikini Bootcamp rotation you posted and I have all but 9 of the workouts but can sub them for ones I do have (or look for them on the swap boards!). I'm thinking about doing all or some of it. I want to keep going with the FIRM for right now because I really get fast, great results doing their workouts and that really is what I want right now. I'm tired of playing around and tank top season (I don't do bikinis) is coming soon (I think, we just got a few more inches of snow today though). Anyway, I haven't looked at that rotation in any detail but I might follow it. I've got some workouts I've acquired recently too though that I want to do that are not FIRM so I might see if I can sub any of them in (two of them are Jillian's NMTZ and BFBM, also Dozois' Ultimate Workout and Spreen's kickboxing one that I can't remember the name of) or just go off rotation from time to time.

Okay, now it is later (I kept getting interrupted while writing this) and I'm looking at the rotation a little more and had a bunch of questions that suddenly became crystal clear as I looked at it yet again more closely. I love it when the light bulb finally comes on. Anyway, this is looking better and better as I look at it more. I think I could do this... I see some workouts I've been purposely avoiding (because they scare me), like Super Cardio and Express Cardio... maybe if they are part of the rotation I'll feel more like I have to do them... that's more of a reason to do this... yeah, count me in, probably, why not? I'll decide for sure in the next couple of days and will start either Sunday or Monday if I do it. Thanks for the idea, Donna!