FitPrime From The Ground Up
Heidi TannerYear Released: 2003
Categories: Circuit Training (cardio and weights)
This workout has already been broken down thoroughly, so I am just going to add my own opinions. I am reviewing this workout after having done it a couple of times, and I’ll also give a review of the Crunch Time-FTGU mix that is provided on the DVD that has both full workouts.
From the Ground Up is led by Heidi Tanner of Firm Cardio fame, and is a comprehensive AWT workout. The original workout has very little differences from its remake, Push Pull of the Kick Butt WHFN series (which is also led by Heidi and co-instructed by Kimberly Spreen). In the original, Heidi does the entire workout in bare feet (hence the title, from the ground up) but I’m not keen on doing heavy work like leg presses with bare feet so I always wear sneakers. This is a great production, but frankly, I like the remake better so don’t often do the original. I like Kimberly’s more forceful kickbox moves, and I don’t have to sacrifice Heidi’s great lead, but I get the added benefit of high production values with Push Pull. The music is exactly the same throughout, and the exercises are near exact as well. So unlike some of the other remakes, this one doesn’t feel like a different workout at all, and it’s probably not necessary to have both except for the hard core fan.
What’s great about this DVD however is the Anna Benson-created mix of Crunch Time and FTGU (there’s also an option to mix and match sets, which I haven’t played around with yet but will definitely look into). The mix is about 50 minutes long and unfortunately does NOT include a warm up, and has all of the floor work first, but then moves on to the standing work, which includes the leg press sets from both CT and FTGU (the CT leg press is superset with the one legged squats/overhead press from FTGU, hard!), LOADS of triceps work (from both workouts), fencer rows from CT, pushups and MORE rows from FTGU, and it has all of the kickbox-inspired cardio routines from FTGU (my favorite). This workout was really tough! It also had an unweighted leg press set from Anna Benson’s workout (Flex Posture?) of which I subbed kettlebell swings, which was really intense when combined with the other work. I liked the combination of Heidi and Susan, they’re two of my favorite Firm instructors. It would have been great if they’d done a workout together sometime!
The production quality may not be high (on all the workouts on the DVD), but the DVD is very well chaptered and gives you a lot to work with and customize your own workout. I would highly recommend the combined DVD to anyone who enjoys Anna Benson productions (and original Fitprime workouts in particular) and AWT workouts. On its own, FTGU is a great workout, but not a must-have for those who already have WHFN Push Pull. Overall Grade A!
Instructor Comments:
Heidi is a great lead. She’s not as meticulous with form pointers as Tracie Long, but she’s doubly smiley, genial, and enthusiastic, and I love working out with her. I loved her in Firm Cardio and she shines just as much here. It was great having her in the remake too! I would be elated to see her lead more workouts in the future and would buy anything she has to offer.