The Firm: Total Sculpt plus Abs (BSS2)

Jen Carman
Year Released: 2003

Categories: Total Body Workouts


This workout reminds me of the old style firm workouts, with a slower lifting speed. You can definitely heavy up with weights on this one. The intensity is comparable to Cathe's Push Pull (also can heavy up on that one), making this workout a solid intermediate. There aren't that many reps for each set, but the lifting speed is varied.
It's been broken down by other reviewers so I'll just leave some comments. The workout flows nicely -- it alternates between upper, lower and cardio. I used my high step, body bar (don't have the sculpting stick) and dumbbells. The music is much better than on most of the newer firm workouts, IMHO. The cardio segments were short, but fun, and there are some options for high impact (e.g. plyos instead of squats.) She does some 4-limb, floor and some step aerobics (easy choreography.) There is enough time to change weights, bars, etc. in between the different exercises, and Jen tells you what is coming next and which weights (heavy, light or medium) to use. I enjoyed the stretch at the end -- it's about 5 minutes and the stretches are held about 10-15 seconds each. All in all, a good workout in just under an hour.

Instructor Comments:
Jen is very poised and gives good pointers. She often refers to doing a rep "twice more" which bothered me at first, and is repeated throught the workout. She seems very relaxed in front of the camera.

Jo

05/11/2006