The Firm: Tight Buns and Killer Legs

Kelsie Daniels
Year Released: 2007

Categories: Lower Body Strength


This is one of the new ones from the Firm, and I liked it a lot. It's not quite as tough as Firm Lower Body Sculpt 1 (an earlier all-standing lower body workout), but it is more aerobic and still quite challenging. Plus, it was nice to see Kelsie again!

Kelsie moves very quickly through a 5-minute warm-up (I had a little trouble keeping up with her transitions the first time through). She adds interesting twists to basic moves such as bob & weave, knee ups, outer thigh lifts, and inner thigh touches; the warm-up concludes with a moving stretch for the hip flexors, calves, and quads.

The main part of the workout is structured so that you do a toning series on one leg, do a short (30-40 seconds) cardio burst, and then repeat the toning series on the other leg. Kelsie cues either heavy or medium weights for each series; since it was my first time through and I was already pre-exhausted from another workout, I just used 10# the whole way through, but you could definitely go heavier.

Kelsie begins with a curtsey dip, upping the intensity by adding a knee lift and then a quad extension. She also performs a single leg squat, again adding the knee lift (which was killer here!). The first cardio blast consists of a back lunge combined with a knees high jog, and then the weight work is repeated with the other leg. In the next series, Kelsie starts with a side squat, first adding abduction, then a repeating abduct lift with balance and final a rear glute lift. A fun cardio blast follows: you begin with a simple hamstring curl but progress to a hopscotch move.

The next weighted series starts with a one-legged dead lift, then adds a heel push to the rear. This is followed by a short forward squat adding a rear glute lift. Kelsie calls the next cardio segment jumping jacks, but the are more jumping planks: you jump the feet out to plank position and then jump them in and out. For the final weighted series, you'll do a 4-count plie, adding a leg balance and then also a leg lift. I loved the final cardio sequence of plie squat to side leg kick.

With about 7 minutes left to the workout, Kelsi does brief cardio cool-down consisting of a few squats with back rolls and a few more plies. She then transitions to the floor for some short, one-legged bridge work which is nicely interspersed with stretching moves for the hamstrings. Kelsie concludes the workout with some nice seated stretches (forward bend, side stretch), bringing in the total time at 31 minutes.

Overall, a nicely intense, fun lower body workout that I know I will enjoy doing again and again!

Instructor Comments:
Kelsie hasn't changed a bit from FitPrime Steamin' Cardio: she still cues great and moves with precise, perfect form. She works out here in the new Firm studio with two other Firm instructors in the background (Son-Ming and someone else). I liked the music here as well; it seemed less "canned" than other Firm music.

Beth C (aka toaster)

09/15/2007