Firm Upper Body Sculpt is one of the BSS2 add-on workouts. It uses a sculpting stick, Fanny Lifter, and a few sets of dumbbells. I used my High Step and 5, 8, 10, and 12 lb. dumbbells throughout. The set is light and pleasant, and matches the exercisers’ pink and black outfits.

This is a relatively thorough upper body workout, as it works all the muscles of the arms, and includes exercises for the back and chest. The following is a list of exercises in this workout.

Warm-up with sculpting stick
Push-ups on Fanny Lifter (FL)
Lat row side one
Rhomboid pinch (basically lat rows sitting on FL, leaning over your legs)
Lat row side two
Clean and press, overhead shoulder press, and clean and press again while tapping FL with feet
Bicep curls with variations
Overhead shoulder press
Push-ups with legs balanced on FL (somewhat uncomfortable, I prefer having my legs on a stability ball for the same effect)
Tricep dip with FL separated (one arm lower than the other) so one arm remains engaged throughout
Push-ups on FL with hands turned in towards each other to work the triceps
Standing chest press, arms bent at 90 degrees, then move arms back to move rotator cuffs
Tricep dip as above, switch arms so other arm is lower
Repeat tricep push-up
Front and side delt lifts with toe touches
Fold arms in front of you like a genie, and squeeze your chest (I just couldn’t do this)
French press using sculpting stick
Rhomboid press using sculpting stick
Lat rows with rotation side one
Bicep concentration curl side one
French press with dumbbells
Lat row with rotation side 2
Bicep concentration curl side one
Posterior delt fly (arms move forward to form a V, a little different than the usual move)
Plank, alternate lowering one knee then the other, then alternating lifting each leg in the air
Pikes from plank position
Chest press with rib cage pullover using sculpting stick
Stretch with sculpting stick

I had this workout, traded it, then got it back in another trade. Initially I thought it was too short to be effective, and that I might not like Janet (for some unknown reason). However, I did the workout earlier today, and can already feel the DOMS setting in. No idea why I thought I wouldn’t like Janet, she was just fine as an instructor.

I felt it was a very thorough workout for only 37 minutes (including warm-up and stretch). A great add-on workout. You can generally use heavier weights to make the workout a little more difficult. One background exerciser always shows a beginner variation for each exercise. The workout moves along pretty quickly, so it’s good to have all your weights within reach at all times. It moves along quickly because you don’t do many reps of each exercise, and since the reps are pretty slow, you’re able to go heavier.

The good thing about this workout, compared to other Firms, is that while some exercises are repeated, the entire body is worked (unlike the old Firm Parts Upper Body). Also, it’s a pure upper body workout, so you’re not switching back and forth between upper and lower like in the older Firms (which I love, but sometimes make me dizzy going back and forth from upper to lower and using ALL that equipment).

All in all, these new Firms are really growing on me! Never thought I’d say that. They’re really good if you want to mix and match, or do pieces of workouts. I just wish the DVDs were chaptered.

Instructor Comments:
Janet, like most of the Firm instructors, has a southern accent. She gives many form pointers throughout, sometimes showing what not to do. There were a few times she had a wide-eyed look, as though she were reading from a cue card, but she was generally pleasant and encouraging. During the rhomboid pinches she said to “kiss the muscles” or something like that, which caught my ear. But otherwise, her cues were good and I liked her quite a bit.

Pratima