Others have done a very through of breaking down this work-out, so I will just tell you my over-all impressions. Please keep in mind that I am a mid-level advanced exerciser who loves Firm work-outs. I also do Cathe F, Kick-boxing, Gilad and Firm Combos for most of my Cardio Work. In the 3 months prior to getting my blast tapes I was doing mostly Standing Legs, PS-CST, PST-BBA, Tough Tape, Firm Upper Body, and Firm Strength for my strength work-outs.

On to the review! I think once again that if you like the Firm style you are going to like this tape! I have now done this work-out 3 times and each time my enjoyment level has gone up, up, up! It is my belief that no work-out tape is perfect and that each tape requires modifications to make it suitable to your work-out life-style. That's certainly the case here. While I find B&B to be a FUN, FUN fast-moving strength with a good cardio side benefit, I also had to modify some sections that I felt were possibly unsafe.

I don't like using weights for my warm-ups. So much risk for injury when you have just rolled out of bed and your muscles are stiff. So I left them out, which worked just fine. I also refuse to stretch with weights for the same reason. I prefered to do the lunges on the floor, not the short step, but more because I felt I had better control then because I was having any problem with my knees. I probably was more shallow in my lunges and dips with this tape then with my other strength tapes, but that was because of the faster pace. I still felt it in my glutes and thighs, so I was happy with the faster pace. I also felt that the over-head presses behind the neck was down-right dangerous, especially considering the quickness at which it was done. That move went right out the window- no way will I ever do it!

Other then that, I just throw myself into this workout and have a BLAST! I use a 25lb barbell for both the upper and lower body work, which worked great even though I usually use a much heavier weight for the lower body on other tapes. I used a set of 2.5 lb soft ankle weights rolled up together for the bridgework instead of the OOOF ball and I really felt it in my hamstrings. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the tri-ceps series! My tri-ceps were cooked by the end of that section! I was also surprised to find that I liked the push-ups. At first I thought, "oh no, FIVE(!) sets of push-ups", but they are spread out enough in the work-out that I can really give them my all. I loved/hated those hover squats. I wish that they had put in more shoulder work (ala Firm Cardio or VOL 2). And I missed my beloved Leg Presses (sob!). I don't think using the "ball" during the ab work (which was too short) added anything special and it felt awkward. The bunny lunges and "curtsy" lunges did nothing that I can tell- more like filler. I'm still trying to figure out if I should continue to do those or sub something else.

But when the work-out is done and I checked my HRM, I found that I had spent 22 minutes in my THRZ! That's pretty darn good for a strength work-out. I have been 'good' sore each morning after I did this tape.

I LOVE the music. No boredom here for me! I can tell that I will be able to listen to this soundtrack for years. The tape is wonderfully edited so that everything seems to flow seamlessly from one shot to another. The production value is beautiful as well!

All in all, I felt this was a winner. I still love SL, TT, and Stength more- but I love the fun factor in this tape as well. An A- only because of the questionable safety of some of these moves. Hopefully this will be done by advanced exercisors who know their bodies and can judge what is right for them.

(next time I do this video, I'm going to do the first 20 minutes of Firm Vol 5 through the leg presses, then do B&B from after the stretch on, then go back to VOL 5 for more abl work. That should be a great workout, plus I won't be suffering from leg press withdrawl!)

Instructor Comments:
I think all the instructors are beautiful women with wonderful toned bodies. I enjoyed them all very much in this video. No real cuing gaffes like in CC1 and CC2, but they will never beat out Tracy Long! But a good decent job by all three!

Clare