I'd to preface my comments on these three tapes by saying that I have used the FIRM tapes for the past 10 years. I have tried others, and the only other series of tapes I enjoy are REebok (specifically, The Video, Power Step, Intense Moves, and Extreme Step). I've tried Kathy Smith, Karen Voight, Tae Bo, CIA, The Crunch, and Buns of Steel. Not one of these has motivated me to put them in the VCR more than, at the most, three more times. These just don't do it for me like the FIRM tapes and the Reebok videos I mentioned earlier. Generally speaking, I'm what you would call a FIRM Believer. Overall, I think the concept behind the FIRM tapes is unique--especially when they first came out. The quality of the workouts and the production are usually very high, making nearly all other tapes pale in comparison, even today. However, now that so many others have adopted a similar concept, and after producing so many tapes, I think the FIRM is starting to have a difficult time maintaining it's uniqueness. In trying to do so, they are creating more and more tapes, targeting us FIRM Believers, but some of these tapes are losing their quality. Sometimes it's the instructor, sometimes the workout. Sometimes I think that the FIRM has lost some of it's edge and is working to produce tapes as fast as they can without as much regard to the quality of the workout as they used to have and should have.

This tape starts out by saying "Welcome to Core Cardio 1," which threw me right away (thus my point about the FIRM trying to produce tapes too fast??). The routines in this tape also seemed a little outdated, cueing overall was not very good, and when I finished the tape, I felt cheated. BUT, the next day I was SO SORE, I couldn't believe it! So, I tried it again a few days later, and while this tape isn't one of the FIRM's best, it's worth doing. You have to almost memorize the routines to know when each one ends. I had similar feelings about the tape Better Body and Buns after the first time I did it, though not quite as intense (I also have problems with the perkiness of the instructors in that tape), but after giving it a chance, I found that the workout is actually quite good. So I'll do the same with Bust and Butt. We'll see.

A major problem I have with these tapes is that Tamela, in particular, seems to be using very poor form (more about this in the Comments about the instructor section). Had I not been using other FIRM tapes, like Tough Tape, All Weights, Tortoise, Hare, Strong Heart and Strong Body, for such a long time, I would really have had a time trying to understand how to position my shoulders or move in general.

I also really dislike the way they switch between the short and tall step in each tape.You probably burn more calories moving the steps back and forth so much!

Overall, I am disappointed that I spent almost $100 for these three tapes. Fortunately, though, I saw that the FIRM is coming out with some new compliation tapes...two of them...which will probably include the better parts of these three tapes, and these should (and better) be worth the money, because while I have been somewhat disappointed with some of the recent FIRM tapes, I still believe in the FIRM and think that these tapes deliver like no other workout I have ever done. I just wish they would pay a little more attention to details so that new tapes meet the high standards of most of the past tapes.

Instructor Comments:
Of the three new FIRM tapes, I did Bust and Butt first, then CC2,and finally yesterday CC1. I don't care for the multi-instructor format, but had Tamela Hastie been the only one, I would have wanted my money back! She is too much like a cheerleader and her form is terrible. Her shoulders are almost always raised, as if she is really tense and when she did kicks in CC1, her feet seemed to be flailing out of control. Actually, for each segment she leads, she seems to be trying to go too fast and her body can't keep up with the music. Her cueing is terrible...all of the sudden, her segment is over and you had no idea it was coming. She constantly says "This is fun" with an enormous teethy smile which I find very annoying. As I said above, she's seems like a high school cheerleader at a football game. I prefer instructors like Tracie Long, who is in other FIRM videos.

Carissa Foster is a little better, but her cueing is also not as good as it could be.

Dale Brabham is fantastic! She has an amazing physique...washboard stomach I would love to have. Her voice is a little deeper than most FIRM instructors, but she provides excellent cueing and clear instructions without being too perky or talkative. And, you know when she is going to end a segment. She makes these videos worthwhile!

Amie Coxon Ware