What's good:

There are some different moves in this, such as the hover squats and the side lunges. This workout is lower body- the few sets of upper body aren't worth doing. The ab workout is killer. I'd say your heart rate stays up through most of the workout, too. This video left me a little sore, probably because it's so different than Cathe's MIS, which is what I usually do. It's a great video for cross-training.

I absolutely LOVED the warmup. It's done ballet-style to classical music. What a fantastic change! It's done with a workout dowel, but I use a mop.

What's bad: I wish they'd just left out the upper body stuff-- it's not worth doing. But here's what I do: I do this workout and in place of the upper body sets, I just do lat work. Then, I do an "arms" tape like Cory's Get Hard Arms and Shoulders. This way you get a full-body workout plus a little cardio (Cory leaves out back and chest, so you feel a little cheated). But this is a great combo.

This tape is intermediate/advanced, I'd say. It's definitely a new vista as far as the Firm is concerned.

Grade: B+

Instructor Comments:
I must be in the minority, but I found all three of these instructors hard to take. Jen Peluso has already been discussed. Jennifer Carman was just a little too plastic and her smile was plastered on. Taber Bruner is alright. My husband described them as being like watching robot cheerleaders. But I got used to it-- the workout is good enough to ignore them.

Sara Whitney