Firm Lower Body Sculpt 2 is the companion workout to Lower Body Sculpt 1. Both of these workouts use the Firm Fanny Lifter, a high step with two parts, but whereas LBS1 consisted of all standing lower body work plus cardio, LBS2 has no cardio, and the entire workout is performed on the floor. In addition, it alternates moves for the legs and butt with abs work.

LBS2 is led by Libby Heath, a Firm instruction who usually has a background role as a modifier in Firm videos. I found her to be more low-key than the typical Firm instructor, yet she was definitely competent and comfortable in the lead role. In addition to the Fanny Lifter (FL), Libby suggests using one set of dumbbells ranging from 3-8 lbs, although you can also do the workout with no weights. The 5-minute warm-up is the only part of the workout performed standing, and I found that it was a bit different from the Firm's usual, tired warm-ups and contained a few more unique moves, include several which more specifically targeted warming up the lower body.

Following the warm-up, you first sit on the FL for a seated quad lift, holding the weight on the top of your thigh. From there, you transition to hands-and-knees over the FL with the weight behind one knee for hamstring work, then return for another set of quad lifts, stretch, and repeat on the other side. Moving to a lying position on the floor, Libby alternates sets of pelvic lifts with sets of abs crunches.

Next comes inner and outer thigh work in a side-lying position; you are still using the weight here, this time holding it against your thigh. A final set of abs work follows this segment, this time focusing more on the obliques. A 6-minute stretch concludes the workout and is performed mainly on the floor. Libby does a good job of stretching the legs and including some nice twisting postures as well, bringing in the total time for the workout right around 34 minutes.

Overall, I enjoyed this workout. It is probably most appropriate for beginning to intermediate level exercisers. Although I am a more advanced intermediate myself, I think this workout will work well for me if I use it as an add-on to a more intense workout; I also plan to experiment with varying the weights I use, perhaps adding ankle weights as well.

Instructor Comments:
As mentioned above, I found Libby to be more low-key than the other Firm instructors. This seemed like both a good AND a bad thing--ie, she didn't get on my nerves, but she seemed a bit lacking in energy at times. Otherwise, she cued well and did a fine job overall.

Beth C (aka toaster)