I never liked the Firm before this, and there are 2 things that kept me from buying their videos. 1. I'm a cardio nut; Firm tapes are not really cardio-more like muscle endurance(IMO) 2. I have a front shoulder injury which prevents me from lifting at the gym; so, lighter weights and more reps was my solution to getting strength work.

Maximum cardio starts out with a short warm-up and oof ball aerobics(that's what I call it). You continue to use the ball into the first hi/lo, which includes runs, pivots and calf pumps. This changes to short box taps and lunges with small weights. This progresses into ham curls/rhombois squeezes, hesitation repeater and clean & press. After that, you do V steps around the box and glute squeezes. No weights are used for a floor routine which shuffles side to side, heel digs, pseudo jope roping, and rock kicks. In the latter part of this workout, plyo jumps, power knees and power runs are used to get the heart rate up. Near the end, there are barbell hover squats, bent over rows and lunges & digs done a short box. A few push-ups are put in for good measure and "twisting" oblique crunches are featured in the very short ab section.

I did like this workout, but it is very similar to Cardio Burn and Power Cardio(hence they're sold as a set). While I did like this tape, I enjoyed the other 2 more(I don't know why). The intensity is intermediate(too many "changes" of equipment make this seem closer to an interval workout).

Instructor Comments:
Carissa seems like any other Firm instructor; stiff. This is a fault that I'm still not used to, and dislike. But she still conveys to you, that she's having a good time.

germaine