I know this workout is quite old, but with all the positive press it gets, I know there are still people buying it and trying it out, so I assume there's still a reason to review it!

I originally bought this video because people all over said it was the hardest FIRM video they had ever tried and I was in the mood at that point to work out as hard as possible (on the same advice, I bought Standing Legs). However, I must say that I don't find this workout to be as challenging as I expected, and I rarely find myself reaching for it (probably because of the "cardio," which is really just jogging in place, the lack of tall box work, and the fact that I find it overall to be quite boring).

First, if you get ahold of either an original copy or the BMG reissue (I'm not sure about Goodtimes's most recent reissue), you have to sit through an extended intro, with snippets of "20 Questions", plus a false start where we get to see Susan flexing and preening for the camera, followed by more hints. I admit 20 Questions is a good purchase and I might never have heard of it if not for the tape, but at this point, I find it hard enough to force myself into doing it that 5 or so minutes of FIRM ads before the workout is enough to get me to quit. Once the workout starts, the warm-up is little more than pelvic tucks and hip flexion; hardly a heart-rate elevator.

The next 20 or so minutes of weight work is quite good: the combination plie and arm work is fatiguing, as are the lunges, and I actually find that doing lunges with the arm work improves my form on the lunge and lets me go deeper for some reason. There are seemingly endless squats, with weights, with hand weights, with the board, with twists, etc. By the time the standing portion is over and it's time to hit the floor, I'm glad, but even so I still don't find it to be as intense as many other FIRMS.

The floor work is another story. As has been said, that floor legs section is absolutely impossible, and I have NO idea how the entire cast of seemingly normal people can do the entire set, WITH two sets of ankle weights and a heavy dumbbell on their thigh! I'm lucky to manage three-fourths of the reps.

The chest and bridge work is also very challenging, and the abs are very good, though traditional, and the combination oblique twists/pulleys are so fast I often feel like my form suffers.

As is the case with many FIRM workouts, the end stretch is almost laughable- though blinking won't make you miss this one entirely, if you do you'll definitely have no clue how Susan got into the next stretch. She stretches so fast, for so little time, and with so much wacky motion I still can't follow her, and I've been doing this tape for a long time.

Overall, this tape tires me out and does a good job of working most important muscle groups, but it shows its age and is generally a boring way of getting the work done. However, for strictly historical value, every true FIRM believer must have this tape. It's hard to believe this is where it all started, and that this workout encouraged hopeful exercisers to pay many many dollars in advance for the next one, but oh well. . .

Instructor Comments:
Susan Harris is truly inspiring in body and form, though she tends to round her back on some of the bent-over exercises (I noticed this especially on the tricep kickbacks last time). Her voice, cues, and the ample crotch shots to which we are treated have gotten quite a lot of comment over the years. Let me say that I like her, the voice grows on you, and, if you're doing it right, you're not even watching her for the crotch shots anyway.

Ashley