Strong Bear is from the original FitPrime series by Anna Benson, co-creator of The Firm workouts. The videos in this series are known for their blend of exercise components (cardio, weights, and yoga), their often-quirky moves, and their relatively poor production values (more on this below). In general, I really like the FitPrime workouts, as I find them to be fun and different, so I decided to give Strong Bear a try. For this full-body weighted workout, you will need a tall box/high step and several sets of dumbbells; a balance dowel and ankle weights are optional.

Strong Bear is led by Tracie Long, who later went on to create her own video series (borrowing both some of the moves and some of the music found here). Tracie is an excellent, no-nonsense instructor, and I found her to be even more low-key in this than in her other workouts. Unlike most of the other FitPrimes, Strong Bear has very little cardio, although there are three separate segments which include brief plyometric jumps (plie jumps, squat jumps, and toe jumps). Rather, the main focus here is on weight work, particularly for the lower body and even more specifically for the inner thighs. From a standing position, Tracie does several unique twists on plie moves (eg, plies with one foot on the box) to target this area, and in addition, there is a long series of floor work focused mainly on the inner thighs. The upper body is certainly not ignored, however: you will do compound upper and lower body moves (eg, squats with overhead press), plus there is a really great upper body balance sequence where you stand on one leg to do military presses, french presses, and shoulder work. Although this definitely works the core, there is not much other abs work, but the workout finishes with a nice stretch. Below is the chapter menu breakdown from the DVD:

Step Warm Up
Step Stretch
Step Dig
PliÈ Squats
Step PliÈ
Plank Jumps (Tracie calls this Boot Camp!)
ND Leg Press + Lats
ND Dip + Pecs
1 Leg Arms
D Step Dip + Pecs
D Leg Press + Lats
ADD ankle weights + Soup Bowl
ND Leg Abduction
Chest & Triceps
D Leg Abduction
Butt Pops
Core + ND Leg Adduction
Core + D Leg Adduction
Core V Straddle
Flex Yoga

For the most part, I was able to match the weights that Tracie uses, but I sometimes had to go lighter than she does, especially for the compound moves. I found Tracie's cues for push-ups with one hand on the box to be extremely helpful; this move has always confused me a bit in other videos, but Tracie provides detailed information, including showing you what NOT to do, and so I felt the exercise much more than usual. In other places during this workout, however, I was disappointed that Tracie did not give more in depth setup instructions. Many of the exercises in this video were new to me, and thus I would've liked greater assistance from Tracie about how I should be positioned as well as exactly where I should be feeling the work. Finally, regarding the production values: as with all of the older FitPrime videos, you can clearly see the editing cuts. This did not bother me, but what WAS a bit more noticeable to me was that in a few spots, Tracie works the two sides of the body unevenly (eg, she does a final set of slow reps for one bicep but not the other). Also, although I generally enjoy the music in the FitPrime videos, it got a little weird at times here, suddenly lapsing into a few bizarre spoken vocals.

Overall, however, I found this to be an excellent, unique strength workout. Despite the fact that there wasn't much cardio, the relatively fast pace of the moves kept me in my target heart rate zone during most of the standing work, and I felt a nice burn in my inner thighs the next day. Fans of Tracie's newer workouts are likely to enjoy this as well (so long as they are prepared for the lower production values). Definitely recommended as a solid, distinctive full-body workout, with my final rating being 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Instructor Comments:
Those who are familiar with Tracie know that she is an excellent instructor. She never fails to correctly mirror-cue and generally gives great form pointers (with the exceptions noted above). She is professional and low-key yet warm and personable.

Beth C (aka toaster)