FitPrime Weights First

Tracie Long
Year Released: 2002

Categories: Circuit Training (cardio and weights) , Total Body Workouts


I did Weights first this morning for the first time so here are my very fresh impressions.

FIRST THE BAD: Before I did the video, I watched about 15 minutes of it and at first, I was HORRIFIED by the terrible production quality. Compared to the Firm videos, this video has the appearance of being filmed with a hand-held camcorder (and I am only exaggerating slightly). The camera person moves the camera up and down which made me feel a little dizzy at times - very bouncing camera work. The lighting had a "home-made" quality to it and the overall picture is less crisp and sharp than the Firm videos. Also, there were many times where the camera was cutting Tracie's head off which was annoying. The editing was a little choppy and not very professional and neither was the lighting. The set looks like it was filmed in somebody's living room with a large mirror on one side.

THE GOOD: Fortunately, there is so much GOOD about this video that I can honestly say the good far outweighs the bad. After watching 15 minutes and feeling really disappointed, I though I wouldn't be able to get past the poor production enough to enjoy the workout. Well, I was wrong. 5 minutes into the workout, I totally FORGOT about the bad production and really enjoyed this very tough, innovative and thorough workout! I won't go into all the various exercises because others have described them well, but I will just say that this video is as tough as (if not tougher than) the Firm's Tough Tape, only more creative and innovative with new twists on old exercises and some brand new exercises as well.

I love the innovative exercises in this video - unlike any I have done on other video's. The ball is a nice distraction and I think adds a unique quality to the tape and keeps it from being boring.

In my opinion, the music is GREAT in this video!!!!! One of the things that has always bugged me about Firm videos is the cheesy music. The music in Weights First has a very modern edge to it - most of the upbeat music has an "electronica" feel with new age flavors mixed in (including some Middle Eastern influenced music). I was soooo pleased with the music - I kept thinking "if only the production was a good as the music!".

To give you an idea of how tough this video is.....usually when I set up to begin a workout, I fill up a tall glass of water and that is enough to get me through the workout. I needed 2 glasses of water to get through Weights First and the sweat was POURING off me. Although it is a weight training workout, my heart rate was up the entire time and after finishing, I felt completely worked out.

If you think you can get past poor production, I would say this video is a worthwhile investment.

SassyGirl

Instructor Comments:
Tracie is excellent AS ALWAYS! She's my favorite instructor and she's just as good in this video as in the Firm videos she's done.

SassyGirl

10/17/2002