The Firm: Calorie Killer 2 (aka Power Cardio)

Dale Brabham
Year Released: 2003

Categories: Floor Aerobics/Hi-Lo/Dance



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Dale leads this 43 min cardio + strength workout in the mansion set with a group of background exercisers. You will need a step, dumbbells, ankle weights, a weighted ball and optional dowel & barbell for this workout.

After an active warmup Dale leads you through a weighted ball series: ball prep, walking squat series, & hop scotch. Step work: fun kick series, knee ups, & mambo. Box & floor 4 limb work: lunge & glute pinch, travel squats & curl, & side step upright row. Floor cardio: v step, shuffle digs, jacks, double knees, bunny hops, calf pumps, & step touch. Strength work: bi curls, French press, pliet & upright row, hover squats, pushups, supermans, donkey kick series, plank knee drops, and a crunch series. The workout concludes with a stretch & pelvic floor work.

I rate this a solid intermediate routine, more challenging than most of the other newly released FIRMs. I was pleasantly surprised with the fun factor, effectiveness, and the punch that workout packed. Easy to modify up or down depending on the impact & poundage used. Dale is an excellent instructor and this is really yet another, must-have Fitness Favorites FIRM workout! I received this dvd to review.

lindseylu

07/20/2013

Calorie Killer 2 is an excellent workout that contains a little bit of everything, cardio with plyometrics, high/low impact aerobics, ball aerobics, 4 limb aerobics, strength work, tough abs, bridge work, low back strength and a stretch at the end. It clocks in at about 45 minutes. The workout moves quickly, and I had to stop the DVD in order to get my equipment set up. The music is typical Firm instrumental which is nondescript and nonintrusive.

This is a great workout to pull out on days when you aren't sure what to do, but want to work hard and quickly. It gets the heartrate up because there is a lot of plyo (jumping). If you do not like high impact, then this is not the workout for you. There is not a lot of strength work, so you would not use this workout to gain muscle.

Calorie Killer 2 is the identical workout to Power Cardio, which was a video sold in stores; there are no differences in the content.

I definitely recommend this workout to people who like the Firm, want a cardio-intense workout with plyo, and want an intense workout in 45 minutes. A+

Instructor Comments:
Dale is a good instructor, very straight-forward and pleasant. She is in excellent condition.

Abbe

01/29/2004

This workout is A+! I just acquired this tape from a trade and it was WELL worth the trade!
This is my favorite (new favorite) of the FIRM cardio series (others CB AND MC! In order of liking PC,CB,MC!)
I disagree that this tape is intermediate, as someone said above, I about KILL myself with this tape! I heavy up though, using 15lb weights on almost every weight segment. Also, there is a very tough segment where you shuffle very fast and do plyos and skiing motions and v-steps very fast that almost KILLS me!

As with all FIRMS, this workout is adaptable, so I guess it can be intermediate level too (less weights less moves)

I really wish this video was readily available so others can see what a great workout it is, but for now, there aren't many sources to get this video..
:(
but if you do find it, please buy!
I don't think you will regret getting it if-
You like high impact
You like shorter workouts (45min)
You enjoy the other FIRM CARDIO videos-Cardio Burn and Max Cardio
You want to work hard!
***********************************
I give this video an A+ for funness and likeability and TOUGHNESS..oh and the music rocks it too!
LOVE IT!
other videos i like (to compare my tastes w/you!)
Cardio Burn
Max Cardio
Super Cardio
Volume One
Tough Tape
Tortoise
Lower Body Split
Tough Aerobic Mix

:) hope this helpz!

Instructor Comments:
Dale is absolutely fabulous! i don't really know why I am drawn to her.. maybe it is her strongness! She has such great upper body definition! Dale is great at cueing and she is fun to exercise with!

j

05/10/2002

First of all, I'm still quite "new" to the Firm, that is, "new" to liking the Firm. I'm really a big cardio fan, and the Firm cardio, is not really cardio(at least to me). And that really hasn't changed. I would never consider doing a Firm tape by itself, but in combo with other tapes, I really enjoy it.
Power Cardio is a fun workout, easy to follow, but definitely not an intense cardio workout. It starts with a short warm-up, that moves into "oof ball" aerobics; plyo jumps, squats and "hopscotch". Then it's tall box aerobics with no weights and faster movements, which include kick boxing kicks. There are many equipment changes(most Firm fans are used to that). There is also slower tall box lunges and glute squeezes. Fast aerobics,with plyo jumps, shuffle heel digs, double jacks & ski jumps. This changes into low impact with weights: squat presses side steps with upright rows and bicep curls. Next comes more hi/lo-more plyo jumps, bunny hops and the tri-star hops. Near the end, some barbell plies(?sp?) and upright rows/shoulder presses. The workout finishes with some table work, abs & bridge work and back exercises.

No big weights are used in this video. It's a little longer aerobic portion than other firm workouts. The music is OK; but I'd rather to listen to something different, than listen to the same soundtrack over and over again, like CIAs. If you're looking for the usual Firm weight work, it's not here. The intensity is intermediate; but I don't need a killer workout every day. It's simply fun.

Instructor Comments:
Dale performed her job as a Firm instructor, the same way as other firm instructors. This is one of the things I don't like about the Firm. The instructors aren't allowed a personality. But,, I still come away from the workout, liking Dale. Her cueing is good and her form is good. somehow, if she was allowed to project her own personality, I think I'd like her even more.

germaine

02/06/2000

FIRM--Power Cardio and FIRM--Maximum Cardio

Since I enjoy The FIRM videos more than any other, I broke down & bought these even though I have no interest in high-impact aerobics. I figured that The FIRM would find a way to make them original & innovative. Wrong. I haven't seen some of these moves since the 1980's. Boring!

I have always found that the other FIRM tapes gave me a terrific cardio workout. Too bad they didn't stick with what works.

Fortunately, there are some interesting "Four-Limb" segments--the kind that The FIRM excells at, but not enough to make these tapes worthwhile.

Ruthie

12/21/1999