Re: The Firm BSS2 Complete Aerobics & Weight Training

[Guest guest]

Hi !

Oh, I miss my FIRMs. I hope to be able to do them again someday - but right now I'm not going to push my luck!

To hopefully answer your questions - I agree about the sculpting stick - totally unnecessary - dumbells or a regular barbell would be fine substitutes. I think the stick weighs 8 lbs and I think each "twig" is 1.5 lbs. Using 3's for aerobic weight training moves (aerobic moves where they use the weights) is perfect! And, I think you did have a 12 inch step going - the step itself is 4 inches and each riser is 2 inches.

Not sure about the DVD thing, but I'm surprised rewinding didn't work. I don't think these FIRM workouts were chaptered, so hitting skip forward or skip backward wouldn't work (it would either take you right to the end or beginning of the workout).

Glad you had a good workout and that you're feeling accomplished! I got some closet cleaning done yesterday and now I want to do more - seems like the momentum is hard to stop once you get moving on something like that. I hope I can keep it up b/c I would like to declutter before the holidays.

Oh, I did my stairs today - 9 flights! YAY!

Take care,

Donna

Subject: The Firm BSS2 Complete Aerobics & Weight TrainingTo: exercisevideos Date: Monday, November 17, 2008, 2:34 PM

Woo hoo! This was a FUN workout! Did I get this one from you Sara or from one of my VF trades? I can't remember but it was great! One hour of heart pumping circuits of cardio and strength. I had a kind of slow start because I'd taken 4 days off in a row (not planned that way!) but I got into things quickly. I can't remember at all what the sequences are but here's the things I liked about it:

- Walsh is very personable and not at all robotic, plus she cues very well.

- The cardio is very easy to follow, especially if you know FIRM cues. I do not know them well so I was stumbling around at times but eventually caught on to most things, I'm sure it will go much better the next time I do it. I kept stumbling at the same intensity as the real moves though.

- The cardio was intense enough that even though the circuits were short, they still got your heart rate up pretty good (really good at times) and burned a lot of calories.

- The cardio included familiar (to me) kickboxing moves and that made it more interesting.

- There was not a ton of compound strength moves and those that were included were mostly in the beginning circuits. I like compound exercises in theory but in practice I find them a pain in the rear to learn.

- The abs work was really good, just challenging enough for me without killing me.

- There were just enough reps of most exercises to get me tired without gasping "enough."

- It seemed pretty balanced between upper and lower body and, I think I remember saying they deliberately alternated between upper and lower body circuits but I wasn't paying attention to any patterns today, just trying to keep up and follow along with each moment.

What I didn't like:

- The sculpting stick is a really stupid toy (in my ever so humble opinion). I don't own one and don't intend to own one. I tried using the bar from my barbell (still have to put weights on it) but it was too short for the lunges off the step at its highest position so I just put it in the corner. I tried using it for other exercises that were closer to the ground but I still never saw the point of it. I would like to know how much it weighs fully assembled and how much the "twigs" each weigh for comparison with weights I used in its place. For the curious toning laying on your back putting raising the bar up in front of you and wherever else I just used my barbell (which I need to weigh too). I used 3 lb. weights for the arm toning (with cardio combined, it was intense for me) with the twigs and those were probably a wee bit heavy but there aren't a ton of reps so I got through it all.

- I don't have a Fanny Lifter so I had to keep pausing the DVD to assemble and reassemble my step, plus move it in and out of the center of the room. That brought my heart rate down too much.

- I could not get the DVD to let me back up at all. Before I figured out that it would take me too long to do the equipment changes with the step I just let the DVD run and then I wanted to back it up to the starting point of that particular circuit and couldn't. I don't consider myself a DVD expert by a long shot so maybe there was a way but it wasn't with the rewind button and wasn't otherwise painfully obvious (which is what I need).

- I need to get used to the lunges off the top of the step at its highest setting (I have 4 sets of risers for my little step so I assume that is 12"), especially holding a dumbbell in one hand. It felt a little rough on my back because I'm sure my form wasn't the greatest. My knees were talking a little bit at times too so I worked extra hard at correcting my form instead of getting in all the reps. My back is still bugging me a little. I think it will be fine later or tomorrow but with all the conversations lately about back problems I know I don't want to invite any!

I don't remember much about the music except that I liked it at the beginning then just went to work. I don't remember much about the set either so both must have been fine. I do know most of the time I was very "into" the workout and very focused on following along. I felt like I got a great workout from it and enjoyed it a lot too. I also did my pushups before the video. I only did column 2, week 1/day 1 once last week but went right to column 2, week 1 day 2 today. It went really well and I'm planning to do more Wednesday. I finally have my work schedule set for the time being (minus any last minute subbing opportunities that come up) and got some other things I needed to do yesterday done so I'm going to plan a rotation for the rest of the week later. All I knew for today was that I wanted cardio and weights and the title of this one was just right. I had no idea what the workout was

like before I did it but it worked out well!

Off to get tons done around the house. I hope everyone is having good workout days!

[Guest guest]

Hi !

great job! You prob got that on trade, as I think the FIRMs you got

from me were on vhs. I know I liked all of the BSS1 and BSS2

workouts I've done so far. Glad you enjoyed it!

Great comments, I agree with all of them! I use the sculpting stick

because I have it, but I don't think it's necessary, either. Mine

came with a big lot of FIRMs and the fanny lifter I got on

craigslist. I'm thinking I might be able to use the center piece of

it for a substitute in Blanks amped workouts, though. He uses

his amped stick thing, and I think it might be the right size for

that. My library always has those in stock and I'd like to try

them sometime.

The sculpting stick weighs 9 lbs total, and the twigs are really

light - I'd say 1 or 2 lb maybe? The fanny lifter parts are 6 " and

8 " - so it's 14 " total, when it's assembled. I know I stopped using

the full height toward the end of my 4 week rotation, to give my

knees a break and to stop worring about hitting my head on the

ceiling! I also know what you mean about moving everything around

during the workout.

Great job with the push ups, too. I have an appt with Tony Horton

today, and will report later...

Sara

>

> Woo hoo! This was a FUN workout! Did I get this one from you Sara

or from one of my VF trades? I can't remember but it was great! One

hour of heart pumping circuits of cardio and strength. I had a kind

of slow start because I'd taken 4 days off in a row (not planned that

way!) but I got into things quickly. I can't remember at all what the

sequences are but here's the things I liked about it:

>

> - Walsh is very personable and not at all robotic, plus she

cues very well.

> - The cardio is very easy to follow, especially if you know FIRM

cues. I do not know them well so I was stumbling around at times but

eventually caught on to most things, I'm sure it will go much better

the next time I do it. I kept stumbling at the same intensity as the

real moves though.

> - The cardio was intense enough that even though the circuits were

short, they still got your heart rate up pretty good (really good at

times) and burned a lot of calories.

> - The cardio included familiar (to me) kickboxing moves and that

made it more interesting.

> - There was not a ton of compound strength moves and those that

were included were mostly in the beginning circuits. I like compound

exercises in theory but in practice I find them a pain in the rear to

learn.

> - The abs work was really good, just challenging enough for me

without killing me.

> - There were just enough reps of most exercises to get me tired

without gasping " enough. "

> - It seemed pretty balanced between upper and lower body and, I

think I remember saying they deliberately alternated between

upper and lower body circuits but I wasn't paying attention to any

patterns today, just trying to keep up and follow along with each

moment.

>

> What I didn't like:

> - The sculpting stick is a really stupid toy (in my ever so humble

opinion). I don't own one and don't intend to own one. I tried using

the bar from my barbell (still have to put weights on it) but it was

too short for the lunges off the step at its highest position so I

just put it in the corner. I tried using it for other exercises that

were closer to the ground but I still never saw the point of it. I

would like to know how much it weighs fully assembled and how much

the " twigs " each weigh for comparison with weights I used in its

place. For the curious toning laying on your back putting raising the

bar up in front of you and wherever else I just used my barbell

(which I need to weigh too). I used 3 lb. weights for the arm toning

(with cardio combined, it was intense for me) with the twigs and

those were probably a wee bit heavy but there aren't a ton of reps so

I got through it all.

> - I don't have a Fanny Lifter so I had to keep pausing the DVD to

assemble and reassemble my step, plus move it in and out of the

center of the room. That brought my heart rate down too much.

> - I could not get the DVD to let me back up at all. Before I

figured out that it would take me too long to do the equipment

changes with the step I just let the DVD run and then I wanted to

back it up to the starting point of that particular circuit and

couldn't. I don't consider myself a DVD expert by a long shot so

maybe there was a way but it wasn't with the rewind button and wasn't

otherwise painfully obvious (which is what I need).

> - I need to get used to the lunges off the top of the step at its

highest setting (I have 4 sets of risers for my little step so I

assume that is 12 " ), especially holding a dumbbell in one hand. It

felt a little rough on my back because I'm sure my form wasn't the

greatest. My knees were talking a little bit at times too so I worked

extra hard at correcting my form instead of getting in all the reps.

My back is still bugging me a little. I think it will be fine later

or tomorrow but with all the conversations lately about back problems

I know I don't want to invite any!

>

> I don't remember much about the music except that I liked it at the

beginning then just went to work. I don't remember much about the set

either so both must have been fine. I do know most of the time I was

very " into " the workout and very focused on following along. I felt

like I got a great workout from it and enjoyed it a lot too. I also

did my pushups before the video. I only did column 2, week 1/day 1

once last week but went right to column 2, week 1 day 2 today. It

went really well and I'm planning to do more Wednesday. I finally

have my work schedule set for the time being (minus any last minute

subbing opportunities that come up) and got some other things I

needed to do yesterday done so I'm going to plan a rotation for the

rest of the week later. All I knew for today was that I wanted cardio

and weights and the title of this one was just right. I had no idea

what the workout was like before I did it but it worked out well!

>

> Off to get tons done around the house. I hope everyone is having

good workout days!

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

hi nancy! im glad that you enjoyed this workout... it is one of

my all time favourites, and im sure that many others like it as

well. it has been a very long time since ive done it though, so

it was nice to read your post about it. yeah the sculpting

stick is kind of dumb, and it seems like they try to invent (some

silly) ways to make use of it. some dumbells substitute for it

just fine. the firm stick is 8 pounds total... 4 pounds for

the bar, each twig is 2 pounds.

apparently they have a new sculpting stick available now which is

9 pounds and breaks into three 3 lb segments.

:*carolyn.