Video Fitness

FIRM Lower Body I

Lisa Kay

Lower Body Sculpt I is a 30 minute all-standing leg workout that moves at an excellent, quick pace. It packs a lot into the half-hour. It consists of the usual sorts of Firm moves, such as tall box climbs, squats, plies, hovers, lunges and dips, and some fast-paced cardio sections that also incorporate the leg exercises. The music was good, too! I am not a big fan of standing leg work, but this workout goes pretty fast, and none of the sets are too long, so it works well for me. The exercises are sequenced very well. This is an intermediate level workout. Advanced beginners will like it and one participant shows beginner modifications. Advanced exercisers will like it as an add on or for a medium-light leg day. I give it an A.

Instructor comments: I think Lisa Kay is a very good instructor. She is pleasant, and straight-forward in her instruction.

Abbe G

April 25, 2003

I had put off doing this workout for quite some time, and now that I have given it a go, I am sorry I did! It is a fun workout. The set, style and instructors will be familiar to anyone who has tried the body sculpting system series. I love the clean, uncluttered look.

As far as the workout goes, it was really nicely structured. There are about 3 long sets of tall box climbs using light, middle and heavy weights. These are broken up by aerobic breaks and sections of other floor work such as lunges and squats.

I think that, even at a fairly brief half an hour, this workout is still a bit long for the kind of work it is. I am not sure the average person needs quite that many lunges and leg presses. But I enjoyed this routine. While I would not do it TOO often do it being a bit much for what I need, it is certainly a well-taught and fun routine and I enjoyed it a lot.

Instructor comments: Lisa is not as warm an instructor as some of them are, but she was pleasant and competent and did a good job of reminding beginenrs often to follow their modfications.

Joanna

6/10/04

Firm Lower Body Sculpt 1 is one of the “6-pack” add-on workouts for BSS1. It is a standing lower-body workout. It’s 30 minutes long (which Lisa makes sure to mention during the workout), including a warm-up and stretch. The Fanny Lifter and dumbbells are used in this workout. A stepstool or High Step could easily be substituted for the FL.

If you don’t like lunges or tall box climbs, this is NOT the workout for you! It is meant to be alternated with Lower Body Sculpt 2, which is all floorwork (and, in my opinion, much easier). LBS 1, because it’s a standing workout, functions somewhat like an aerobic weight training workout, but I wouldn’t really use it for a cardio day.

The exercises included are as follows.

Warm-up
Plie
Leg press
Hover squat
Leg press with calf raises
Cardio with FL – includes dips and squats off the FL
Lunge sequence – starts with dips and includes squats
Low impact cardio with calf pumps, glute raises, grapevines, and squats
Leg press left with calf raise
Leg press right with calf raise
Dip/curtsy dip
Stretch

This workout packs a lot into a half hour. I used lighter weights, as I prefer that for the lower body. I felt like I got a good workout, reminiscent of Slim Series-type lower body work. I definitely would NOT recommend this to anyone with knee problems.

This would be a good workout for someone just starting out, who might want to do a lower body workout one day, then upper body the next. I did this workout after Upper Body Sculpt with Janet Brooks, and felt like I got a well-rounded workout. I did feel the need to do some floorwork later in the week, though.

I’m beginning to like the look of the newer Firms, with their coordinating outfits and clean sets. I also like the half-hour workouts, which are good to combine with other half-hour workouts, or to use on time-crunched days. So, this is a keeper for me.

Instructor comments: I like Lisa. She looks more like a real woman than many of the ultra-slim instructors featured in newer Firm workouts. She is definitely athletic-looking, but neither drill sergeant nor cheerleader-ish. She cues well, though sometimes you have to watch her rather than listen to get a move. She mentions the Fanny Lifter once or twice, but not over and over like some of the other instructors in the series.

Pratima

11/05/04

Firm Lower Body Sculpt is an all-standing lower-body routine using the Firm Fanny Lifter, and it really targets those glute, hip, and leg muscles (if you don't have a FL, a full-size adjustable step could probably be used as a substitute). Firm instructor Lisa Kay does a solid job leading the workout, which comes in right around 30 minutes. In addition to the FL, various sets of dumbbells are used throughout.

The workout begins with a 6-minute warm-up and stretch using the FL at its mid-range height. Exercises in the first segment include plies, leg presses on the full FL, hover squats, and then a second leg press series; calf raises are also included as part of the leg press work. Next comes a short (3 minutes) aerobic section using the low (purple) portion of the FL, which was fun and helped keep the heart rate elevated. Another toning segment follows, this one with dips, lunges, and squats, and then there is another 3-minute aerobic sequence, this time on the floor (includes some small plyometric jumps). Yet another set of leg presses comes next plus more calf work, squats, and finally, dips/curtsy dips. The workout ends with a 3-minute stretch seated on the FL.

Although I haven't always clicked with Firm workouts, I enjoyed this one very much, and I felt that my lower body got an excellent workout. I also think that the routine is quite customizable to meet your needs: the first time through, I was already tired from another workout, so I used a bit lighter weights, but you could easily go quite heavy on your weights as well. Furthermore, I loved that the workout moved quickly, which meant that my heart rate stayed in my target zone for about two-thirds of the workout (eg, over 20 minutes). I would definitely recommend this routine, especially for those like me who do not enjoy floor work and thus prefer standing exercises for their lower body.

Instructor comments: I had no problems with Lisa; as is typical with the Firm, she speaks with a southern accent and sounds somewhat scripted, but she cued well and was perfectly pleasant.

Beth C (aka toaster)

April 15, 2007



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