How Do You Keep All The Newer FIRMS Straight!?
 

Ok.. so I'm from the Benson era, and I remember comments being made about how confusing some of the titles, etc could be when trying to decide what to try. I'm not sure the newer FIRMS are any different. I just went through a list at Amazon and boy oh boy, my head is spinning.

So my question is, which titles are the tried and true staples to you fitness regiment? I'm mainly asking about FIRMS that have been produced later than the TransFirmer titles. I'm familiar up until then. After that, it's a jumbled mess in my mind.

And what's this FIRM Express Set all about? (ya, super late to the party, I know). Who's using it?

TIA ~

Well, I can talk about FX; what do you want to know? It's 12 (+ a bonus) 20-minute workouts that get progressively harder. Each w/o is on its own DVD. You do them in order, three per week, for a month. Each week has a Sculpt workout, a Cardio workout, and a Cardio-Sculpt combo. (Altho', frankly, I think all Firms are kind of both.) The bonus disk is abs and a 10-minute add-on. There's a new instructor each week. There's a little bit of HIIT in each workout; several sets of what they call "bursts;" high-intensity moves like star jumps/cheerleaders that you do for 8 seconds/rest 12/repeat four times.

The workouts are short and challenging; I think it was supposed to be the Firm's answer to a shorter (maybe more girly?) version of P90X. I thought they were fun and challenging enough to do the system four times--once by itself; then again a few months later in a 90-day rotation.

I saw nice strength and endurance gains; when I started I was using 3-5lbs for all the moves, and by the end I'd upped to 12. You don't want to go crazy heavy, because the workouts move VERY VERY FAST...

...Which brings me to what I found a massive downside to the program, and the one that's giving me a dread factor about doing it again. The workouts aren't just challenging--they're *confusing.* Overly complicated warmups and really unusual compound moves that take time to master... only you never GET the time to master them, because the instructors move on so quickly AND you only do each workout once/month. There was a big annoyance factor for me--altho' clearly I got over it, b/c I spent four months with it! LOL

So. For me it was a great set for getting back in the groove of serious exercise after almost a year off due to injury and illness. I really liked the progressive nature of the set, and the workouts fly by, but I always felt like I got a great workout in those 20 minutes. It's a good set if you're not easily confused by choreography and only have a few minutes/week to workout. (If you want "results" like they show in the infomercial, tho', you're supposed to double- and sometimes triple-up on the workouts.)

Thanks Gem ~ Something I might pass on.

I can add that the Firm Express workouts are short and fun-there is alot of getting up and down from the floor. Some people do not like to do that when the heart rate is high. I personally like Emily's set and use it for cardio quite often. I cannot abide by Rebecca's set. I have such a low tolerance for high pitched wooing and really, she is way way over the top in this series with her screeching. a lot of complaints about her set. Kelsies set is very enjoyable.
Allisons set -has that up and down situation, but I liked it.
I also enjoyed Jen's 10 minute add on, it is so hard!
I am glad I bought this set, and am keeping some of the workouts in my different rotations.

The Firm Express workouts don't have to be done as shown in the rotation. I do the monthly rotation on the Firm site, and the Firm Express workouts are mixed in with all of the others. They're usually done 2 at a time. Last night I did Cycle 1 and 2 Cardio and tomorrow night will be Cycle 3 and 4 Cardio+Sculpt. I like them. There is no dread factor for me.

Pump Jump 'n Jab
Tight buns & Killer Legs
(I really like Kelsie!) :D

i didn't want the entire firm express set, so i bought the few that were released to retail. my only recollection was that they seemed a bit rushed, and they're not bad. i just haven't used them after the first try. lots of burpees, if that interests you.

the pink firms - i have practically all of them. In general, i like the ones led by Rebekah Sturkie or Allie Del Rio. the earlier ones led by Alison Davis (bootcamp maximum calorie burn & ultimate fat burning workout) - - i've gone back to these several times. She also does Dangerous Curves, which is also a good one. Lisa Wheeler choreographed many of the pink firms.

they're all very similar.

you can get the 4-disc "CardioWeight System Workout" for pretty cheap on Amazon w/o the weights. 3 of the discs are pretty decent workouts. the cardio party one - i only did it once - wasn't an instant favorite for me.

My favorite Gaiam Firms are Ultimate Fat Burning Workout, Bootcamp Maximum Calorie Burn, Total Body Time Crunch, Dangerous Curves Ahead and Calorie Explosion. But I have and like most of them.

The only ones I can keep straight are the Firm Vol 1 through 6 and the Cross trainers Strength and Cardio. I also have the original Lie down and Work out.

I have all my Firms together and when I pull one out that isn't a classic I still have to look at the back cover and sometimes I can't figure out which one it is
until I do it.:)

I use the classics a lot and Hi Def. Sculpt. I love the classic Bootcamp 3 -1.
When I do a Firm rotation, I kind of just pick one that fits the time I have and weather I want more cardio or more toning.

For what it's worth - I wasn't crazy about Firm Express. I bought the set and did the rotation as in the book. I then used the workouts separately. My body didn't like all the up and down and some of the compound moves. I found it very high impact and the modifier was not much help.

I wanted to like these but they weren't for me. Still, it is a good set if you can do the high impact.
I was able to trade it and hopefully, it has a happy home.

list
 

Here's a list:

Retail Releases - 2006
Cardio Dance Slim Down
Fat Burning Sculpting Ball
Ultimate Fat Burning Workout
Slim and Sculpt Stability Ball
Sculpt and Tone Pilates
Fat Burning Cardio Toning
Express Yoga
Slim Solutions Yoga

Retail Releases - 2007
Bootcamp Max Calorie Burn
Power Sculpt w/ Sculpting Stick

TransFIRMation System/CardioWeights - 2007
Cardio Overdrive
Cardio Party
Hard Core Fusion
Hi Def Sculpt

TransFIRMation System/CardioWeights (Deluxe) - 2007
Core Solutions
Tight Buns and Killer Legs

TransFIRMation System - add-ons - 2007
Cardio Inferno
Burn & Shape
Cardio Sculpt Fusion (Total Body Lite)
Total Body Time Crunch
Total Body Toner

Skills, Thrills, Drills w/ Balance Trainer
Cardio Core Fusion
Cardio Dance Fusion

Cardio to Go & Slim w/o the Gym
Transfirm Your Trouble Zones w/ Kettlebell
Power Ball with Slim & Trim
Pump, Jump, & Jab
Dangerous Curves
Sculpt-ilates

2008
Get Chisel'd
Power Half Hour
500 Calorie Workout

2009
Ultimate Fat Burning Collection (PJ&J,CSF,CO,B&S)
Total Body Makeover (Express:TBTC,SCPL,HCF,CP)


2010
Target Toning Zero in Ten
Calorie Explosion
Weighted Gloves Kit
Coretoner Plus
PowerBurn 45 (CDSD, CI, UFB)

The Firm Express Series
Ignite
Accelerate
Turbocharge
Overdrive

2012
Time Crunch Cardio
Cardio Dance Club
Flat Abs Solutions

2013
Transfirm Your Body