THE FIRM is bizarre and I'm old - Page 5

maitai · 05-30-18, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indy

I have a life long love of the Firm. I loved them then and I love them now. When I do the classics I feel as if I'm visiting old friends. If it was weird then sign me up. I thought they were the best workouts out there. To me, they still are. I can recite Susan Harris in Volume One and boy do I just love her.

+1 Love them all. "Pretchel Strettch"

Nuggie's Auntie · 05-30-18, 07:49 AM

Now I have a huge craving to do one of the classics, but we're moving and my VCR is packed away!

<sigh>

counterclockwise · 05-30-18, 10:09 AM

It's mostly the come-hither way some of them talked and acted, and the jumps or dances at the ends of some of them with the class applause. Like what did I just watch? lol

Oh and the mirrors behind the ladies offer some, uh, interesting camera shots.

I used to love that Maximum Cardio one though. I wanted to look just like Carissa. Too bad I'm 5'4" and pear shaped.

bubbles76 · 05-30-18, 10:44 AM

The only real oddity about the Firms to me were the retro outfits and working out while wearing gold herringbone necklaces. I never thought they sounded sexy or looked pouty, I cracked up at the giant arrows, the mirror shots were great (I like to see an instructor at all angles to see what muscles are supposed to be working), and the end jumps and poses were silly. They DID sound scripted though.

At first, I could not get past the retro look. Now, I love it. Go figure. Nothing beats the retro Firm experience, from the music to the choreographed moves, the colors, all that jazz.

Taramisu · 06-02-18, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebianco

If anything, I find the pink Firms/Firm Express and their combining 3 or 4 exercises into every single move to be complicated and cumbersome...although I still enjoy many of them

I agree with this and I disliked most of the Pink Firms for that reason. Never tried Firm Express and have no plans to. Even the two Pink Firms I do have I am not doing as much, because they are overly compoundy for my taste (if that is a word) and there are other workouts I like better for compound movements I guess. Ones that aren't as complex and aren't doing so much at once.

I guess I prefer the few BBH ones that I have left, I have a couple BSS cardio ones that I like too.

I have liked the Firm for many years, but must admit I roll my eyes at many of the comments which I feel are scripted. But the ones I have I don't think are as weird, which is why I have kept them all these years. For me the best era of the Firm was the mid era (BBH), post classics, pre BSS. Maybe a part of me is over the Firm, who knows. I find the small bunch I have left is all I really need from the Firm.

But that is just me.

Lurdes · 06-02-18, 10:01 AM

The FIRMs are indeed very strange, especially pre-2000 or so, and yet there's truly some kind of magic sauce there. I recently returned to a routine that worked really well for me years ago, and that's alternating running with the FIRM Classics 1-3. The results this 57-year old is getting are amazing--yes, results I can see! I suspect the copyright holders would make a fortune if they re-recorded and re-issued those exact workouts with up-to-date clothes and attitude.

Lurdes

wendug · 06-02-18, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lurdes

The FIRMs are indeed very strange, especially pre-2000 or so, and yet there's truly some kind of magic sauce there. I recently returned to a routine that worked really well for me years ago, and that's alternating running with the FIRM Classics 1-3. The results this 57-year old is getting are amazing--yes, results I can see! I suspect the copyright holders would make a fortune if they re-recorded and re-issued those exact workouts with up-to-date clothes and attitude.

Lurdes

Oh, that's an interesting idea to re-record the classic workouts with updated clothes, attitude and music! I would buy them!

acey · 06-08-18, 05:25 PM

I like the weirdness, the campiness, the color, the music, the ornate settings. I think back in the '80s, all these things were pretty much de rigueur. Consider many other workout videos that came out at that time - I personally think they make the Firm workouts look tame! I love that there is such a diversity among the casts in these workouts, and that everyone is all smiling and looking happy to work out.

And yes, it's better than dieting!

nyskier · 06-11-18, 02:24 PM

The Firm classics always creeped me out with the sets, the leotards, pouty looks and come hither attitude. I discovered them much later than the 1980’s, so that may be the reason. I do think they are good workouts if you can get past all of the above.

kat999 · 08-02-18, 04:31 PM

I just found this old thread, because I did Maximum Cardio with Carissa Foster today and forgot how much that one leaves me an exhausted puddle on the floor. The FIRM--all eras and people who spun off from it--are my favorite workouts of all time, and I've been doing them since I was a teenager. The red, purple, and blue Basics were my first FIRM tapes, and since then I've collected wayyyyyy too many and still sometimes pick something up from the Fitness Favorites store or via Amazon, if the price is right. The scripted-ness to me is comforting, because it's just very instructive, clearly stated, and repetitive, almost in a meditative way. I never found much about them creepy per se, since I sort of grew up with them from when they were contemporary for their time, and recognize that the early ones are just "of their era." I have to admit that all that pelvic floor stuff is what makes my husband not want to do them, even though they seem to claim the originals are for men, too (and not that men don't need that exercise!). I tell him to sub in some bridge work for those segments if it makes him roll his eyes.

The thing I like about all of the FIRMs is how you can make them super hard or super easy just by the effort and weights you use. Very adaptable to your own fitness level, even without showing a modifier--that's why the scripted nature of the lead is important, because she almost always clearly describes how beginners can modify for their fitness level.

The first time I saw Jen Carmen and Susan Harris on some of Tracie Long's videos, though, wherein they AREN'T as scripted, I was kind of shocked.

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05-30-18, 07:49 AM
Nuggie's Auntie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: I love that dirty water...	Now I have a huge craving to do one of the classics, but we're moving and my VCR is packed away! <sigh>

05-30-18, 10:09 AM
counterclockwise Join Date: May 2008 Location: TX	It's mostly the come-hither way some of them talked and acted, and the jumps or dances at the ends of some of them with the class applause. Like what did I just watch? lol Oh and the mirrors behind the ladies offer some, uh, interesting camera shots. I used to love that Maximum Cardio one though. I wanted to look just like Carissa. Too bad I'm 5'4" and pear shaped.

05-30-18, 10:44 AM
bubbles76 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: New Jersey	The only real oddity about the Firms to me were the retro outfits and working out while wearing gold herringbone necklaces. I never thought they sounded sexy or looked pouty, I cracked up at the giant arrows, the mirror shots were great (I like to see an instructor at all angles to see what muscles are supposed to be working), and the end jumps and poses were silly. They DID sound scripted though. At first, I could not get past the retro look. Now, I love it. Go figure. Nothing beats the retro Firm experience, from the music to the choreographed moves, the colors, all that jazz. __________________ "You humans have the potential to be the most wonderful beings there are - if you can get past all these enormous stupid spots you seem to have in your hearts. It's not your fault. You just don't know how to work your hearts right yet. That's why there are dogs." - Jim Butcher, Zoo Day

06-02-18, 10:01 AM
Lurdes VF Supporter Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: California	The FIRMs are indeed very strange, especially pre-2000 or so, and yet there's truly some kind of magic sauce there. I recently returned to a routine that worked really well for me years ago, and that's alternating running with the FIRM Classics 1-3. The results this 57-year old is getting are amazing--yes, results I can see! I suspect the copyright holders would make a fortune if they re-recorded and re-issued those exact workouts with up-to-date clothes and attitude. Lurdes

06-08-18, 05:25 PM
acey Join Date: May 2004 Location: NYC	I like the weirdness, the campiness, the color, the music, the ornate settings. I think back in the '80s, all these things were pretty much de rigueur. Consider many other workout videos that came out at that time - I personally think they make the Firm workouts look tame! I love that there is such a diversity among the casts in these workouts, and that everyone is all smiling and looking happy to work out. And yes, it's better than dieting! __________________ Red Bull addict and not ashamed--mystique has nothing to do with it!

06-11-18, 02:24 PM
nyskier VF Supporter Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL	The Firm classics always creeped me out with the sets, the leotards, pouty looks and come hither attitude. I discovered them much later than the 1980’s, so that may be the reason. I do think they are good workouts if you can get past all of the above. __________________ "Remember that you can eat your way through any amount of exercise"-- Jillian Michaels" "Nothing tastes as good as being fit feels."--Bita "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." --Aristotle

08-02-18, 04:31 PM
kat999 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ohio	I just found this old thread, because I did Maximum Cardio with Carissa Foster today and forgot how much that one leaves me an exhausted puddle on the floor. The FIRM--all eras and people who spun off from it--are my favorite workouts of all time, and I've been doing them since I was a teenager. The red, purple, and blue Basics were my first FIRM tapes, and since then I've collected wayyyyyy too many and still sometimes pick something up from the Fitness Favorites store or via Amazon, if the price is right. The scripted-ness to me is comforting, because it's just very instructive, clearly stated, and repetitive, almost in a meditative way. I never found much about them creepy per se, since I sort of grew up with them from when they were contemporary for their time, and recognize that the early ones are just "of their era." I have to admit that all that pelvic floor stuff is what makes my husband not want to do them, even though they seem to claim the originals are for men, too (and not that men don't need that exercise!). I tell him to sub in some bridge work for those segments if it makes him roll his eyes. The thing I like about all of the FIRMs is how you can make them super hard or super easy just by the effort and weights you use. Very adaptable to your own fitness level, even without showing a modifier--that's why the scripted nature of the lead is important, because she almost always clearly describes how beginners can modify for their fitness level. The first time I saw Jen Carmen and Susan Harris on some of Tracie Long's videos, though, wherein they AREN'T as scripted, I was kind of shocked. __________________ peace.tranquility.calmness.serenity