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Old 12-15-01, 10:41 PM  
Joanna
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Location: Toronto!
Firm Questions

Hi everyone

Lately I have been bored with my routine, and slacking majorly. Therefore, on January first, I am inetersted in beginning a Firm rotation. I need to wait until then because I will be at my dad's until the 28th and I generally need a few days for my breathing to recover from the evil cat he has. Anyway, I have the following Firm tapes:

Both firm Basics
Firm LBS, which I like
Firm NSTAM, which I like
Tough Cardio Mix, which I have not tried
Tought Tape 2, which I have not tried
Maximum Body Shaping, which I only sort of like

I plan to do a Firm tape every pther day rotating with machine cardio. I am prepared to purchase/trade for a maximum of three other tapes to go with the ones I have. My questions are:

- What other tapes do you suggest? I would like to keep them at 45 minutes or under if possible, I don't have a lot of space, and I would prefer to keep equipment changes to a minimum. I am fine with parts tapes. I am a choreography klutz, and I will be using only free weights (no barbells) so if it has barbells, it has to be modifiable.

- What weights should I start with? I have done weight training in the past and am just coming off a slower workout period where I have been avergaing about 3-4 workouts a week, most of them cardio. My weight work has been limited to shorter tapes (e.g. Tamilee's tapes doing only one section, or the quick fix weight tapes) using 5-pound dumbbells. In the firm tapes I have done, they want you to have a lighter set and a heavier set, and they tell you when to switch. So what weights should I use to start?

- How do you all work stretching in? Is the stretching in the firm tapes sufficient or will I need to add on? How about ab work---I am very inexperienced with ab work. Will it be too hard? Am I better skipping their ab work and going with something like Quick Fix Pilates (A tape I really enjoy) for ab work?

Any tips/suggestions/comments would be appreciated. I will be in the U.S. for a week and might have a chance to go to retail sources I don't have here, so I thought I would ask before I go.

Joanna
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Old 12-16-01, 01:02 AM  
Colleen
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Hi Joanna,

Upper Body and Standing Legs (both compiled from the classics) are good choices if you like the idea of splitting your weight work. Avoid Standing Legs if you hate squats, lunges, dips, and tall box work! I think you'd like Sculpted Buns, Hips, and Thighs (SBHT). SBHT has about 15 minutes of good floor work for the legs, and 15 minutes of abs. Don't worry - you don't do all of the ab work at once! This tape alternates 5-minute segments of ab work with floor work.

To recommend other short Firms, I'd have to know more about what you like and dislike. I love Tough Tape, but I also love Maximum Body Shaping, so we may not have the same taste in tapes. Tough Tape only requires a tall box and dumbbells (they use a barbell for some exercises, but you can do all of the exercises with dumbbells). Avoid this tape if you hate leg presses, because it has lots of them. Tough Tape is a parts tape (almost all from the Tortoise), and doesn't include abs. Volume 4 packs a lot into 45 minutes, but you'll have to tolerate some equipment changes. At least you only need one "box" for Vol. 4, as there is no tall box work. Read the video reviews to help you decide which tapes to buy. The Firm also has some excellent hour-long total body tapes, so you may want to consider these for days when you have more time.

I can answer some of your other questions:

* Some Firm tapes use a barbell, but none of them require a barbell. You can always use dumbbells instead. For lower body work, rest the weights on your shoulders or hold them at your sides.

* At first, do the lower body work without weights, and concentrate on using good form. These exercises are challenging at first, even without weights! For upper body work, start with light weights. Use your lightest weights for shoulders and triceps (maybe 2-3lb), and heavier weight (maybe 5-8lb) for other exercises. Hold two 5lb weights in one hand for one-armed lat rows. These are just suggestions - you'll have to experiment to find out what is right for you. Increase weight as you get stronger, but lift only as much as you can handle with good form. Don't worry if you can't finish every rep - do as many as you can, and try to do more next time.

* If the ab work in Firm tapes moves too fast or is too hard for you, do your Pilates tape instead, and don't feel guilty about it! I often substitute Pilates, a segment from Abs and More (Keli Roberts), or a segment from Quick Fix Abs for Firm ab work, since I prefer to do ab work at a slower pace. I think you'd like the ab work in SBHT, since it is done at a slow and controlled pace. If you can't do all three segments of ab work in this video, just do one or two segments.

* My body needs a lot of stretching, so the Firm's stretches (and the stretches on most other tapes) aren't enough for me. I do yoga, a 10-minute segment from Tamilee's Total Body Stretch, or my own stretches after my workouts. Some of the Firm tapes have decent stretches, while others don't have enough. Do more stretching on your own if you need to.

How's that for a long-winded answer? Sometimes I babble. :rolleyes: I hope this helps.

Colleen
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Old 12-16-01, 08:29 AM  
Barb L
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Not much help, but...

I can't ever distinguish between FIRM tapes when I'm not actually doing them, so it's hard to remember which ones have more/fewer equipment changes, etc.

However, for plenty of workout in a short time, Volume 4 suits me fine. No tall box presses either.

I DO like Tough Tape (LOTS of tall box) and MBS, however. I do not like FIRM cardio, except for Cardio Cross-Trainer, which is now classified as a heavy weight tape anyway. I think one of the Cross-trainers--either Cardio or Strength--is a useful component to any FIRM collection.
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Old 12-16-01, 09:13 AM  
Becky D
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Wink I have some FIRMS to trade....

Hi Joanna-

I don't have a lot of experience with the FIRM, but I do have a few of their tapes on my exchange list (Sculpted Buns, Hips, & Thighs; Upper Body; Vol. 4; Tortoise). I know how much easier it is to try new tapes if you can trade for them instead of spend the $$$$$ on something that may not work for you .
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Old 12-16-01, 12:39 PM  
JoJo G
 
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Location: Little Rock, AR
Bargain hunting for firms

If you have a Wal-Mart close by start looking for a display of Firm tapes as it gets nearer to the New Year. Last year they had a good selection of firm tapes for very cheap prices!!!!!! I guess though with the Firm going through transition they might not be able to get them again this year. I think I just bummed myself out.
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Old 12-16-01, 02:04 PM  
LCC
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If you plan to do machine cardio every other day, your FIRM days should concentrate on cardio/sculpt and sculpt tapes.

You should probably get Upper Body parts for an upper body split day to trade off with your LBS lower body day. If you get Cardio Split 1, it has an upper body 1/2 and a lower body 1/2. If you do them on separate days, the individual halves are short and they are considered cardio/sculpt, not cardio. (I think this tape is a Tortoise on the old chart.)

Then, maybe a Classic. 4 is good...and fairly short.

Hhhmm...and you can probably pick up 5 day abs or More 5 day abs cheap somewhere. It looks like musicgraveyard still has it for $4.99. If you want more abs....

There are some sample rotations listed in the VF rotations section and there are some at Firm Direct too. (That part of the site appears to be up today.)

Be sure not to overtrain and to take rest days.

Happy planning!

Laura (LCC)
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