The Firm: Cardio Dance Slimdown

This workout took me a few trys to figure out that I like it! I am not super uncooordinated, but I am not a dancer. When I first used it, I was concentrating too much on getting all the moves. Now when I do this workout, I go in with the attitude of just keep moving and have fun! It is perfect for a day when I'm down or don't feel up to strenuous cardio. Allie moves through the warmup, and three cardio sections, and then it's cool down time; which is nice. I end up in a better mood and feel like I've accomplished something.

I loved this workout! For years I've supplemented my FIRMs with what I call "plain cardio" workouts from folks like Kathy Smith because there are days I just want to have fun.

Well, this is the workout I've been waiting for. It's as much fun as Kathy Smith's Latin Rhythm Workout. I'd read some reviews and complaints about this one being too dancy and un-FIRM like, to which I say: Ballroom Aerobics, anyone? ;-)

The music is the best of the Pink FIRMs, and I absolutely love Allie's outfit! In 40 minutes or so I get a fun workout for those days I just don't feel like being so serious, or for those evenings when I've overindulged and can't face Ultimate Calorie Blaster.

There is a lot of TIFTing, even though Allie never says it, but the moves are fun and easy, and I loved the disco part. For those of us who were too young to disco when it was hot, this is your chance to make like Saturday Night Fever with the Bus Stop, Locomotive and that russian move John Travolta does. ;)

A+

This tape didn’t get a very good reaction when it first came out. I have done it a lot and enjoy it.

There is a huge cheese factor - lots of moves where you put your hands through your hair or pump your chest out. I find it fun cheese. But I also loved the sections of Jane Fonda’s Complete Workout where the exercisers are dancing in front of film of actual men in kilts doing Scottish dancing or whatever. Allie does say we’re all going to go to the club and talk to some cute guy. I am guessing she does that as much as other mothers of young children (never, judging from my experience) so it cracks me up. But if I ever make a Firm trip - Allie, I’m ready to make a fool of myself on the dance floor!

There is a not-too-long warmup (about 5 minutes) and then three sections of dancing.

The first set of dances remind me of something the Dazzlers would do. The Dazzlers are Florida Gator cheerleaders - they wear spangly ab-baring leotards and do dance routines during timeouts at basketball games. I believe Allie was on the Dazzler equivalent at USC and I bet she was great. I never thought I was interested in that kind of thing myself but this segment has awakened my until then fantasies of being a Dazzler (although hopefully with my belly covered). Allie starts out with "Let's get funky - start with a march". I find this funny also. Are marches ever funny? The Firmies all look cute and everything, but "funky" does not trip off *my* tongue.

The second set is Latin inspired set and I find it kind of blah and less intense. An easier version of this made it onto Cardio Party and I don’t know why - the other sections are more fun.

The third set is supposedly disco but includes lots of moves I remember from earlier in the 70s - hitchhiker, locomotion, the bump as well as robot hands. It brings me back to dancing around in junior high and just the word Locomotion makes me think of Carole King’s Tapestry. It seems not very disco to me (not like you’re doing anything as complicated as The Hustle) but fun.

The cooldown is about 5 minutes and she does seem to do a lot of nice gentle stretching moves - circle kicks, plies, hmmm, can’t remember what else.

This is not all that intense. I am a permanent low intermediate, 49, I run a 5k in around 31-32 minutes. I ran my HRM from the beginning until the start of the cooldown and I got an average of 126 for 36 minutes. I did see my HR as high as 140. So even for me it is a not-so-hard day but it does have a place in my life. I can see that a younger fitter person would not enjoy it. It would be TERRIFIC for a new exerciser my age who perhaps actually did enjoy disco dancing or that kind of cheerleading/dance routine kind of thing in her youth.

There is a little impact - skater moves in the disco part, other hopping kind of things. No modifier, but I think you could avoid it pretty easily as there is not much.

I find myself using this less often since I bought my Denise Austin fat blasting dance mix. It is so disappointing that it is not even chaptered. On days I don’t want to do much, I also sometimes don’t want to do a 40 minute workout. It would be so much better if I could easily skip that Latin section and have a shorter workout. The DA tape costs the same amount and lets you program the order in which you do the sections - it’s a much better deal. Well, I am glad the Firm has improved in this area but they are still not where Denise is IMO - and they seem to be looking at the same market.

Also, this is less choreographed and easier than Alison's dance workout (Cardio Dance Fusion) IMO.

I’m an advanced exerciser who loves cardio and dance. I knew going in that this was not a dance video, and after I finished, I knew it wasn’t a workout video, either.

The warmup starts out with some head and arm rolls, which transitioned into some hip-hop/funky-style dancing. We did the mambo and we did some disco. We finished with a short cool-down, which consisted of some more dancing... and I don’t mean actual dancing. Nobody I have ever known would go out in public and dance this way. Allie keeps saying everybody will want to dance with us at the club, but I doubt it.

I wouldn’t classify this as a workout either, simply because there isn’t enough cardio in it to make it so. There are no weights used, no resistance, and no core exercises. I didn’t really work up a sweat, and my heart rate stayed low the entire time. The workout simply did not feel particularly beneficial. It won’t be part of my usual rotation as I like longer and much more intense workouts than this one could offer.

My recommendation is that if you are a beginner or low-intermediate and want a short, fun, but not intense workout, then this is for you. Even people with two left feet can get the hang of this one. If you are advanced, this video would be for easy days or just for fun. I felt pretty silly at times, but I did not hate it. It just isn’t something I’ll do very often.

Sadly, I grade this one with only a C. I wanted to like it so much more than I did.