The Firm: Lower Body Sculpt II

Firm Lower Body Sculpt 2 is the companion workout to Lower Body Sculpt 1. Both of these workouts use the Firm Fanny Lifter, a high step with two parts, but whereas LBS1 consisted of all standing lower body work plus cardio, LBS2 has no cardio, and the entire workout is performed on the floor. In addition, it alternates moves for the legs and butt with abs work.

LBS2 is led by Libby Heath, a Firm instruction who usually has a background role as a modifier in Firm videos. I found her to be more low-key than the typical Firm instructor, yet she was definitely competent and comfortable in the lead role. In addition to the Fanny Lifter (FL), Libby suggests using one set of dumbbells ranging from 3-8 lbs, although you can also do the workout with no weights. The 5-minute warm-up is the only part of the workout performed standing, and I found that it was a bit different from the Firm's usual, tired warm-ups and contained a few more unique moves, include several which more specifically targeted warming up the lower body.

Following the warm-up, you first sit on the FL for a seated quad lift, holding the weight on the top of your thigh. From there, you transition to hands-and-knees over the FL with the weight behind one knee for hamstring work, then return for another set of quad lifts, stretch, and repeat on the other side. Moving to a lying position on the floor, Libby alternates sets of pelvic lifts with sets of abs crunches.

Next comes inner and outer thigh work in a side-lying position; you are still using the weight here, this time holding it against your thigh. A final set of abs work follows this segment, this time focusing more on the obliques. A 6-minute stretch concludes the workout and is performed mainly on the floor. Libby does a good job of stretching the legs and including some nice twisting postures as well, bringing in the total time for the workout right around 34 minutes.

Overall, I enjoyed this workout. It is probably most appropriate for beginning to intermediate level exercisers. Although I am a more advanced intermediate myself, I think this workout will work well for me if I use it as an add-on to a more intense workout; I also plan to experiment with varying the weights I use, perhaps adding ankle weights as well.

This short half-hour all-floor workout is meant to be cross-trained with the all-standing Lower Body Sculpt 1, and I think it does so. It is a short, non-fussy no-nonsense routine and I really enjoyed it. I am not generally a floor work person, but Libby alternates exercises and keeps the sets short so I was able to get through this with no problems.

This routine is light on equipment for a Firm tape. Libby uses a weight and the “fanny lifter” but I got by okay with neither. I never use weights for lower body work, and for the one seated section I used my stability ball.

The workout begins with a short warm-up, that in typical firm style works one half, then repeats on the other. It was easy to follow and not especially memorable. Then there is a short “seated” section that alternated quad lifts with doggy-style extension-type kickbacks. This is the part I used my ball for.

Then it’s mat time. Libby alternates a leg exercise with an ab exercise. So you get bridge work mixed in with a crunch/obliques medley, then leg lifts for inner and outer thigh and more crunch-type work. Then a decent-length cool-down stretch and we’re done.

Libby does not exactly scream "personality" but she is competent and gets the job done. I would say the main selling points of this routine would be the length, and the fact that the sets are short and change often to prevent boredom. That can be a drawback though---really advanced people might not find it tough or high-rep enough.

Of the six pack - this is definitely one of my favorites. I love Libby Heath. I love her voice. I love her demeanor. I love her quirky comments. I love the whole thing. I would buy more of her workouts anyday.

Since I'm sure this has been broken down elsewhere, I figure I will just give my thoughts on it. As the title suggests, this workout is just for the lower body. It is all floorwork and it is done both while sitting on the fanny lifter and lying on the floor. I was surprised at the amount of ab work in this one. I would say that it is split about half and half between lower body and abs. BUT - that being said - I love the abwork in this one. It feels great and with Libby by my side, I certainly don't mind doing it for her.

There are the 5 other Firm instructors in the background, but to be honest, I don't really notice them at all. Libby is in centre stage and she seems to be all that I am drawn to.

The day after I do this one, I almost always feel muscles that I haven't felt in a while.

This is my first review, so bear with me. I decided to review this one because I couldn't find one on it.

A little background, I've been exercising with videos for years but consider myself an intermediate.

This is from the 6 pack series that came out after BSS1. I had all 6 videos. This is the only one I kept. I really like it.

Libby starts out with a warmup and stretches, maybe 4 or 5 minutes. Then it is on to all seated or floorwork with abs mixed in. The breakdowns are:(at least what I remember)

Seated quad extensions, then on to leg raises on the floor, first on one side, then the other. There is a stretch on each side after you finish the second set of quad work.

Ab work is next. Then it is on to bridge work with your feet on the fanny lifter, then more ab work, and then more bridge work.

Next is inner and outer thigh work, doing one side at a time before switching legs. Finally you finish with more ab work. The best part though is the stretch at the end. Probably the longest stretch on any firm tape ever and it's very relaxing. This tape is a lettle over 30 mins.

Stephanie shows the modifications for beginner's and options are shown to make it harder. You can add ankle weights to make the entire workout harder and heavy up on the dumbells. I like this tape because it does not have endless reps like some floorwork tapes do so you can really heavy up and still have good form.

I'm hoping the Firm puts out another floor tape soon.

This is a very pleasant, solidly intermediate 30-minute lower body workout that concentrates on seated and floor work. The only squats and lunges are in the warm-up, and there are only a few of each. Libby says at the beginning of the workout that the goal here is to work the lower body with minimal strain on the joints. I usually do Cathe's workouts for strength training, and I find this workout a nice change of pace.

This workout does use the Fanny Lifter, but since I don't have one, I substitute a short stool. Works just fine. There is seated quad work using a weight on the thigh to increase the intensity, followed by hamstring work, abs, more hamstrings, abs, outer thighs, inner thighs, and abs. Libby includes a short stretch between sets. There aren't that many reps of any one exercise, so advanced and upper intermediate exercisers may not find the workout sufficiently challenging. It is motivating, though: the first time I did it, I was inspired to keep working out and so I followed it up with the floorwork from Cathe's PS series. These two put together made a really good workout! On its own, however, Lower Body Sculpt II is thorough and hits all the major lower body muscle groups.

The target audience here is beginners and intermediates, and that is probably who will get the most use out of it. There is a modifier showing modifications for beginners; the camera work does not always allow us to see what the modifier is doing, but Libby does remind us many times that she is there showing modifications. Since this workout is only 30 minutes and there are not many reps of each exercise, it is a perfect tape for intermediates.

The advanced exerciser will want to use this as an add-on or save it for lighter days or days.

The workout begins with a warm-up and ends with a nice stretch.

Background: I'm advanced exerciser, Cathe cardio and strength are the mainstay of my program these days. Firm's were my core routine for a few months early this year (2002). I got the fanny kit tape set, etc. I'm taking a 'easy week' right now and revisiting some tapes and trying others for the first time.

The set is nice and airy, same as in the fanny kit tapes. The faces are the same as fanny kit tapes too. This tape is all sitting and floor work for the legs and butt. I liked it enough, but I would have REALLY liked it if there were a couple more sets per exercise. you do a superset for each leg first, exercising quads then hammies intermittently. Not a lot of reps. Then you go to the floor, and do supersets of abs, hammies, inner and outer thigh work. Again, all classics, I can use as many decent floor tapes as I can get, but not enough reps. In fact, after I got done with this I was so inspired by the lack of work on this tape that i plopped in Karen Voights Great Weighted Workout floor work (I only did half of it, but just telling you to illustrate the lack of reps in this tape).
It's too bad, because other than that, fine tape. I don't know how much I will be using it though, because I felt more work in my legs from 15 mins of Karen's tape than I did in the whole half hour of Firm Body Sculpt II. Boo hoo!!!