Customer Reviews

The FIRM: Hi-Def Sculpt

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm not always a The Firm fan, but lately they've brought out some great workouts and this is one of them. I really enjoy doing it and already found it to be beneficial after only four times doing it.
It's a 45 minute routine and it's all standing and floor toning. It's led by Annie Lee who I found to be very friendly, encouraging and cues well. Sometimes you'll work one muscle alone, and other times, you are working multiple body parts in one go. You begin with one move and then incorporate add on moves to include more body parts. This is what's going to help you maximise the fat burning and lose weight.
As I said, I've already done this four times and feel the benefit from it. If The Firm are going to be bringing more workouts like this out, then I'm going to keep buying them. This is a great workout that you can combine with your cardio workouts.

This is a good, almost-hour long sculpting workout with great moves. The only reason I gave it 4 stars was because even though Annie is a great cast member in all FIRM workouts, she is not as confident as lead(at least it doesn't seem so). But this is a great FIRM workout and I use it often on sculpting days.

I have done this workout several times now. It starts out very slow, the first 15 min have a lot of down time, pretty long breaks between sets for my taste. After those 15 min however, it does pick up. There are some great "mid section" moves which I really like. Lots of lunges and dips of course. It is an overall good total body toning workout. That being said Annie Lee is terrible! She seems very sweet and well meaning but just a bad cuer! She doesn't tell you whats coming up (eg which foot leads off, when to hold the move, when to go to 3 repetitions instead of 1, etc) She says "last one" AFTER the last one. Her words are generally confusing and unclear. I could go on and on but the gist is that you feel like she is just someone in the class, definitely not the leader. It feels like she expects you to already know the routine. I have done it several times so far so I am getting very familiar with the routine so her cuing mistakes are mainly an annoyance for me at this point, but it is extremely annoying. I will continue to do this because of the great moves, at least until I find a workout that is just as good with a better instructor.

I really enjoyed this DVD and found it to be a great workout even though I saw some other reviews on a different site that said she stuttered a lot and appeared nervous. I didn't see this so much...just a couple times where there was a little hesitance, but that's it. Otherwise I enjoyed Annie and thought she was a great instructor. Some of the other gals like Allison go a little too fast and it takes me 2-3 times to catch all the moves. Annie is paced just right and this workout is good and varies my Firm workouts. I have been doing The Firm since the late 80s and I'm glad they are still making great workouts. I'm also glad no step box is required here as I got tired of buying all the different ones as they changed series.

I did this workout for the 2nd time today and I have to say, I liked it a lot more after this morning! When I did this workout for the first time, I found it to be unchallenging, boring, and the warmup was a little dry for my tastes. Let's face it, it had some serious dread factor for me! Instead of selling this DVD, I decided to keep it and try it one last time before I came to a final conclusion. I took some notes, reread them this morning and opted for this over any Firm workout. The only 2 changes I made were, a) Using 8s for my "mediums" and b) skipping Annie's warm up for another 5 minute one of my choice. Those 2 changes made all the difference in the world for me!

This is a solid 45 minute (approx 47 min) workout that covers all of the muscle groups, large and small completely. I find that this DVD gives some extra attention to the shoulders, back, and abs. There is plenty of standing core in this DVD which helps to break up the usual floor routines for abs. 95% of the time, you will use your medium weights and never just your lights. There are also various exercises where you will combine both of your mediums in one hand, which I found to be challenging as I was gripping 2-8 lb dumbbells. These movements will focus on the upper-mid back. Annie does not do a lot of reps in this workout which is PERFECT for heaving up! I made the mistake the first time using the weight increments that I would for other Firm Pinks and you will need to increase your ranges for this DVD regardless of your fitness level. If not, you will not be challenged and this workout will most likely feel pointless for muscle and strength gains. Aside from dumbbells, I'd recommend having a mat for floor work. With a bad shoulder and knee, adding the weights, even using the 16 lbs didn't hurt me, so I say this is more than safe and I'm known for babying that shoulder! Again, the slower pace and lower reps are what makes the difference here.

This workout was one that drenched me in sweat and had me breathing very hard at times! I'm sure lifting 16 lbs with one arm helped that! You'll do a combination of compound (multi-muscle) exercises along with isolations (single muscle focus; ie Bicep Curls). Often she pairs both types into one exercise for example: Alternating lunges with bicep curls, doing them seperate then both together. Several combinations like this are in the workout including squats, bridges, and various moves for abs and upper body. It's a workout that won't get your heart rate as high as cardio or aerobic weight training DVDs by the Firm (cardio and weights together), but it really gets it up there compared to other strength-only DVDs that you'll find from other instructors. You'll be at an Anaerobic Rate several times which is a high calorie burning range! I also think it's one of the most well rounded strength-only DVDs on the market and at 47 minutes from start to finish, you just can't beat that! For those tight on time, there is a 25 minute premix option which I have yet to do. Give this workout at least 2-3 trys before tossing it to the side. It'll take some time and notes to really understand what your perfect weight selection is and once you do, this workout has a Night and Day difference!

2 hours post workout and my biceps are still nice and warm which is one of the hardest muscle groups on my body to get "fired" up! This DVD is one that will allow me go heavier not just with this workout, but also increase faster with other Firm Workouts both Pink and BSS Systems. It's an asset to anyone's collection that wants a solid, effective, and fast strength workout. This DVD is a keeper in my book! Whereas 3 months ago, I was ready to chuck it!

The only cons that I can list are that there are a couple of times she flubs her words and the warmup is in my opinion, boring. Which is the only reason I am deducting a star; I'd say it's closer to a 4.5 Star DVD.

Edit: 1 Day Post Workout and I am feeling the effects in places I didn't expect! I have read on other sites that this workout is a silent burner and I do agree! While all muscles got a great workout, I didn't expect to feel it in the chest, inner thighs, and butt. I expect to feel it in the back and shoulders and while I do, not nearly as much as the other muscles. I've been using the TransFirmer and Fanny Lifter DVDs lately, so the lower body burn is a real surprise. I woke up sore and stiff and now I am positive that this WILL remain in my regular rotation!

I am a big fan of this workout. I've been away from workouts for over a year but found this video to be challenging yet do-able. I was able to do the entire work-out all the way through with 3 lb weights, and felt the benefits of returning to exericise very quickly. That's just the kind of encouragement I need to stick with a new exercise program. It has the usual Firm exercise system that combines upper and lower body, bringing up the heart rate while toning muscles. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to get back in shape.

I have about 5 Firm videos and this by far is my favorite. I alternate between a day of cardio and a day of toning. This is the video I almost always go to for toning. I started off with 3lb weights, moved to 5lbs weights and just recently moved up to 8lb weights. I defintely saw a difference in my body after the first 10 workouts. I like the instructor though her cueing is off a couple of times. She is not overly peppy, but she does keep you in it which I like. For me, this video is my must have.

I started using the firm complete set about a month ago. It came with 4 CDs. The first one I did, as per the firm's workout schedule was hi-def scuplt. I found I was kinda rusty, but it wasn't that bad. The other videos in the set are WAY too difficult for me to do at my current fitness level. I need to lose a LOT of weight and get back into shape to boot. Anyway, I gave up on the Firm, seeing as I was too discouraged when I couldn't do the videos.

But then I decided to give it a second shot. I have completed Hi Def Sculpt 4 times this week and feel great. I am feeling more confident and may move onto a new workout next week. One thing helpful to me was the section entitled "firm moves". If you are having trouble with moves and keeping up, I'd advise that you just use that section until you have them down. That's what I plan to do with the next video "Cardio Overdrive". I also found a beginner yoga by the firm that looks good for me and plan to buy that in the near future.

I like the host, Annie, she has a wonderful smile that she turns on you right as you need a boost. She is also very encouraging for someone like me who appreciated that.
Give this 5 stars!

I have been a Firm user since Susan Harris back in the 1980's.
Since then I have purchased many of the videos and dvds.
Some were ok and some were really good. I put this one as one of the really good ones.
I like the controlled movements and the instructor cues at the right time.
She seems to know how to make sure you are positioned right.
I enjoyed her little joke about waving with your hand and not your whole arm. I hope to see Annie Lee do more Dvds in the future.

I was convinced I hated the FIRM workouts because the later versions are difficult to do unless you already have learned the moves because they don't explain them during cueing...they just jump in.
I came upon this video simply because I ordred a set of the weights and it came with it (great weights for cardio workouts by the way!)
It's an excellent sculpting video...I burned more calories according to my heart rate monitor as I do in my hard cardio workouts! (Granted it was a bit longer, but it's difficult for sculpting videos to do that...and I didn't even finish the total workout. I stopped after 30 minutes due to time restraints)
The moves were easy to do and the music really plays a part in getting you moving to the right beat. A real energizer. Too, there were so many varied moves that you work all muscles well, and without boredom.
I will say that I agree with the reviewer that said it was odd that Annie would say "okay, last one!" and then put down her weights...typically that cue goes to tell the viewer that this will be their last rep. But after viewing the dvd once you catch on that you aren't supposed to do one more when she says that!