Product Details

• Format: Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Good Times Video
• VHS Release Date: December 11, 2001
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005T32W
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #256,395 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, overall strength workout with a few flaws...., April 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Firm - Cross Trainers: Firm Strength [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This video is NOT for a beginner, let me just say that now. I myself am a "early" intermediate, meaning that I'm past the beginning stage but am not too adept yet to be considered a full fledged intermediate.

This workout combines lots of weight training with a some aerobic intervals. Some of the aerobic intervals might be too confusing for those who aren't very good at dance type moves, such as myself. Be prepared to constantly change what you're doing; it's best to have all of your things on hand such as your weights and step so that you won't have to scramble... This tape focuses slightly more on the arms and then the legs and then the abs. I wasn't too pleased with the abs section; I didn't quite feel that I had fully worked my abs out to their full potential. The stretches are also too fast; try not to play catch up by losing your form. Simply pause the tape and hold the stretch out longer. I was often tempted to either do the stretches so fast that I lost my form or to skip them all together because I was behind. So just pause the tape and do it longer. For those with a limited space, be forwarned that you should have at least a 5feet clearance all around you, left right, forward and back ward. I say this because I live in a small space and found myself bumping into furniture, etc., and sometimes sacrificing my form so that I WOULDN'T hit the furniture, etc (!) So make sure you have some room. For those living in an apartment, there are jumps and marches so be careful, depending on what floor you live on and who's living beneath you.

This is currently my favorite Firm tape. It's 60 minutes long, plus some extra time to make up for the too-fast stretch segments so I don't do it everyday. I wouldn't actually recommend doing this every day since it's weight training and could overwork your muscles.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the best The Firm has to offer, June 18, 2002

By 

"ajlevings" (Davenport, Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Firm - Cross Trainers: Firm Strength [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I love The Firm workout series, but this one is my favorite for five years now. The atmosphere, while a bit dark, is still upbeat, the instructor is cheerful but never too peppy or annoying and the class is great...a nice mix of body types all in good physical shape. Oh yeah, and the workout works.

The mix of aerobic and tonig exercises makes this tape difficult, but the time goes by quickly. The routine ensures that every part of the body is taxed and I ALWAYS have sore inner thighs the day after completing this workout. This tape is definately not for beginners, but the steps are easy and the intensity of the workout largely depends on how heavy of weights are used, making this a tape that suits the needs of nearly everone. Definately a must have for the home exerciser.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, solid total body work out with cardio segments., August 24, 2003

By 

Minnesota Raven "Viking Vixen" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Firm - Cross Trainers: Firm Strength [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I keep this tape in my current rotations because it's good. You get an upper and lower body workout that's complete. You feel you have worked everything as much as you should and that's the most important thing to me. As with all FIRM tapes the pace is quick so have all your equipment ready and easy to reach. When I first got the tape I was smart enough to review it first and I recommend that so you can mentally be prepared for what is going to happen. I guarantee if you are not familiar with the FIRM style and you don't preview the tape you will quit before it's done.

The tape box I got has a wonderful section on the back that details every piece of equipment you will need as well as a break down of the time spent on each segment. The tape is about an hour including the warm up and cool down.

It's definitely got a dated look but it still works. That's one of the good things about these older FIRM tapes in that they don't have gimmicky exercises... they stick to the tried and true. You will do lunges, bicep curls, squats etc. All very effective. A special note about the equipment. Included in this tape is the step up exercise for your buns/upper thigh area. When I first started out I didn't have the "official" step from the the FIRM which is 14 inches high. I used a step I got from a local linen store that's used to step onto high bedframes. It was 12 inches high and in the beginning I didn't use any weights. Now I have moved up to using the 14 inch step with 10 lbs weights it hasn't been quite a year so you can progress. If you have an aerobic bench step you can use that as well. Don't let not having the official step get in the way. The point is to lift your foot up so many inches off the ground and you should approach this experimenting with your own level.

This will produce results if you do the exercises as shown. Goof off, do some but not others and you won't see any results.