Customer Reviews

The Firm: Dangerous Curves Ahead

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Firm have been impressing me lately. I wasn't always a fan of theirs but their latest releases have been so good I am going back to them now and really enjoying them. Alison is back and doing another terrific job with cuing and motivating you. She's encouraging without being over the top and she lets you know what's up next in time to get it down.
This workout uses a mix of aerobics with toning and comes with a cool looped band. The intervals are about 8 minutes each and keep your heart rate up and tone your muscles at the same time which to me, seems to be the best way to shape up quick. There is also ab work done on the floor so it really does get to your entire body. It is probably best suited for intermediate to advanced exercisers and even for me (intermediate-ish), it's challenging enough. My legs were burning while doing the lower-body portion and that gives me encouragement to keep going because I know I'm doing some good.
I really enjoy this. It's fun and fat burning and led so well. It's a new favourite of mine and hope that The Firm will keep bringing out quality workouts like this.

This workout was terrific! I have been using the FIRM since 2005 and I this is definitely one of my favorites. The 55 minutes passed very quickly and for occasions when I don't have that amount of time, there are 3 express workout options. Alison's cueing is supurb and she generally stays in tempo. When the resistance band is utilized, she allows adequate time for the band to be properly placed. Although there are the usual "beginner modifications," they generally are not referred to this way and I think that's a big hint that this is not quite the place for beginners to start. (Speaking of which, the only downside of the entire workout is that Alison gets a little bossy with Emily, who is performing the modifications.) The cardio portions are very challenging, even when one opts out of the plyometric power options available. The resistance portions are excellent as well. I was particularly impressed by the ab portion at the end! I highly recommend this workout for intermediate and above exercisers.

This is a total body workout with one 55 min workout, and three separate express segments; one for cardio, one for sculpting, and one that is cardio-abs. 145 minutes total, and I got a band! I really enjoyed doing this workout. I have been a FIRM junkie for 10 years now, have done everything from Susan Harris and Traci Long videos to the newest Transfirmation system. This one falls somewhere towards the top of my ratings.
What I liked:
This is another video with Allison Davis-McLain as the lead. She is very motivating. I thought that Emily did a great job as the "modifier." There were a couple of new faces too that were energetic. Time did seem to cruise on by, I sweated, and my ab muscles ached the next day, which is always a good sign to me.
What I didn't like:
This video contained a lot of calf-pump type jumping exercises, which for me, is a killer on my knees and my calfs (Duh, right?). There was also something Allison called the "lunge plyo" where I was supposed to go into lunge position jumping when I switched legs. I didn't attempt to do that one.. looked kind of scary to me. I also didn't like that Allison would say every once in awhile "Now listen!" I don't like being talked down to in an exercise video; I kind of felt like I was in kindergarten when she did that.
All in all, a lot of fun, and a lot of bang for my buck.

Let me begin by stating that I am a HUGE fan of The Firm's new line of workout DVDs. I find them addictively fun, energizing, challenging and they have left me with the sexiest body I've ever had and will ever have. That being said, I found this particular title a little...lacking.
My 1st problem: The production quality of this program is dismal! I absolutely loved the original bright window set (seen in pretty much every early "pink box" DVD such as "Ultimate Fat Burning Workout," ""Slim & Sculpt Stability Ball Workout,""Bootcamp: Max Calorie Burn," etc.). Very cheery and just pleasant. It put me in a good mood! The 2nd set (used in "Cardio Core Fusion," Cardio Dance Fusion," "Power Half Hour," etc.) is also nice with the "Mediterranean-style" view in the background. Also gives me a little bit of escapism. And then, for some reason, they changed to this set.
Ugh! It reminds me of a basement! Dark and depressing. No light at all. The workout actors all seem to have dark circles and hollow cheeks just because of the horrible lighting. Furthermore, the music is barely audible, but the sound of feet hitting the floor is VERY audible. For me, one of the components that make a great workout is good, energizing music, and the fact that it is so low here is a shame, b/c if I turn my TV up VERY loud, I can (barely) hear that it is a decent soundtrack.
Now on to the workout itself. Like most Firm workouts, it alternates cardio with sculpting in a cycle. This particular workout is about an hour, and has 3 cardio segments interspersed with 3 sculpting segments. However, the sculpting segments are not the traditional 4-limb variety that has made The Firm so effective. There is lower body toning (using a resistance loop that comes with the DVD), then upper body toning (using one pair of dumbbells), then abs sculpting (again using the resistance loop). Now, I LOVED using the loop. One (slight, for me) problem: The loop that is used in the DVD is NOT the same as the one you are given. The loop Alison and crew utilize obviously has more give and is able to be stretched further. Yours will (at least initially) hardly stretch at all. As a result, you may become frustrated when you cannot do a move as large/wide as you are supposed to (i.e. they will lift their leg knee level and you won't be able to get yours 2 inches off the ground!). However, I really enjoy fitness tools and was happy to find a different way to tone my body other than the usual (though very effective) methods. So what if I can't stretch it that far? I still enjoy using it! However, because you are only sculpting one part of your body at a time, it is not nearly as intense. I found my heart rate lowered considerably during these sculpting sections.
The cardio is very high impact with lots of hopping and a little bit of plyo jumping. As far as intensity goes, however, the only truly intense segment (in my opinion) is the 2nd one. It goes from hamstring curls with a hop, to a Nordi-Track-like ski move that kicks my rear! Then there's that side-to-side ski move...I get pretty winded! And then my heart comes back down again with the last cardio, which is fun but not terribly challenging.
When all is said and done, I actually get the most use out of this title by using one of the express workout options in combination with another half hour workout DVD. For example, I do the Dangerous Curves Ahead Express Sculpt right after The Firm's Power Half Hour and I sweat and burn a TON! Or I do DCA Express Cardio right before another half hour toning DVD and again, I sweat a TON! But if I do this full workout as is, it's just not challenging enough. No real burn there!
So in the end, DCA is not perfect, far from it, but the loop, for me, makes it worth it. Something a little different! If you would like to see a clip of this, check out The Firm's site.

I enjoyed this new Dvd by the Firm . I was a little disappointed though by the band I have rather large thighs and when I attempted to place the band around my upper thighs, as the workout suggested it got all twisted up and started to cut of my blood cirulation to my legs. Please be aware if you are full at the bottom like round hips and big butt with thighs this might be difficult for you to use. I enjoyed the dvd otherwise I love Allison and I plan on getting in touch with the women at the Firm about this problem . Just Please Be Careful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me start by saying that I really like Allison's workouts - her cueing is always very precise and she is, in my opinion, a very likeable and motivating instructor.
However, I have a bit of a problem with the cardio section of this particular routine. I have to be quite careful when it comes to high impact moves and this workout has a lot of those. If I follow Allison and do all of them I can feel my knees acting up but I get a decent workout. If I follow the modifications shown my knees are safe but I burn only 100-150 kcal on average, which is not too good for 55 min spent exercising. I can only hope it will get better or that I'll come up with some better ways of modifying the moves.
Otherwise it is a very good workout, I really liked the sculpting section with the ( provided ) band. 55 mins go by without you noticing it, but if you don't have time you can choose one of the premixed shorter workouts. Great idea!

I just completed this workout for the first time and it is AWESOME!! I started using The Firm in February and this is by far the best one yet! The cardio sections were fun and almost felt a little like a dance class again. Alison does a good job with cueing, so it is easy to pick up the footwork. The band is a great tool for adding resistance for the lower body and abs. The one caveat with this workout is that it would be hard to keep pace if you are not already familiar with some of the Firm's standard moves. Dangerous Curves Ahead will be a great addition to my workout rotation!!

I buy everything The Firm puts out, and for the longest time, I couldn't imagine a Firm workout without thinking of "three sets of dumbbells, light, medium, and heavy" and some kind of step. Dangerous Curves Ahead is a departure from this formula. The aerobic work is all done on the floor, and you use just one pair of light-ish dumbbells, plus the "resistance loop." (The exercisers in this workout use The Firm's Cardio Weights, so if you already have these, you can choose how heavy you make your weights. If not, you can use dumbbells you already own. I use 5 pounds for this workout.)

I was surprised at how effective this workout is. I exercise 5-7 days a week, an hour at a time. The footwork is fairly easy to pick up, especially if you're kind of used to Alison Davis' choreography. There are a couple spots during the full workout where the cueing is a little off, but once you do the workout a few times, you'll know it well enough to know what's coming up. The work you'll do with your dumbbells is fairly predictable and mostly 4-limb. There's some good focus on triceps in this one. The Resistance Loop must be a little more intense than the one Alison and Company use, because I've been at exercising for a while, and I found myself following Emily's "beginner" modification during the side-plank series. But if the Resistance Loop is a little too tight for you to begin with, you could probably make your own by looping a Dyna Band so you'd have more stretch, then work your way up to the Resistance Loop that comes with this workout.

What I particularly like about Dangerous Curves Ahead is that you're able to tailor this workout to the length of workout you have time for and to the kind of workout you want to do on a given day: cardio, sculpt/tone, or the whole 55-minute workout. It isn't really geared for beginners, but it's definitely something you can modify (don't use the band or dumbbells, make the cardio moves less intense), and grow into.

As other reviewers said, this is a great workout for intermediate levels and above. There is more cardio than some of the other videos I have but it is good for days I want that. However.... I have problems following the moves. The instructor doesn't explain the moves at all and there is no time left to practice a move before moving on to the next one or adding to it. I found myself having to choose between getting a workout at all or trying to follow the moves, so I chose the first and just did something random whenever I couldn't follow what was going on - which was a lot. I usually need a move or two to switch from one sequence to the next, and if she only does it one on each side and moves onto the next, I have lost half the workout.

It is frustrating because I am not going to spend time just to learn the moves, I want a workout. Otherwise this would be just at the right level for me.

This DVD is broken into three parts. There is a sculpting part, a cardio part, and a part where the previous two are combined. It is quite obvious that they taped the longer combined segment then cut and pasted to make the other two parts. That being said, I really do like the cardio express part. I feel like I get a decent workout after my weight training. I do not like sculpting work as I do that with my weight training, so I have not tried that segment. I did try the long segment and found the band awkward. It would roll up and become uncomfortable. I would recommend the DVD though just for the express cardio option.