Customer Reviews

Firm Total Body: Fat Blaster [VHS]

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've been using the Firm workout series for some time now. I just love most of their tapes. This tape was a little different though. I didn't like it very well when I first got it.

I bought this tape several months ago because someone said it was easier than most of the tapes in the Classics Series. I was fairly new to the Firm and had been working out with the Firm Basics series which are beginner tapes. I thought this tape would make for a good transition from the easy Basics tapes to the much tougher Classics.

I tried to do the tape once and it got put away in a box for several months. The choreography seemed too confusing for me. It seemed like a silly workout compared to the Firm workouts I was used to. Recently, I was challenged by a friend of mine to get this one back out and attempt to learn the steps.

Once I set my mind to learning the steps this tape became a lot of fun to do. It's a good aerobic workout and has what I feel is one of the better abs sections in it. I also enjoy the stretches in this tape. It has a little tall box work and some lunges and dips that are done off of the short box. At first, I didn't like those either, but they have grown on me a lot. I especially like doing dips off the short box.

This tape is what the Firm calls a "fast and light" tape meaning that it's designed to be a 75% aerobic and 25% strength workout. It most defiantly achieves what it is designed to do. Personally, I like a more strait forward workout with less designer steps to learn, but since I bothered to learn this one. It gets used.

I would recommend this tape for anyone who is looking for calorie burning aerobic workout and has who has the patience to learn the steps required. As with all Firm workout tapes, you will see results in 10 workouts (I saw results in 4 workouts and continue to see results at a steady pace). This tape would be good for a coordinated beginner to intermediate person.

You need a tall box (12"-14"), a short aerobic step (4"-8"), a 48" dowel (or a mop handle)and light dumbbells for this tape.

Since no one has reviewed Fat Blaster I thought I would! Fat Blaster has three instructors-Lisa Kay,Nancy Tucker and Allie Strickland. My favorite instructor out of the three is Nancy Tucker, because she has a southern accent, and is easy to listen to . Overall I like this video, but I don't do it often because I find it can be too easy. There are more step sections in this tape than I would say alot of the FIRMS have, and there are three main "cardio" phases in this workout that include:
1)has grapevines, plyo's and bunny hops
2)has wide steps followed by walking up and snapping with your fingers while raising a knee/followed by raising one knee then extending the other to the back
3)going around in a circle extending your arms as you push your hips and plyos
The music is ok, I prefer Super Cardio's music much more..
this tape is good for intermediates, but with creativity on some of the step sections (adding weights to safe parts) this workout can be more difficult.
This is one of those tapes where you don't dislike but don't rave about it!
BUT I love all FIRM tapes, and believe in what they can do for me, so I do this tape occasionally if I haven't done it in a while!

Firm videos are great for their weight work but this one falls short - great for the dancing, old-fashioned aerobics crowd but not for people who want weight work, the tall step and as little prancing around the living room as possible. If you're looking for good weight work, try the Strong Body and Cardio tapes. They include some geeky small step and dance parts but I just fast forward through them and go for a short run. Like several other Firm tapes I've purchased that strayed too far from their basic weight work, this one gets donated to the library.

The Firm's customer service is awful. Order your tapes from amazon.com or elsewhere. They keep changing the names of these tapes, which is so confusing that even the customer service reps don't know what they are sending you, and then they want you to pay the cost of sending the correct tape!

I have been rotating this tape with "Maximum Body Sculpting" and "Better Body & Buns" as the company recommends for a well rounded variety. This tape used to be called "All Cardio" so be careful not to order a tape you already have. I had a hard time with some of the sequencing of steps, at first, but am getting the hang of it. The music on this tape is very good. There is a lot of prop changing. The equiptment needed is way too expensive if ordered from the company. For the dowel, I use a 1" PVC pipe cut 4' long. A broom handle would work fine too. For the tall box, any steady stool the height you want will work. I use a shower stool that I already had. For the short box I use the step I already had and turn it sideways.

What's interesting is that when I first brought this tape home and tried it for the first time, I HATED it. On first glance, I thought it was corny, the instructors too peppy, and the moves were just silly - and I had already been using the Firm Body Sculpting System 1, so I knew the instructors.

Needless to say, I gave it another chance and now this video is actually one of my favorites. It contains mostly cardio, the sections were you use weights are still cardio sections (4-limb aerobics, not actual weight lifting). I use this video on days when I am letting my muscles rest but I still want to burn calories. The tape alternates between short step, high step and floor work and also includes bridge work and some pretty tough ab work. I always feel like I get a good workout from this tape. It runs about 45 minutes (including warm up, cool down & abs). I like the fact that it uses 3 different instructors (despite the fact that Allie is the only one displayed on the cover). If you don't get the moves down right away, concentrate on footwork and don't use your arms. Once you get the footwork down, then add the arms.

One issue with this tape (for me anyway), is that it includes a lot of hopping - bunny hops, jumping jacks, jogging, plyo jumps, etc. I am not as much into jumping and prefer lateral movement, plus you might keep this in mind if you live in an apartment. Some of the set looks a bit dated, but the music is generally pretty good. I don't like the fact that Allie is so obviously airbrushed on the cover. Doesn't she look great without that??? And finally, as usual, The Firm tapes do not mention water and this is an ongoing issue that I have with The Firm. So, if you are getting this video, keep water around and drink plenty of it while you work out. :)

I have 10 FIRM videos and although I don't find this one to be the toughest workout or the most effective, it is the one I look forward to doing the most. The music is great and more upbeat than the classic FIRM videos, the aerobics are fun and interesting, but the strengthening and toning sections are weak compared to other FIRM videos. However, this is the perfect workout for those days when you don't want to waste your workout time but you're not up to pushing yourself to the limits. For those tough days I recommend the first three FIRM classic videos, their Cardio and Strength Crosstrainers, or their new Cardio Burn.

I was very surprised that some reviewers weren't happy with this video because I would recommend it to anyone.

I bought this video after reading good reviews on most of the tapes by The Firm. I should have rented it first. If you are in any kind of decent shape at all, this video will do nothing for you. I was expecting more work with weights--there was hardly any. I have wimpy muscles and it was still too easy for me.

The instructors talk constantly, only they're calling out moves you won't be doing for a few more seconds. Then, moves are only repeated a couple times and as soon as they're caught on to, you're off to another brief set of moves--again, with instructors talking about something else.

Too choppy, too confusing, too wimpy, too fakey. I felt like I took a brisk walk around the block when I was done, not like I had a "Total Body Workout", and I'm not exactly a fitness machine.

Hope the other Firm videos are better.

This workout is very different from the traditional Firm workout because only very small (3-5lb) weights are used. That being said, this workout is incredibly fun and lively. The music is very modern. Most of the routines are fast but some are a bit slower, and the video is lead by 3 different instructors, so there is always a lot of change which combats boredom. You need both a shorter aerobic step and a "tallbox" (12-14 inch), plus a dowel (or broom). I would say that none of the routines are that hard to follow for those of us who are choreographically challenged. Buy this tape if you want to sweat for 30-40 min!

This is a great cardio workout, once you learn the routine. It's fast and you'll have to go through it a few times until you're able to make the transitions, but after that; it's great!! I have 10 firm videos and this used to be my least favorite because it's confusing at first. I made myself do it once a week though, and now it's my favorite becuse the aerobic sections are actually fun. Lots of variety and a great ab routine at the end make this tape work.