Customer Reviews

Firm: Upper Body Sculpt [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one tough upper body workout. 37 minutes butt-kickingly difficult upper body work, but the results are worth all the delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and sweat.

Fast & Firm Series Upper Body Sculpt is also sold as simply "Upper Body Sculpt," an add-on to the Body Sculpting System 2. It uses the Fanny Lifter and Sculpting Stick. She has you do uneven tricep dips and pushups off the edges of the seperated Fanny Lifter, but it is fairly easy to modify those moves if you lack the Fanny Lifter by using a chair for the tricep dips and doing your pushups on the floor. (I've never cared for the uneven tricep dips and pushups, so this is what I always do.) You will also need a set of 3, 5, and 8 pound dumbbells for this workout, but don't feel too badly if you have to pyramid down or skip weights altogether in parts of this video--it's quite intense and it works muscles in ways you might be unaccustomed to. Make sure you pay attention to form in the planks segment at the end! You can and will hurt your back if you don't do them properly, as I can attest from personal experience. Suck those abs in and take a knee if you feel yourself compensating with your lower back.

Why four out of five stars? This is a good workout, but not a great one. It's not as fun as some of the other workouts. Janet isn't as encouraging and upbeat as some of the other video leads--she's more of a taskmaster. I also think that taken on intensity level alone, it is not a good match for the other BSS2 workouts--other workouts in this set may be longer or have more cardio, but this one kicked my metaphorical butt the much, much harder than any of those workouts ever did.

This is a worthwhile purchase, and you WILL see results--just don't expect a walk in the park from Janet and UBS!

Firm Upper Body Sculpt is one of the BSS2 add-on workouts. It uses a sculpting stick, Fanny Lifter, and a few sets of dumbbells. I used my High Step and 5, 8, 10, and 12 lb. dumbbells throughout. The set is light and pleasant, and matches the exercisers' pink and black outfits.

This is a relatively thorough upper body workout, as it works all the muscles of the arms, and includes exercises for the back and chest. The following is a list of exercises in this workout.

Warm-up with sculpting stick
Push-ups on Fanny Lifter (FL)
Lat row side one
Rhomboid pinch (basically lat rows sitting on FL, leaning over your legs)
Lat row side two
Clean and press, overhead shoulder press, and clean and press again while tapping FL with feet
Bicep curls with variations
Overhead shoulder press
Push-ups with legs balanced on FL (somewhat uncomfortable, I prefer having my legs on a stability ball for the same effect)
Tricep dip with FL separated (one arm lower than the other) so one arm remains engaged throughout
Push-ups on FL with hands turned in towards each other to work the triceps
Standing chest press, arms bent at 90 degrees, then move arms back to move rotator cuffs
Tricep dip as above, switch arms so other arm is lower
Repeat tricep push-up
Front and side delt lifts with toe touches
Fold arms in front of you like a genie, and squeeze your chest (I just couldn't do this)
French press using sculpting stick
Rhomboid press using sculpting stick
Lat rows with rotation side one
Bicep concentration curl side one
French press with dumbbells
Lat row with rotation side 2
Bicep concentration curl side one
Posterior delt fly (arms move forward to form a V, a little different than the usual move)
Plank, alternate lowering one knee then the other, then alternating lifting each leg in the air
Pikes from plank position
Chest press with rib cage pullover using sculpting stick
Stretch with sculpting stick

I had this workout, traded it, then got it back in another trade. Initially I thought it was too short to be effective, and that I might not like Janet (for some unknown reason). However, I did the workout earlier today, and can already feel the DOMS setting in. No idea why I thought I wouldn't like Janet, she was just fine as an instructor.

I felt it was a very thorough workout for only 37 minutes (including warm-up and stretch). A great add-on workout. You can generally use heavier weights to make the workout a little more difficult. One background exerciser always shows a beginner variation for each exercise. The workout moves along pretty quickly, so it's good to have all your weights within reach at all times. It moves along quickly because you don't do many reps of each exercise, and since the reps are pretty slow, you're able to go heavier.

The good thing about this workout, compared to other Firms, is that while some exercises are repeated, the entire body is worked (unlike the old Firm Parts Upper Body). Also, it's a pure upper body workout, so you're not switching back and forth between upper and lower like in the older Firms (which I love, but sometimes make me dizzy going back and forth from upper to lower and using ALL that equipment).

All in all, these new Firms are really growing on me lately! Never thought I'd say that. They're really good if you want to mix and match, or do pieces of workouts. I just wish the DVDs were chaptered.

Almost 40 minutes of upper body work! This challenging workout will leave your arms feeling like wet noodles. It is led by Janet Brooks, who does kind of remind me of "Aerobics Instructor Barbie". That isn't really a bad thing, but you may end up hating her by the end of the workout because she will work you HARD. Not a single muscle group is neglected - she hits the back, chest, arms, shoulders, and even your core.

Equipment used in this video: Fanny lifter (substitute: a step), sculpting stick (substitute: broomstick), and three sets of dumbbells.

This is an excellent workout to sculpt your upper body. The only problem is that it is so tough I will have to really psych myself up to do it again!

I absolutely love the Firm Workouts. I have lost 60 pounds and counting doing Firm DVDs and eating a healthy diet. This workout is particularly one of my favorites because it works your muscles from different angles. It allows you to heavy up on the weights if you are more advanced and it shows beginner modifications if you are a beginner. Its definitely a video you can grow with. Highly recommended.

Upper Body Sculpt is a very thorough workout and takes only 37 minutes (including warm-up and stretch). Janet's perfect timing moves this workout along quickly. She never misses a beat, not even in the set up, so you get a full and efficient workout.

This workout really targets your entire Upper Body Muscles, unlike any other FIRM workout that attempts to be an Upper Body Workout. It is very effective, and you see results almost immediately. I love Janet's no-nonsense teaching style. She's for real, and it shows that she's there to give you a great workout, unlike most other FIRM instructors who can't cue well and are more interested in being cutesy than teaching a solid workout that gives results. Janet leads and cues so well that I want other FIRM videos just like this one.

This is a tough workout - plan on sitting out a few reps for the first couple of workouts because she does work your arms and shoulders really well!! She does focus on your chest, yet I felt that the instructor could have focused more on that area. I gave this video only 4 stars because she only focuses on the abs for about 60 seconds - to me the abs are part of the upper body too, and 60 seconds worth of ab work won't show any results. So if you are looking for a great shoulder/arm workout, this is the one. If you want a chest/ab workout, buy something else.

When I became serious about My workouts and used MY firm dvds I lost 24lbs. This video is in My top five I rotated between videos doing this one at least twice a week. If you are just starting out you can use light weights and add as you get stronger.. you will need the firm box and the sculpting stick for this video.

this is my first Firm video in years. I hated the other Firms because they were too long, not corrografed good and they were just plain boring. I wanted to work my upper body and that is what you will get. Great upper body work routines. Not too many counts, not to many reps, great. I say go for it. The instructor, not pleasant but you get the job done so who cares. She leads very well so you are not left fumbling as to what is coming next. It started me looking for more.

This is my first firm workout i've purchased. I am a tae bo/pilates/running girl, so i decided to give this a try after countless good reviews and infomercials about "the firm."

I really enjoyed the workout, i felt my upper body sore the next day, of course in a good way.

But i can't like the instructor. She is not motivating to me at all. She talks with this monotone voice. I even tried to pay attention to the Korean lady on there because i couldn't stand the instructor. She's so boring!

But despite that, the workout is very effective. It is around 35 mins, the dvd is NOT chaptered, so if you don't want to do the warm up section, you must fast forward to the workout part.
It seems all the firm dvd's are not divided into chapters.

Also, they use the 2-1 fanny lifter (for some tricept dips, and push ups) and the bar. But I have neither and have been able to do it with no problem, I use a chair and my free weights.

Despite that, i'd recommend it, it is a good workout after all, time goes actually pretty quick, and that's what matters!

Don't be fooled by sweet, innocent looking Janet. Even as an intermediate/advanced exerciser, I found myself struggling to keep up with her through parts of this workout.

Since others have broken down the exercises used in this workout, I won't elaberate on that. Except to say that I enjoyed the unique techniques that were used. By the end of the workout, I could tell that ALL of the muscles in my upper body had been worked. YIPPIE!

Now... The reason why I'm giving this 4 stars instead of 5.. It's not because of the workout itself. Instead it's because of all the crap the Firm wants you to buy for this workout.

Personally, I think the sculpting stick is just an overpriced, glorified dowel. And I'm soooo glad I never bothered to purchase it. I've found that using a broom handle has worked just fine for me, and when they use the "twigs", I just grab my little 2 lb weights.

I've also kept myself from caving in and buying the stepper. Using 3 rubbermaid stepstools have worked just fine, and was a lot cheaper in the long run. When Janet seperates the fanny lifter for uneven pushups and dips, I just seperate my step stools and use 2 on one side and 1 on the other.

If you can afford to buy all the gadgets, then good for you! But, if you're like me and like to save money for other things, don't let the Firm make you feel like you have to purchase all of their gadgets in order to have an efficient workout.