Hi Mamas, I use The Firm Ultimate Fat Burning workout and I love it. I've been doing it every day for awhile, and would like to find a different DVD that I can alternate it with. I don't want my body to get too used to one routine and have it be less effective. Can anyone suggest a good one to use on alternating days? Thanks in advance!
Lots of women on the fitness board I frequent started with The Firm. You can search her message boards and get opinions and lots of good info for moving beyond that series.
I'm a Cathe Friedrich junkie. She kicks my arse daily in the confines of my basement. Check her out. Some of her workouts with make The Firm look like a liesurely bike ride. LOL! :)
Love The Firm! I just got Denise Austen's Quick Burn Cardio from the library. I am usually not a big fan of hers, but this one was good. I often borrow workout videos from the library just to change things up. I also like Michelle Dozois videos. www.collagevideo.com has tons of fitness DVD's that you can search by category, professional, level, etc. and at pretty good prices.
I am also a Firm follower and have been on and off since the late '90's. I have one set with 4 workouts in the series, but I can't think of the name of the top of my head. It probably came out 5 or so years ago. It has a white and red cover w/4 rigorous workouts that can be shortened to 25-30 min or a full 60 min workout...love that option some days! I am looking into the new series which is a diet program and daily 15 min workout...with a couple of kids it's kinda all I can commit to right now! Check out the Firm's website if you haven't already done so! Good luck! Love some of the other ideas like checking the library..forgot about that one!
I've really enjoyed the Firm workouts. I have the 4-pack of workouts that came with the Transfirmer (the larger rectangle version, not the original square version) and then also the 4-pack that came with the weight bar a few years back. The general workouts consist of Cardio, Abs, one that's heavily strength and then one that I can't remember. But the routines are different from pack to pack, so I didn't get 2 packs of the same workouts. I used to use them all the time, but now use them to supplement in for a "change-up" in my routine. (My personal-trainer-best-friend and I both love any of the Firm workouts with Alli Del Rio...she's awesome!!). But really, you can't go wrong with any of them.
The best way to keep the effectiveness of any workout is to keep your muscles confused. Therefore, don't do the exact same thing every day. Gotta keep it mixed up! I recommend 2-3 days of cardio and 2-ish days of strength/core work per week. If you workout 3 days a week, make 2 of them cardio and 1 strength. Muscles build a lot of calories, even at rest...so the more muscles you build, the more calories you'll burn! But if you can fit in more days of workouts, go for it :)
Oh my goodness, I haven't done a firm video since 1990 - LOL. I am sure it is updated since then. (hmm, I may have to get some - I loved 'em!)
however, I still love me some video workouts and am addicted to P90X. It is hard at first, but for your purposes find a cheap set on craig's list or ebay and work through all the workouts in the set, then choose the ones that aren't like the firm videos you are doing and pepper them in with what you are already doing.
It should add variety and keep your muscles from getting too efficient.
