Starting easy

We'll see if we can get this ball rolling slowly.

Sunday evening, I'm going to do one of the Five Day Stretch installments from FIRM and the FUN-damentals (or intro to the Core Secrets ball for dummies) DVD.

FIRM Parts: Five Day Stretch
Day one - First off, OMG early nineties outfits. Tangerine leotards, gold chains while you work out and...it's endearing. Makes me feel nostalgic. Also, the fastforwarding reminds me of how much I like DVD technology. There is a standing and a sitting section. The first instructor reminds me of Rosanne's sister Jackie, and the second of a slightly fembot Kathy Lee Gifford, but both have the usual good FIRM cueing. And the hip stretches felt good.

Core Secrets FUNdamentals
Ahhh, nice and low key. I like that a lot about Core Secrets. This one is just Burke and Peterson with ten basic moves. I broke a little bit of a sweat on a few, and need to try this with weights the next time, because the arm moves were fairly pointless without them. Nice little reintroduction to the fitness ball, though.

The FIRM Videos

The following is a list of fitness videos (old school, VHS) by The FIRM that I'm going to attempt to work my way through as well. I don't have all the items required (suppose I'll need to get a short step) for all the routines, and first time or two through I'll probably have to perform the exercizes without weights, but we'll see. If I recall the ass kicking qualities of the videos correctly, I'll be hurting something fierce. :)

Classic Workout Series
(from the original six FIRM videos that started it all)

Time Crunch Workout 42 minutes
Better Body and Buns 45 minutes
Complete Aerobic Weight Training 52 minutes

Cross Trainers
Firm Cardio
Firm Strength

Firm Parts
Not So Tough Aerobics 41 minutes
Tough Tape 45 minutes
Upper Body 40 minutes
5 Day Stretch 7-9 minutes
Standing Legs 45 mintues

My Core Secrets DVD collection

Fundamentals/Give me 20
Two workouts, the first is a get to know you with the ball running through ten basic moves. The second is a short full body workout. Both require the ball. (this was something that surprised me. A few of the workouts don't use the ball.

25 Minute Full Body Workout/Accelerated Core Training
This set is actually two discs in the same case. The rest of the DVDs I have are one workout per disc with its own case. This DVD also features the shuffle feature, which I haven't tried (like most of the workouts). time not listed on back

Off the Ball
Speaking of not needing the ball, there's Off the Ball, which focuses on the Legs, Glutes and Abs. 35 minutes

Head to Toe in 30 Minutes
Full body workout with a medicine ball intensity sequence. Lots of classic functional moves. You need the fitness ball, but the handweights and medicine ball are optional, according to the back. 32 minutes

Head to Toe extended version!
Yes, there is an exclamation point in the title. Honestly, I was a little annoyed when I got this one, as it's basically the previous video with an extra 15 minutes which...feels like a bit of a rip off. They could have as easily made a DVD with an option for an extra fifteen minutes, and given me a new workout for my whatever per month I was spending. (I think it ended up working out to about 20 per disc with the shipping). Anyway, I haven't even tried it, so who am I to judge? 45 minutes

Training Camp
A fundamental full body workout. Lots of very functional moves, like his favorite (and one I actually like) the "Wood-Chop". No need for the Core Secrets ball on this one. If I recall correctly, it also had a lot of "physical therapy" feeling moves. I like those. 32 minutes

Accelerated Training Camp
An advanced full body workout. This one uses the ball along with the functional moves and as far as I can tell from the back cover copy it's a new workout, not an extra 15 minutes tacked on. But again, haven't actually done it, so who knows. 50 minutes

Full Body Challenge
The woman on the front looks like she's just relaxing on the ball. And I have no clue what this workout is about since the back cover copy is vaguer than most of the other backs. It just has a vague paragraph about building strength and agility and a lean, strong, sexy body sandwiched between two paragraphs of copy about Gunner's bla bla bla. Three lines about his certification and nothing about whether it requires handweights or the ball (though the photo on the front is a tip). And yet another one I haven't tried yet. 43 minutes

Cardio-Strength Interval Mix
Jump rope time. Whee. My downstairs neighbor will be so excited. I don't have a jump rope, and the back says it's optional, along with the hand weights. So this looks like another ball-free workout. Which...I'm not sure how I feel about. I joined the fitness ball club, I expect fitness ball videos. But I do like Gunther and his low-perk but accurate cueing. I'm not the most coordinated individual in the world, and I like being able to do the workout and not spend several goes trying not to trip over my own feet. Grapevines do not come naturally to me. 31 Minutes

Bun Battle
Brooke Burke is featured prominently on the cover. I assume she's in the video. She's not in most of them. The back cover speaks of bun-firming, fat blasting moves and has...why yes, Ms. Burke is in this video and she "d
emonstrates proper positioning" while Gunnar will be both challenging and encouraging me. Trim, shapely thighs, here I come. 22 minutes

Upper Body Challenge
Guess what this workout focuses on. We get more "functional moves" like the "Weighted Wood Chop" and the mysterious "Champagne Press". I'm a little nervous, but I trust Gunnar. He's got the vibe of a good gym teacher, encouraging, earnest, clear. A little goofy with his motivational phrases, but he never takes it anywhere near the annoying perkiness that makes me itch to smack some exercize video instructors. 31 Minutes

Ab Assault
And finally, the one I've actually done more than once. Whenever I do manage to pop this in and finish it, I feel it in a really good way for days. Hits your stomach from all sorts of interesting angles and depths in a way that doesn't require you grunting on the floor for a hundred reps. It's one of those workouts where it doesn't even feel that hard while you're doing it, but the next day, you have to roll off the couch to get up because your abs and obliques are not coming into work today. But in a good way. 22 minutes

Core Secrets DVDs to Try

I joined the program and enjoyed the Core Secrets videos I've done, but I never got into the habit of doing them more than, say, once ever week or two. However, when I do the videos, I really feel them, so I'm going to attempt to work through them, at least three times a piece. We'll see. :) I've quit, since it makes no sense for me to keep buying DVDs when I've got a stack of untried workouts. I've still got the ball, I'd like to drop a jeans size and I don't feel like spending the money on a gym at the moment.

So, that's my plan. I'll keep a record of it here.