The Firm: Body Sculpting System 2 - Upper Body Sculpt

Rating:
Summary: Very tough workout for upper body
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: A great upper body workout in only 37 minutes!
Review: 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.


Rating:
Summary: Best Upper Body Workout Ever!
Review: Janet Brooks is by far the best instructor at the FIRM. This workout is phenomenal. The upper body moves are unique and she makes it a lot of fun. Her cues are very easy to follow, and she is very straightforward with her coaching. This workout includes a variety of shoulder exercises, pushups and other chest work, biceps, triceps, back (including lower back) - my entire upper body gets worked when I use this workout. I wish I could buy more videos led by Janet Brooks.

Rating:
Summary: Best Upper Body Workout Ever!
Review: Janet Brooks is by far the best instructor at the FIRM. This workout is phenomenal. The upper body moves are unique and she makes it a lot of fun. Her cues are very easy to follow, and she is very straightforward with her coaching. This workout includes a variety of shoulder exercises, pushups and other chest work, biceps, triceps, back (including lower back) - my entire upper body gets worked when I use this workout. I wish I could buy more videos led by Janet Brooks.

Rating:
Summary: great workout, but instructor really boring
Review: 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!


Rating:
Summary: Upper Body Sculpt = drill sargeant in a perky blonde package
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Strong Workout
Review: This workout is one of the best I have used for my upper body. The exercises are challenging and never boring. There is a lot of variety, and my entire upper body got a real workout.

The instructor is wonderful. She is calm and very easy to follow. I do not think she is boring at all. Her presentation is very good and her cueing is excellent. I will reach for this workout often.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent workout, excellent instructor!
Review: This workout is simply excellent. It's fun and the moves are effective. The moves are far beyond the "basic" upper body weght training workout. There are twists and turns and the music is fabulous. Janet Brooks is also a supurb instructor. She should be featured more frequently on the FIRM workouts. I was not lost once on my first try. The workout will definitely shape your upper body.

There's no aerobics on this DVD. The warmup is fun and upbeat and then you dive right into thirrty minutes of very unique weight training for the upper body. From uneven push ups and triceps dips to tough lat rows with the FIRM Sculpting Stick, you will finish this workout never wanting to do your plain old weight lifting again. The music is just awesome, choreographed precisely to the moves. And Janet Brooks is a top quality instructor. She makes the first time easy sailing for you- even if you're a novice. This is perhaps the best Upper Body workout DVD out there. It's wonderful!

KITKA