Firm Tapes have become ineffective

[rancidpigs]

I have been doing a series of Firm tapes six days per week for almost a year and they have become ineffective, there seem to be no new results. I have your three Pure Strength Tapes and have started doing those and love them! I've read on numerous sites that people who have used the Firm in the past find they get better results with Cathe. So, here's my question, what other Cathe tapes should I buy to complete my weekly work out routine and what rotation should I use the tapes in and for how long. I'm not very coordinated so my problem is always that tapes are too dancy or choreographed for me to do without killing my klutzy self.

 

[Mar]

I too am a klutz when it comes to step. I have not taken the Cathe challenge with step, only the others. I do however love her kickboxing tape from the CTX series and also cardio kicks. I have several other kickbox tapes that I also do for cardio. I do cardio five to six days per week and lower and upper body four times per week. I recently got a reebock step and a Gin Miller step tape came with it. I'm going to try and master that this weekend. I also do Kathy Smith Peak Fat Burning (floor areobics) once in a while, though I'm not wild about it. I'd be interested in what others do if they don't do step. Hope this helps.

Celebrate Diversity!

 

[dansinnfoo]

i think I also hit a wall w/FIRM tapes. I was doing them, but found that I needed a different challenge. I wish that the instructors would be more motivational on FIRM videos..I used to love the icy-FIRM instruction, but after Cathe, not really!
I feel she pushes us to do more than we expected from ourselves-to think out of the box!!! That is why I love her!

I am semi sad that I don't want to pick up a FIRM right now, I have been doing FIRMs for about 7 yrs, but right now, I am all out Cathe ! I have been seeing some EXCELLENT results, and people are REALLY noticing..people at work keep saying how tiny I am, and what is my secret..I never got that before!

I don't know, I think it is because Cathe's videos allow you to lift more and do more intense moves, and there is only a point to FIRM videos where I could do no more modifying..

BUT, volume one still makes me sore! That video is so good! jaime

 

[20034ME]

Hi Jaime - I just bought the new Firm tapes, the set of three that you see on the informercial & I'm strongly thinking of taking them back. I did Cario Sculpt & ab sculpt yesterday & didn't feel like I was really pushed to my max potential. I started doubting then, but I had one more tape to try, the body sculpt, which I just did this morning, ugh!!!!! I like to feel that I really pushed my body after a workout & after these I feel like I could do more, a lot more. After I do Cathe's ALL STEP, the only tape I have, I don't feel I need more. The ab part is just awesome (that's my trouble spot after my son was born). I've been doing The Firm for several years too & since I started doing Cathe, I'm finally really starting to see results where I want them. So I'll probably return those & use the $$$ toward a set of Cathe's videos. Looking at her body, she's obviuosly doing something very right. LOL Kisha

 

[dansinnfoo]

Hi Kisha!
I feel bad that I am posting to this thread again, I think it should've been originally posted in video questions/comments or open discussion (b/c this is ask Cathe)..maybe they can move it?


yeah...I didn't like the new FIRM tapes either. I took one look at Cardio Sculpt and knew that these weren't gonna be challenging to me. I tried Cardio Sculpt after running on the treadmill for 1hr and it still wasn't enough! I thought I would try it more "worn out" from all the cardio beforehand, but nope The newer 6pack is a little better, but just not enough for me!

Your right, Cathe MUST be doing something right, she looks amazing! I have been seeing great results and I credit it to more cathe tape work and running.

ALL STEP is a great tape! It does have great ab work! Do you have the CTX series on VHS/DVD? It is amazing, and so worth the $$! I am patiently waiting for the new intensity dvds too
Jaime

 

[lesliew]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-10-03 AT 08:38PM (Est)[/font][p]I love both Cathe and the Firm. Cathe is more intense, but I can't do intense workouts everyday. I don't have any of the new Firms (I've heard they're a lot easier than the older ones) but I have done Cathe strength videos for a month and then switched back to TT2, Vol 1, Super Sculpt, Firm Cardio and Strength and have found them to be suprisingly hard. Still, as much as I like the Firm, Cathe's cardio can't be beat. Sounds like you're definitely burned out on the Firm, but don't give up on them. Just take a nice long break!

BTW, to answer your original question, if you want to learn Cathe's step, I suggest starting with the Wedding Video, or Mega Step Blast. Step Heat is another good one. If you don't have Cardio Kicks I highly recommend it, too.

 

[windmillgirl]

I've sold the majority of my FIRM tapes. After getting into a major Cathe kick a while ago, I just cant do a FIRM anymore (for various reasons). Its kind of sad considering I've been FIRMing since I was 16 or 17 (10+ years) but life goes on and Cathe keeps putting out such amazing workouts

Thanks Cathe! I have biceps now!!!!

~Vicky

 

[bordercollie]

I know just what you mean about the firm tapes. I did them for 10 years and bought every single one!They just lost their effectiveness. I found out about Cathe's workouts from reading posts on the Firms website. The Firm had a workout called All-Step (which I loved) and I read about Cathe's step workouts. So I decided to try some Cathe step. Boy, was I intimidated at first! It took me weeks to learn All-Step (probably the worst tape to start out with!). But I could feel how good the cardio was. Now my Firm tapes gather dust at the bottom of my workout tape bookcase. They are like friends I've outgrown. I've also bought some FitPrime tapes, but they just don't even begin to match Cathe's workouts. Though her choerography was a real challenge for me to learn, it was well worth the time.

 

[khuynh]

Same here ...

I used to do the Firm but went exclusively Cathe. While doing Cathe, I was able to run, I participated in full contact martial arts without protective gear, and have been in better health than I've ever been before.

The Firm never gave me those type of results. Plus, Cathe keeps coming up with new ways to torture the body. Look at pyramid upper body, I still don't know how in the heck I'm going to get through that ab work!

I know that people will say that the tapes compliment each other, yes, I used to say the very same thing. But to be really frank ... they don't. It's a change of pace and the Firm is a good alternative for when you want to workout but just cannot keep it at Cathe's intensity.

http://thefitnessfusion.com/fitnessfusionforum/files/ffbanner2.gif

 

[StepEdith]

If you wanna try some easier to catch onto Cathe step I'd suggest Mega Step Blast, The Wedding Video, or Step Max. If you want a more powerful workout but not hard to learn Power Max or I-Max.

Edith

 

[R_Lam]

Circuit Max
Body Max
Power Circuit
CK
RS

I love these workouts. Haven't touched a FIRM video in a year, except for Volume 1 and Cardio Burn. Once you use Cathe's cardio then most videos become too easy. I started running to add variety and that seems to be the only workout that equals her intensity.

 

[rmdick]

What other tapes you get sort of depends on what you want to accomplish with tapes vs. other activities and how many you would be willing to purchase. I don't have a great set up at home for doing step (small carpeted room) and like to run so I do alot of running and treadmill interval and hill climbing for my aerobic activity (although I do some of Cathe's step and love it, wish I had a better place to do it!).

For weight training, all Cathe's tapes are superb.

MIS is good because it is great strength training and you can do a "whole body" workout in about an hour, also is easy to break into upper one day and lower one day. I use this one when I'm short on time. Also have managed to "shorten it" by learning the entire routine so I can do it without the tape and then incorporating some of the ideas from Leaner legs and doing dead lifts and calf presses in between exercises instead of resting as long. I also do some of the upper body dumb bell exercises in between some of the lower body exercises instead of resting as long.

If you are limited on how many you can purchase, I would get Power Hour as it is a different sort of weight training (higher reps, faster pace, lower weights at least for me!!) OR get CTX Upper Body and Leaner Legs to do instead of Power Hour. I have all these and use PH and CTX upper body/Leaner Legs as variety and something different from MIS and PS.

Slow and Heavy is excellent but I don't use this as much as the other weight training videos because I am so limited on time and have trouble getting through the entire series once a week and still having time to do aerobics and any other weight training.

Just ordered intensity, haven't tried it yet, can't wait. Hope this helps, sorry so lengthy!