Sometimes complex choreography/poor cueing
kariev:
Like you I enjoy doing interval videos, mixing aerobics with light weight work during "aerobics" days. I have been experimenting with Firm videos, but I have found the quality uneven. The choreography is often too complicated -- even the warmups are poor -- and the cueing is often subpar.
Today, just before going onto this site, I did "Total Body Time-Crunch" and was disapointed. The warmup was poor and overcomplicated -- with no stretching -- and much of the aerobics sections were to fast and overcomplicated. What the firm does is go through a move eight times, then four times, and then quickly two times, and the last two-thirds of the segment has all moves only two times in succession. And some moves don't get the eight-time prepatory work. For some, this procedure is ok -- and if you like this -- Firm tapes are for you.
But the cueing is sub par. On the third "toning" interval, the instructor (Rebekah Sturkie) says, after some curls, "Ok, let's travel with the curls". Yet the "travelling" was to do back lunges with curls. (I am not making this up). And later, she does static back lunges, without stating verbally what they were. Only with the last set of static lunges (mixed in with upper body lifts) do the words "static lunges" come out of her mouth.
Admittedly, one can do the video over and over and pick things up. And I want to do this, to get my money's worth. But some of the worst cuing I've ever seen comes from the Firm. I have two or three good Firm DVDs. But I would advise reading some reviews on Collage Video, and watch out for reviews warning about the cueing.
-- David
