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THE FIRM: UPPER BODY
Description: The Firm: Upper Body is part of the Firm Parts series. Guest host Deprise Brescia leads you through this challenging workout for dramatic upper body muscle. The real "jewels" are upper body muscles you can see. The Upper Body routine will give you a chest, back, shoulders and arms that make a dramatic impression in a sleeveless dress or swimsuit.
Reviews (16):
 Favorite Tape!
Reviewer: Anonymous 03-28-2004
This workout is very challenging, especially the pushups. I really like the variety, & the instructors are very good at motivating me.
 Horrible Music
Reviewer: Anonymous 09-29-2004
I actually like the workout on this tape, but the music is horrible! I find the instructor annoying as well.
Really Works!
Reviewer: Anonymous 06-27-2002
I am an advanced exerciser, but I guarantee you will feel this the next day. This tape really works your upper body!
The Hardest Video I Have Ever Done
Reviewer: K. Willy "Kricket" Minnesota 07-02-2005
Honestly and truly, this is what I said in the title. I am a FIRM believer, and have been doing the "older" and "newer" FIRM tapes for over 2 years now. This thing nearly killed me the first time I did it. I was sore for two days afterward, and I thought I was in good shape! Now that I have done it a bit more, I do better, and I have some of the nicest triceps! However, if you are a new exerciser, do it without any weights the first few times times to avoid feeling like you need to drag your arms on the floor for a few days!
Great for shoulders and back but neglects biceps
Reviewer: K. Willy "Kricket" The Golden State, USA 12-17-2004
This is a compilation video of the upper body exercises from the Firm classics (Volumes 1-6). I really like Deprise as the host. She has a low voice but she's warm and friendly. She wears a metallic dark green one-piece leotard (it looks like a swimsuit).
Those Firm classic ladies are all tall and have balletic bodies. I suppose The Firm wanted to make exercising look graceful and beautiful, hence hiring ladies with ballet backgrounds. Anyway, they can be a hoot sometimes. Many speak with breathy voices, which some people have described as sounding almost porn-ish. When I think about that during the workout, it actually makes me laugh. I'm not bothered by it at all.
I love the Firm classics. The production of those videos are excellent; the moves actually go with the music and the videos have so much character and personality (unlike the modern Goodtimes Video ones) and their workouts are hard.
This workout is high rep. There are TONS of shoulder and back exercises - the overhead presses and lat rows seem endless. There aren't as many tricep exercises but they're there - French presses and tricep kickbacks. There are some chest exercises - pushups and pec flys.
The only downside is that the biceps are unfortunately severely neglected; there are a mere two exercises for biceps while tons of shoulder and back exercises. Therefore, the workout is a bit lopsided, favoring shoulders and back while giving medium attention to triceps and almost no attention to biceps.
This is a pretty good upper body workout. It doesn't wipe me out completely but the shoulder exercises are especially tiring, especially if I'm using heavy weights. Too bad there aren't enough bicep exercises.
 Good workout but kind of repetitive
Reviewer: J. NELSON "njennl" phila, pa United States 07-15-2004
I use this tape 2 to 3 times a week for the past 2 weeks and i gotta admit it can be struggling to get through. There are just so many lat rows. Its definitely the feature of this workout. Not enough bicep work at all. I have to suuplement with my own bicep work.
All in all though, it is a good workout and it leaves my arms shaking and burning. I will have to write another review in a few months to let you know my progress or mainly, how big my upper back has gotten from all these lat rows LOL
It's good, but oh so cheesy
Reviewer: Anonymous 05-13-2004
My arms are still shaking from the workout, but the music, outfits, big hair and makeup is enough to bring you back to the 80's! Janet Jones is so cheesy, I laughed out loud! There are a lot of push ups and shoulder work. Overall, it's pretty good, but I didn't like the 'ambiance' of the video, especially changing from instructor to instructor.
 Great Workout, Lots of cheese
Reviewer: Anonymous 03-14-2004
This is the first Firm Video that I have bought. Definitely a great workout. And I probably will buy more. But the cheese factor was a bit distracting. Sandhal Bergman was over the top, and the breathy speaking and dance moves were hilarious. I just could not bring myself to do the "left right, double, right left double" hip wag..... I thought that some of these instructors were tyring to be discovered as B film stars. But if you can get past that, your arms will be burning for days.
Nice compilation of classic Firm videos
Reviewer: Anonymous Upstate NY USA 02-02-2004
This workout is a nice compilation from classic Firm videos which provides a targeted upper body workout in just under 40 minutes. It begins with a warm-up led by Janet Jones-Gretzky and then moves on to the arms work. In the traditional Firm style, many of the moves are designed to raise your heartrate while toning, so you will frequently perform simple lower body movements while working your upper body with weights. The instructors offer suggestions for the amount of weight to use and often pyramid to a heavier weight between sets. To make the transitions between the various instructors a bit easier, the workout also contains brief new segments with DePrise Brescia, who provides instructions on setting up for the next move. Some of the exercises are performed for more than one set by different instructors--namely lat rows and push-ups. Overall, this is a solid upper body workout that I continue to use as part of my regular rotation.
My arms are still feeling it!!
Reviewer: Anonymous 09-26-2003
This was the first ever Firm workout video I bought, and I was amazed. It's a really great work out, the instruction is dead on and the moves actually do work! You're sore for days afterword (at least I was), and this tape also guarantees visible results within 10 workouts. No one else can make that kind of claim and actually deliver. Still the best, in my opinion.
The Firm - Upper Body Workout - My arms are still sore!
Reviewer: Anonymous 09-02-2003
I bought The Firm - Firm Parts four pack about 4 months ago and love every video - this one being my favorite. I feel that for a lot of women it is very hard to get defined, but still womanly, arms. This video helps resolve that myth. A lot of The Firm videos focus on the entire body, including arm workouts that just didn't leave me hurting afterward. This one is different. For those who like to work out and feel "the burn", this arm workout is for you. Also, they throw in lower body stretches at the beginning and end, so if you do a leg workout in combo with this (i.e. running, stepping, other Firm videos), you're ready to go right after the video is over. Make sure to pay careful attention to the weight changes the first time through because you'll want to know which weights to use the next time (the video is fairly fast paced).
too many push ups
Reviewer: Anonymous Brooklyn, NY 01-03-2003
This is one of my least favorite workouts because it is not challenging enough...
Love it, Love it, Love it.,
Reviewer: Anonymous 01-11-2003
I enjoy working out, and if I am not seeing results I will quit. With this workout you will see immediate results. I like 2 get my [bottom] kicked when I do a workout & this definitely
does the job. My body became toned. I love the results. You will see results.
If you eat a good diet, you will defiantly expedite your results. I guarantee that if you eliminate sugar, & eat healthy and incorporate this workout along with The Firm Buns,
Hips and Thighs, You will see results!
This workout will tone your arms, back, chest. They start you out with a warm up, then go to stretching. You then do your work out, and believe me it will kick your ..., they
move from one exercise to the other to get an aerobic workout. You then go to a cooldown. You will see your upper body's transformation to a tone one.
My exercise program consists of One day Pilates, Next day Upper Body Firm, Following day Pilates, next day Firm Buns, Hips and Thighs, next day Pilates. I do it six days a
week, and love the results.
Not impressed
Reviewer: Anonymous 12-11-2002
I wasn't so impressed with this Firm workout. I found it went really fast whereas the newer Firm videos are a little bit slower (but still a good workout) and show you how to do the exercises correctly. Also, I just didn't like the background... there were a ton of people doing the exercise with the instructor, unlike the newer videos, and I found that distracting.
Great upper body workout
Reviewer: Anonymous Levittown, NY USA 08-30-2002
I have many of The Firm videos - each one I find very good and challenging. This is a very good (thorough) upper body exercise video. It does not have anything but upper body unlike many of the other Firm videos that include upper and lower, and at times, abs. If you are big fitness enthusiast and like to work with weights, this is a good video to add to your library!
Great Upper Body Video - Only a Small Cheese Factor
Reviewer: Anonymous 06-20-2002
Confession time: I own 13 FIRM tapes and I love almost all of them, but that doesn't mean I can't write an objective review!!This video is 34 minutes long, including warm-up and cool-down. It combines segments of past videos, so if you don't like that approach, this could be annoying for you (I don't mind it). A few of the instructors are cheesy (like Sandhal Bergman and Janet Jones-Gretsky), but others (like Susan Harris and Jayne Poteet) are really good. I've been doing this video at least twice per week for about three months and it's still tough for me (mostly because it allows you to move up in weight, which I do). Great shoulder work - which can be hard to find in videos. Definitely START WITH LIGHT WEIGHTS, especially if you are a beginner. This will very quickly tone your triceps, biceps, delts, back and chest. *** If you want a good laugh, watch the very, very end of the video where Sandahl Bergman makes herself look very silly with a really cheesy cartwheel move!!*** Cheesy, indeed, but sometimes a good laugh is just what you need after a hard workout!! By the end of this week, I will have worked out with a FIRM tape 6 days/wk for the last 6 months. I have shed three dress sizes and gained lots of sleek muscle. These tapes are truly excellent and will build strength you never thought you'd have and RESHAPE your body!
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