The Firm - Firm Parts: Tough Tape (Classic Workout Series) [VHS]
This is an excellent muscle-endurance workout, full of challenges and variety. Instructor Tracie Long is superb, cueing seamlessly while giving plenty of technique tips and modifications to make the moves easier or more difficult. There's no annoying pep talk, whooping, or counting--just straightforward instruction to make your workout more effective. This 45-minute weight workout switches constantly between lower and upper body (sometimes doing both at once). Long sensibly gives stretches every so often to relieve muscle tightness. You'll need a barbell, an assortment of free weights, and a tall (12- to 14-inch) step or equivalent. The tape box and introduction claim that this workout includes a 26-minute high-intensity sequence, but this 45-minute tape did not have a cardio sequence. No abdominal routine, either. Although the routine ends with the words "more to come," the only "more" was a long commercial.--Joan Price