The Firm: Body Sculpt Blaster

This is a 30ish minute strength workout led by Nancy w/ 4 background exercisers, one showing the beginner modifications. The set is the BSS1 set and you will need dumbbells and a Fanny Lifter or other step for this workout.

While this is a strength workout Nancy combines a lot of UB & LB moves to really get your heart rate up and keep it there. A lot of the moves are familiar Firm stuff: clean and press, dip w/ bicep curl, leg press (quite a few sets really and she varies the tempo and adds in bicep curls etc to them), squats w/ overhead press, lat row, lunges, pliets with rows, curtsey lunge w/ outer thigh lift, french press and a quick seated oblique section on the FL.

I really like this workout and the time goes by very quickly! Nancy really accomplishes a lot in a small amount of time. I was able to heavy up for almost every move and actually felt it the next day a bit in my LB. She hits every body part and really moves things along nicely. I would rate this a solid to high intermediate w/o if you heavy up on the poundage.

This is one of the add on "Six Pack" workouts to the first Body Sculpt System (BSS1) set from The Firm when it was owned by Goodtimes. It was the first set to use the Fanny Lifter, the square dark blue (8")/dark purple (6") box that can be used at either of those heights or assembled at 14" for moves like leg press or to sit on like a mini bench. This workout clocks in at just under 34 minutes and is all strength - no cardio intervals. However the strength training is often upper+lower body at once and keeps your heart rate up anyway! Nancy leads with the usual BSS1 background instructors Stephanie, Lisa, Libby, etc.

The video might be a quickie but Nancy accomplishes a lot in the short amount of time. The warm up is about 5 minutes long and incorporates the short 6" step; includes standard Firm fare like step touches, knee lifts, marches in place, heel digs on box, then short hamstring and hip flexor stretches before the workout.

The strength set uses three sets of dumbbells; Nancy recommends 3, 5, and 8 pound bells for beginners. As a mid-high intermediate exerciser, I used 10, 12, and 15 pound bells because there are not very many reps of each move (there is after all a time crunch) and it really got my heart rate up fast. There is a squat with overhead press segment which uses heavy weights, two sets of pushups on knees or toes, leg press with bicep curls with medium weights, lunge onto medium 8" step with biceps with medium weights, leg press with pulses with heavy weights (no upper body), two long sets of French press with heavy weights, plie squat with biceps curls, one arm rows with heavy weight as well as a seated set of double arm rows, a waist segment while sitting on the fully assembled 14" box (no weights), and a final curtsey lunge and outer thigh lift while using the short 6" step (great bun burner!). There is no ab section which is appropriate with the short length of the video. There is a final cool down with athletic stretches. The time flies by because of the varied moves, and I feel very evenly worked: the legs get plenty of attention - inner thigh, outer thigh, glutes, hamstrings and quads, as do the shoulders, back, chest, biceps, triceps, and waist. That's a lot that was sufficiently covered in 35 minutes!

In comparison with the other Goodtimes Firms, the BSS1 is in my opinion on par or slightly less challenging than BSS2 and BSS4; BSS3 is more challenging. The Anna Benson Firms are more challenging than any of the BSS series, and the Pink Firms are easier than any of the BSS series. This workout can be high beginner through mid-high intermediate, depending on poundage used. I especially enjoy the "Six Pack" add on to BSS1, they are short, fun, and efficient. I liked that Nancy used the step in all three heights, along with a wide range of poundage, to keep from boredom. Highly recommended for anybody that enjoys the Firm and/or AWT workouts. High production quality, upbeat music and great instructor cuing. Grade A!

Wow - Great workout in 30 mins! This is perfect if you are just starting out and cannot complete the longer Firm videos or if you are advanced and only have 30 mins. to workout that day.

I did this video for the first time yesterday. It was an excellent time-saving workout. It uses a lot of upper and lower body moves together. That way your heartrate stays up. This is an intermediate level workout which an advanced person could modify by using heavier weights. A beginner could do this workout if he/she was a knowledgeable person who knew how to modify the moves. They show Libby working out with no weights, but I think that most beginners could use some weights. I highly recommend this workout as an effective workout for days when you are short on time or as an add-on after a walk. I think that if you had more time it would pair well with a workout with more floorwork.

This is a useful addition to the collection of many Firm fans because it is shorter than the older stuff---a mere 30 minutes, compared to the typical 45-60.

There are few moves here that will not be familiar, and several old classics get a new spin. There is a lengthy round of leg presses that alternate short with fast, for example, and the fast round is surprisingly challenging. Beginners should definitely take the hint and follow modifier Libby---this could be a very easy workout to hurt yourself on if you aren’t used to the moves.

The box describes the workout as using "compound"moves, but I did not find the routine overly so. It was more "mixing"moves then compounding them---there were a few bicep curls with side lunges, but for the most part, the count is so precise that you are seldom doing two moves simultaneously. For example, you’ll do a squat with a bicep curl, but the curl will take place during the down phase when you are already in position and not really moving anymore. This worked very well for a klutz like me as I could still get the time-efficientness without tripping all over myself. However, I did modify some of the more agile moves.

I would rate this tape a solid intermediate. You can grow with it, but there is just not enough time to do a lot of truly advanced work. And at the other end of the spectrum, a true beginner would have to be very careful. The mere presence of a modifying exerciser does not a beginner workout make---the cueing is limited to '"ut your left foot on the box"and "move this way"sort of stuff with the occasional reminder to keep your toes or ankles or knees or whatever “in line.” As far as intensity goes, a beginner could use lighter weights, take a few breaks and keep up okay (and get a very good workout in doing so) but from a form standpoint, it would certainly help them to sit through a thorough instructional tape like Weight Training for Dummies first.

I like this tape, but I suspect that’s less because of any revolutionary new content (there isn’t any) and more because it’s half an hour, that suits me right now, and the best type of workout is one that you’ll do.

In Body Sculpt Blaster with Nancy Tucker, you're squeezing a full-body workout into 30 minutes, so you do a lot of upper and lower body work simultaneously. I
did it the other night and I enjoyed it. Maybe it was just the
heat, but I did NOT find it easy.

There's no pure cardio in it, but you do get winded with
the combination exercises and relatively quick sets. And there's NO supine ab work, only seated oblique work. My tape did come with the glitch during the oblique work, but I think I'm just going to hang onto it.