TurboFire: Fire 30

Quick Facts:
Run time: 31 minutes, most of it like totally active.
Equipment needed: Mmm water.

My Details:
Height: 5'4" or just under
Weight: 128.6
Fitness Stats: RHR of 54 (usually). Finished with HIIT 15 three hours before doing this. Previous Tae Bo experience but not much. Still can't run, like, at all.

Quick Review:
Calories burned: 339 total, about 306 extra/more than daily living
Highest heart rate: 187
Lowest heart rate: 156
Difficulty: 8/10

Good For:
Who: Anybody trying to burn some fat and get drenched.
When: You aren't in the mood for too much interval training but still want a good cardio workout

Extended Review:
The first of many Chalene Johnson and TurboFire reviews! Chalene is a very upbeat instructor. She loves the camera, and the camera loves her. She doesn't look like you do when you work out, and that can be either discouraging or super encouraging. Honestly, I think she wears makeup, but you never know. Anyway, she is one of the most bubbly instructors I have seen on any fitness DVD. She does not intimidate you in the least, like Jillian Michaels. Well, that's a lie. Jillian's persona is very tough and harsh. Chalene is like, that soccer mom that lives down the road from you that all the other woman on the street hate because she is always so vivacious. Again, for some that can be really encouraging, and for others it can make you feel like poo. It encourages me, honestly. I choose to have a positive attitude around happy people (:  Chalene is also really good at making you feel like you should work out harder. It's that positivity thing she has going for her. One major problem with her instructing, though, is that it's very hard to learn her routines. If you're doing this for the first time, expect to have difficulty keeping up. My friend, who is a dancer, became confused and even said, "I don't get what she's doing!" The camera angles change, and sometimes you don't see Chalene, which makes it ever harder to follow. The angling is supposed to make you "feel like you're part of the class," and it does in the beginning and end and after the two intervals, but during the workout, if you are confused (which you will be), you want to see what Chalene is doing because you WILL get lost. Sometimes even watching her hardly helps- hellooo, what's an uppercut and double jab? How do I perform such moves in succession? While I might know it, you might not. Another issue, as my dancer friend pointed out, is that the music isn't totally instep with the moves. Chalene does a pretty good job with mixing the music, but there are some times in which she goes off-beat. I hardly noticed it, however. The music is kind of cheesy ("Play that funky music!"), but it gets you going and has an appropriate BPM to keep you up and active.
Trainer fun level: 9/10
Trainer instruction level: 6/10

As far as intensity and difficulty, thank goodness I have some background in tae bo. Most of the moves are tae-bo inspired. Not a lot of kicking is involved, but you punch a lot and incorporate your lower body by continually moving your feet/shuffling. She also loves to have you do squats and variations of them. Often times when punching, she'll make you squat down and get lower. This adds intensity, but it is controlled by you, so you get to determine just how much intensity you want. You also will do squat-thrusts, which is basically like you squat, put hands on the floor, jump your legs out, and then jump back up. Those are the worst because she goes really fast. You will also do things such as "fire throws" which are just too odd to explain, and then what she calls "Fire Drills." Fire Drills are 1-minute long high-intensity intervals. There are only two during the video, and personally I really like them. You run in place as much as fast as you can, doing from "narrow" legs to "wide legs" (as if easing your way into a squat while you run), and then you do a lot of plyometric jumping. Afterward, you rest for a little bit, which gives you the perfect opportunity to get a drink of water without interrupting the workout. The advantage of any amount of HIIT, for reference, is that you continuously burn extra calories for up to 24 hours after the workout. This is known as "PEOC"- post-exercise oxygen consumption, or "afterburn." Traditional cardio does NOT get such an effect as HIIT does, so yes, the fire drills are very helpful!
Overall intensity level: 8/10
Overall difficulty level: 8/10