Work It Out: TurboFire

During grad school, a friend of mine turned me onto TurboFire, which I would describe as a dance-cardio/kick-boxing workout. If you were ever a cheerleader, I think you would love this workout. The music is great and the routines are fun and don't get too boring.

Turbo Fire consists of a 30, 45, and 60 minute Fire class, 45 and 55 minute Fire EZ workouts, 3 HIIT classes varying from 15 - 30 minutes, and 20 minute resistance classes which each target the lower-body, core, and upper-body, respectively. The DVDs also include a lower impact class and options for more instruction or more music. Because the workouts are choreographed, the added instruction is nice when you are just starting and learning the steps and the louder music is great for when you already know the steps and just want to workout.

I am sure there is a calendar that you can follow which will tell you what workout to do and when, but I didn't follow it at all (pretty typical). When this was my primary workout, I would basically bounce between the 45 and 60 minute Fire classes on days when I had more time, and the 30 minute Fire or 30 minute HIIT when I didn't. The shorter HIIT workouts were good when I wanted to pair it with a resistance workout.


I love the lower-body resistance workout and still do it regularly. In the class, you use a resistance band for all the exercises and it really focuses on the outer thighs and glutes. The upper-body class also utilizes resistance bands and is great to provide some variety to a regular weight routine.

Overall these videos are a lot of fun. If you like Zumba, but are looking for something that works you just a bit harder, then this will be great for you. Likewise, if you already do a really hardcore workout and are looking for something a little bit less impact for days when you want to recover. However, I did find that the workouts got a little old after doing them on a regular basis for a couple months. But that can happen with just about any workout. Nowadays I just use these workouts (except the legs, which I do more often) to spice up my current routine, so maybe once or twice a month.

Have you tried Turbo Fire or taken the live classes? Do you like it?