The Firm Body Sculpting Basics (1986)

I was born in the 80s and my mom did this workout throughout my childhood and into my teen years. I remember being weirdly mesmerized by it as a kid, but then scoffing at it later when I was big into soccer conditioning.

There was a small window of time when I was on the Olympic development track for soccer and was in speed/strength camps that involved some pretty intense weightlifting and plyometrics. I was basically in the best physical shape of my life (and hooooo boy, those days are gone). Some pretty rough knee injuries closed that particular window, but in my second round of surgery recovery, I wanted to "start slow" and my mom suggested The Firm, so I popped in the VHS thinking "This is is going to be the cakiest cake walk."

My God, the humbling I experienced. This, THIS, is the single most challenging workout $20 can buy.

It has everything: bizarre 80s design excess, Susan Harris' dulcet voice neutralizing your own gasping heaves and gulps, a score so infectious it has seeped into my mitochondria, and a sequence of aerobics and low-weight training so intense, I sweated right through my teal Umbros.

Today, I am the proud owner of the DVD version. It just works. Though, I rarely do the whole workout all the way through these days; I pick sections of it (and then do my podcast walks because all I actually want to do is put on a hat and walk under trees).

***Bonus: Because it's weird as hell, it makes working out feel a bit like an anthropological investigation.