I'm trying to do The Firm exercise videos but I must be one of the most uncoordinated people in the entire world! I stick it out to the end. Do what I can and hope for better results next time but.....
I feel like my arms & legs & tummy won't work in sync - my lower body is doing great but when I try to add the arms - well let's just say I could pass for one of those puppets on strings! And I find that I have to concentrate on keeping my tummy muscles engaged but that makes it so I forget to keep the other parts of me doing the right thing! FRUSTRATED is so not a strong enough word for what I'm feeling! As is evidenced in the fact that I have said some not nice things at the instructors! Glad my kids aren't home when I do these!

Was it this hard for anyone else when starting out?

Me!! It will get better. Your balance and control will improve as your muscles get stronger. I have an extensive collection of The Firm videos and they are tough! Way to go, girl!!

Oh, it will get better!!

I've watched some people fall off their steps in a step class because they aren't aware of the moves, where their feet need to be in relation to what their arms are doing, etc. After three or four classes, they were fairly coordinated. When I first started going to step, I was told: don't worry about the arms and if you get lost, just step up and down until you get what the others are doing. I said the same thing to a few women when they started.

Same with exercise videos; if you don't get the arms, just do the lower half and incorporate the arms in when you feel comfortable.