Action Sports Diesel

Um.  This was hard.  I am still a little shaky.  I went out last night and drank some wine and I was DRAGGING as a result.  I was thinking, maybe I shouldn't drink wine if it's going to make these workouts so much harder.  Then I thought maybe I shouldn't work out if I am going to drink wine, which is just the way that I think, ha!

I liked the trainer, I don't know who she was but she was from "Crunch!  In San Fransisco!  And she loved to workout!  And you should love it too!"  You get the picture.  She had some fine looking people behind her working out, the same ones from the last crunch video that I did.

This was like the 30 Day Shred, or the Cardio Sculpt workout that Chris Freytag does but a little more intense.  I used two pounds of weights and sometimes three, which was fine by me.  I could get to a point where five would be fine, I'm sure, but it wasn't today.  It's a bunch of SHORT circuits, cardio and strength.  She talks about form a lot and she is perky but not annoyingly so.  Not annoying to me, anyway.

I like these Crunch workouts and it's a good thing, because it looks like there are several more to come!  I hope nothing changes after the new year, but we'll see.

Action Sports Chisel - Arms and Shoulders

We've started the Crunch workouts, which is exciting because I've heard good things about them and also because it means the Biggest Loser workouts are over.  I might check again later to see if there is a 30 Day Shred, or maybe there is a Jillian Michaels channel, but my guess is that we haven't seen the last of Jillian (insert evil laugh, talk about jeans and tank tops and how she wants you to feel like you're going to DIE!).

I think this is what it's called, above.  I guess there is an Action Sports category, so this is chisel, and this is the arms and shoulders part but of course you work legs and butt, too.  I wonder sometimes what it would be like if some dumb trainer did an arms workout with just arms, like if you just stood there and worked on your arms.  Ha, she'd be LAUGHED off the CHANNEL!

I can't find my damned five pound weights and my two pound weights were downstairs when I could fit this workout in upstairs, so I did it without weights but I'm glad I did.  It was a pretty challenging workout and I found that without holding weights, I was really thinking about my form, especially on working triceps.  So I might use like three pounds of weight next time, especially on triceps, I seem to lose my form easily with heavier weights.

The trainer was fine, she is VERY concerned with FUN and FUNKINESS (not the smelly kind, the dancing kind) and that's always nice.  She did talk a LOT about tank tops but whatever, what can you do?  I guess if you are working specifically on your arms and shoulders, maybe you automatically care about what they look like in a tank top.  And I like my arms to look good, I just - that Jillian has turned me off on threats about clothes forever.

So it's like 25 minutes long, you do circuits and build on them, the music is good, and you end with pushups and planks which I am proud to say I did on my toes.  I am looking forward to the rest of the workouts, it looks like there are several.

Last Chance Workout

Ugh.  Rotten old Jillian Michaels and her Last Chance Workout.  It's 29 minutes long and there are many 'stars' from the TV show working out, too.  That Tara, who did the last workout I did, is there and some other people - some are obviously in the middle of the show and they do modified moves.

There are SIX (!) circuits, but they are short.  It's similar to the 30 Day Shred in that you do cardio and strength, but no abs.  For cardio, you do jumping jacks, with variations, like scissor kicks, jumping rope, with variations, and jogging in place, also with variations.  For strength, it's pretty straightforward.  I still haven't found my five pound weights, so I did this with two pounds and it was easy.  You work the regulars - legs, back, chest, arms, shoulders.  Also for the HARD cardio, you do those damned mountain climbers and prone jacks and then a move that does both of them.  Before the last circuit, Lovely Jillian tells you, "this is going to SUCK!".  I think of some of the other trainers I've seen, like Chris Freytag, who says "YES you can!" and Jillian just compares so badly.  She's always talking about getting good shoulders, so you can look good in a TANK TOP.  Aim high, Jillian.

BUT all that aside, she does talk about form a lot and she talks about doing the most with the moves, both of which I appreciate.  I enjoyed the workout and I would do it again.

Core Circuit Workout

Paul Vincent is the trainer on this 10 minute workout.  You do 3 sets that are exactly the same, so while it's kind of monotonous, it's effective.  It's hard to make an ab workout anything but an ab workout.

All the exercises are done by a girl (a very shiny girl, Mike said, is she slathered in baby oil?, ha) on a large exercise ball, which I don't have anymore, so I modified it.  The second set I had Anthony on me and the third set I had Veronica on me, so there was actually a lot of modification going on.  When I couldn't do the modified plank because I had a baby on me, I just did crunches.

I would do this again.  Wouldn't it be smart if I did it like every other day or something?  My core is a MESS, it is practically non existent!  I am trying to do a short abs workout every time I do any on demand workout and so far, so good.  I will let you know if I ever see a change!

30 Day Jump Start - Cardio

I have started the DREADED Biggest Loser workouts.  I have a well documented hatred of Jillian Michaels, but today was my lucky day because it wasn't her doing the workout, but a contestant named. ... Tara?  A pretty blonde.  Anyways, it was just a 10 minute cardio but it was pretty intense.

My problem with the Biggest Loser/Jillian Michaels workouts is that they are pretty artless.  I mean, you do jumping jacks and cross country skiing moves and mountain climbers and jumprope, which I know are good cardio moves, but they are so boring.  Plus the girl was not much of a trainer, necessarily, nor a caller, and she'd say "let's jump rope" and "let's do some jumping jacks".  BORING.  She was very encouraging, which was a plus and she didn't talk about BATHING SUITS like a certain Shmilian Shmichaels and that was also good.

Obviously, it was short and ... I always wonder, does it really count?  But I suppose it's better than nothing and I combined it with an ab workout so it was a little bit more.  I'm sure it would be good in combination with a 30 or 40 minute workout but I am just doing these one at a time.  Plus it's Christmas Eve and I have to get to the grocery store while the girls nap!

Straight to the Core

Elise Gulan is the trainer for this short ab workout, and I guess if you live near Santa Monica, you could maybe go to one of her classes, according to her website.  I do not live near Santa Monica, which makes me very happy at this point, because I couldn't do this whole workout.

It's a Pilates-based ab workout, and it's excellent, it's just - I guess I am such a wreck, abs-wise, that I just can't maintain even the beginning posture for it.  So I did all of it, just sort of modified, with (gasp!) part of my shoulder blades on the ground.  I am hopeful that if I keep doing these workouts, I will get strong enough and not have these terrible cramps in my muscles that I get now.  Or, it could just be that I have had too many c-sections in too short a time and I will never recover.  I don't care - I'm going to keep at it, and see what happens.  I'm just at home, so if I'm writhing around in pain on the floor, I don't care so much as when it happens at the damned Y.  :)

21 Day Makeover - Sculpting

That damned Brooklyn Decker is in this one, too!  Sara Haley is the trainer and she's very good, and I have to say, Brooklyn Decker is pretty quiet, so she didn't bug me too much.

This is part of a workout, which is annoying.  I wonder why they don't just show the whole thing, but I guess it's to get you to buy the DVD's, which ... I'm just never buying another DVD, people.  It's 2011, practically.  It's only 20 minutes long but of course it's hard.  It's all hard, I suppose that's why it's called WORKING out.

Sara does two long sets, involving working one side with lunges, squats, lifts, etc.  You hold dumbbells, I only had two one-pound weights but I bet it's better and more challenging with five.  After you do one set, you do a cardio portion, which involves fast v-steps and lunges, so you're kind of whipping the weights around, I don't know that I'd keep good form with more than five pound weights.

So you work one side, then you do a fast version on the same side, then do it all on the other side.  I actually did right-left, right-left, because I thought that was what we were supposed to do, and then after I found out I was wrong, I kept doing it that way because it was easier on my legs.  Wouldn't Brooklyn be disappointed if she knew!

That's it for the 21 Day Makeover, we'll start something else tomorrow.  I am afraid it's the Biggest Loser workouts, which can only mean ONE thing.  Jillian.  Ahhh!

21 Day Makeover - Cardio

Well.  I have been looking and looking for this workout on the Exercise TV site but I can't find it, nor the trainer, so the HELL with it.  I want to post about it before 1) I forget what happened or 2) my arms fall off.  It was HARD.  And to add to the difficulty, the trainer's little model is freaking Brooklyn Decker, the Sports Illustrated Supermodel.  Ugh.  Whatever.  She was all, "this is my favorite part!  My arms are getting toned!" and I thought, bitch, your arms were toned when this workout started.  But whatever, that is my own straightup jealousy so ignore it.

Anyway, this is a VERY intense 30 minute - well, 27 minute cardio workout.  There are three (three?  I think three?) sections.  You do 5, 10, and 15 jumping jacks, then side twists, then squat thrusts and in between you do 30 seconds of jabs and ... maybe 30 seconds, or maybe a minute of jumping rope.  Invisible rope, I mean.  You know what I mean.

The second section is mountain climbers, and ... something else, with the jabs and jumping rope in between.  The third section is jabs, but with dumbbells in your hands (I used 2 lbs.), oh! and these jumps that you do, from side to side, across your mat and back.  It's actually what I forgot that you do in the 2nd section, but you do a single in the 2nd section and a double in the third.  Then you do a square with your body, you jump from one corner of the mat, horizontally to the next, and you make a square.  All this you do in sets of 5, 10 and then 15.

There is a warmup but it's super fast and there is no cooldown.  I suppose Brooklyn and the trainer, whatever her name is, are going to continue on with the awesomely fun workout so they can celebrate their awesomely toned arms.  To which I say, whatever, sweater.

Honestly, it's a good workout - it's just hard as hell and I was trying to do it with my two girls all around my feet, and it was a pain.  I'm looking forward to the other ones, I don't know how many there are but I'm skerred.

10 lb. Slimdown - Yoga

This was, by far, my favorite of the 10 lb. Slimdown workouts and that's saying something, because I've really liked them all.  It's Vinyasa yoga, which is sometimes called 'flow', so you are moving almost constantly.  The workout is about 22 or 23 minutes long and its a great short yoga workout.  I was thinking yesterday, when I was doing it:  we used to have yoga classes where I worked and they were always 90 minutes long.  Obviously, at one-third the time, it's less yoga and it's a different experience.  I wouldn't do this workout if I was trying to get a whole yoga workout in - like including a deep relaxation at the end.  But I would count this workout as the same as the other 10 lb. Slimdown ones.  It's a good, tough, simple workout.

I wouldn't say it's the most complicated workout in the world, but if you've never done yoga before, you might want to watch it before you do it, or else be prepared to pause it a little bit.  Another thing I miss about doing yoga in a class is that usually the teacher can walk around and gently correct your posture if it needs it.  Form is super important, so I'd say it's a good idea to be familiar with the terms.  You do the normal yoga poses, like Down Dog, a High Plank, Cobra, all the Warriors, Chair Pose, etc., but if those terms don't ring a bell, I'd either look them up or watch the workout first.  \

And now I'm all finished with the 10 lb. Slimdown!  I am FAR from doing this daily, but I am determined to keep blogging about it.  If you're reading and have a comment, leave one.

10 lb. Slimdown - Lower

I have been a BAD exerciser, but I am hopefully back on track.  I did the Lower part of the 10 lb. slimdown, which thankfully my new cable company also has On Demand.  It is sooo hard, especially after a break.  It's the same drill - three sets, twice each.  Chris Freytag does the usual, lunges and squats of all kinds, but she always includes a higher impact move and she talks throughout in very positive ways, like "because you CAN", which I find myself thinking about throughout the day.  Like I think, "listen to Maria say the same demand for the 1000th time but don't kill her because you CAN".  :)

We are in our new house and we have had a hard first week, the heat went out and the garage door broke, Veronica is not sleeping, it all stinks, BUT I of course feel a million times better today for having worked out at all.  Today is my last day of the 100 pushup challenge and tomorrow I'm starting a 200 situp project.  I really like having something to do every day, I wish it were more, but maybe I'll get there.

10 lb. Slimdown - Upper

I will never learn.  I thought I had done the lower portion of this workout, and the description says that it works your arms, bis, tris, etc. and I thought well good, because I am TIRED and I don't want to work out ANYWAY, so I'll just do an UPPER BODY workout.  Then, of course, it's Chris Freytag and she is always doubling up, so you do hammer curls but you also do lunges and then you stand on one damned leg to do your tricep curls.  But it was great, the power cardio things in the middle of the circuits (there are three, you do them twice) seemed short.  Effective, but short.  One of them, for example, is to start out with low impact jumping jacks, then go to big jumping jacks, and then power jumping jacks, where you clap your hands over your head when your feet are open and then touch the floor when they are closed.  It was, dare I say it, fun?  Chris Freytag really makes it work, for me.  I'll say it again, I think a certain TV TRAINER could learn a lot by not being so evil and demented.

This was the third 10 lb. Slimdown workout I did and I think they are all great but today it dawned on me, it would be really great to do three of them.  That would be a great weekly workout, say, to do the upper body, lower body and core.  Or either the upper or lower, with the core and the Blast! one.  If this wasn't available for free on Exercise TV, this might be a DVD that I would buy.  I really like the trainer, I can't even remember what the music is like, and she is all by herself for all of them!

10 lb. Slimdown - Core

Chris Freytag is the trainer for all of these, apparently, she has a DVD.

My core is non-existent but I still think this was haaaaard.  It's three circuits again, I guess maybe they all are - we shall see!  She just does a 20 second breath in between the circuits and it doesn't feel like enough.  I was in a hurry but if I had some extra time, I might consider pausing it a little bit and maybe taking 60 seconds.  For God's sake.

In the circuits, you do:

• a standing knee lift, where you reach down to the opposite knee and then up and away, you do 8 reps slowly and 16 fast
• a half-boat into a full-boat (ouch!)
• bicycle crunches, only instead of crunching up your head, you lift your weights up and down, pushing out from your chest.  I used 5 lb. weights but you could use whatever you want, obviously.  
• crunches, where you hold a weight in each hand and bend your elbows at a 90 degree angle.  You crunch in with the weights and then lay your head down and pull the weights behind your head.  I am still hurting from this!  
• circular crunches
• side plank lifts
• isometric holds in the plank position, with alternating leg lifts, 8 each, twice.  GOOD LORD.

Here's what else you do but I failed at, today:

• Mountain Climbers.  I'm just bad with them - I feel like I am too short or too fat or something and I can never make my legs go in as far as I feel like I should.  I did do them, just not well.  
• I don't even know what to call this one - You're on all fours and you go up into a plank position and then you HOP your back foot to your opposite hand and repeat repeat.  Veronica came up the stairs and it was the last exercise and I just couldn't do it.  Am lame.  I will try next time.  My report is that it LOOKS HARD.  I did my 79 pushups before my workout today and I am too shaky, I guess.  

These are excellent workouts.  They're hard and I should probably do two at a time but I can't right now.  I recommend YOU do it, though, ha!  

Yoga Body Burn Abs

The last of the 10 minute workouts!  I'm sad to see them go, it dawned on me today when I did the longer workout what a wussy I have turned into.  It will be good to do some longer workouts, without a break.

So, this is good, it's like every yoga move you can think of that focuses on your abs, and maybe some Pilates moves thrown in.

Denise Austin is the trainer and although I personally have some trouble getting used to her as a Yogi, she is excellent.  It's not for yoga beginners, you should at least be familiar with the moves because it goes pretty fast, as do all the short workouts.

10 lb. Slimdown Blast

I still have one more 10 minute workout to do and I'm going to do it next but I wanted to do a longer workout today while I had time, so I started the 10 lb. Workouts.  I was VERY pleased with this, although I found it really hard.  It's Chris Freytag, who I like a lot.  She is very positive without being too fakety fake.  She says, like, "four more!  Because you CAN!" and she says "Yes, you CAN!" and it's not annoying, I think, well I guess I CAN if she SAYS SO!

This workout is three circuits that all have strength training type work on one body group, followed by 30 seconds of a blast! of cardio and then a 20 second active recovery period.  So the first circuit is squats (I used 5 lb. weights, if you used, like 10 lb. weights, I think it would get complicated doing the faster reps, but you could always stick with the slower rep), the second circuit is lunges and deadlifts and the third circuit is arms and chest and back.  Of course, you are working the upper body with the lower and the lower with the upper, but the focus is on the first listed part.  In between you do fast jogs, kicks, etc.

It was hard - in the last part you do a side plank with weight lifting and you could it with a) your whole body on the floor, b) your knees on the floor, or c) just your feet on the floor and I opted for a) although I should have done b) and I probably could have done c) if I had just concentrated.  But I was so tired and afraid of what was to come after the first rounds I was scared.  Lame!  But I'll do b) the next time and c) the time after that.

Verrry good workout, it makes me look forward to the other 10 lb. Workouts, kind of.

Strength Training

Holly Perkins is the trainer for this, she is a trainer from way back, I really like her.  This was a good workout but I guess I am fading because I thought it was hard.  You just need weights (optional) and a mat, which is nice.  I'm still mad about needing that stupid exercise ball for the workout earlier in the week.  Let it go, Joanne!

So.  You do giant 'sumo' squats, with weights, hip raises with alternating legs, some ab work, it's pretty varied.  She talks a lot about the point of the workout, which is to strengthen your muscles for running and walking, so you work muscles that will propel you forward.  It was interesting and immediately useful, which I like.

That's it for today - I think I am almost through with the 10 minute workouts, so it's time to mix it up.  I'm looking forward to it, I feel like I'm accountable to my friend Almeda for my pushups and this blog for the exercise tv workouts.  Whatever works - at this stage we are like three weeks away from moving and like six weeks away from Christmas and Oh Lord, I am glad to have just working out to think about.

Sexy Legs

I guess the whole title is Six Steps to Sexy Legs, Jessica Smith (she's a certified wellcoach, whatever that is) is the trainer and it's good, if kind of basic.  Actually, I guess she does kind of mix it up, in that if you do lunges, you do them on an angle, so that you're working different parts of your legs.  She does a Pilates move at the end called The Frog and what is up, Pilates people?  All of those exercises feel impossible but then you can somehow do them.  She also does some stretching at the end, which I appreciate.

10 Minute Pilates - ABS

OK!  So Nicole Stewart is the trainer for this video, and she was for the Pilates legs video I did the other day.  She's great, very positive and she looks fantastic, she talks a lot about the benefits of Pilates, which is nice to hear.  She does a good job of explaining the breathing, I think it would be hard to just jump into a Pilates workout, of any kind, without someone talking about how important that inhale/exhale thing is.

So it's a hard ab workout, in my opinion, but it's do-able.  It is marked for Beginners, so maybe that's it.  She does do some advanced moves.  For example, there's one move where you are lying on your back, stretched out, arms overhead, and you peel yourself off the floor and up to where you are now pointing past your (flexed!) feet.  After several reps, she adds that you can make it harder by putting your hands behind your ears and your elbows bent, if you want.  I am here to tell you that that IS harder, I literally couldn't do it.

My abs are a mess and I forget if I mentioned but I sometimes have, like, charlie horses, in them?  It's painful and was scary when it first started happening - it feels like what I imagine this one scene in Alien is like, even though I've never seen that movie.  Like the muscles are twisting and wrapping around each other, getting fatter and fatter and choking my innards.  Like I say, it's not scary anymore, now that I know what it is, I just treat it like a charlie horse and try to breathe it away. ANYWAY, this is all to say that I find a Pilates workout is more controlled and I am less likely to get one of these muscle spasms, which makes me like it.  It is freaking hard, which I don't like but what is the point, I keep asking myself?  It's called WORKING out, not SITTING AROUND out.  Or RESTING out.  I could see doing a few - three?  four?  of these 10 minute Pilates workouts and having it be a good representation of a Pilates workout.

Legs Slim and Tone

I am not positive of the name of this workout, but it's a ten minute Pilates leg workout and my LORD.  Pilates is hard, and every time I do it, I think WOW, I am never doing this again!  I told my sister, it seems like you're not doing anything - like WHY would it be so hard to make a circle with my leg?  But it is.  It burns the hell out of my legs.  It's a great, positive, workout, I like the trainer but am too distracted to remember her name.  She has red hair and ... great legs, ha!  It was my third short workout today and it was plenty.

Give me Ten Core

I thought this was going to be an ab workout but it was more frickin fracken cardio.  It's probably better, I just did the 13 minutes of Denise Austin, but this is a crazy way to workout.  I was all getting into my head to do an intense ab workout and instead I'm jumping around like a fool!

Amy Dixon is the trainer on this one and she is VERY INTENSE.  Her HAIR IS UP and SEVERE.  She and her lackeys are WEARING BLACK.  The music is VERY FAST and POUNDING.  But it's great, I have to say.  Again, not much of a warmup or cool down but ten minutes, well, probably 11, of great cardio moves.  It's hard, I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner or if you haven't done much high impact aerobics, or dance moves.  But it's super fun and hard and sweaty and I enjoyed it.

Cardio Fat Blast

This is a ten minute workout that's really 13 minutes.  I don't know, either.  Anyways, Denise Austin is the trainer and I happen to really like her.  She has been doing this for a LONG TIME, like since I was in high school or something.  She can be annoying to some, I'm sure, as she is VERY PEPPY and HAPPY, but I just find her really sincere and likable.  Likable?  Is that right?  I mean like-able.  That looks like likable to me but whatever.

So!  The workout!  It's a lot of great cardio moves after a short warmup.  They are not going to spend a lot of time on a warmup on a short workout, so you're better off if you go into it a little bit warm.  She does a great progressive type thing, where you start out doing lunges, for example, and then add big arms and then add a hop to them.  You could also do just the first thing, I suppose, if you are a beginner.

It's short but intense, there are two girls behind her, but they don't say a peep.  She basically never stops talking, reminders about "zipping up" your abs, keeping good posture, etc.  I like it, I think it's a good short cardio workout.

Bootylicious Buns TWO

Oh good Lord.  Not only is this called BOOTYlicious BUNS, but I found out right before it started that, according to Exercise TV, it's the Year of the Tush!  Tush is actually among my favorite words for ass.  When I was little my mom used to say HINEY which still kind of mortifies me.  Anyways.

Stephanie Vitorino is the leader and she right away would like to thank you for making Bootylicious Buns such a success that she had to make TWO of them.  Hoo boy.  Whatever, she looks great and this is a super hard, enjoyable workout.  You only need a mat, you do squats, leg lifts, the usual, up until you do this damned inverted kick which was SUPER HARD.  First, you are lying on your side and you do what she calls a "clam", so your legs are bent, stacked on top of one another, and then you open and close.  This is not a hard exercise, unless you REALLY think about your glutes.

You know, ever since I started working out at home, it's been hard for me to do things hard enough to count.  In the gym, I am used to trainers or teachers calling me out on b.s. and saying I KNOW you can lift more weight than that, etc.  I used to take a class in NYC called Killer Body Sculpt and the teacher would, after a while, just come around and replace your weights with heavier ones, once she felt like you needed it.  Anyways, a lot of these leaders, like this one and Chris Freytag, talk about doing things right, and not cheating yourself.  It's a good reminder to me - as long as I'm working out, why not just do it hard enough?  Who am I kidding?  Who is benefiting if I don't do the exercises the way that I should?  NO ONE.  So.  Anyways, I like a trainer that does that, that talks about not cheating yourself and this woman does.

It was hard, I had to take a wee break with those damned inverted kicks.  Oh!  I meant to say, so you do the clams and then you do the inverted kicks and then you do them together, but Stephanie wants to SPICE it up so she calls this move the BOOM BOOM POW.  Maybe this makes some people feel better about it, but I am not one of them.  Still, an A+ workout, as far as I'm concerned.

Arms with Attitude

I somewhat hated this workout.  Kathy Kaehler is the leader and you're supposed to do every exercise for one minute, but it's SO lame the way that she does it - she has a stopwatch or something and she's always checking it.  We can't get a big timer that she can look at in a monitor, Exercise TV?  It's very awkward, she has to reset it 10 times, for Pete's sake.

PLUS all you need for this TEN minute workout is weights, a chair, and an exercise ball.  The hecka?  No one wants to get all that crap together for a TEN minute workout!  As it is, I don't have an exercise ball anymore, so I just made do, which wasn't hard.  Not that Kathy mentioned that you could POSSIBLY do this workout with all this crap.  You only used the chair once, for tricep dips.  Lame.

Also, it was not very arm-y.  There was only one minute of just arms, the rest were arms and abs, too.  Now, maybe I'm just cranky because I just did an ab workout but it seems to me that arms and back might make more sense.

So. This is the first workout on Exercise TV that I absolutely wouldn't bother with again.

Abs and Back Workout

Amy Dixon leads this 10 minute workout, I guess actually it's almost 11 minutes.  It's hard, I just finished it, but I wanted to write about it and then go to two or three more 10 minute workouts while the girls nap.

It's a great, hard workout.  There's almost no warmup, so I'd do a few stretches and deep breaths before you get started.  I've been doing stuff all day, so I felt warmed up.  You do some ... well - you get on all fours, then you do crunches, by holding out your left arm stretched out in front of you, and your right leg stretched out behind you, then you crunch in in two counts and out in two counts.  She leads you through some "superman" type moves on the floor, including "flying", to work the oblique muscles.  You do a lot of crunches, some regular and then some obliques with your leg crossed over your opposite knee.  You do INCREDIBLY hard (to me) hip lifts (?) where one leg is crossed over the other, and you do a reverse crunch.  YOW.

I have had three c-sections and I don't know if that's it or what, but I get these incredibly painful charlie horses, but in my ab muscles, while I workout.  It stinks but I figure I should do workouts to get rid of them.  Maybe?  I find that if I do everything just right, and really, really concentrate on form, it doesn't happen so much.  As a result, I find these workouts really hard because I can't laze around with them.

She calls it really well, constantly reminding you to think about form and breathing.  Overall I enjoyed it.

10 Minute Buns and Thighs

I really don't like the word "buns".  Or "booty".  There really is no good choice, right?  I think the best, honestly, would be "ass".  Like "work that ass!".  Or "move your ass!".  Alas, this is Exercise TV and they mostly say "buns" although sometimes they say "booty".  Whatever.

This is an excellent 10 minute workout.  I've started the 10 minute workouts and I would like to do three at a time, but I am running out of time already this morning so I'm hoping I can get two more in today.  This was a nice intro, though.  The trainer is Cindy Whitmarsh, who is listed as a "Top Trainer" at Exercise TV.  She's perfect, she doesn't say much, she's encouraging but not crazy mean (Jillian) and she's not too goofy (Leslie).  She just is there to do the exercises, thankyouverymuch, which is FINE BY ME.

You do a one minute warmup and then nine minutes of squats, and leg lifts and hip raises and it's hard and satisfying.  I am still kind of zinging and I finished it several minutes ago.  Wouldn't it be smart to do this workout before all my walking workouts?  Wouldn't it be nice if I were that smart?

Walking Cardio Sculpt

This is my favorite workout under Walking workouts, but it is the least walk-y of all of them.  It's an excellent workout, I wish I could do it every day but I am a lazy ass.  :)

It's Chris Freytag, who is excellent and cheery but not too cheery.  She is also by herself, which of course I prefer.  The workout is divided into four walking parts and four sculpting parts.  It's almost 50 minutes long.

So you do some marching and out-out-in-ins, some walking up and back, some squats, some jogging, some jump roping, some mambo-ing, some v-steps, ... I feel like I am forgetting something, but basically it's a few minutes of some low impact cardio.  Oh, you do some "skater moves", which are wide steps back behind your opposite foot, and some "power knees", which are knee lifts but you sort of hook-punch your opposite arm while you are raising your knee.

The sculpting parts are divided, so you start with squats and lunges, then go to arms and back, then chest and biceps and then abs.  They're all excellent, I use five pound weights but on some stuff you double up.  You could also do it with no weights, which I actually considered doing today, because it's been so damned long since I've done anything but it was fine.  Today I had already done 65 pushups on my toes so I was thinking of NOT doing the pushups but it was fine - now when I do 16 or 32 pushups as part of a workout, it's like nothing.

She calls it great, she is super easy to follow and she reminds you a lot of the right way to breathe, supporting your lower back with your abs, etc.  She is very motivating and kind and unlike a certain Biggest Loser meany that we will be talking about soon.  She never screams "I want you to feel like you're going to DIE", which is nice.

Walking (One Mile)

This is my last Leslie Sansone walk on Exercise TV.  Not EVER, or anything, but it's the last for this blog.  I have had a tough week and this one, on Saturday, is the first I've done all week, so that's lame.

The one mile is excellent, though.  She does almost all the steps that are in her repertoire, and you get just enough of each.  Although the pace is fast, it's not super exhausting or anything because it's short.  If you wanted to do 30 minutes of cardio, you'd have to do it again, though.  Leslie mentions this - she says it's SO convenient, you can just do it in the morning and then do it in the evening, to which I say BS.  I mean, it's short but you do get pretty sweaty, so unless you want to shower twice a day, it's not super convenient.

Leslie is so funny and polite.  She's alone for this workout, which I prefer.  At one point she says, "you just finished a mile!  If you were walking outside, you'd be a mile away by now.  But this workout uses more muscles than just a stroll outside.  NOT that there's anything wrong with strolling OUTSIDE!  I LOVE the OUTSIDE!".  Ha!  It's like some pro-outside walking group is going to sue her or something.

It's a good workout, but like I say, I rarely get a chance to workout twice in a day.  This workout is listed at 22 minutes, the 2 mile isn't much more than that, so I would just do it.  Of course, something is better than nothing, and her calling is so excellent that if you had never done an organized workout before, this might be a good way to start.

Advanced Walk - Rock and Tone

Leslie and her minions are wearing the New Balance Rock and Tone show for this workout, and I wasn't, so I can't say if it's that much more fabulous with the shoes, but it was still pretty good.  SHORT, but good.  24 minutes, a warm up, a fast walk, a toning segment which consists of squats and lunges, and then a section where you jog and bounce on your feet like a boxer, which was a nice way to get your heart rate up.  Then another toning section, then another fast walking or jogging section and then a cool down.  Short, but good.  If it was twice as long, it would be soooo much better.  It was fun to do some harder cardio.

This was funny, they use an angle on this one that looks like when Paula Abdul did her "Promise of a New Day" video and she was all stretched out and looked thin?  Someone I read called it the "Promise of a Thin Me".  They all looked SKINNY which might be supposed to be motivating, but it really also looks kind of creepy.

Slim Down Thighs

Edited to add that I found it online, here's what this workout looks like.

This says that it's a 5 minute workout but it's really just 2 minutes and 45 seconds.  It's Jeannette...Jackson?  Johnson?  I don't remember.  She is a "Hollywood" trainer!  Or so she claims, anyway.  It's three FAST sections, obvs, if the workout is only 3 minutes long.  She does chair/crescent sits, she recommends 15 each and then work your way up to 25.  Then she does a plie (is that spelled right?  I am short on time, I mean the ballet move) move where you pull your foot back in toward your other foot.  She finishes on her (and your) back, with your legs up in the air and you bring them out, then scissor in, then switch front and back.  Again you do this 15 times, working up to 25.

I don't know.  It's a good introduction into leg work, but when she does the plee-ay, she only does one side.  The hell?  I had to do the left side after the workout.

2 Mile Workout

This was fun to do, it's been a while because I had been so in the habit of doing the three mile.  One thing I noticed in this is that Leslie Sansone is an excellent caller - you are rarely, if ever, caught unawares.  She is alone during this workout, which I prefer, as I've said.  It's a good workout, I did it with 2 lbs. of weights, just wrist-type weights.  It's 34 minutes long, maybe 30 minutes of walking, so 15 minute miles is what you're doing.  That's a pretty good pace for most of it, particularly considering that you are doing not just walking, but step outs, knees up, side steps, etc.  I didn't do anything yesterday, so I am one day off but I am hoping tomorrow I'll be able to do two.  We'll see - I always have high hopes for the weekends and they are almost always dashed.  :)  

Walking Down Blood Sugar

I guess I am going to go through all the walking workouts first.  I think I've done this before, they are SUPER repetitive, I'm realizing now.  On this one, she has six other people with her, which I really don't like.  If I wanted to go to the gym with Do Everything Too Much Guy or Don't Do Hardly Anything Girl or Whoops So Loud You Hate Her Lady, I would go to the gym!  But whatever, its fine, it's Walking Down Your Blood Sugar, so the people are older and heavier.  I learned tonight that Leslie has kind of a cackle going when she gets really funny.  BUT she is so positive and ... kind or something, I really enjoy her workouts.  If I could get Leslie Sansone to do the Jillian Michaels workout, that would be perfect.  But we'll get to Jillian.  Anyway, this is just like the others, 24 minutes, too short, etc.  At the end tonight, she said "didn't that go fast?" and I thought of course it did!  It was TWENTY FOUR minutes, ha!

Walk and Tone

When I was pregnant with Maria and had gestational diabetes, I did this work out a lot, or at least I thought it was the same workout.  It's not.  It's a short (24 minute) workout, segmented into walking or toning.  There's basically a warm up (with the standard four Sansone walking moves - walking, kicks, side to side moves, and knees up) and then walking, then toning, walking again, and toning.  It's the same four backup people.  She recommends that you use weights for the toning parts, I only used 2 lb. weights because my 5 lb. weights were upstairs and the girls were sleeping up there.  So it wasn't hard, but it could have been harder.

The music is just fine for this, it's got a good, easy to hear beat, which is all that matters, really.  Leslie adds a move in this that I haven't done before, it's a "walk and run".  It's the same as a step, step, cha-cha-cha move from aerobics, I think.

It's a good workout, not hard, but it's too short.  It would be a better workout if the time were doubled, I think.

Cardio Slimdown - Leslie Sansone

It says the Cardio Slimdown is 24 minutes but it's more like 20, which was disappointing.  I have been doing Leslie Sansone's mile workouts since I was pregnant with Maria and she's 2.5, so ... more than three years.  I started with the one mile when I was pregnant and have gone up to the 3 mile in the last year or so.  I have plantar fascitis so I haven't been working out for a while now, except for these damned 100 pushups I'm doing, so I was sad to see the 3 mile is gone from Exercise TV.  I did this because it was the longest.  

It's a fine workout, she does it with four other people, two women my age-ish (42) and one guy and one younger girl.  I am not fond of workouts with other people.  In Sansone's 1, 2 and 3 mile workouts, she is alone, which is what I prefer.  I love Chalene Johnson and Turbo Jam and Turbo Sculpt but I do NOT like some of the people she has working out with her.  I should say, I just don't find them very motivating.  I don't think it's motivating to see fakety fake smiles and white man overbite dancing during workouts.  Shake it or don't, but don't be all hip hop if you're not, is my advice.  I also don't like when people OVERDO it.  It's not impressive if you are waving your arms higher than everyone else, especially if it's during a cool down. I'm talking to YOU, red headed lady from Cardio Slimdown.  

Leslie says it's about a mile of exercise, which didn't feel like enough for the day.  I did this and my pushups (49) and I probably should have done this twice to get enough cardio.  It's hard to start over again, though, right?  Once you've warmed up and worked out and cooled down.  I wish they had a longer option.  

First Post

I had a thought tonight while I was gearing up to do a new workout on Exercise tv.  I am blaming my sister, who is blogging her experience listening to every channel on her cable music tv.  I am going to work out every day and do a different exercise tv sample.  I always want to work out more, and I'm always bored to tears.  I am also in the middle (almost exactly - 49) of a 100 pushup challenge, so it should be a fun addition.  I'm totally stuck at a 25 pound weight loss (weight watchers) so maybe this will help?  Maybe?  We'll see.