Jillian Michaels Shred it with Weights level 1

Well, we moved into "Beta" stage in our morning T25 workouts today (Beta Core Cardio), meaning we are now officially advanced! I loved today's workout. But, tonight, I wanted something more weights instead of cardio. This workout is one I've had on my radar. And, it looked like it would be weights with a little cardio, so bonus. I did not wear my heart rate monitor tonight, though. I wish I would have. I felt like my heart rate did get up there sometimes.

This workout was pretty intense with the 15 pound weight I was using. She uses kettle bells, though her "basic" person used a small dumbbell. I am not sure what weight she was using, but I'd guess around 15 pounds. I'd say if you are just starting out, go with 10. If you are a guy or really super strong, go 20. 

I really enjoyed the workout. It wasn't too high impact, though there were some big arm swings that could be difficult if you have shoulder problems and some squat jumps (tough on feet/knees) in one of the circuits. 

If you want to get toned, I say go for this one! It's only 25 minutes with about a three minute cooldown afterward, so a time saver!  Link--> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w2ssgjdIts

Do any of you have any killer weights workouts that you know about? I'd love to try Body Beast... :)

Diet Soda Cake

This isn't exercise, but I modified a recipe to cut calories and figured I'd share.

Main ingredient stuff-->

Diet Mtn Dew Cake

1 box lemon cake mix (160 cal/srv x 12 servings=1920 calories)

1 can Diet Mtn Dew (0 calories)

1 tsp lime juice (0 calories)

1 serving natural applesauce (50 calories total)

1 package sugar free Instant pistachio pudding mix (30 cal/srv x 4 servings=120 calories)

Mix all incredients; blend well. Pour into 8x8 foil pan (what I did) or larger. It makes more than just the pan. Bake at 350 degrees.  Made some mini-cupcakes with the leftover batter; those took about 15 minutes to cook.  The recipe I used called for 30 minutes. I'd say 30-35, depending on your oven.

Topping

1/3 cup Splenda (0 calories)

1/2 can crushed pineapple in juice (not syrup)  (roughly 160 calories total)

1 tsp of cornstarch (trace)

Mix in a saucepan. Bring to boil.  Pour pineapple mixture over the cake to finish. 

Separately, I took 10 squirts of spray butter, a few tsp of coconut (70 calories for a serving), and 1 tsp lime juice and browned the coconut to sprinkle on top.

Total calories for entire recipe=2320

12 servings would be 193 calories per serving

My new favorite 10 minute workout!

I had an ice cream tonight....so, I decided another little workout was in order. I searched for 10 minute workouts, thinking I'd just go hard for 10 minutes and then maybe do it again if I felt like it. And, I did! 

Here it is-->  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-VH0aTOOik
PopSugarLiving's Fat Blasting 10-Minute Workout Video With Jeanette Jenkins

I LOVED this workout! It's a challenge with some "not real simple" moves, which I really enjoyed. And, it starts off with "Burpee Push Shuffle." Scared? You should be! But, it's only 10 reps. So, you can do it. PUSH YOURSELF!

You do need a set of hand weights. She uses two 5-pound weights. I used those the first round that I did. The second round, I subbed a 15-pound weight for the overhead extensions. 

This workout is over before you know it. She has a little "rep countdown clock" on the corner of the screen. The starting clock is only 9:30, so it's a quick workout. I just tapped side to side for 30 seconds at the end so my heart rate would be for a full 10 minutes and you can see below... 143 bpm average! That's awesome.

It's five exercises and they are total body, which makes your time well spent:

• Burpee Push Shuffle
• Squat Leg Lift Medial Delt
• Front Kick Two Hand Touch
• Back Row Fly with Booty Tap
• Grand Plie with Overhead Extension

And, she gives you a good 10-15 seconds between each exercise to catch your breath and introduce the next set. So, you do get to bring your heart rate down just a little bit before moving on.  I love that it is a lot of up and down or big motions, so your heart rate really soars AND you are using lots of core. I hate slow, boring core workouts, so this is much more my style.

Well, what are you waiting for!? Try it! Or at least bookmark it! I enjoyed my two rounds tonight! :)

30 min cardio and core interval

Found this gal's channel today--> http://www.youtube.com/user/joannasohofficial?feature=watch

And did the 30 minute cardio & core interval workout. ==> 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO4LDgRoYdQ

She claims you can burn 275-350 calories if you do it hard without stopping. Seems about right. 

I enjoyed the workout. It did have quite a bit of jumping or hopping to it. And it was true intervals. You'd get your heart rate up and go down, over and over. It is a cardio core, so you have quite a bit of floor work every now and then as well. I hate to do core, so I figured this might be a good way to sneak it in. 

You know I'm a nut about heart rate and most abs workouts are a total wash on the calories (I think T25 abs runs me around 105 bpm, which is totally blah). This workout was better for me--132 bpm average. I had an abnormal spike at the beginning, but after that, it seems accurate. 

There was a two minute cool down at the end, and it was just stretching, so I didn't include that in my heart rate analysis and stats. 

Overall, it was a nice challenge with some core work added in. Give it a try!

Insanity Pure Cardio

A friend of ours loaned us his Insanity DVDs and since today is 'day off' for T25, I figured I'd go see what all the fuss was about Insanity. I've considered doing it before, but the workouts are longer than I have time to do in the mornings and I don't always have time to work out in the evening. 

First off, I decided to do Pure Cardio. I figured that would probably be the most heart thumping one of the first month workouts. Just a guess (I'll try Plyo next). And, the heart rate chart doesn't lie--

(I did miss the first minute of the workout data...forgot to hit start on my Garmin) The workout started off quickly going right into jogging in place, jumping jacks, and other cardio things (like high knees, butt kicks, etc.). You do them for a certain amount of time. Then, the set repeats two more times, each time getting faster and faster. So, you see my heart rate chart climbs quickly. Then, you'll notice a dip. He goes into a recovery/stretching period. I admit, I'm not huge into long stretches and this seemed really long, getting my heart rate way back down (but I get that stretching is good for muscles). But, once that was over, it amped up. I jumped quickly to 160 bpm and the next 20 minutes was tough. I was pretty proud, though, that it was hard for me, but not impossible. I never stopped for more than 3 seconds and the only modification I made was on a sequence that started with pushups (I did lady pushups instead of on my toes). And, it hurt but it was a great workout.  The workout ended with another 5 minutes of stretching but after having the heart rate up so high, it actually leveled out a little bit and didn't dip so low. Even 20 minutes after the workout, I was still holding above 100 and my resting heart rate is more like 65. For the whole workout, my average heart rate was 141, which is pretty close to my average heart rate for T25 Cardio. 

Unlike T25, he makes no modifications for people who aren't quite ready for this level of cardio. So, you will have to just slow down and do your own pace or just do something else if it gets too hard. The screen does remind you to "keep moving" if it gets too hard. You see the people on the video stop or improvise at times, too. 

So, it was a good workout. There are many free workouts on YouTube that will probably get you the same results, and if you have the time to do it, I am sure it will yield results. I'll see how I feel after I try a few more of the workouts!

Let's Get Fit Intervals w/step

Hey, I remembered that I had an aerobic step under my bed, so I looked for a step workout with weights and ran across this one. It was pretty challenging, but not too hard (if that makes sense) but you need a step and some weights. You can probably get by with just light weights, but if you typically do weight training, you might keep a heavier set as well. I used some 5s and 10s depending on the exercise. And, if you don't have a step, you could just do it on the floor, but the step definitely makes it more challenging. You can find the workout here on YouTube-->
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkGZ20zZC0w







What I Liked:

• It was intervals, so you do some cardio and then break for some weights or strength training. My heart rate average was 129, which doesn't sound great, but there are parts where you are just holding in a plank or not moving, so it's a little misleading. It was a good workout.
• You don't constantly use the step, but she works it in. I liked some of the motions on the step (half lunges and squats, hop ups, triple jumps) and they really increased the heart rate. 
• Check out the ups and downs on my heart rate chart! Good stuff!

Concerns:

• Push-ups. Enough said. But, I did them. It is a little heavy on shoulder and if you have shoulder problems, she does address some modifications.
• It is a little repetitive. Some people like that and some don't. You might like doing three rounds of something because after the first time, you know what you are doing (I had a basketball game on... ugh, Razorbacks on the road...) and you can just watch TV and listen for cues. 
• There is quite a bit of jumping and hopping. And, some of lateral hopping, which is tough on the knees. I heard lots of popping as I stepped and hopped. So, if you have knee problems, you might want to pass (or opt for trying it without a step). I just fought through it since I liked the workout. 

Recommend? I think it's a good workout. It was a little bit longer from start to finish than I generally like. There were a few places I felt she paused too long and the end has two minutes of talking, but you need at least 35 minutes to get through it (though she says it's under a half hour).

Saturday Morning-- 20 Minute Interval Workout

It's Saturday and I'm down over 4 pounds from last Saturday (man, what getting back into the routine after extended Christmas break can do!!). So, I celebrated with baking cinnamon rolls. :) Then, started looking for a 15-20 minute workout. I'm planning to some big cardio on the treadmill later, but started searching for intervals and ran across this one-->
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYsfecaHmBs

Note that I didn't have my heart rate monitor on (heck, I'm still in my PJs and socks) so I don't have official numbers for this one. :)

What I Liked:

• It didn't require tennis shoes; I was able to do this in my sock feet (Our T25 workout we do during the week requires tennis shoes and a mat... it's TOUGH on the feet! This is not!)
• They gave three levels-- the instructor does the "normal" and then there is an advanced and a level 1 person also doing the workout. Level 1 stays low impact all the time with no jumping. Advanced uses a hand weight during much of the workout and during the jumping jacks, she does air jacks (fun). I loved this option and used a weight to tone my upper body more (just a  5 pound hand weight). 
• The instructor was pretty good. She reminded you to "smile" all the time. You should be able to breathe and smile during the workout. So, if you can't smile and are huffing and puffing, you need to calm down a little. I thought that was a nice cue.
• It's intervals so you do cardio for 2-4 minutes and then strenghtening/toning for 2-4 minutes. The time seemed go really quickly, honestly. I did think some of the "down time" moments were a little too long, but I did get a decent amount of sweat and she really tried to get your heart rate to go up and down. 
• 20 minutes. The first 2 minutes are warmup, but then after that, she hits the ground running.  
• The cardio segments aren't just the same thing the entire time. She starts something and builds up.

Concerns:

• Not many!  I probably wouldn't use it as my one and only workout for the day, but if you want to squeeze in something early and then do something more rigorous later in the day, it's nice for stretching, getting your joints and circulation going, and for toning.

I really liked this workout. It wasn't greatly difficult and it wasn't going to put my heart rate through the roof, but it was enjoyable. For anyone new to working out, give this a try. It's a nice workout and since there are modifications, you can do it with friends and everyone can handle it their own way.