How did I just know this topic would be the most popular? Let’s catch up.
I started running, debated over shorts and shoes, completed the C25K program and kept it up for months. Unfortunately, my pesky right ankle would have nothing to do with my running plans. Add in cold winter mornings, a huge dose of laziness, and well, here I am after a stagnant winter and spring.
(My ankle feels great, though. Thanks for asking.)
During the past couple of months, I’ve been taking a Pilates class at my local community center, but my teacher has been less than stellar. It seems she would rather talk about Neti Pots and male Kegel muscles (did you know men can do Kegels too? No? Well, let me tell you about it again and again! And AGAIN.) than focus on the exercises. Plus, once a week is fun, but it’s pretty hard to see results at that rate.
Keep in mind I stay home with Wito, so day classes are out and I’m not really interested in a stinky gym with childcare. However, the motivation is there.
After seeing this post a year ago and this recent one, I decided I just HAD to buy this exercise DVD. (How could I not? DID YOU SEE LINDA’S ARMS? Good God.)
I found a gently used copy on Amazon, and it doesn’t disappoint, considering I am not the cardio-bouncy-dancing type. I don’t find Chalene, the instructor, to be annoying and the routine is challenging yet attainable. Oh, and it will make you sweat. I do this workout at 6 in the morning, before I can give myself the chance to make excuses. Plus, Wito is still sleeping so I don’t need to worry about delivering an accidental roundhouse kick to his noggin.
Earlier this year, I also bought this Pilates DVD (to supplement my Neti Kegel Class) and it rocks. It’s absolutely amazing how controlled movements can make such quick improvement to your body. The DVD has two different sections – one for beginners needing position modification and one for advanced beginners. Within each section is a full workout, plus tons of individual 10-20 minute segments (if you don’t have time for the full workout). I usually do the 30-minute full workout during Wito’s nap.
Combining these two workouts is awesome because you are working your body in completely different ways. Turbo Kick and Jam is more of a cardiovascular workout with quick muscle movements, while Pilates is completely controlled with very little movement. (Honestly, I was shocked at how sore I was after my first Pilates class. It burns, baby.) The combination of the two has really made a difference already. I highly recommend it.
(Plus, no gyms! Just you and the DVD player.)
So, my new exercise plan consists of this:
Turbo Kick and Jam – 2x/week
Pilates – 2x/week
And the kicker. My pinch hitter and seriously the best part of my workouts. The Wii Fit.
DUDE.
(You’ll have to wait to hear about that one until Friday, when I review it over at ParentDish. See photos of me in exercise pants, unsuccessfully trying to master yoga! BONUS.)
As for running, I do miss it and hope to sporadically add some runs into my regimen. (Although, let’s be serious. I have a drawer filled with 4,000 running-related items and it mocks me EVERY DAMN DAY. I have to run, if not for that reason alone.)
There you go! My new and improved kick ass workout plan!
Questions? Any other DVDs I should know about for the future? What’s YOUR workout plan this summer? Do tell.
Nicole
June 18, 2008 at 4:04 pmI cannot motivate myself to work-out at home to the TV. I just cant. I belong to a gym with child-care, so my week looks like this:
Monday – Bootcamp (running and drills and general ass whoopin)
Tuesday – Sculpt Interval (75 min. or=f cardio and strength intervals)
Wednesday – Yoga for an hour in the am and run in the evening
Thursday – sculpt interval again
Friday – usually I play with my kids and we get a pizza for lunch
Saturday – couples bootcamp with my husband (starts with a 2 mile run then various drills together, surprisingly an aphrodisiac *wink, nudge*)
I am training for a half marathon, so three days a week I do my run on my training schedule from Runners World, thats usually later in the evening when the kids are in bed. I did pilates after my first son and really loved it. I am getting really bulky with all the running, so I should incorporate it into my schedule.
Karen meg
June 18, 2008 at 5:07 pmAwesome plan!!! Very intense – you are so disciplined. I am looking for a Wii fit, but where the heck can you find one?
I try to get to the gym 2 -3 times a week; yes, stinky gym with childcare, but I’m one that needs the class to keep me motivated. I like the hip-hop aerobics, so should give the Turbo Jam a try; I used to do the pilates/yoga and weight class, and need to do that again.
Mind you, with the 3 times hip-hop a week, I’m the lowest weight I’ve been in over 10 years (even less than pre-kids); the thing about the hip-hop is the dance, I find I exercise my mind with the choreography while I get a workout. Two for the price of one!
rebecca
June 18, 2008 at 5:28 pmI LOVE the WiiFit! My husband and I are pretty competitive, so it’s getting us both motivated to exercise a lot more than we did before we got it. Can’t wait to hear your reviews. Thanks for the added motivation in those DVD recommendations.
Mocha
June 18, 2008 at 5:41 pmBicycling up to 23 miles like I did 2 summers ago.
My butt feels pretty sore but it’s fitting better in my shorts already. It’s only been a week!
MommyTime
June 18, 2008 at 6:24 pmWe just joined a (non-stinky) gym with a great daycare that the kids love — art projects, things to climb, etc. I am working out 3-4 times/wk running intervals on the treadmill, doing the arctrainer, and some weights. I really want to add 2 Pilates classes/wk as that’s my favorite exercise, but they’re all at inconvenient times. I do find that the consistency of going a lot is motivating in itself. It doesn’t hurt either that the place has a lovely outdoor pool, so I can take the kids swimming every day after I work out. It becomes a whole morning worth of activity for us all. I am very motivated by your sense of how quickly Pilates is making a sculpting difference to your body…maybe I’ll get myself off the couch for that one next week. :)
jonniker
June 18, 2008 at 7:55 pmI run, too, but MAN I want those arms. Also, I can’t run year-round here in twelve-foot drifts, so I think these videos are in my future. I can’t wait to hear about how they work for you.
Lyndsay
June 18, 2008 at 8:21 pmOk. DON’T LAUGH. I went to a free Jazzercise class and really liked it. They had good music and it wasn’t a bunch of 80-year-olds like I thought it would be.
I have no child care at night, but they do offer free childcare. I can just imagine the germs, though. I’m torn. Physical fitness vs. more ear infections and hand, foot, mouth disease? Still pondering.
wishcake
June 18, 2008 at 8:33 pmActually, I think I’ve finally found a workout plan that I can stick to. Ironically, it’s the one thing that has given me dry heaves up until this point in my life: running. It’s what has helped me lose those pesky 10 lbs. that I gained after, apparently, eating my way through my early-early-twenties and first two years of marriage.
The other day I ran 3.5 miles in 45 minutes and I felt like an Olympian. There are hardly words.
I actually don’t go that often – I’m bad with schedules, for some reason. I try to go 2-4 times a week, running either around my neighborhood or at the gym. I figure that as long as I’m doing something, I’ll feel good about myself.
For the other few days I SHOULD be doing something, I may have to pick up that Pilates DVD…
K
June 19, 2008 at 6:31 amI am a runner. I don’t have kids though and I run on my lunch break. I usually try to get in 15-20 miles of running a week. I work in DC so it’s mostly all flat. I occasionally do a hill sprint workout up Capitol Hill.
I stay motivated by signing up for races and then training for them. So far I’ve done a mix of 5ks, 10k, and a 15k. I’m now looking into doing a sprint triathlon and possibly a half marathon.
andrea
June 19, 2008 at 8:28 amI am literally counting down the days until the end of my pregnancy so I can start to get my fat ass back in shape. I’ve heard such great things about Turbo Jam that I think that will be where I start. Or perhaps I should start by cutting out the multiple milk shakes I drink daily…
Amanda Strong
June 19, 2008 at 11:35 amI’m a crazy running lady after training (and completing under my goal time!!) for my first half marathon earlier this year, so it’s really changed up my weekly routine. Now though, since I’m not training, I’ve gotten a little relaxed…
Monday: 4-5 miles
Tuesday: Weights + Belly Dance Class 2 hours
Wednesday: 4-5 miles
Thursday: Weights and 3 or 4 miles
Friday: Yoga/Active Rest
Saturday: 6-8 miles
Sunday: Active rest (usually a walk)
I will give a recommendation for the Firm products. I have been a certified fitness instructor for 7 years and find their videos to be some of the safest that I’ve tried and the easiest to adapt as you become stronger/have more endurance. The music and instructors are not annoying and look like healthy, normal women, not some testosterone shooting freaks.
Amanda Strong
June 19, 2008 at 11:35 amI’m a crazy running lady after training (and completing under my goal time!!) for my first half marathon earlier this year, so it’s really changed up my weekly routine. Now though, since I’m not training, I’ve gotten a little relaxed…
Monday: 4-5 miles
Tuesday: Weights + Belly Dance Class 2 hours
Wednesday: 4-5 miles
Thursday: Weights and 3 or 4 miles
Friday: Yoga/Active Rest
Saturday: 6-8 miles
Sunday: Active rest (usually a walk)
I will give a recommendation for the Firm products. I have been a certified fitness instructor for 7 years and find their videos to be some of the safest that I’ve tried and the easiest to adapt as you become stronger/have more endurance. The music and instructors are not annoying and look like healthy, normal women, not some testosterone shooting freaks.
Lyndsay
June 21, 2008 at 2:32 pmDo you live in a house that was built on a crawl space? If so, any type of bouncy/beach body exercise video is damned near impossible. The entire house literally convulses and one might think an earthquake had hit my block in Oklahoma. A vase fell off of my armoire and shattered. It was humiliating.
In the Trenches of Mommyhood
June 24, 2008 at 1:13 pmThanks for the great recommendations. I’m always looking for something to spice up my running routine.
I just posted on my site about my BFF and how her amazing bod is on the cover of a new workout video–the SWAT Workout.
Toast 2 Mom
June 26, 2008 at 8:13 pmHey – great tips! I am new to your blog…stumbled over from Moosh from Indy (the hair contest). I’m lovin’ your site(s). I just started my own little Mommy’s Summer Fitness Challenge on my site. Good to have some ideas to keep it going.