I am either officially old, wasn't in as good of shape as I thought I was, I moved too quickly into a really difficult workout, and/or I need to buy a new pair of workout shoes. :( I'm hoping that it's the latter although I think it's all of the above. Turbo Fire has done amazing things for my energy but my Achilles tendon is still achy. I think it's a good thing, though, that it only hurts when I've been sitting for a while and not after having been in bed all night and then standing up. They feel tight so I'm working on stretching them but I can't take any NSAID's (ibuprofen, naproxen, etc.) because of my allergy. Every single pill contains the vegetable gum I'm allergic to. What are you gonna do?!?!?! I'm working on getting one compounded for me but in the meantime, the pharmacist has me taking Children's Tylenol. HA! :)
I'm hopeful that after a weekend of rest, I'll be able to resume my regular exercise routine. In the meantime, I'll just be walking around with a gangsta limp.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Workout video junkie am I
My name is Ronnie Contreras, and I'm a workout video junkie/addict. In my defense, I do actually use almost all of the workout videos I have and due to my addiction, I have made it a point to find them at a bigger discount by purchasing used copies (not bootlegged though.) Anyway, my most recent purchase was Turbo Fire. It is UH-MAZING! Here is a list of my workout dvds in no particular order.
1. Tony Horton's 10 minute trainer: excellent workout! I used it to help ease me back into working out one 10 minute workout at a time following my c-section with Nicolas. I was able to stack them after a month and I still throw a workout in when I'm running low on time and need an overall awesome workout.The ab workout is killer and more effective and efficient than any other ab workout I've tried.
2. Zumba-Total Body Transformation: the original zumba set. This is an awesome workout but not super duper crazy intense. Without dieting, it helped me lose 5 lbs and I call it my "when I don't feel like working out" workout. It makes me sweat. Once I put myself on Weight Watchers, I lost my last 10 lbs with it.
3. Tracy Anderson Post Pregnancy Workout: really long, difficult video but excellent workout. I learned quickly that the TAM (Tracy Anderson Method) is not realistic for me. I actually want to vomit any time I hear Gwyneth talking about how TA changed her body, blah blah blah. Well, I'm pretty sure that if somebody has the time to commit to 5, 1-hour dance cardio workouts and 5 1 to 2-hour resistance training sessions a week, you better end up with a different body and maybe even an eating disorder or two. Just sayin'.
4. Zumba Exhilarate: it took me a while to warm up to this one but it is an excellent workout. The sentao workout is amazing, and the toning workout is great, but I miss the original instructors Tanya Beardsley and Gina Grant. They are featured in one of the easier workouts that is not intense enough for me. The music is very Latin American (Latin techno) as opposed to U.S. Latino/Hispanic (merengue, salsa, etc.) oriented like the Zumba TBT. Most of the workouts annoy me because it is not live instructional. The workouts are filmed without the instructors talking and the voices are added in after the fact so that the viewer has the choice to shut off vocal instruction. That is the biggest downside for me and it makes me sad. :( I'm hopeful that the next zumba collection will include the awesome instructors, Tanya and Gina doing live instruction. Some of the workouts remind me of white girls on ecstasy dancing at a rave. *I know many white girls that can dance, these white girls I think were chosen for their outward appearance as opposed to dancing skill.*
5. Turbo Fire: Chalene Johnson is a spaz but like she said, "I have found my workout soul mate." It is high energy and the woman has me drenched in sweat every time, even only during one of the 15 or 20 minute HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts. Even on mornings like today when I was feeling kinda tired, I finished the workout with incredible energy. I can't speak highly enough of the workout, but you definitely have to be in decent physical shape to start out because she does not mess around. All the jumping has my Achilles tendon feeling a bit strained but I'm definitely trying to work on healing it quickly so I can get back to my crazy workouts soon. Highly recommend this one.
6. P90x: this one is actually Eddy's but because it helped me in my weight loss journey, I'll give it a quick critique. It is an amazing workout that I think is geared more toward men or for women who are looking to get ripped and not for weight loss. It includes a "lean" module which allows you to focus more on getting leaner but there isn't enough intense cardio for my taste. I like the cardio x, stretch x, and kenpo x. The Yoga x is ridiculously hard but definitely a great workout too.
We'll see what Eddy lets me indulge in next. :) I'm stuck on Turbo Fire for now so we'll see in what direction I go once I've finished my 90 days. My energy is oh so high and I love it. WOOHOO.
1. Tony Horton's 10 minute trainer: excellent workout! I used it to help ease me back into working out one 10 minute workout at a time following my c-section with Nicolas. I was able to stack them after a month and I still throw a workout in when I'm running low on time and need an overall awesome workout.The ab workout is killer and more effective and efficient than any other ab workout I've tried.
2. Zumba-Total Body Transformation: the original zumba set. This is an awesome workout but not super duper crazy intense. Without dieting, it helped me lose 5 lbs and I call it my "when I don't feel like working out" workout. It makes me sweat. Once I put myself on Weight Watchers, I lost my last 10 lbs with it.
3. Tracy Anderson Post Pregnancy Workout: really long, difficult video but excellent workout. I learned quickly that the TAM (Tracy Anderson Method) is not realistic for me. I actually want to vomit any time I hear Gwyneth talking about how TA changed her body, blah blah blah. Well, I'm pretty sure that if somebody has the time to commit to 5, 1-hour dance cardio workouts and 5 1 to 2-hour resistance training sessions a week, you better end up with a different body and maybe even an eating disorder or two. Just sayin'.
4. Zumba Exhilarate: it took me a while to warm up to this one but it is an excellent workout. The sentao workout is amazing, and the toning workout is great, but I miss the original instructors Tanya Beardsley and Gina Grant. They are featured in one of the easier workouts that is not intense enough for me. The music is very Latin American (Latin techno) as opposed to U.S. Latino/Hispanic (merengue, salsa, etc.) oriented like the Zumba TBT. Most of the workouts annoy me because it is not live instructional. The workouts are filmed without the instructors talking and the voices are added in after the fact so that the viewer has the choice to shut off vocal instruction. That is the biggest downside for me and it makes me sad. :( I'm hopeful that the next zumba collection will include the awesome instructors, Tanya and Gina doing live instruction. Some of the workouts remind me of white girls on ecstasy dancing at a rave. *I know many white girls that can dance, these white girls I think were chosen for their outward appearance as opposed to dancing skill.*
5. Turbo Fire: Chalene Johnson is a spaz but like she said, "I have found my workout soul mate." It is high energy and the woman has me drenched in sweat every time, even only during one of the 15 or 20 minute HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts. Even on mornings like today when I was feeling kinda tired, I finished the workout with incredible energy. I can't speak highly enough of the workout, but you definitely have to be in decent physical shape to start out because she does not mess around. All the jumping has my Achilles tendon feeling a bit strained but I'm definitely trying to work on healing it quickly so I can get back to my crazy workouts soon. Highly recommend this one.
6. P90x: this one is actually Eddy's but because it helped me in my weight loss journey, I'll give it a quick critique. It is an amazing workout that I think is geared more toward men or for women who are looking to get ripped and not for weight loss. It includes a "lean" module which allows you to focus more on getting leaner but there isn't enough intense cardio for my taste. I like the cardio x, stretch x, and kenpo x. The Yoga x is ridiculously hard but definitely a great workout too.
We'll see what Eddy lets me indulge in next. :) I'm stuck on Turbo Fire for now so we'll see in what direction I go once I've finished my 90 days. My energy is oh so high and I love it. WOOHOO.
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