This Week in Fitness

First, let me say that this week was a little weird because A) I am still recovering from my injury, B) I came down with a cold halfway through the week, and C) Alex's parents and sister came in town on Thursday to visit us for the long weekend. All things considered, I'm happy with my overall accomplishments this week though! It could have been a lot worse. :)

Monday 5/23: 4-Week Fat Blaster Workout (Weeks 1 & 2, Monday) including the cardio interval workout

Tuesday 5/24: Jackie Warner X-treme Timesaver Training (see review below)

Wednesday 5/25: 5.6 mile run/walk. (It went something like this: run 1.5 miles, walk .5 mile, run 1 mile, walk .5 mile, run 1 mile, walk the rest of the way home (about a mile). I really tried to take it easy and stop running as soon as I felt my ankle/foot start hurting. I was also dealing with feeling like I was coming down with a cold, so that was another reason not to push it too hard.)

Thursday 5/26: Sick/Rest Day

Friday 5/27: 4 mile run/walk with my sis-in-law (Hi, Andrea!!) who was visiting (I was sick with a cold and she was adjusting to the high altitude so we just took it easy. We ran the first mile, walked half a mile, ran half a mile, and then walked the rest.)

Saturday 5/28: Sick/Rest Day

Sunday 5/29: Sick/Rest Day

Fitness DVD Review of the Week: Personal Training with Jackie: X-treme Timesaver Training

So I ordered a couple of new workout DVD's from Amazon last week. One of them was the Jackie Warner Power Circuit Training DVD, which I had done via Exercise OnDemand a couple of times and LOVED. Unfortunately, it's no longer available on EOD so I broke down and ordered it because I like it so much. For only $7.99, I figured it was worth it!

I also ended up impulse purchasing another one of Jackie's DVDs, X-treme Timesaver Training. I had never tried this one before, but since I loved Jackie's other DVD so much I was hoping for the best.

X-treme Timesaver Training is only 30 minutes, as opposed to the almost hour-long Power Circuit Training. Jackie has you do compound movements that combine many different muscles for 1 minute each.

It. Was. Tough.

This DVD is definitely not for beginners! I was using 3-pound dumbbells the whole time (for reference, I usually use 5-8 lbs on most DVDs) and still dying. Plus, a lot of the moves are extra challenging since they combine several different things at once. It requires a lot of balance and concentration!

I liked that there were no repeat circuits of moves during this workout. A lot of times I get really discouraged when I'm doing a move that I hate and I know I'm going to have to do another round of it again before I'm done. This workout solves that problem by just having you push your hardest through one solid minute of each move, and then you move on!

That being said, some of the moves do incorporate the same things but in different ways. For example, this workout has a TON of lunges but she incorporates the lunges into different compound movements and combinations. It burrrrrrned! But if it gets me a killer butt, then it's worth it! :)

Overall, I really like this DVD and would recommend to anyone at around an intermediate to advanced fitness level as a great strength training workout!