I feel like I’ve been falling off the wagon lately. March is birthday month in our family so I’ve been eating A LOT of cake and other sweets. I also spent a week caring for two sick kids and a sick husband with the stomach flu. I had a couple of rough weeks. Taking care of two children and a husband with the stomach bug has meant I haven’t gotten much sleep. My diet has also suffered. It feels like my process after months of work has gotten eaten up in two weeks of poor diet and a week of lack of exercise. Hopefully as I get consistent again, I will see a quick return of my progress.
WEEK 4 GOAL: Three Studio Workouts + One Wellness Day
Studio Workout One: Warm-up for 5-10 minutes then do Pilates & Yoga Loaded I
I used Classic Flow A as my warm up and I really enjoyed it in that capacity. It fits right in with Beth’s gentle style of fitness. You could use this as a gentle warm up in the morning or and easy transition before bed. I opted for my lighter set of 3 lb weights for Pilates and Yoga Loaded since I hadn’t done it in a while. It was enough. It required so much concentration to keep my core really engaged, but I was able to do it.
Studio Workout Two: Do Chair Pilates as a warm-up then do Backside Burner II
It has been a long time since I did either of these workouts. While both were effective and I enjoyed the gentle movement of them, I can’t say that either was a stand out. But then again, variety is always good, and I’m very grateful for the wide variety provided by Fit2B.
Studio Workout Three: Warm-up for 5-10 minutes then do Rockin’ Yoga & Pilates
Warrior Workout made a great warm up and eased me into Rockin Yoga and Pilates. I always forget how intense this is. I had to really concentrate on engaging my core, but I felt strong. The side leg series always kicks my butt (both literally and figuratively). I am still adjusting to longer workouts. Sometimes it seems to take forever to get through. Hopefully I’ll adjust and be able to focus more without being distracted by all the other things I “should” be doing.
Wellness Day: Checkout Defining Deltoids & Do 20-30 minutes of cardio!
It’s been a while since I did this workout. About halfway through I was thinking how well I was doing with the choreography and then the second half I kept getting lost. Even if it feels too complicated, just keep moving. It’s okay if you are stepping at the wrong time on the wrong foot. If you just keep your heart rate up, it will be an excellent cardio workout for you.
I was worried about Defining Deltoids, since I’ve only done it once before. This is a great workout. It only uses dumbbells for maybe half of it and Beth doesn’t do tons of reps, so I was able to manage to use my heavier 6 lb weights with proper form for the whole workout, which really surprised me. I love the important stretching of the upper back and shoulders at the beginning. I’ve done many of them before in the shoulder workout, but something about Beth’s cuing caused me to get a different stretch this time, which was great. I definitely have some tension in my upper back since I started listing heavier weights, so I was grateful for an opportunity to work on that area specifically.
Combined with Basic Step II, which is primarily a leg workout, this was a perfect combination. Yes, it was nearly an hour. I rarely have an hour to spare anymore. But I remember now why an hour is a great length for me.
BONUS: Do your best to do at least one (maybe two) 30-minute medium-intensity cardio sessions.
I have been looking forward to trying this new workout. I’ll be honest, I find weight lifting tedious. Give me some intense cardio in a fun routine like Kickboxing or Aerobics; or a Couch to 5K program. But I also wanted the benefits that come from lifting weights. So I’ve been making sure to incorporate routines with weights several times a week. I like that Beth uses several different levels of weights. I also appreciates the use of dumbbells in deadlifts instead of barbells. This makes it much more accessible to those of us who won’t be purchasing new equipment any time soon. (That being said, I really wanted to run out and get some heavier dumbbells after realizing what I could do).
I love the concept of Tabata, especially the way Beth does it. I like that she tries to keep the exercises from being too tedious. This particular one isn’t as intense as Tabata Kick and Squat, but it is a good solid workout that hits several major muscle groups while still being light to medium cardio.
The workouts are definitely getting harder and after the week I just had, it’s tempting to give up. But I know it’s better to just get back on the horse. So I’m throwing myself into Week 5. Let’s see how it goes.
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