Last week I reviewed the first half of The Tummy Safe Path to Great Abs. It has been great both reviewing old workouts and even tackling a few new ones. I can’t say that I feel like a different person, but I feel confident enough to keep going. I really want to believe that this can be enough for me. If I’m being honest, I know part of me doubts it. I keep thinking I must not be sweating enough or hurting enough for this to be doing the job. I haven’t lost any weight, but I do feel like I may be a little stronger. When I lift my son I try to do a proper squat and focus on an engaged core. I’ve begun getting up early most days to try and start the day right. I do feel like there might be a little more definition in my arms and tone to my legs. So I’m going to keep pressing forward
This workout really is balanced between arms and other body parts. It involves weights so it does have that extra element, but it could be done without the weights and still be a good workout. The main component of this workout is balance, something that is so important, especially as we age. Having good core engagement and balance will help keep us mobile and independent as we grow older. Beth mentions in the workout that this is especially good for helping to strengthen our bone density, which is something that as a woman in my thirties, I realize may become an issue for the first time. I subbed this for an arm workout one day (such as Ultimate Upper Body or Insane Upper Body) and I found it worked well. I was a little sore from overdoing it earlier in the week, so this took the difficulty down a notch, but still really made me work for it. This was a favorite when I encountered it during Fit2B Beginning and it continues to be so.
The first of two of it’s kind, this is a low key workout, but I wouldn’t quite call it relaxing. I loved Pilates before I discovered Fit2B, and then I realized that almost everything I was doing was damaging my core. I was so disappointed. So I was happy to see a couple of more traditional Pilates based workouts on the Tummy Safe protocol.
I think I this even better than Pilates in Pajamas the original because it incorporates the weights aspect to it. Even though it wasn’t super long, I definitely felt like I was getting a good workout, yet it still manages to feel somewhat relaxing. While I don’t usually do this in my pajamas I do like that Bethany is promoting fitness, regardless of what you wear. Having to change into the proper clothing can be a real barrier to working out, but the whole philosophy behind Fit2B and Pilates in Pajamas especially is that what matters is that you are ready to take care of your body, not what you are wearing. Since you are at home, you don’t have to worry about anyone looking at you and wearing the proper attire, as long as you are comfortable.
I like the alignment check up at the beginning, which makes this another great workout if you are transitioning from abdominal rehab. After doing this workout for the third or fourth time I remember why it isn’t a favorite of mine. All the incline planes. I know these are great for your abs, but I’ve never really liked them. It probably has to do with my subpar upper body strength. I find it especially difficult when Beth has us in a modified inclined plane position and using our hips to swing up onto one hand. That really is tough on my upper back and it takes everything I’ve got not to compensate with another muscle group. However, since the point of this is to see some progression in my strength. I will probably come back to this one again in the future to see if it’s gotten any easier.
This workout embodies much of what I love and miss about traditional Pilates workouts. It has the difficulty I’m looking for while still feeling relaxing. Adding the weights is really great. I am a fan of Ultimate Upper Body and Insane Upper Body, but I don’t always have time to do workouts that only focus on my upper body. So ones like this are great because they add the weight component while still giving a soothing, Pilates and Yoga style workout.
This workout still hasn’t been fixed on Roku since last time I reviewed it. Which is a shame because if it was I would do it more often. I like the length of this workout because it reminds me of the kind of workouts I used to do (before I realized how bad they were for my core.) It definitely has the difficulty I was looking for. Who knew that Tummy Safe workout could include V sits and Teasers, as long as you do them properly? (Not that I’ve ever loved Teasers). It was nice to see Bethany promoting the difficult abdominal movements, once your core has recovered. Healthy abs and flat abs should be synonymous.
This workout seems deceptively simple. But sometimes slow and sustained movements are much more difficult than fast or complicated ones. It is aptly named. The routine is make up of various poses, movements and postures focusing on core engagement and alignment, each held for 20-30 seconds. Sounds easier than it is. As usual Beth provides suggested modifications or alterations but the focus really is on holding the positions with engaged core. The difficulty comes when trying not to sacrifice proper alignment, especially the one legged movements that also require balance. This is not a fast moving workout, but neither would I call it relaxing. It’s a great choice once you start getting more comfortable with engaging your core on command.
This is closest to traditional abdominal exercises that I’ve seen on Fit2B. If you are used to focusing more closely on your abdominals, such as Pilates ab workouts, then this is what you’ll want to try. There are no crunches, no hundred but lots of strong core work. Many of the movements mimic what you would expect from a regular ab workout, except they are totally tummy safe.
So the question is, where do I go next? Next week I’ll be reviewing the Pathway to Amazing Arms and then I’ll see what inspires me next.
Bringing Back Fit2B: An Update
What Are the Foundational Five?
Kelly Dean on Fit2B: A Tummy Team Collaboration
Fit2B on Vacation: A Week of Relaxation
Fit2B Transitioning: The Tummysafe Pathway to Great Abs
Fit2B Training: The Tummysafe Path to Great Abs Part 1
Don’t forget you can use the coupon code laundryblog to save 30% off a Fit2B Studio yearly membership. That’s less than $7 a month.
