star trainers:strength

[Guest guest]

hi everyone!

started my workout today with snow shovelling... ugh! we got

dumped on :/ 30 mins

then walked chinook for 50 mins, 279 cals. it was still snowing,

coming strong from the south... which means i get a face full for

30 mins. alot of our winter weather has been coming from the

south/southwest this year... it used to always (logically) come from

the north. weird!

this evening i did 2 episodes of star trainers: strength -- cal burn

243.

first was kendall hogan, who looks a bit different than in his old

crunch step workout. a bit fuller and, strangely, kind of younger

looking. he still has that bounce to his step though and cute

smile... an engaging instructor who is perfect for leading

beginners. and, yes, this workout is at the experienced-beginner

level. *except* for one exercise... holding plank while rowing a

dumbell, alternating arms. and actually i couldnt do it because i

wasnt using hex shaped dumbells at the time, which are required. i

will practice this on my own with a different pair some time... it

looked like a good exercise. kendall doesnt give you time to

change weights, so you end up using one pair for the workout.

but everything is compounded (he starts with the basic move and

gradually adds on), so you are

limited to your lighter weights anyway. also, iirc, he doesnt do

more than 2 sets of 8 for anything. he also gives you recovery

time between exercises and has a lengthy water break. these things

arent bad... just better for novices.

a pleasant set and lighting. music is that standard workout

stuff... not notable.

i laughed at the end because kendall was drenched in sweat and his

backgrounders (4 or 5 women, wearing makeup) looked perfect. i was

not sweating... this was a good warmup. no spliced commercial

breaks.... but the trainers do plug exercisetv and propel water.

23 mins.

next i did gay gasper's workout. thankfully it was more

challenging (intermediate level). she moves right along and

doubles up the dumbells so

you use more weight for this workout. she also suggests that you

could use heavier dumbells for laying chest. her cueing could have

been better during the warmup, but she was fine during the rest of

the workout. ive always liked gay and her workouts though. she

also compounds most of the exercises, and includes some pulses and

combos. she did more sets than kendall did in his workout. there

is one water break in this workout, but it is not as long as

kendall's. same set and different nondescript music. 22 mins.

:*carolyn.