New Year: Sculpt Circuit 1-2 & HRM Adventures

[Guest guest]

P90 Day 2: I did Sculpt Circuit 1-2. I hadn't previewed this but that was fine. I recognized many of the exercise from Tony Horton's Power Half Hour videos so there weren't any surprises. I had to go as heavy as I could (8 lbs. because I don't have anything heavier) for most of the exercises because you do 8-15 reps (where I had time before the next I did more for many) and after doing Ripped to the Core last week 15 reps was like doing nothing for some of them without my heaviest weights! It seemed like most of the emphasis was on upper body and the lower body was just a few lunges and squats. Those were unweighted and definitely not enough for me. I might try holding weights next time to make them more challenging. I did find the pushups challenging. I got through the first set (standard pushups) fine. Then I think was wide arms and that was okay. Then there was one set of 21 where you did 7 standard, 7 wide and 7 narrow (tricep pushups). I could not complete the last 7 at all and probably not most of the 2nd 7 either. I expected that with pushups though. The tricep dips were also challenging because they were close to the end and especially using heavy weights my arms were definitely tired by that time. I think I managed 8 but definitely not 15. I used lighter weights for triceps and flies (3s or 5s for triceps and 5s for flies, I think I'll try 7s for those next time) and 5s or 7s for overhead lifts but I think I'll use 8s for those next time too.

I'm not sure I'd say this was "too easy" only because it moves quickly so the muscles get fatigued but few sets got me anywhere near the point of failure with the weights I have. The pushups and tricep dips too were really tough for me but I'm not sure those are enough to hold me back from moving onto Sculpt Circuit 3-4 soon. If I can get some 10s I'll have more of a challenge with this tape too. I'm considering purchasing them soon, assuming they're on sale somewhere, there's a Play It Again Sports across the street from where I work Wednesday so I will check that out this week or next. I could also try it with a band and see how much more difficult that makes it. I'm thinking I'll finish this week with just 1-2 and then consider trying 3-4 next week. It also depends on how much DOMS I have tomorrow!

My only criticism of this tape was that nowhere does Tony tell you how much weight anyone is using nor give any kind of weight range to suggest having available. For some, but not all exercises he tells you to have a heavy weight or especially a lighter one but it is hard to figure out your first time through, unless you've done the exercise before like I have with PHH, what you'll need. He moves quickly from exercise to exercise and you don't have much time to think, without pausing the tape, about what weights you want to use if you're not sure.There's no music and he suggests you put on some music that will make it fun for you but I didn't even notice the lack of music, maybe I will when I've done it a few more times.

HRM Adventures: LOVED using it but, learned that I need to have the band around my chest a lot tighter. Unfortunately it slipped down at some point and was no longer registering my heart rate. I didn't adjust it out of the box and probably should have. Oh well. Lesson learned. DH helped me make it tighter after my workout since I didn't want to interrupt it more for that (I'd already been playing with the Polar Own Zone feature and taking a lot of time up that way). I tried out various stretches, lunges, jumping jacks and other movements to see if I'd dislodge it and it seemed fine so tomorrow's Sweat Cardio (and Ab Ripper 100 which I also did yesterday but forgot to note in yesterday's workout post) will be a good test. It was much more comfortable than I'd anticipated and I hardly noticed it was there. I liked the wrist monitor too. The pink was fun to look at and the display was pretty clear even to my over 40 eyeballs! :-) Will download a motivating logo for it (possibly the You Go Girl that has) soon too, that will be even more fun! I think it will really motivate me to work harder in my workouts, especially when it stays in place! :-)

Okay Jen... I'm waiting to hear how this workout went for you today!