Stability Ball Week

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

I've been keeping up on digest, even though I haven't posted much

this week! Everyone is doing great, and I'm looking forward to

hearing about Chalene Extreme! My DH is off work this week, so I've

been enjoying having him around so much. We finished up xmas

shopping on Monday, so now all I have to do is a little baking and

then wrap the presents. My DH only has to work this Mon & Tues, and

then is off again until after New Years, too. So I'm not sure how

much I'll post next week, either. Might be busy out playing all the

great snow we have! We'll see. Oh, and I'm happy to report that

Quincy's eye is healed! No more e-collar! He's happy about that

after two months of wearing it all the time! The doc said that

there is some scarring, and he's likely to have the same problem on

one or both eyes in the future, but for now we're glad he's feeling

better!

Anyway, my stability ball week went pretty well. I wasn't feeling

100% at the beginning of the week, kind of blah and tired. I took a

rest day on Tues, and I'm okay with that since I was definitely

feeling more peppy on Wednesday. Here's what I did this week:

Mon: TLT – Finding Your Core –

Tues: rest

Wed: BLT On A Ball – Voight + You can do abs – Sansone

Thurs: tmill, 45 min

Fri – Project You – Lower Body/abs + Upper Body/abs – Kathy

Finding Your Core was a pretty good workout, but I was kinda bored

with it. Not sure why exactly, could have just been an off day.

has good cueing, and the music was catchy in places, but

overall I didn't love the workout. Some parts had a classic FIRM

feel, and the set was nice with a lovely water view outside the large

windows for a backdrop. had a lot of unique moves, and made

good use of the stability ball.

BLT (Butt, Legs, & Tummy) was enjoyable, and as my first Voight

workout, I liked it – and her. She is pleasant and encouraging, cues

well, and offers good form tips. This is a nice little workout at

just under 30 minutes. I've done the abs section from You Can Do Abs

before, but there is also a short upper body workout on this disc as

well, for just over 20 minutes between the two sections. I knew there

was only one set of each exercise, so I went quite heavy and got a

decent burn from this one, too. does all the reps super slow

with lots of rest and explanation, but I used a regular pace and also

worked while she explained things, so I ended up getting a lot more

reps than she did. Not a bad pair of workouts at all!

And while I didn't get to the Project You workouts until very late in

the day on Friday (it was almost 9 pm when I finished!) – I REALLY

liked these two! Most enjoyable workouts I've done in quite a while,

I think! Each workout is 30 minutes, and very thorough. Kathy really

moves through the exercises in these, and there isn't much rest

between exercises. Kathy gives a lot of good form pointers, and

there are four backgrounders that offer lots of different options –

ball or no ball, beginner, advanced, etc. The music isn't super, but

it's much better than say, Slim Series – and the beat was *perfect*

for the rep speed. I really connected with this one, and enjoyed it

a lot. There aren't any warm ups with these, as she assumed you have

just done a cardio workout, so I did my own warm up while watching

the beginning, and then started again when I was warm. The cool

down/stretch was also on the short side, but I really didn't mind

having to do more on my own – the 30 minutes were very well used in

each workout! There is a good bit of standing leg work in the lower

body workout – glute kicks, leg raises, etc - that was pretty tough!

I can already feel some DOMs in my glutes, and that hasn't happened

in a while. And I'm feeling it in my upper body, too. And while the

rep speed is higher, the exercises are basic and I think you could

really get a super tough workout out of this one by going higher in

weight. A big thumbs up from me!!

I've been very fortunate in my thrifty finds lately at Goodwill and

Half Price Books, too. Highlights include Turbo Jam – Punch, Kick,

And Jam (brand new!); Cathe's Total Cardio Step (contains 3

workouts); and most exciting – Body Pump #41! The Body Pump vhs is

in really rough shape on the outside, but so far it plays fine. I

might be able to squeeze that one in after xmas, along with the other

Body Pump on my to-do list. Oh, and my new heavy bag from DH

arrived, too! Now we just need to figure out a nifty sliding mount

system for it – oh, and I need gloves – and I'll be all set!

And in case I don't post very much next week - I hope everyone has a

wonderful holiday!!

Sara