Wednesday Get Moving: Walking for Weight Loss (Madeline )

[Guest guest]

Today was a cardio day and I thought P90 Sweat! Cardio 3-4 might be too long (this is my early to work day). Turned out it would have been fine (I had the length wrong, checked it out later in the day) but I had a nice break from it with Madeline ' Get Moving: Walking for Weight Loss. When I previewed this one I thought it wouldn't be all that great, probably not intense enough, etc. Once again, I've learned that I cannot judge a workout by simply watching it! There are four workouts, each 10 minutes long with the 4th being a very nice stretch. The first 3 seem to build intensity from one to the next but they could easily be used as stand-alone 10 minute workouts too. It is filmed in a pleasant outdoor setting (looks like a big gazebo I think) and Madeline cues very well and is enjoyable but pretty chatty (mostly useful comments about the workout, but a fairly constant flow). There's a long intro about the workout and exercise that I had listened to a few days ago so I didn't listen to it today. I don't remember what it was about now but I don't remember it being particularly thrilling. She has 2 other women with her, one modifies low intensity, low impact moves and the other does more intense, high impact moves. Madeline says most of the time she'll be in between the two. I followed the advanced modifier and got a really good workout from this with my heart rate in the high zone for over 17 of the 30 minutes that is cardio workouts (most of the rest of the time it was in the moderate zone with only a little bit in the light zone).

This is a great workout for the choreography-challenged, like me. The movements are extremely basic and are very similar to Sansone. The biggest difference between this and most workouts is that there is a lot more upper body movements making it a more intense workout right away and it stays up there too. She also takes the last few minutes of each 10 minute segment to do standing lower body work (and a little bit of standing abs in at least one). The beginner modifier uses dumbbells and the advanced modifier has a body bar (I think Madeline doesn't have any weights). Lots of lunges and squats they're also combined with balance work (like one-legged squats) in each one I think. The stretch segment is yoga-inspired. Very nice music, lots of emphasis on breath. My darn dvd player quit towards the end (froze) so I missed some of it but did get most and I really enjoyed it. This would be a nice stretch to add on to any workout. You could add any of the cardios to other workouts too. My only criticism is that while you can program the order of the workouts, you do have to choose 4 (it can be the same one 4 times but you can't get out of the custom menu until you choose 4 workouts).

I really liked this a lot! I've been wanting some intense, short cardio workouts and this, with the simple choreography, is just what I've been looking for! It was a netflix rental but is going on to my must get soon list.

Tomorrow I'm back to P90. It is a sculpt day so I'm doing Sculpt 3-4 again. I felt the pushups today... my chest and shoulders were a little sore. My legs were too, I did a LOT of squats in that squat max part at the end. I loved the soreness! Friday, I don't have to help in the classroom until mid afternoon so I should be able to try out P90 Sweat! Cardio 3-4 in the morning.... now that one looked tough when I previewed it and this didn't... I wonder what that will mean...?!