Walk & Box with

[Guest guest]

I never realized, until now, how adorable and sweet Foreman is! Thank you again, Sara, for this workout! It was very fun!

The set looks like what you'd think of as a gym, especially for training boxers (there is a heavy bag on the set but not used in the workout, for example) with a big sign that says "'s Gym." Petra Kolber choreographed it and actually leads it though is very much a part of it with motivating comments and demonstrating punches. Petra then shows the "fitness version" which was interesting. She is so genuinely excited to be working with him too that it is fun to watch her. There are quite a few people in the video and they are all different sizes and fitness levels. It is a walking workout with boxing moves (bob & weave and punches plus higher intensity jump rope or boxer shuffle during intervals) worked into the moves. The music was not anything I recognized but it was very energizing. Petra is super energetic without being phony. Both she and come across as caring, motivating instructors, excited about what they're doing and encouraging you to be excited about what you are doing for yourself. Sometimes she doesn't cue changes in punches but if you pay attention (which I obviously didn't at first) you realize they're doing 8 jabs, then 8 hooks, then 8 upper cuts and so if you count yourself, you can change on your own. In any case, it is not any problem at all, this is super simple choreography. There are "boxer bursts" of 1 minute high intensity intervals in which you can do whatever you want. They show some people "jumping rope," some are doing a boxer shuffle and punching, some are just walking faster in place. They encourage you to do whatever kind of intensity and impact you want to do. I can't remember how many there are, maybe 5. I mostly jumped rope while jogging.

The only thing "negative" is that without modification this was not putting me in my cardio training zone at all, except during the boxer bursts and then I'd fly out of the zone on the other end. It is a 45 minute workout (including warm-up, cool-down and stretch) and I was in my zone for about 4 minutes. But, I'm not complaining. I was super tired this morning and just was not up for a very strenuous workout. I chose this one because I expected it to be fairly low key, probably fun and not much to think about. It was all of those things and just right for today. It was different enough from (different moves, set, etc.) that it was really refreshing. For side steps, you do bob and weave while side-stepping for example. That was very fun! Plus, is just so sweet. Like a giant teddy bear or something! I want to look into the other Walk with workouts now (I saw on VF there are several, I'd never even heard of them until Sara sent this one to me). This is a great one to have for those really dragging days and you can easily ramp up the intensity with weighted gloves, hand weights doing it on a rebounder, etc.

I'm not planning tomorrow's workout yet and am not anticipating having more than 30 minutes (I'm working at 2 locations in the afternoon and evening plus getting ready for my weekend away and another class and grocery shopping Friday morning before I leave) but it will probably be either a short circuit or cardio. I've been eating more this week than normal (lack of sleep & stress, though DH is trying really hard to help me with the stress) and need to adjust my exercise to compensate a bit more. This weekend will be a huge challenge food-wise too but I'll probably bring some DVDs and rent a player so I can work out in my hotel room too. My objective for this weekend, instead of getting as much done on my scrapbook as I can, like it normally is when I do these weekends, is to try and really relax and focus on my own needs for a little while. I haven't been doing that as well as I normally do (I mean that in a mostly unselfish way, I just normally take better care of myself) and I think it will really go a long way in helping me deal with everything.

Off to get some more things done that need doing. I've read a few postings but not many and don't have any time to reply at the moment. Just wanted to get this in here for my own accountability.