X-Factor Week # 3 report!

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Hi Everyone,

Last night we had a family insomnia night! DH was restless - DD and I were both up for hours - we read together then attempted to fall asleep. I still ended up getting up at 6:30, DD slept until 8:30. I'm dragging, but not as bad as I feared, and I did get a lot of reading done. Will read more later while my DD is at swimming lessons.So--in my sleep deprived state I tried out Week # 3 of Weider XT - oh my - this one really ups the ante. A lot of challenging exercises! Let's see if I remember them:Circuit 1Mountain Climbers - 30 secHip Lifts - 45 secPlyo Split Lunges 90 sec (modification is to do a reverse lunge) ** each time through the circuit I did as many of the plyo split lunges as I could, but couldn't finish out the 90 sec - I'm guessing I made it maybe half way - and then I just did the reverse lunges - here it would have helped me to have a count down timer to help me through it - if I was feeling really

tired, but saw there were only a few seconds left I may have continued longer....Circuit 2Heels to Sky (30 sec) - basically a lying hip raise for absAirplane to Train (45 sec) - this one is crazy - a push-up, jump up, do a high jumping jack then drop down and do it again! (modification - go slower, step up, lower jump, etc.) I did it, but much slower than my X-Factor-on-screen buddies.Reverse Lunge (90 sec) - 45 sec left, 45 sec rightWater BreakCircuit 3Surf pop-ups (30 sec) - push-up - pop up like you're on a surfboard, back down for a push-up surfboard on the other side I did it, it wasn't pretty and I was slower than th exercisers on TV!Push-up/Side plank (45 sec) - 6 push-ups, side plank, 6 push-ups side plank ohter side (on the 2nd round I did some on my knees i also switched to 3 push-ups to side plank)Kneeling Kickout (90 sec) - like in Tae Bo, on all

fours - bring leg to side kick 45 sec each sideCircuit 4MMA Knee Strikes (30 Sec) (Basically this is a knee strike in kickboxing)Squat Jumps (45 sec) (this was do-able for me b/c it was the 45 sec exercise!)Side Plank w/ Pulse 45 sec each side (90 sec)Water BreakRepeat again!I made it through but I did have to modify some of the exercises and take it down to lower intensity and I did perform more slowly than the backgrounders! On the second round I wasn't able to do as many push-ups on my toes -for the push-up to side plank - I also modified by doing 3 push-ups, then side plank instead of 6 and then side plank.One good thing is he did seem it intersperse easier exercises in with the hard ones so you were able to get some active recovery in. Also, what made it doable for me was going at my own pace and modifying as needed to get through the interval.Overall though - week

# 3 is much harder than weeks 1 and 2! I hope it gets easier as the week goes on.

I actually did the cool down today and then I added on the standing postures from Rodney's A/M yoga for your week.

Take care!Donna