Friday, December 12, 2014

Review of Daily Burn Day 50: Cardio Sculpt Upper Body Roller Coaster

Day 50: Cardio Sculpt Upper Body Roller Coaster

Today was probably my last Daily Burn workout for some time. I think my free trial is up today. I was hoping to get more done during my trial, but it just didn't workout. I picked this one for my last workout because I was just in the mood for some weight lifting! I got that, that's for sure! This is the same instructor who did the Let's Move workout that I did in the DB15 series. I liked her in that, but I wasn't a huge fan in this. The workout was just a bit chaotic for me. It didn't have a good structure like the ones with Anja. For this workout, we used a step (optional) a pull up bar (optional and I didn't use it since I don't have one and can't do pull ups), dumbbells (you could get away without them if you're just starting out.) 

The workout was about 45 minutes. It started off with a warm up which included shoulder rolls, tricep stretches, chest stretches, back stretches and Figure 8s, 

The challenge was for Pull Ups. I almost didn't do this workout because it said I needed a pull up bar and I didn't have one. I figured that I would just make something up. She did have an alternative though. I did rows! I love rows! I love back and bicep work in general! 

Circuit 1 was One Sided Push Ups and Back Rows. The Push Ups were done with one hand on a step. This made it pretty hard! My triceps were killing me by the end. We did a round of push ups and then a round of rows and then another round of push ups on the other side. I think we did another round of rows too. For the last few seconds of the push ups, we held it in the down position. 

Circuit 2 was Decline Push Ups and Alternating Rows. The decline push ups had our feet (or knees in my case) on the step and our hands on the floor. OMG these were hard. I remember the first time I did decline push ups. I was at the gym and my trainer had me do them with my knees on a weight bench. That was way worse than this. I wasn't strong enough to do them and I felt like I was going to fall on my face. This went much better than that experience, but it was still pretty rough. My triceps and shoulders are just too weak for this stuff. 

Circuit 3 was Chest Flies and Back Extensions. We did these on the step. For the chest flies we had our shoulders and head up on the step. For the back extensions, we had our belly on the step. The back extensions were awkward, but the chest flies were great. 

Circuit 4 was Plank Bicep Curls and Overhead Triceps. Okay so this is where the madness started. We held a Plank with our feet pretty wide. We then did bicep curls with one arm. That was just craziness. I survived the first round. I felt good! However, then we did overhead triceps with the same hand that was doing the curls which meant it it was about to be the plant arm for the second round of Plank Bicep Curls. I tried, but it didn't work well. I ended up standing up and doing the modified version. My triceps were pretty fried by then so the Overhead Triceps were just torture for me! 

Circuit 5 was Squatting Bicep Curls and Side Lunge Tricep Kickbacks. These are pretty self explanatory so I won't give an step by step on the move. The squatting bicep curls went pretty well, but the Side Lunge Tricep Kickbacks were a bit awkward and not fun. For the last few seconds of the squatting curls, we held the squat. 

Circuit 6 was Side Planks with a lateral shoulder raise, Bottle Pours and Cry Babies. Is it really a lateral shoulder raise if you're in side plank position? I'm not really sure, but that's the closest name I can come up with. These were HARD. I did the side plank on my knees, and it was still rough. Bottle Pours were uber hard! We held the weights down by our sides and then raised them up straight in front of us still with the weight facing up and down. Then we twisted our hands in as if we were pouring a bottle. Then we straightened them back up and lowered them back down. For the last few seconds were just kept with the pouring motion. Cry Babies were interesting. We held the weights right up by our chests and our elbows were out to the side. We then moved our elbows up and down. i think we were supposed to look like a baby crying and rubbing their eyes. It was torture and I felt like a dork. My shoulders were on fire! I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to wash my hair in the shower! 

Round 7 was Shoulder Presses and Hulks. Shoulder Presses are self explanatory. Hulks not so much. We had weights in our hands down in front of our thighs. We had our elbows bent slightly and we raised our hands up. This sounds easy. This looks easy. This were NOT easy! Then we did a stretch to finish things up.

Overall, I like the instructor and I liked the exercises, but I wasn't a fan of the lack of structure this workout had. Anja's workouts have a set plan. She says how many circuits we'll have, how many moves per circuit, how long each move lasts and when we get rest breaks. This didn't have that. I felt like it was a really long workout because of the lack of knowledge about the system. 

BodyMedia Screen Shot

I wasn't expecting much for the calorie burn and activity minutes. Weight training never shows much on here. 


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