Review of Beachbody Hammer & Chisel Day 5: ISO Speed Hammer

Day 5: ISO Speed Hammer

Yay! Day 5 was another of Sagi's workouts! I love Sagi. I wasn't sure what to expect from this workout, but I knew that it was pretty short so I figured I could get through it. I wasn't very sore going into this one. Most of the soreness had pretty much gone away after rest day which was nice. The snow shoveling didn't seem to have any negative impact on me either which was nice. I'm having a pretty easy time motivating myself to get up to do these workouts which is nice. We'll see if that lasts. 

The workout was a new type of format for me. We did 11 different moves. First we did 10 reps of them with a three count. For example, in the Sumo Squat, we counted to three as we went down we then came up normally. After 10 reps of that, we did 10 fast reps. There was a slight pause in the middle of the 10 slow reps and 10 fast reps, but it wasn't considered a break. 

The Exercises

Push Ups

Push ups are pretty self explanatory. I did them on my knees. I didn't think I'd be able to do the whole set on the bench, so I just went to my knees. Next time, I'll try them on the bench. They don't do them on the bench, but I'm trying them on the bench so make it so I can do them on my toes. .

Static Lunges

I used 10 pound weights for these. These are pretty self explanatory as well. You have one leg forward and one leg back. You squat down and then come up. These are hard for me with this format! I weigh a lot so doing these without holding extra weight is a chore!

Chin Ups

I did these with my purple band and I was down on my knees. I think I'm going to move my chin up attachment down to the lower hinge and do the chin up stuff on the floor like is demonstrated in Body Beast Total Body. I liked them better on the floor. I feel like if I hold the lunge position to do them, I'm focusing too much on holding my form and not stressing my lower back. That's why I started going down to my knees on them, but it still doesn't really seem to be giving me the correct range of motion. I think laying on the floor to give me the same basic shape as if I were really doing a chin up is helpful.

Deadlift

Not much to say about a deadlift. I did them with 10 pound weights. The fast reps with deadlifts are weird for me though since I remember Sagi talking about going slow and being safe when I did Body Beast. These were easy enough to get through. I probably should have used heavier weights. I did when I did these in Body Beast, but the whole fast reps thing made me feel like I should use lighter weights.

Side Lateral Raise

These are pretty standard too. Your hands are at your sides and your raise them up while keeping your arms pretty much out straight. I used five pound weights for these. I didn't think I would make it through the fast reps, but I did! Woot woot! My shoulders are crazy weak, but I survived these!

Sumo Squat

I used my 15 pound kettlebell for these. I like using kettlebells for squats. The grip is more comfortable and it just feels better using them. It also makes me feel better about buying them since I rarely use them. I wish Beachbody would come out with a kettlebell program. I love love love kettlebells. They are so much fun! I never have time to play with them though because I'm always doing a Beachbody program. I try to use them when I do rows since they are more comfortable for that too. 

Rear Delt Cross Fly 

We used a resistance band for these. I used my red band. So you step on the band with your feet shoulder width apart. You then cross the band in front of you and each hand grabs a handle. You bend over kind of like in a bent over row position and you do rear delt flies. This was really hard with the band! I usually do these with 5 pound weights or even 2 pound weights depending up on how many reps I'll have to do, but the band was under both feet so it was pretty short and it was sooooo hard to get through. I can feel these today. I'm not in a ton of pain, but I can definitely feel it in my rear delts today. There was a modifier who only put one foot under the band and held a lunge position to make it have less resistance. I did that for the 10 fast reps. I also didn't go very fast on them.

Pistol Squat

Until Hammer & Chisel, I had never heard of a Pistol Squat and I have to say it's becoming a curse word for me. My balance sucks and I weigh a lot. Standing on one leg while squatting down is pretty much a recipe for disaster. I'm surprised I haven't broken a limb yet doing these. I don't get much range of motion at all in these and I keep having to touch my foot down because I'm about to fall over. I'm contemplating just not caring about my balance and doing normal squats for these so I can get deeper into them. I'm not sure what's more important though, working on my balance or getting a deeper squat to work the muscles more.I did these with 10 pounds.

Curl Face Down

We put the bench at a 60 degree angle and faced the bench. We straddled the bench and squeezed it with our legs so it wouldn't move. We then did bicep curls. I did these with 5 pound weights. They didn't feel like enough while I was doing them, but my biceps are sore today. It's not crazy painful, but I can definitely feel them. By the end of the 10 fast reps, I was happy that I hadn't used 10 pound weights, but I felt like 8 pound would have been nice. Another reason why I wish I had gotten the smaller Bowflex weights instead of the jumbo ones so I could go up in 2.5 increments instead of 5 pound increments. 

Calf Raises

These were interesting because we didn't do them on the floor like normal. Calf raises are better if you can go below flat which means your toes have to be up on something. He had us stand behind the bench and use the floor support of the bench, but my bench is set up differently. I had to climb up onto the bench and then I was afraid of falling off since I was about a couple feet up! I didn't use any weight because my hands were occupied holding onto the bar support so I didn't fall down. It felt these while doing them, but my calves aren't sore today. I wonder if I could find a way to get my balance enough to actually hold a weight. 

Tricep Kickback Twist

These were interesting as well. We did a normal tricep kickback, but twisted our hands in the process. So we were in a lunge position (I switched legs between the 10 slow and 10 fast since I was starting to really feel it in my legs) we held our hands so the weights were facing front to back to start the move and then twisted our hands so our palms were facing back and the weights were going left to right. We twisted them back to the start position as we moved forward. I used 5 pound weights for these. I probably could have done 8s if I had them. I think it's time to just buy the 8 pound weights. I talked about wanting them during Body Beast so I just need to suck it up and buy them. I don't think I could handle 10s for these, but if I don't get the 8s by the time I do this again, I might try them.

The cool down was a couple minutes long and mainly involved stretching. The warm up used the resistance band like the first Sagi workout I did. Now I get to look forward to Chisel Endurance. I'm kinda scared!

The Worksheet

Polar M400 Screen Shots

The time shows a bit shorter than I should. I forgot to hit start on the watch. 

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