Review of Beachbody Hammer & Chisel Day 7: Total Body Hammer & 10 Minute Ab Hammer - 1 week done!

Day 7: Total Body Hammer & 10 Minute Ab Hammer

I finished my first full week of Hammer & Chisel. I only have seven weeks to go! I was so excited about this program and then I got scared to try it, but I tried it and I made it through a week. If I can make it through one week, I can make it through another week! One cool thing about this program is that you don't repeat a workout for almost two weeks. The workout from the first day isn't in the program again until Friday of the second week! I love getting new workouts every day. New is nice because I don't go into it dreading anything specific. 

This workout was like a clash between 21 Day Fix and Body Beast which was pretty cool. The format was similar to 21 Day Fix, but the moves were similar to Body Beast. There were three rounds and each round had three exercises that were repeated. Each exercise followed the same format. We did 10 reps followed by a short "rest" which wasn't really a rest for some moves because we held the position. Then we did 8 reps and another small "rest" and then 6 reps. We did each move with that format and then repeated the round after a short break. We were supposed to increase the weights on the second time through each round. I didn't know that to start though so I went a little higher on some than I would have, but I'm glad I did because I still got through the second round. There were a few moves where we did the left side in the first part of the round and then the right side on the second part of the round so we didn't up the weights. Then, we moved on to the next round. There was a warm up of a few minutes. The warm up was pretty much the same thing that's been in all of the Hammer workouts so far. The cool down was some stretching and it was pretty much the same as all of the other Hammer workouts so far.

The Exercises

Bench Press

I didn't realize we were supposed to up the weights for the second time through the round, so I started with 10 pound weights. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do the 15s for the second round, but I did it! These are pretty self explanatory. They were just flat bench chest presses. 

Squat

I started with 15s on these not realizing that we needed to up the weights for the second time through, but I still survived the 20s in the second half. I tried to work on going deeper too. I really felt these, but they didn't kill me. These were just a standard narrow squat. 

Reverse Grip Row

I started with 10s not knowing we needed to up the weights for the second time through. This one scared me. I was pretty sure that I would never make it through with 15s, so I grabbed my 2 pound weights and held them with my 10s. I don't recommend doing this since it's probably not the safest thing out there, but it is what it is and I needed to go up in my weights. 

Incline Fly

We had the bench at a 45 degree angle and did incline flies. These are pretty self explanatory.

Reverse Lunge

We did one leg for the first half of the round and the other leg for the second half of the round. I didn't realize it was going to be set up that way so I only used 10 pound weights. I would have done 15s had I known.

Wide Pull Up

I did these on the floor again with the attachment under the bottom hinge. I used my purple band. I like these, but I don't like doing them right after lunges because I need more time to catch my breath before laying on my belly. 

Military Press

I knew this wasn't going to go well. I have such weak shoulders! I did 2 pounds for the first set and 5 for the second. Finishing up the last set actually went better than I thought it would. I guess I'm getting stronger. I'm not sure what the difference is between these and a shoulder press. Maybe it's in the hand position. I'm not sure.

Split Squat

They call these split squats on the sheet, but they're the Bulgarian Split Squats. I did these with my feet on the floor instead of having one on the bench. This was another one that we did one leg for the first half of the round and the other leg for the second half of the round. We were supposed to hold the position during the breaks, but I just couldn't do it. I needed to stand up and give my muscles a break.

Post Delt Fly

When I saw these on the thing, I was worried that it would involve the band. Those were sooooo hard! I was happy to hear that they didn't. We did one arm at a time. I probably could have gone with 5 pound weights, but I did the 2s just to be safe.

I really liked this workout. It's probably my favorite of all of them so far! I was beat when it was over and I still had to do the 10 Minute Ab Hammer! Eeeeeeeeek!

The Worksheet

Polar M400 Screen Shots

10 Minute Ab Hammer

I'm not a fan of the 10 minute ab workouts that seem to come with most Beachbody programs. I'm not really sure why, but I just don't end up doing them. Maybe it's because I hate working my abs. Maybe it's because I'm too tired after doing the main workout of the day. I'm not really sure. I just know that I dread them. I do them once to blog about them, but then I don't make it a point to do them again. I did okay with Rockin' Body's 10 minute ab workout. I even did the Cize one a few times, but I rarely did the Body Beast one. The ones that come with 21 Day Fix and 21 Day Fix Extreme aren't on the calendar so I didn't feel obligated to do them. 

This workout was actually a little over 11 minutes. We did each move for 1 minute. There wasn't a cool down or a warm up. 

The Exercises

C Sit Tap

We sat down with our knees a little bent and our feet on the floor. We leaned back and alternated tapping one hand back and to the side. It was on the first move, but it was hard for me! I got through the full minute though.

Forearm Run

We were in an elbow plank position and we ran with out feet. Our feet didn't touch the floor when they came forward. It was basically like mountain climbers, but our elbows were down. I didn't get very far with these. I started out okay, but then my feet kind of stayed in place. I ended up going down on my knees eventually. It was just torture.

Up Down Reach

We were on our backs for these. Our feet were straight up in the air. Then we brought them down towards the floor, but didn't touch the floor. Then we brought them back up and reached our hands up to our toes. These weren't too bad, but I had to bend my knees for them. 

Oblique Crunch Twist

We were on our back and one hip was twisted  to the side. We brought the other knee up in a crunch as we crunched our upper body at the same time. We did one minute on each side. These weren't too bad.

Side Plank Wing

I'm not sure where this thing got it's name from, but it was a crazy hard move. We were up in a side elbow plank. We tapped our hip down to the floor and then brought it up and then did a side crunch bringing our elbow down to meet the knee that was coming up. We did each side for 60 seconds. These were crazy hard. I did them on my knee and barely made it through.

Windshield Wiper

I actually liked these! We were back on our backs with our feet up in the air and our hands along our sides. We brought our legs over to the side, but didn't touch the feet down. Then they went back up. Then they tapped straight down and then back up and over to the opposite side. I kept my knees bent a bit, but I got through these okay.

Hammer Run

We stayed on our backs for this one. We kept our head and shoulders up off the floor and then ran with our legs. It was similar to the leg portion of bicycles, but less circular and more just towards the wall and back up again. I had to go pretty slow with these, but I got through them. 

This one didn't have a worksheet.

Polar M400 Screen Shots

Here are the screen shots for the ab workout.

Want to Learn More? Watch the video!

Here's a video so you can learn more about the workouts. Be sure to buy from a Team Beachbody Coach so you can get the free workout! If you don't have a coach, you can sign up with me as your coach.