Review of Beachbody Hammer & Chisel Day 3: Iso Strength Chisel

Day 3: Iso Strength Chisel

Today was day tree of Hammer and Chisel! I was looking forward to today's workout because it didn't involve balance or plyometrics! Autumn led this workout since it's part of the Chisel series and she didn't incorporate cardio into strength training. I was sooooooo excited about that. 

The workout lasted 35 minutes. It involved 8 exercises and they all followed the same format. We did 10 reps, then a 10 second hold, then 10 reps, then a 10 second hold, then 10 reps and a final 10 second hold. The warm up was pretty much the same one from Chisel Balance. There wasn't much of a cool down in this workout though because we stretched the muscle we worked right after we worked it. For example, the first move was Sumo Squats. After the final 10 second hold, we stretched each quad for about 10 seconds. It felt a bit weird ending with pretty much no cool down, but it was kind of nice too. 

The Exercises

Sumo Squat

We did the Sumo Squat with weights. I used 10 pounds in each hand. We could put our hands on our hips our out in front of us whichever was more comfortable. I put them on my hips. I went pretty deep into my Sumo Squats today! I may have gone too deep because my legs were pretty much fried for the split squat, but that's okay! I did well with these. Not much to say about them.

Push Up

I came up with the idea the other day that I was going to start doing push ups on the bench. It's a different modification to make it easier instead of going down onto my knees. Having  our upper body higher, puts more weight on your feet and less on your hands and it just makes it easier. I was able to do the first set of 10 up on the bench. I thought that was pretty awesome. I always do push ups on my knees, but I totally felt like I was doing real push ups since I was on my toes. Once we got to the hold though, it was all over. I just couldn't hold it. I then did the rest of the push ups and holds on the floor on my knees, but I feel accomplished! 

Split Squat

These were more of those Bulgarian Split Squats from Chisel Balance, but without the jump. We used one weight held up towards the chest for these. One leg was on the bench and the other was lunged forward. All of our weight was supposed to be on the front leg. The modifier did them with both feet on the floor, but the back leg was raised up a few inches after he came up from the lunge. I did that for the first set and then just kept my back foot on the floor for the rest. These were killer. Crazy crazy hard for me. I had to take breaks in between a few reps and I barely made it through the holds. I don't even think I went very deep. It was just torture. 

Pull Up

I don't have a pull up bar and I couldn't do a pull up if I had a bar. I have the door attachment for the band. The modifier who did them like that, did them in a lunge position. I got into the lunge position, but my calf wanted none of that, so I just got on the floor on my knees and did them there. I figured that it was more important to work my lats during these than my legs so I went with it. I didn't do these as fast as they did, so I probably didn't get a full 10 reps in. For some reason, I just can't keep count during these workouts. I had no problems counting in Body Beast, but in this I just can't. I kinda liked these. I used my purple stretchie band from my Walk Away the Pounds workouts. They don't have handles. It worked out pretty well and I think I'll be able to use this for the Hammer Plyometrics workout! Yay. 

Step Up Side Hold

We were supposed to stand on the bench with one foot and then step down to the floor with the other and then back up. We did a hold with kind of a squat. I used my step. It didn't give me as much lift, but I can't do step ups onto the bench. I thought the first set was pretty easy, but then they got harder after that, but that's kind of the nature of this type of workout. I need another set of risers so I can get more lift. I think I could do one more riser, but going up to the bench would be way too much. 

One Arm Row

We did these on the bench. We had one hand and one knee on the bench. The other foot was on the floor and the other hand had the weigh and did the work. I did 10 pound weights with these and OMG they were so hard by the end. I might use my kettlebell next time. 

Sit Up C Curve

We sat on the floor for these and held a weight in both hands up by the chest. Our knees were slightly bent, but she said that people with a tall torso might want straighter legs to get more counter balance. So we leaned back and formed a C with our spine. We went as low as we could and then came up. We did the hold in the back position. So these were pretty easy in the beginning, but then I realized that I was pushing the weight out in front of me instead of holding it close to my chest. Once I moved the weight closer to my chest, it got way harder!

Lateral Raise 

There were standard later raises. The hands went up at our sides. We did the 10 reps, 10 second hold, 10 rep, 10 second hold, 10 rep, 10 second hold. By the end of this move, my shoulders were killing me. I barely made it through these. I have weak shoulders and only used 2 pounds weights, but it was hard! OMG!

We stretched our shoulders and did one big inhale and then we were done! Short sweet and to the point. Update on my soreness.......My triceps, shoulders, chest and lats all still hurt. My hamstrings, quads and glutes all know that I worked out for the last couple days, but they don't really hurt. It's just a bit weak and a little tender if that makes sense.

The Worksheet

Polar M400 Screen Shots

My heart rate was a mess. The thing kept losing connection. That's so annoying. I have to tighten it down again I think. It's stretching out in some places. UGH!

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. 

Review of Beachbody Hammer & Chisel Day 1: Chisel Balance

Day 1: Chisel Balance

I took a week and a half off from working out after finishing my Cize Mini Round. It was a much needed break! I love working out, but sometimes, I just need to take a week off and let everything completely recover. I'm a slow healer. Cuts and bruises take forever to heal, so I would think that my muscles are slow to recover as well. I didn't take a break after 21 Day Fix Extreme, so it was needed after the Cize Mini Round. 

I went round and round and round in my head about what to do next. When I heard about Hammer and Chisel, I wanted to do it and I didn't want to wait for it to come out. It finally came out and I bought it, but then I was scared to do it! After reading about all of these fit people finding it to be a very challenging workout, how was I supposed to get through 60 days of it? I thought about doing Tai Cheng or 10 Minute Trainer or even Pump. I ended up going with Hammer and Chisel because just doing it was easier than stressing out about doing it. I started today! 

Day 1 was Chisel Balance. I didn't see an advanced calendar as a separate option, but the regular calendar gives you options to incorporate the other workouts into the program. It makes the calendar a little messy though. It's still a pretty calendar though.

You need a set of dumbbells for this workout. I don't think resistance bands would work. They didn't have anyone using them in this one. There was also a weight bench, but you can use the stability ball instead. They did have a modifier who used the ball. They did not have anyone who modified the moves to make them easier. Body Beast didn't have that either. 

This program has two trainers, Sagi from Body Beast and Autumn from 21 Day Fix and 21 Day Fix Extreme.  Autumn does the Chisel workouts and Sagi does the Hammer workouts. I've only done one workout so far so I can't comment much about the differences between the two types of workouts. 

This workout consisted of 8 different exercises. It was a total body workout that focused on balance. My balance is horrible. I was pretty scared to do this workout! I got through it though, so don't be afraid of it!

There was a warm up that lasted a couple minutes, but it was weird because it was pretty much just stretching. The new thing seems to be stretching when you're already warm instead of stretching cold muscles, but I did what they said because they are the trainers. The cool down was also a bunch of stretching, but it felt a lot better than the warm up. I got through the workout and did better than I thought I would. The pace was pretty slow for a workout like this so I was able to keep up for the most part. I had to pause during the jump squat things because I needed to catch my breath before moving on, but otherwise, I did okay keeping up.

The Exercises 

One Leg Squat Sits

We held a single weight up by our chests and balanced on one leg as we sat down on the bench and then stood up on the same leg. We weren't supposed to plop down on the bench. I pretty much plopped. I also modified, but touching my other foot down as I stood up. I didn't split my weight evenly between my feet, but there was no way I was going to be able to stand up on just one leg. I might try this one next time without weights and see if I can stand up on the one leg if maybe I use my hands a little bit. We did each side twice with a few seconds of rest between.

One Leg Bridge Pullover

We held a bridge position on the floor, so the shoulders were touching the floor and our butts were up off the floor. We had a weight in each hand and held them up towards the ceiling. Then we took our hands and brought them towards the wall behind our heads as we picked up leg up off the floor. I didn't get much lift with my hips on this one and I didn't get much lift with my leg either. This was a challenging move for me because all of my body parts were supposed to be doing something so the lats didn't really feel much action since I was focused on too many things. 

Up-Down

I've done these before in 21 Day Fix and other workouts, but this was the first time I had used a bench to do them. We held a plank position with our hands up on the bench. We then brought the right hand to the floor and then the left to the floor. Then the right hand went back to the bench and then the left hand.. We did 15 like that and then 15 with the left hand going down and up first. I actually found these easier to do on the bench than on the floor. The incline put more weight on my feet which took pressure off my hands. These were still hard, but when we do these on the floor, I have to go down to my knees. I was able to stay up on my toes this time.

Split Squat Jump

These were killer! So one foot is up on the bench and the other is lunged out in front. You're supposed to lunge down. When you come up, you're supposed to jump the front leg up off the floor and into your chest. I didn't do this on the bench. I knew I'd end up breaking a hip or something. I might try it next time with a tiny hop and put the foot on the bench, but I'm not sure. I had to pause the DVD for these. We did each side twice with a short break in the middle

Renegade Row Leg Lift

We did these on the bench too which was new for me, but it made it easier. So one hand was on the bench and the other hand had a weight in it. As the hand with the weight came up and did a row, the opposite leg went up as well. These were hard, but not nearly as hard as doing them on the floor!

One Arm Press Bridge

Okay so we did a bridge with our shoulders on the bench. Then we did a chest press with one hand as the opposite leg came up off the floor in a 90 degree angle. I did the first set on the bench, but the second leg on the floor. I couldn't keep my hips up and I was feeling it in my back. I still felt it in my abs when I was on the floor. I just didn't feel it in my back which was good.

Balance Row Pistol Squat

These were killer! So we balanced on one leg, leaned forward and did a row with both arms. Then we stood back up and put the lifted foot out in front of us and did a one leg Pistol squat. Oh fun. We did 15 of these on each side and we did each side twice! My glutes were on fire when this was over, My balance is terrible, but I actually didn't do too badly with these. I was pretty impressed with myself actually!

The Worksheet

I'm actually not really sure why this workout had a worksheet, but it had one so I filled it out. 

Polar M400 Screen Shots

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. 

My 23 Day Experience with Beachbody 21 Day Fix Extreme

What is 21 Day Fix Extreme?

21 Day Fix Extreme is a Beachbody program that uses weights and body resistance moves to sculpt your body. It also includes an easy to follow nutrition plan. There are 7 workouts with the program plus a bonus workout if you buy from a Beachbody Coach. You can also get an upgraded package that includes more workouts. The nutrition plan comes with color coded containers. After you calculate your calorie bracket, you find out how many containers of each color you get to eat in a day. You get a list of foods for each container and can eat until you run out of containers for the day. 

The Workouts

The workouts come on two DVDs. If you buy from a coach, you'll get the bonus workout on it's own DVD. There is one workout for each day. There are no rest days during this program, but Yoga Fix Extreme is considered an active recovery day. 

Plyo Fix Extreme

This is all about jumping! The moves are 30 seconds long and include things like squat jumps, jumping lunges, skaters, and burpees. There is a break of a few seconds between moves. This workout is intense. I hurt for about four days after doing this one for the first time. Once I got through the first week, I didn't really get all that sore though. You can see a list of all the exercises in my post from Day 1 of 21 Day Fix Extreme. 

Upper Fix Extreme

This is all about the upper body as the name implies. This one hits your chest, your back, your shoulders, your triceps and your biceps. This includes push ups, military presses, hammer curls, tricep dips and more. I wasn't very sore from this workout. I did Body Beast which had a shoulder day, a back day, an arm day and a chest day. Each workout was about 30 minutes. So you just can't fry out all of those body parts in 30 minutes total on one day when you're used to doing Body Beast. it was a good workout, but it just wasn't enough to hit any specific body part very hard. The moves each lasted a minute, and there was a short rest between moves. The moves lasted a minute, but after 30 seconds we lowered the weights for a drop set. You can read about all of the moves in my post from Day 2 of 21 Day Fix Extreme. 

Pilates Fix Extreme

This was done all on the floor. There one didn't follow the same format as the others. We only did each move once. The moves still lasted a minute and there was a brief rest between them though. There were three basic sections in this one. The first was mainly about the abs, then we moved on to he legs and then we did some back stuff laying face down. I have to admit that I wasn't very fond of the original Pilates Fix, but I kinda liked Pilates Fix Extreme. This one was done using a resistance band which actually made some of the moves easier. I really felt this one the next day too. It was more effective and easier to do with the bands. Win Win. You can read about my first experience with Pilates Fix Extreme in my post from Day 3 of 21 Day Fix Extreme.

Lower Fix Extreme

This was all about the legs. This included different variations of squats and lunges. We also did two moves with the resistance band. Each move lasted 60 seconds. The first 30 seconds involved weights and the last 30 seconds involved some sort of change to make it more challenging such as squats for 30 seconds with weights and then squat jumps for 30 seconds. I wasn't expecting so much plyo stuff n this workout since the program has a whole day devoted to plyo, but I got through it. It wasn't my favorite day of the workout, but it wasn't my least favorite either. You can read about all of the exercises in my post from Day 4 of 21 Day Fix Extreme. 

Cardio Fix Extreme

This was all about cardio, but she had us use weights which was different than cardio day in the original 21 Day Fix. I was so looking forward to a straight up cardio day, so I was a bit bummed to find out that this still used weights. I'm not a huge fan of incorporating weights with cardio. I like my weight training to be like Body Beast. The format of this workout was a little different than the others. Each round had three exercises. Two of them were strength training type moves and they lasted a minute each. The third move of each round was a cardio interval and only lasted 30 seconds. For example, round 1 involved Low High Squats, High Plank Kicks and Running in Place. You can read about all of the exercise in my post from Day 5 of 21 Day Fix Extreme. 

Dirty 30 Extreme

This one was pretty much shoulder day with some more leg stuff too. My shoulders were on fire when this was done! Oddly enough, they didn't really hurt the following day, but I did survive shoulder day with Body Beast so maybe that's it. Getting through this was hard, but it just didn't have lingering effects. Some of the moves were things like doing a curtsy lunge while doing a half moon move with them arms. I used two pound weights for this and still wanted to die! you can read about all of the exercises in my post from Day 6 of 21 Day Fix Extreme. 

Yoga Fix Extreme

This was the active recovery day. While doing it, it didn't really seem like a recovery day. Once I got through it though, I felt pretty amazing. I love yoga because it makes me feel all stretched out. While doing it though, I want to scream. The balance stuff was pretty hard! We did moves such as Royal Dancer, Warrior 1, Warrior 2, Warrior 3 and Humble Warrior. You can read more about this workout in my post from Day 7 of 21 Day Fix Extreme. 

10 Minute Hardcore

This was a 10 minute ab workout done all on the floor. It was short and sweet. This one didn't feel as intense as the original 21 Day Fix 10 Minute Ab Fix though. I remember being pretty sore the day after that one, but this one didn't have that same impact. I felt it the next day a bit when I was shoveling snow, but that was it. You can read about the exercises in my post from Day 23 of 21 Day Fix Extreme. 

The Fix Challenge 

This is the free workout you get if you buy from a coach. If you don't have a coach, you can buy it from me to make sure you get the free workout. It's a really good workout even though it's super hard! The format is different than the others. There are 13 moves. You do the first move for four reps and then the second move for four reps. Then you go back and do moves 1, 2 and 3. Each time you add a new move and then start from the beginning. This one involved Surrenders, push ups, squats and lunges to name a few. There are no breaks in this workout. I had to pause the DVD several times. I might be able to get through it if I wasn't trying to keep up with the DVD, but I might still have to pause even then. You can read about all of the moves in my post from Day 22 of 21 Day Fix.

Overall Thoughts

This program was hard for me, but I'm 265 pounds. It's supposed to be hard for people of a more normal size, so you toss on an extra 100 pounds and it's no surprise that it was hard. I found it a bit repetitive though because there were so many squats and lunges. It was like leg day every day. Plyo Fix Extreme was all about legs, Upper Fix Extreme had us holding a squat for a minute twice and holding a lunge for a minute twice, Pilates Fix Extreme had a big leg section that was pretty hard to get through, Lower Fix Extreme was all about legs, Cardio Fix Extreme had more lunging and squats, Dirty 30 Extreme had more lunges and squats and even Yoga Fix Extreme had several moves that challenged the legs. I can only do so many squats and lunges in a week before I want to scream. I know legs are the biggest muscles in the body and burn the most calories so if you build up our leg muscles, you'll lose weight faster. It doesn't change the fact that I just don't like squats and lunges though. I'm not trashing on the workout. It's just not a program that I could do for more than one round at a time.

I lost five pounds during the three weeks, but I wasn't following the nutrition plan. I've been doing a low carb high fat plan because I just can't eat the amount of fruit and carbs that are included in the nutrition program for 21 Day Fix. Fruit and carbs make me hungry. 

Should you get the original 21 Day Fix or 21 Day Fix Extreme?

I'm going to do a whole post comparing these two programs on a head to head basis, but I need to do another round or at least mini round of the original 21 Day Fix first. For now, I just wanted to put this out there. If you're new to working out, I think you should get the 21 Day Fix first, but once you've done a couple rounds of that, I think upgrading to 21 Day Fix Extreme will be beneficial to you. You can alternate them and do the original one round and then extreme the next round and go back to the original. I had to modify 21 Day Fix Extreme more than the modifier did. I did push ups on my knees. I did renegade rows on my knees. I even did the Dolphin/Plank thing on my knees. I still did the jumping, but you don't have to. If you can't jump because of your knees or if you're just not ready for jumping, you don't have to. During leg day, you could just keep doing squats instead of moving to squat jumps. On plyo day, just do lunges instead of jumping lunges. On Cardio Fix Extreme, alternate stepping your foot out to the side and keep up the arm movements for the jumping jacks. 

If you like Autumn and you like the 21 Day Fix program, you should move up to Extreme after a few rounds of the original because you need to keep your body guessing. All the experts say that you should change your program every couple months. You'll hear about people who have lost 100 pounds doing only 21 Day Fix and sure that's possible, but I would think it would be crazy boring to do the same workout program for a year and the experts recommend mixing it up, so go for it. Upgrade and give yourself some variety. 

If you've been working out and like intense programs, go for Extreme first. If you like the program and you like Autumn and want something new, you could always go back and get the original. You can make it more challenging by modifying some of the moves to including jumping. You could also take shorter breaks and do more work in between. The two programs have different exercises, so just because you're more advanced, doesn't mean you can't get anything out of the original. Maybe you'll want the original for days when you want to workout, but just don't have the energy for the Extreme program. 

Want to learn more? Watch the video!

If you decide you want to try the program out, be sure to buy it from a coach so you get the free DVD that you can't get through other sources. If you don't have a coach, you can sign up with me. This is the free DVD that you only get if you buy the program from a coach. A lot of the free workouts are kinda of pointless, but this is an awesome one, so make sure you buy it from a coach, If you click the video. 

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Review of 21 Day Fix 10 Minute Hardcore

10 Minute Hardcore

It seems that I just can't let go of this round of 21 Day Fix Extreme! I finished up the first round of my 21 days on Sunday, but I'm still working on finishing up the bonus workouts. Yesterday was The Fix Challenge and today was 10 Minute Hardcore. This was an ab workout that was done all on the floor. 

This didn't have a warm up or a cool down, but it's only 10 minutes so there's not really any time for that. For some reason, we're supposed to warm up our bodies if we're doing anything other than abs, but the ab workouts rarely have a warm up or a cool down. I'm not a trainer, so I have no idea why it's okay to work cold abs, but not other parts of the body and I don't really care right now. 

So the format was very similar to the other 21 Day Fix workouts. We did each exercise for a minute and there was a break of 10 to 25 seconds between moves. The original 21 Day Fix 10 Minute Ab Fix didn't have breaks between the moves and it wasn't times. It was all based on rep counts. 

This workout used one medium sized weight. I used a 10 pound weight. I wasn't really sure what we'd be doing so I figured I could go down if I needed to. I didn't end up going down though.

The Exercises

Weighted Crunch

These were just a standard crunch while holding one weight close to the chest. I'm not a fan of the traditional crunch. No matter what I do, my neck always gets sore. My shoulders were already sore from something in the workout yesterday or the day before, so that didn't help. I got through the minute though. I kept thinking that we were going to be repeating all the moves like we did in the original 21 Day Fix 10 Minute Ab Fix and I was so dreading doing them again, but we didn't.

Weighted Knee Drops

I actually liked these! So you lay on your back and hold one weight at your chest in both hands. Then you bend your knees to a 90 degree angle with your feet off the floor. Then you lower your knees to the side, pick them up to center and lower them to the other side. This is similar to a twist stretch that we do in Yoga. I love the twist stuff. I didn't really understand why we help a weight though. It didn't seem to do anything, but maybe I just don't get the mechanics of it. Anyway, I felt these in my abs, but it wasn't crazy intense.

C Curve Pass

We sat down for this one and leaned back forming a C with our torso. I don't really think anyone looks like they have a C going on, but I'm not the professional. We held a weight out in front of us with one hand, but kept the other hand up near the weight. We took the hand with the weight and brought it out and back so it touched down on the floor with basically a straight arm with the weight landing on the same plane as our hip. Then we brought the weight back to center and switched hands. I kinda liked these too. They were easier than doing the Roman Twists which are a more common exercise. It's another twisting one though so I'm sure that's why I liked it. I seem to like the twisty stuff.

Weighted Hip Drops

These were different than other hip drops I've done before. We held a side elbow plank for these instead of the more traditional standard elbow plank. So we only worked one hip at a time. We held a weight above our hip and then dropped the hip down to the floor and then picked it up again. I had to modify the side plank by having my knee on the floor. No way I would have lasted a minute in a side elbow plank even without the weights and the hip dropping. We did each side for one minute.

Leg Lift Crosses

We laid down for this one. We picked our feet  up off the floor and kept our legs straight. Our toes were supposed to point out. We then crossed our legs and uncrossed them as we went up for four counts and then down for four counts. I kinda liked these too, but I can't get my feet very close to the floor. She said to go as low as you can while still keeping your back on the floor. I didn't get very far, but I liked the exercise.

One Arm Rotations

This is another one that I modified. So we were supposed to be in a high plank or push up position as I like to call it for simplicity. Then we took one arm out to the side. Then we threaded that hand under the opposite arm pit.Then we brought it back to the side. We did one arm for a minute and then switched. I did this one on my knees and I have to admit that I still really felt it on this one. I barely made it through the whole minute. 

That's the workout! I was expecting this to totally trash my abs. I didn't expect to be able to move at the end of it because that's how I felt at the end of the original 21 Day Fix 10 Minute Ab Fix. That wasn't the case with this one though. Maybe I had to modify too much so I didn't get as much out of it as I should have. Maybe it was the breaks. Maybe it was just the workout. I'm not really sure. I just know that it didn't seem all that bad to me. I even re-read my original post about the original 21 Day Fix 10 Minute Ab Fix just to make sure that my memory wasn't off. 

Polar M400 Screen Shot

I'm not sure why I'm even putting this up, but it seems like the thing to do.

Want to learn more? Watch the video!

If you decide you want to try the program out, be sure to buy it from a coach so you get the free DVD that you can't get through other sources. If you don't have a coach, you can sign up with me. 

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Review of 21 Day Fix Extreme Bonus Workout: The Fix Challenge

Bonus Workout: The Fix Challenge

I finished up 21 Day Fix Extreme yesterday. Woot woot! However, I hadn't done the free workout yet. I also hadn't done the 10 minute ab workout. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do them on the same day because I didn't know what to expect from either workout, but I was going to give it a try. I got into the workout room early! Shocking, I know! I was in for a bigger surprise though. This workout was cray cray! So the weirdest thing happened (and I'm talking weirder than me getting into the workout room early). Moments before the workout starts, I have this thought about doing Surrenders from the original 21 Day Fix. Surrenders are HARD and they are the firs move you ever do in 21 Day Fix. I'm sure there are people who give up on the workout just because the first move is surrenders. So while I'm going through this in my head, she's doing her intro for the workout and then.......Wait for it...........Then she says we're going to do Surrenders! OMG why????????? Oh yeah, I know why. Because they are really great for your legs.That's why, but seriously they suck! 

Okay I'm over it now. So the format of the workout is completely different than anything we've done in either the original 21 Day Fix or 21 Day Fix Extreme. There are 13 moves. You do first one for four reps and then learn the second one and do it for four reps. You then go back to the beginning and do the first and second moves for 4 reps and learn the third and do it for four reps. You keep adding a new move for four reps and then start from the beginning until you know all 13 moves. While you're doing the 13th move, you realize there is way too much time left on the clock and ten you find out that you have to do them all over again for Round 2. At the end of Round 2 you realize that there's still way too much time left on the clock and then you learn that you get to do them all over again for Round 3! After Round 3, you get to cool down. These are all body weight exercises. There are no weights or resistance bands in this one.

Here are the moves in The Fix Challenge!

Surrenders

You're standing facing the screen. You drop your right knee to the floor and then your left knee so now you're kneeling facing the screen. Then you come up onto your right foot and then your left, so now you're standing facing the screen again. So you go down twice on the right first and up on the right first and then down on the left twice and up on the left twice. That's a lot of surrenders over the course of the workout! I hope I can walk tomorrow.

Inchworm

You're standing facing the screen. You roll down so your hands are down by your toes. You walk your hands out so now you're in plank. Then you walk yourself back and roll up. On the fourth one, you stay down because the next move is down here too.

Down & Ups

You're in push up position. You go down onto your right elbow and then your left so you're not in elbow plank. Then you go up on your right and up on your left so you're back in push up position. You do two on the right and two on the left. I did the first batch on my toes, but I was super slow. I did the rest on my knees.

Hip Drops

You're in Push Up position and you take your right hip down to the floor. You twist your body a bit instead of just dropping the hip straight down. I did these on my toes for the first set, but on my knees after that. 

Side Arm Balance

You alternate doing side planks. I did these on my toes. Although, I did fall to a knee once.

Push Ups

These are pretty self explanatory. I did these on my knees.

Knee Tucks

I'm not sure if I'm calling this the right thing, but it will due for now. So you're in push up position again. You bring your knee to the opposite elbow. I did these on my toes. With only four reps per move, it's not that bad. I'm not very good at these when I have to do a bunch.

Let Lifts

You're back in Push Up position and you pick up your right foot straight up behind you. Then you lower it and do the left. You do each foot twice.I did these on my toes since it was only four at a time. If there had been more, I probably would have needed to go down to my knees.

Half Burpees

She calls them half burpees because we didn't do a push up. There are no rests in this workout. I was doing okay keeping up until we got to the burpees. I just can't do them as fast as they can. I kept up with the Surrenders which surprised me, but not so much with the burpees.

Jump Lunges

There were the standard alternating jump lunges where you have your right leg back an then you jump up and magically your left leg is back. I just stepped back into the lunges. I don't do jump lunges. My knees do not like them.

Narrow to Wide Jump Squats

We were in a Narrow Squat and then jumped to a wide squat and then back to narrow. We did four narrow and four wide. I had to pause during these too.

Curtsy Lunges

We alternated these. We didn't do any jumping thankfully. We did two to the right and two to the left. I kinda like Curtsy Lunges. I wasn't a fan of them during PiYo, but we did soooooo many in certain sections plus we added some moon arms and my balance was pretty bad. 

Skaters

We each jump counted as one rep, so it was jump right, jump left, jump right and jump left. I used to hate these, but I kinda like the now.

Overall Thoughts

This workout was quite challenging.. I did okay until we got to the burpees, but then I had to pause a lot. I ended up running out of time to do the 10 minute ab workout because I took too many breaks. I hope that I can walk tomorrow. There were a lot of surrenders! 

I forgot to start my heart rate monitor. I'm pretty bummed. I barely got credit for any of that activity because of that and now I don't have a pretty screen shot to post on here. :( Not happy with myself.

Want to learn more? Watch the video!

If you decide you want to try the program out, be sure to buy it from a coach so you get the free DVD that you can't get through other sources. If you don't have a coach, you can sign up with me. This is the free DVD that you only get if you buy the program from a coach. A lot of the free workouts are kinda of pointless, but this is an awesome one, so make sure you buy it from a coach, If you click the video. 

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Review of 21 Day Fix Extreme Day 21: Yoga Fix Extreme - I finished it!

Day 21: Yoga Fix Extreme

Today was day 21 of 21 Day Fix Extreme. That meant that it was Yoga Fix Extreme! I love Yoga, but this Yoga is hard for me. I still enjoy the workout and I feel like I get an amazing stretch from it, but I have to modify more than the modifier and it takes me a bit to move from pose to pose. The balance stuff is pretty much torture, but I'm getting better. Fortunately, the balance stuff only lasts about three minutes!

I was getting pretty bummed about my inability to do crow. I can't take one foot of the floor. I just sort of lean into my arms which stretches out my inner thighs for some reason. So then today, I saw a Facebook post from Roni's Weigh. So she posted a pic of her doing Crow and said that it was the first time she had done and it only lasted a second. That made me feel better! She's been at this fitness gig a lot longer than me and she's much better at Yoga than me and she just did Crow successfully this week. It's a hard pose and I'm not okay with the fact that I can't do it and probably won't be able to for awhile. I'm still trying to do a successful push up, I can't expect to be able to do Crow. I'm going to do what I can and I'll progress as fast as I do and that's just going to be good enough! 

After the workout, we went for a walk along the river. For some reason, I was completely exhausted! I nearly fell asleep on the drive home. Not really sure what's up with that, but hopefully it won't last long. 

I'm not completely done with 21 Day Fix Extreme just yet. I still have to do the free workout and the 10 minute ab workout. I'll do one of them tomorrow or maybe even both of them. I haven't quite decided yet. Once I get those done, I'll write up a summary post about all of the workouts like I've done with all of the other programs except for Cize. I really need to write that. I just took too long to do it so I don't really remember much about the workouts anymore. I know they're all about dancing and I know which ones were easier than the others, but I was thinking of going outside of my comfort zone and doing a video with me doing Cize it up for each of them. I might not be brave enough to post it though. I did try it once, but wasn't able to figure out where to put the camera. Okay, I'm rambling now. I think I'm going to go foam roll now. I like the roll on Yoga days. 

Polar M400 Screen Shots

Here are the screen shots. Looks like the heart rate monitor didn't like some of the poses. Oh well. I give up on that. I like that fat burn on there. 

Want to learn more? Watch the video!

If you decide you want to try the program out, be sure to buy it from a coach so you get the free DVD that you can't get through other sources. If you don't have a coach, you can sign up with me. 

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Review of 21 Day Fix Extreme Day 20: Dirty 30 Extreme

Day 20: Dirty 30 Extreme

Day 20 of 21 Day Fix Extreme was Dirty 30 Extreme. Last week, I commented that I thought this was my favorite workout of the program because it didn't involve jumping. I'm not sure how I feel about this one now though. Apparently, I forgot about the lunge, row, curl section. I need to work on keeping my abs engaged on that one because my lower back always gets sore doing this move. It also happens during the single leg squats with the upright row. My balance was off for those during this workout too. Last week it went much better.

So the workout didn't have jumping, but it was still pretty challenging this week. My legs were pretty sore still. My outer hip on my right side was so not digging doing those curtsy lunges with the half moons. Oh yeah, why did I say this was my favorite workout? Did I forget about all of the shoulder work in this one? My shoulders were pretty sore going into this workout so it was pretty much torture to do those four minutes of curtsy lunges with half moons and the two minutes of squats with shoulder presses. I was only using two pound weights. I didn't miss any reps with my shoulders, but I'm pretty sure that my legs went a little bit slower because my arms needed the break. Cheating? probably, but I don't care! I'm 265 pounds and doing 21 Day Fix Extreme. The fact that I got through it is a minor miracle. I don't need to do it as fast as they do it.

I had to modify the push ups with the renegade rows too. I did them all on my knees. It's very uncomfortable for me to put that much weight onto my palms on those weights. I can't really remember what else I modified, but I'm sure there was more. I did like this workout more than the jumping ones. I will admit that.

Only one day left of 21 Day Fix Extreme! I didn't think I'd make it through the entire 21 Days, but it seems that I will! Woot Woot!

Polar M400 Screen Shots

Here are the screen shots for the workout. I've still got that fast heart rate which I think is showing more calories burned than I'm really burning plus it's showing a low fat burn percentage, but I don't put much stock in those numbers. 

Want to learn more? Watch the video!

If you decide you want to try the program out, be sure to buy it from a coach so you get the free DVD that you can't get through other sources. If you don't have a coach, you can sign up with me. 

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Review of 21 Day Fix Day 19: Cardio Fix Extreme

Day 19: Cardio Fix Extreme

Today was Day 19 of 21 Day Fix Extreme which meant that it was Cardio Fix Extreme. I wasn't really looking forward to this workout. I was tired and I knew this would involve jumping, but I also knew that once this workout was over, I was done with the jumping for the rest of the round. I finally motivated myself to get up and workout when I discovered that my computer was being weird. All of the black was showing as blue. I didn't think I could stay focused on the workout if I was worried about my computer so I tried to close all the browsers and then open them to see if it changed. I tried Firefox and Chrome before I realized that the desktop did it to. I rebooted and still didn't work. I was running out of time, so I decided to deal with it later. I turned on my TV in the workout room and the screen was red instead of blue. I'm thinking, what the heck is going on with my electronics today! I tried the front room TV just to see what was going on there, but it was fine. I went back to the workout room and shut the DVD player off and tried again. Still red. I unplugged the DVD player and plugged it back in and that worked. (On a side note, I did the same for the computer after the workout and it seemed to have done the trick with it too. YAY!)

Okay so I used my weight lifting gloves again for this because I didn't want sweaty palms. The glove managed to do something to my Polar M400 watch. The same thing happened the first time I did the Pilates Fix. I'm not sure what mode I was in, but it beeped at me about every 20 seconds. That lasted for about a minute before I wanted to scream, so I just shut down the session. I restarted it, but there's no point in putting up the screen shots since it wasn't the whole workout. I hate when that happens.

I couldn't remember much about this workout, but I did remember that it involved jumping. I just couldn't remember the different aspects of the jumping. I remembered Fast Feet and Jumping Jacks. It seems that I only remember the parts that I don't like and I completely forget the other parts. The jumping jacks only last 30 seconds and they are only done twice. The Fast Feet only lasts 60 seconds and it's only done twice. That's 3 minutes of misery out of a 31 minute workout. I'm not fond of burpees, but oddly enough I didn't remember that they were in this workout. Once upon a time, I didn't like skaters, but I kinda like the Twisted Skaters we did in this. They are another move that I forgot existed in this. 

I was dreading this workout because of the jumping, but there really wasn't that much jumping involved. I really need to stop dwelling on 3 minutes of misery spread out over a 31 minute workout and focus on the things I like about the workout. I'll work on that for my next program! For now, the worst of 21 Day Fix Extreme is over. No more jumping for the next two days! Although, I have no idea what the 10 minute ab workout or the Fix Challenge workout will entail! Those are bonus workouts that aren't part of the calendar. Although, I suppose the ab workout might have been part of the calendar, but I don't remember it being there so I haven't been doing it. I probably should have been doing it though since I always skimp out on the ab workouts. I'm really bad about that! Maybe I'll work on that in my next program too.

Want to learn more? Watch the video!

If you decide you want to try the program out, be sure to buy it from a coach so you get the free DVD that you can't get through other sources. If you don't have a coach, you can sign up with me. 

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Review of 21 Day Fix Extreme day 18: Lower Fix Extreme

Day 18: Lower Fix Extreme

Today was Day 18 of 21 Day Fix Extreme which meant it was Lower Fix Extreme. She loves leg day! She made like four leg days for the week. I'm not a fan of leg day. Leg day is all about squats and lunges and when you're 264 pounds, squats and lunges suck. I had gotten through this workout twice before though, so I knew I could get through this workout again. I decided to put on my weight lifting gloves today because I got tired of having sweaty palms during these workouts. For some crazy reason, putting on the weight lifting gloves compelled me to grab my Bowflex SelectTech 1090 Adjustable Dumbbells. I'm not really sure why, but it happened. I then proceeded to do the entire workout with them set to 15 pounds except for the stuff with the bands and the lateral lunges. The Bowflex weights are a little bulky for me to do lateral lunges with them.

This workout was crazy intense with those 15 pound weights. I'm still not exactly sure what possessed me to do it. Maybe it was because it was the last day of Lower Fix Extreme during this round of 21 Day Fix. Maybe it was because I found out Hammer and Chisel is releasing sooner than I thought it would and it got me all pumped up to do something new from Sagi. I felt pretty much every squat and every lunge in every muscle from my knees to my hips. I had to take a couple breaks to shake things out. I even had to pause the DVD a few times to let my heart rate come down a bit. I've been pretty tired this week since we stayed up late on Sunday to watch the Seahawks game that ran way late. We didn't end up finishing the game because it was going on way too long. Tuesday, I wanted to stay up to watch Blindspot. I've slept badly all week too. I'm not sure if it was the lack of sleep or the extra weights, but the workout was rough today! I can still feel it in my thighs as I sit here and type things. I might need the handicap bar to use the bathroom at work!

Tomorrow is Cardio Fix Extreme, or as I like to call it, Leg Day #3. We'll see how well that goes over after doing this crazy stunt today!

I thought my abs would hurt from Pilates Fix Extreme yesterday, but they don't. My legs were a little sore going into this workout, but not crazy bad. It was more a weakness than a soreness. They are definitely weak now after this workout!

I found myself really appreciating the 30 seconds with weights and 30 seconds without weights format of this workout. Having that couple seconds in between made it easier to get through the full minute. I did better with my front lunge kick things. It wasn't pretty, but I was able to come up into some of the kicks without coming to an upright position first. My balance was horrible though.

IPolar M400 Screen Shots

I wonder if my heart rate will ever be more in the normal range for stuff like this. This whole super fast heart rate is a recent thing since I started Low Carb, but I don't know if that's the reason for it. It's just wen I noticed it happening. 

Want to learn more? Watch the video!

If you decide you want to try the program out, be sure to buy it from a coach so you get the free DVD that you can't get through other sources. If you don't have a coach, you can sign up with me. 

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Review of 21 Day Fix Extreme Day 17: Pilates Fix Extreme

Day 17: Pilates Fix Extreme

Today was Day 17 of 21 Day Fix Extreme which meant that it was Pilates Fix Extreme! I remembered to put on shoes this morning! I must admit that this workout is way different with shoes on! I was able to focus on the moves instead of focusing on how uncomfortable my feet were. It was a bit awkward at times though because it wasn't easy to adjust the bands. During the Supermans the band was shorter on my left side than it was on my right which made it uncomfortable. I love Supermans so I was pretty bummed. I would have paused the DVD to fix it, but I had just paused the DVD to put the handle back on my resistance band. Somehow the sucker managed to pop off again. 

My abs were killing me during this workout! It felt way more intense than it did last week. The leg stuff didn't seem as challenging this week, but the ab section was killer. It was good though. I kinda liked it. I'm not a huge Pilates fan, but this workout is growing on me. Its the last day of Pilates Fix Extreme in this round of 21 Day Fix Extreme though, Maybe that's why I enjoyed it since I knew I wouldn't be doing it again for awhile. 

Having the band around my feet made it have a great resistance too since it took more of the band to go around my feet since the shoes added some bulk, but also because the soles of my shoes kept it from stretching around my feet. It's hard to explain, but trust me, it made it way harder for most of the ab stuff which is probably why my abs were on fire the entire workout! 

I don't have much else to say about the workout. Tomorrow is Lower Fix Extreme so I'll be back to jumping. Oh Joy. It was nice to have two days in a row of no jumping! Now I'll do two days in a row with jumping and then go back to no jumping for the last day. I can't believe I'm almost done with this round of 21 Day Fix Extreme. It went by soooooo crazy fast! 

Polar M400 Screen Shots

Here are the screen shots from the workout. I was a bit surprised that my heart rate didn't get higher. There wasn't much moving around, but I was breathing pretty heavy from the exertion anyway. 

Want to learn more? Watch the video!

If you decide you want to try the program out, be sure to buy it from a coach so you get the free DVD that you can't get through other sources. If you don't have a coach, you can sign up with me. 

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Review of 21 Day Fix Extreme Day 16: Upper Fix Extreme

Day 16: Upper Fix Extreme

Today was Day 16 of 21 Day Fix Extreme which meant that it was Upper Fix Extreme. I was pretty happy about that since it meant no jumping! There are some challenging moves in this workout, but none of them involve jumping which makes me a happy camper! 

I stayed on my toes for the first 15 seconds or so of the push ups. I'm getting closer to the floor too! I still can't do a full push up, but I'm getting better and that's all that matters. Last year around this time, I think I vowed that I was going to be able to do a full push up before the end of the year. A year later, and I still can't do one, but I'm okay with that. I felt pretty good where I was at today and I'm going to work on it some more. 

I stayed on my toes for the first 15 seconds or so of the Dolphin thing too. The part where we go from Dolphin to Plank and back again. That is just hard! I'm trying to decide if I'm better off just doing it for 15 seconds and then taking a break and then going back at it or if I should just drop down to my knees and continue the minute. That's what I've been doing. I guess the answer doesn't really matter since this was the last day of Upper Fix Extreme in this round of 21 Day Fix Extreme. 

The lunge position during the bent over rows and the sumo squat position during the concentration curls still give me fits. My legs don't want to hold the position for a full minute which then impacts my other body parts getting a decent workout. We don't do much for our biceps in this workout so I really want to get as much out of it as I can,but I had to keep taking a break because my legs just couldn't handle it during the concentration curls. I didn't need to take breaks during the rows, but I was more focused on my legs than on my arms so I may have sacrificed my form in there somewhere. I know this is 21 Day Fix Extreme so I'm not faulting the workout plan. I just need to remember that my body isn't built for extreme workouts and I need to be okay with modifying them down. I should have just held a squat for the bent over rows and I should have just sat on my bench for the concentration curls. If I'm okay going to my knees for push ups, I should be okay with adjusting other parts. It's a little late to be coming to this conclusion though. I love that the program is only 21 days, but once you're in that final week, you realize how short 21 days really is. I could extend it for another week, but I know I won't. I've been too excited about being done to get away from all the jumping!

I can't think of anything else that I modified. I don't hold the band as close to the center as she does, but I'm not sure if you'd consider that a modification. I really felt it in my lats today during the lat pull down section. I also really felt it in my back during the post delt fly section. I had to move my feet around during the 30 second hold on the post delt fly. I just can't keep my feet still during that part. 

Oh! I thought of another modification that I did. During the tricep dips, I was up off the floor for the first 30 seconds, but my butt was on the floor for the final 30 seconds of each round. Those things make my arms go numb. I need to figure out why, but since today was the last day for Upper Fix Extreme, it doesn't matter.

The shoulder presses were still torture even with 5 pounds as my heavy and 2 pounds as my light. I have such wimpy shoulders! I have no idea how I ever got through shoulder day with Sagi. 

I can't think of anything else to say about the workout, so I'm going to wrap things up. 

Polar M400 Screen Shots

I think I lost connection during the bent over rows and for sure during the tricep dips. I'm done caring though. LOL. 

Want to learn more? Watch the video!

If you decide you want to try the program out, be sure to buy it from a coach so you get the free DVD that you can't get through other sources. If you don't have a coach, you can sign up with me. 

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