Review of 21 Day Fix Extreme Day 4: Lower Fix Extreme

Day 4: Lower Fix Extreme

I was kind of dreading this workout because I was still sore from the Plyo Fix Extreme on Monday. I got up and I did it though. I'm determined to finish out this week. I might not finish all 21 Days, but I'm doing a full week of the program. If I don't finish the 21 days, it's not a failure in my opinion. I started this program because it was supposed to be cold and miserable all week so we weren't going to be going on bike rides before work. If I stop after a week, it's so I can go bike riding with hubby before work. This program is pretty intense and makes my legs hurt a lot soooooo I don't think I can do bike rides and keep up with this program. It's more important to spend time with hubby and get him excited about working out. :)

I didn't mention this in yesterday's post about Pilates Fix Extreme, but that thing worked me over more than I thought. I woke up and didn't feel any new pain which in a way kind of bummed me out. After I got to work, things changed. I was sitting at my desk and had to cough. I totally felt that in my abs! Apparently Pilates with a resistance band is pretty intense! I'm writing this post on Saturday, and I can still feel it in my abs from Wednesday. 

This workout was back to the normal format of the others not including Pilates Fix Extreme. There were four rounds and each round was made up of two exercises that we did twice. Once again, we worked each leg twice instead of once like in 21 Day Fix. So for example if we did rear lunges, we did the left leg for a minute and the right leg for a minute. With 21 Day Fix, we did the left in the first half of the round and the right leg in the second half of the round. 

We used two sets of weights and a resistance band during this one. My heavy weights were 10 pounds and my light weights were 5 pounds. The warm up lasted about a minute and a half and was pretty normal stuff including running in place, lunges, toe kicks (alternated straight leg kicks while bringing a hand down to meet the toes, and toe taps (one leg tapped back while opening up the arms).

Each move lasted for a minute, but the first 30 seconds was done with weights and the second 30 seconds was done without weights and a slight modification. 

Round 1: Squats/Jump Squats and Front Lunges with a kick

The first 30 seconds was standard squats with the heavy weights. The second 30 seconds was squat jumps without the weights. Because I didn't get enough jumping on Plyo Day. It wasn't that bad, but I was a bit sore and wasn't really in the mood for more jumping.

The first 30 seconds of the Front Lunges were just standard front lunge with the heavy weights. The second 30 seconds was without the weights. We did a front lunge and then were supposed to come up into a front kick. This was challenging for me because I don't have the strength to come out of a lunge and into a front kick so I came up out of the lunge by dragging my right foot back to my left foot and then doing the kick. We got 10 second breaks between exercises.

Round 2: Single Leg Squat/Single Leg Squat Jump and Lateral Lunge/Lateral Lunge Leg Lift

The first 30 seconds was a Single Leg Squat with the heavy weights. I don't do well with these because of balance issues. I had to touch my toe down a lot, but I got through it. After 30 seconds, we set the weights down and did the Single Leg Squat, but then came out of it with a jump. I had to touch my toe down a lot with these.

The first 30 seconds of the Lateral Lunges was just a stand lateral lunge with the heavy weights. After 30 seconds, we dropped the weights and continued doing the lateral lunges, but instead of bringing the non-plant leg back to the plant leg, we lifted the non-plant leg up into the air. These weren't so bad. It was a nice break from jumping!

Round 3: Sumo Squat/Sumo Squat Jump and Rear Lunge/Plyo Lunge

The first 30 seconds was standard sumo squats with heavy weights. The second 30 seconds was Sumo Squat Jumps without weights. Must we really continue with all of the jumping! They really weren't that bad though. It's only 30 seconds of jumping.

The rear lunges were done with the heavy weights. After 30 seconds, we dropped the weights and did Plyo Lunges. These weren't so bad because we stayed with our leg back and just jumped up a bit. I can do these. I can't do alternating Plyo Lunges. Those just kill my knees! 

Round 4: Heel Press and Lateral Band Walk

The Heel Press was done on the floor with the resistance band. We had to wrap the band around our feet again. I don't wear shoes when working out so this isn't fun for me. So then we got on our hands and knees. The first 30 seconds was spent pushing our right heels back and then returning it forward again. The second 30 seconds was doing the left leg. 

For the Lateral Band Walk, we stood on the band and then switched the handles to the opposite hands so the band formed an X. Then we squatted down a bit and took two steps to the right and then two steps to the left. You wouldn't think this would be very challenging, but it was pretty tough. I was so ready to be done with this move. You can make it harder by "choking up on the band." I opted not to do that and I was happy for the decision.

The cool down was pretty standard stretching stuff. It lasted about a minute and a half. 

I felt pretty good about this workout. I was sore going into it, but I only had to take a few breaks. It was a bit weird though that I had to take breaks since I didn't with Plyo Fix Extreme, but that was just 30 seconds of work. This one had 60 seconds of work.

Polar M400 Screen Shots

Here are the screen shots from the workout. My heart rate was pretty high again. I'm not sure if this is good or bad. I'm doing some research and trying to figure out what's up.

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.