Review of Beachbody Cize The Next Level: Own Every Move

Cize The Next Level: Own Every Move

So Beachbody did something pretty amazing! They gave a free gift to everyone who bought Cize. The only requirement was that you be a Premium Club Member to get the free gift because the gift is a set of workouts you can only get through the On Demand thing with Beachbody. For anyone who bought Cize at any point, you get free routines! That's pretty amazing. They could have charged extra for you to unlock these, but they gave them away for free! Work Your Body was the first one released several months ago, but there are four others (or maybe it was five) that were released more recently. Own Every Move is one of them! 

The Routine 

When I did Work Your Body, I did a bit of a play by play for the routine, but I can't really do that for this one because I don't really remember it well enough. I went through the Cize It Up round to get the names of the moves, but I still don't really remember them. I have to admit that I did not really enjoy this routine. I didn't really enjoy Work Your Body all that much either. I did appreciate that Own Every Move was more like the original Cize routines though. I felt like he went a little slower with the instructional section, but the moves were just too challenging for me. I couldn't seem to get my limbs going in the right directions and I never felt like I was dancing. 

This one had six different moves and all of them were compound moves so no learning a couple counts and then repeating it for the full 8 count. Nope. None of that in this one. That's fine though. Not everyone is as challenged as me and if they were all just a repeating 2 or 4 count for the full 8 count, other people would be bored. I'll probably try these again, but maybe not just yet. I think at some point, I'll do like a mini round of the full Cize program and then wrap it up with going through these again in a similar manner to the regular program where you alternate two workouts for a week and then move on to the next two and so on and then the final week you just do each one once. That seemed to make things click for me with some of the original routines.

Okay so the names of the different moves.......

Chug Pas De Bourree - I did okay with this until we added the arms and then I just lost it and couldn't get it back. I need to remember to just skip my arms.

Roll Knee Pop Throw - I actually did okay with this one. I like the knee pop stuff. We've done it in other routines.

Sweep Cha Cha Cha -  I love the cha cha cha stuff. I can handle Cha Cha Cha stuff. I didn't do so well with the sweep part of this though. 

Ball Change Elbow - I honestly can't even remember what this move was about! I just watched it too. 

Drive Sgl Sgl Dbl - We did a move called Drive the Car in a previous routine. This one wasn't really like that one, but we did put our arms up like we were driving and then did a bit of a cha cha cha thing again. 

The final move was the Point Away Grapevine - There was a bit of a cha cha cha while we pointed our hands to the side and then did a Grapevine forward. I don't do grapevines forward very well, but I'm working on it.

Overall, this was a challenging workout for me. I didn't really enjoy it much, but if you go back and read previous Cize posts from me, you'll see that I don't typically like a new routine. I loved the second workout in the original program my first try, but that was about it. I ended up loving the first routine, but the first time I did it, I didn't love it. I really didn't enjoy ether of the workouts from the second week, but I did like the workouts from the third week, but I was still baffled and challenged the first time around. 

Polar M400 Screen Shots

Here are the screen shots. I got a decent calorie burn even though it wasn't that strenuous for me. I'm happy with that. 

Want to Learn More? Watch the Video! 

If you decide to buy Cize, make sure you buy it from a Beachbody Coach so you can get the best price and the FREE workout! If you don't have a coach, you can sign up to get me as your coach! Shipping is about half the price through a coach and you get all of the same workouts that you'd get through the infomercial plus an extra one that you can't get through the infomercial. 

Review of Beachbody Cize: The end of Exercize: On Demand Exclusive Work Your Body

Cize: On Demand Exclusive: Work Your Body

I'm back at Cize again! I did Cize way back in October. I then did a mini round in December. I loved the program my first time around. I fell in love with Cize when I did my first workout as a sneak peak on Beachbody On Demand. I just had to get the program when it came out. I had already done Rockin' Body and wanted to put my new found confidence to work. I know I was only dancing in my workout room and no one saw me, but it still takes a degree of confidence to actually do this stuff. I wanted to challenge myself to do something outside of my comfort zone and I definitely did. At the end, I even posted videos of me doing the different routines. I still can't believe I actually posted those on here. I cringe thinking that people will see them, but it was important to me at the time to encourage other big people to try something new and challenge themselves to get out of their comfort zones. I'm rambling again. I do that a lot.

Okay so Beachbody has this On Demand workout streaming thing and if you buy the Cize program, you get these On Demand exclusive workouts which is totally amazing! Some people are upset because they don't have the ability to stream and these workouts can't be purchased as DVDs, but let's face it people, life isn't fair and not everyone can have everything. This is a nice perk for the people who bought the DVDs and who can stream. Sorry if I sound harsh. Anyway......This was the first of the free workouts and it came out a few months before the latest batch of free workouts. I kept meaning to try this one sooner, but I was always in the middle of a program. I finally got around to doing it yesterday morning.

The Routine:

This one has Chili from TLC in it. She did the music for it too. I think she wrote the song for this, but I couldn't really tell. So this one is similar to the first Cize routine. Oh and we're supposed to call it a routine instead of a workout since this is The End of Exercize and all. I still call it a workout. He does in this workout, but then he corrects himself and calls it a routine. Okay so similar to the first Cize routine in the sense that it's very simple moves and you repeat them for the full eight count. Some of them are variations on moves in previous routines. 

There are 8 moves in this one. The Cize It Up section of this one is different though because you don't do the routine the same way. For example, in the first Cize workout, we did 8 moves for 8 counts each and we did the whole routine three or four times just like that in the Cize It Up section. With Move Your Body, we still did the routine three times in the Cize It Up section, but the first time we did three counts of 8 per move, the second time was two counts of 8 and the third was just the one count of 8.

The 8 moves are fairly simple and all have cute names. They are Hook Groove, Skate, Point Away, Cross Low Cha Cha Cha, Booty Back Whip, Step Ball Change, African Chug and Man Up. The names don't really clue you in much to what you'll be doing if you've never done it, but once you know the moves, seeing the names on the screen or hearing him call out the names helps to know what you're doing next if you're like me and can't remember the order all the time.

The first move was simple enough for me to handle. We just did a side to side toe tap thing, but the first two times the foot went back and the second two it went front. We did a simple arm move along with it. When the foot was back, our arms were low doing a hook and when the foot was forward, our arms with up in the air doing a bit of a punching move. I got my foot forward when it should have been back and back when it should have been forward a few times, but for the most part, I was able to do this one just fine.

The second move was a bit of a disaster for me. I feel like the learning section on this one went from super simple to me tripping over myself pretty quickly. He started out great, but I feel like we threw in the arm movements before I really grasped the foot movements and then I just lost it. I pretty much just walked backwards with my hands in the air and then walked forward with my hands down low flapping around every time this one came up. I was a bit disgusted with myself. I was also pretty bummed because I loved Cize the first time around and I felt like a wreck with this. I had to remind myself that while I loved Cize the first time around, I still pretty much sucked at it in the beginning of each workout so I can't just bail on this because I got hung up on the first time doing it. 

The third move was a basic sideways cha cha cha step while we pointed our hands. It felt a bit like one of the moves in Rockin Body during the Disco Groove routine. I looked like a bit of a train wreck though. I couldn't seem to move in the correct direction and point in the correct direction at the same time. I could handle one or the other, but not both. This is another one that I feel like I could have used a little bit more instruction on, but other people might have gotten bored. I guess I just need to do it again and see.

The Cross Low Cha Cha Cha was a bit weird for me. I was a bit behind for most of it because I felt like we needed to hit each move, but they sort of just flowed through it so I kept losing nano seconds that added up to me being behind. So we sort of bend over and pointed each hand towards the ground and then we stood back up to cha cha cha. All of this footwork got my heart rate up. Most of the beginning moves were like that.

Then we moved on to the Booty Back Whip. I didn't really do well with this one. It's simple, but I made it complicated. We did this hip thrust thing on each side and then did this arm whip thing. The good news was that it didn't have any cha cha cha steps in it so I got a chance to rest during this one.

Then we moved on to Step Ball Change which was basically the cross step, but with a ball change thing in it that I just didn't seem to grasp so I just didn't do it. I did the cross step the whole time. It's hard to explain, but you step your left foot across your right.Then your right goes out to the right steps down and then steps across the left. Then the left goes out to the left and then across the right. You do that as you go forward. I ran out of room during the Cize It Up section since we did three 8 counts of this move! 

Then we moved on to the African Chug. I gotta say that this could have been my favorite move. I love the African dancing when I watch So You Think You Can Dance. I'm sure I didn't look as good as they do when they do it, but it's just a fun move. It's another one that is hard to describe. You kind of alternate stomping out to the side and then your arms go to the same side as the stomping leg, but you're facing away from the stomping and the arms. It's fun! I liked it!

Then we moved on to Man Up. This was similar to The Manny in one of the original Cize workouts. With the Manny, we stayed in one spot, buth with Man Up, we moved forward a bit as we did it. So we sort of alternated stomping down with our feet as we stepped it slightly forward. Our hands started in fists at our hips and then they went up and down to the beat. The Manny was a move struggled with, but this seemed easier. I'm not sure if it's because I eventually figured out the Manny or if this was just easier. I'm not sure, but it was the last move!

The On Demand app on the Roku is a bit annoying because you have to scroll though all of the workouts to get to the one you want and my Roku is painfully slow in the workout room. It doesn't help that each routine has the full routine, the reverse angle, the Cize It Up round and the cool down. Plus each "DVD" has the ab workout so the ab workout is on the On Demand List after every other workout. It's so annoying! 

I had fun. I'll do it again, but maybe not until after I do the others. 

Polar M400

Here are the screen shots. You can tell when we took the water break!

Cize Mini Round Day 6: Livin' in the 8s

Day 6: Livin' in the 8s 

Day 6 was my final day of my Cize mini round! I survived and I made a video of me Cizing it up for each workout. That was way outside of my comfort zone. I almost didn't post he videos because I don't look at all how I feel while doing them. I feel like I'm actually dancing while I Cize It Up, but watching the videos is pretty sad and scary. I don't look at pictures of myself very much, so looking at video is quite disturbing. Looking at pictures and video means that I can't hide anymore. I can't lie to myself anymore. I honestly don't feel like I'm as big as I am. Seeing it in the video though, makes it so real. I'm putting these up though even though I don't want to look at them. Maybe my discomfort will help someone. Maybe someone my size is out there is doing what I've done......checking out blog posts to see how hard the program is and to see if a big girl can do it. The answer is Yes. A bit girl can do Cize! I'm 265 pounds and did it. I did Body Beast, 21 Day Fix, Les Mills Combat, 21 Day Fix Extreme, Rockin' Body and PiYo. You can too!

Okay off my soapbox and back to the workout. This was the final workout that we did in week 3. It's fast and it's challenging. Most of the moves are all 8 count moves. What I mean by that is that you learn 8 counts at a time and it's nothing repetitive like in Crazy 8s. This workout is also the longest in the program.

It started off with a hand movement that took me forever to grasp. For some reason, the hand stuff is the hardest for me. I can usually get my feet where they need to go, but the arms are just hard! So when he's teaching it, he calls it shoulder shoulder up down. You touch one shoulder and then the next and then you bend one elbow and then straighten it while you bend the other. Then you squat down over to the right and then do this foot kick thing like a heel toe move, but it's fast. Then you step out of that and end up back at center.

Then you do a heel toe thing to the front hat's in a different workout and you do an arm move with it and let me tell you I really thought I had this little part mastered until I watched the video of it. LOL. So then you take a step forward with each foot while you do this other arm movement that we did I think in the last workout. Then you turn to the opposite side from the previous 8 count and you lift your hand up to your face like you'er drinking from a water bottle. He likes to make you realize that you can do these moves because they are things you've done before.

So then you do a Cize Bounce on each side. This is yet another move where I thought I was doing what they were, but I totally look like a goober doing it, but I'm okay with it. So then you take a step back and look at the back wall. Then it gets a little tricky for me. You take a couple of big steps forward as you do some arm movements that I couldn't quite master with the foot movements. You're supposed to look like you're sort of flying. I look like I'm hugging myself. So then you turn to the right and hug yourself and then squat down and then come up and then down again with one arm sliding down your leg then you stand up and jump your feet out wide and squat down again as your hands come to the floor. You're supposed to have your hands slide up your legs and be all sexy, but I can't full off sexy.

Then you do another move that I can't really describe (or do correctly), but you step to the side and hug yourself again and then straighten your arms like you're pushing something away. Then you take your left foot and put it behind your right foot as you arc one hand up over your head and the other in front of you down lower. Then you shift your weight and turn to the side with your arms out in front of you as you sort of pump your hips. It's not pretty when I do it, but looks cool when they do it.

Then you do this series of steps to get your facing forward again in almost a sumo squat and your roll your knees around in another one of his sexy moves that I can't pull off. Then you stomp your left foot down. Then you stand up and bring your left foot over in front of your right as you turn to face the right front corner. You stomp your left foot twice as you pump your arm in the air. Then you slide the left foot back as you sort of lunge back and then you bring it forward.

This part got a little tricky for me. It's not very pretty. So step forward with each foot as you bring your hands up in the air to form like the Y in the YMCA dance. Then you step back and end up in a Y again.

Then you go into what he calls The Rhythm. You cross your hands up over your head and then do a series of steps that involve moving backwards, turning to face the opposite wall and some hand crossing and bending down. I it took me forever to feel like I did it right, but looking at the video, maybe i need more practice.

Then we were supposed to take a couple steps forward as the opposite arm move out to the side and then do a swan dive forward. Swan's are graceful. My dive was not. Then we jump up into another Y. We alternated pumping our hands in the air so it was left, right left. Then we bent in half to one side. Then we were supposed to run up three steps as we punched our hands down. I look like a goofball with this part. Then we jump up and land facing left and squatted own a bit. It wasn't pretty, but I got through this!

My Cize mini round is now over. I'm planning on doing Hammer & Chisel next, but that could change. I'm not sure I'm ready for another hard core program and I'm not sure I'm ready for a 60 day commitment to something right now. I've been so excited about getting it ever since I heard about it and now I'm having second thoughts about doing it right now.

Want to Learn More? Watch the Video! 

If you decide to buy Cize, make sure you buy it from a Beachbody Coach so you can get the best price and the FREE workout! If you don't have a coach, you can sign up to get me as your coach! Shipping is about half the price through a coach and you get all of the same workouts that you'd get through the infomercial plus an extra one that you can't get through the infomercial. 

Cize Mini Round Day 5: Go For It

Day 5: Go For It

Day 5 of my mini round of Cize was Go For It! This was the first workout of week 3 of the program. I had a hard time with this one the first time I did it, but it was certainly easier than doing anything from week 2! I'm not sure why week 2 was so bad for me the first time around, but it was. Week three was rough, but it was more fun. The week three workouts weren't that bad when I redid them in the final week.

This one was all about the 8 count moves and some of them were kind of fast. The overall pace of the workout was slower than the last two though which was nice.

So we started off doing the arm cross and then cross jack feet thing that we've done in several of the other workouts. At the end of the move cross jack thing, we kind of squatted down and faced the right wall. We did a little shoulder mover.

Then we did a knee lift with our left foot and punched down our left knee with our left hand twice. Then we did some hop kind of thing that I don't really remember. I think we were supposed to do the trip, but I can't really do the trip without falling over so I just tap my foot back and kick it forward.

Then we did a cha cha type move to the right and then a heel tap to the front. Then we jumped up and crossed our feet in the air and then landed with our feet wide. My legs don't really cross. They just sort of come together in the middle

When we landed, we did a Cize Bounce on each side. Then we punched both hands up in the air over to the right as we stepped our left foot over to our right foot. Then we put our elbows up to about shoulder level with our hands near our sternum. Then we put the left foot forward and slid it back as we popped the right knee forward and did an arm movement.

Then we put our left hand on our face and did this head bob thing like you're moving to the beat while driving your car. Then we did the Come to Me which we've done before. We planted one foot and then the other foot stepped around as we pivoted on the other foot for 45 degrees. Then we shifted our weight to other foot and did another 45 degrees the other way. We stepped the back leg forward and then back and then two smaller steps forward as we did a move with our elbow.

Then we jumped our feet wide and leaned to one wide with our arms stretched out in front of us as we clapped. We then tilted the other direction and clapped again. Then we jumped our feet together and did an old school move that I don't know the name of, but your cross your hands in front of your legs as you open and close your knees.

Then we took two steps forward. Then we jumped our feet out wide again and then pounded one fist down and then the other fist down. Then we did a move that was supposed to get us to move backwards a couple steps. I can't really explain it, but we jumped our weight onto one leg as the other leg swung around and then behind the plant leg. Then we stepped out with the other leg and punched the opposite hand out. Then we stepped out and punched to the other side. So we were standing with our feet wide and our arms straight out to our sides.

Then we circled our arms in front of us. Then we did the Drive the Car Move. We jumped out wide again with our feet and then squatted down a little bit as we punched our hands out in front of us with our hands at like 12 and 6 and then turned the other way so the opposite hand was on top.

Then we did a knee lift and tapped the foot down on the outside of the opposite foot and then picked it up and put it back where it belonged as we hopped on it twice as we picked up the other knee pretty high. Then we were supposed to clap our hands under that leg. I just sort of clapped my thigh because my legs are way too big to clap under them. We did a side step move that I can't describe while we did a hand movement that I can't describe and we ended with a hip check to the left.

I liked this one better than the previous two workouts, but I'm not very good at it. I need more practice. I'm just not sure how much of that I'll get in the coming months since I've got so many other programs that I want to do and redo. I really want to do another round of PiYo plus I still have Pump, Tai Cheng and Hammer & Chisel. I still haven't done a minie round of Body Beast, 21 Day Fix or 21 Day Fix Extreme. Oh and I have Slim in 6 too. ugh! So much to do!

*edited to add the video since I forgot it this morning. 

Want to Learn More? Watch the Video! 

If you decide to buy Cize, make sure you buy it from a Beachbody Coach so you can get the best price and the FREE workout! If you don't have a coach, you can sign up to get me as your coach! Shipping is about half the price through a coach and you get all of the same workouts that you'd get through the infomercial plus an extra one that you can't get through the infomercial. 

Review of Cize Mini Round Day 4: In the Pocket

Day 4: In the Pocket

Day 4 of my mini round of Cize was In the Pocket. This is the second workout from week 2. Week 2 was not fun for me! Both of the week two workouts got better in week 4 when I redid them, but they are still hard. There's a lot of footwork going on and a lot of hand movements. As you can see, I didn't do so well with the hand stuff, but I got most of the footwork down. 

We had done some of the stuff before, but a lot of it was new. The routine was about 30 seconds long, but it was tiring to learn and I was beat at the end of this! 

The first 8 count was soooooo hard for me to get! I don't really have it down, but I can fake it okay. So there's a lot of hand stuff and footwork at the same time. You step forward while you do a hand movement. Then you step out to the side and back while you cross your hands up and to the side. Then you step out to the other side and do the same crossing with the hands. Then you step to the side while doing some more hand movements and step to the other side while you repeat the same hand movements. 

Then We were supposed to cross our hands towards our right hip and then do a pendulum type swing with our legs. Then we did the arm cross in front of the chest and then the cross jack thing with our feet. 

When we came out of that, we stepped to the side while we did this body roll and then clapped. We went to one side twice and then the other side twice. This was weird because you step to the right with your left leg first and then the right. Then you do that again. Taxing on my brain! My right leg usually goes right before my left leg goes right!

Then we did the row the boat walk forward. After five counts we hopped back while we pushed our hands forward and then we ran forward and put our arms up so our hands were near the sternum and our elbows were up. The hop back and run forward isn't very pretty, but oh well.

Then we did this pivot thing on the balls of our feet. Then we stepped our feet out and did some hand movements. Those took me awhile to get! 

Then we did a knee lift and touched the foot down on the other side of the opposite foot and then brought it back. Then we stepped out and did a swinging motion with our hand and then did the same on the other foot. Then we did a big step to one side while we swung our arms and then a big step to the other while we swung the other day. 

I'm actually starting to learn this one. In the beginning, I would really mess up the Cize It Up Section. He doesn't say much during these parts so you have to actually remember the steps or watch the screen for the names of the moves. I actually felt like I knew what I needed to do next. I just need to work on my execution of the moves. I don't really look like I'm dancing, but I am having fun. I don't know if I could handle doing another full round of Cize, but I think I'll try to sneak in some mini rounds in between other programs. 

Want to Learn More? Watch the Video! 

If you decide to buy Cize, make sure you buy it from a Beachbody Coach so you can get the best price and the FREE workout! If you don't have a coach, you can sign up to get me as your coach! Shipping is about half the price through a coach and you get all of the same workouts that you'd get through the infomercial plus an extra one that you can't get through the infomercial. 

Cize Mini Round Day 3: Full Out

Mini Round Day 3: Full Out

Today was Day 3 of my mini round of Cize. That means it was Full Out which is one of the workouts that gave me fits during my first round of Cize. I loved week one, but then we got to week two and I wanted to give up. I couldn't get my hands and feet to move in the right directions and I couldn't remember what moves were coming next. It all felt so complicated. It all changed during the final week of the program though. The last week of the program was one day for each workout which is what I'm doing for my mini round. So in the final week of my first round of Cize, everything seemed to click. The moves that had been hard just weren't hard anymore. I have no explanation for it, but it happened. 

It was nice doing Full Out again today. It was pretty fast and I had to pause it a couple times to catch my breath. I suppose I really didn't have to, but I did it because I was just tired of breathing so dang heavy. Most of the moves in Full Out were 8 count moves, so things are more complicated than they were in You Got This. Most of the moves were new, but we did do a couple repeat moves in this one. They weren't exactly the same though. 

This workout had 8 moves. 

The first move was a multi directional cha cha. We did the cha cha to the left and then the right and then turned our left shoulder to the TV and did it two counts to the TV and then the right shoulder to the TV with two more counts of cha cha. While we did cha cha feet, we crossed our hands in front and then uncrossed them. I'm pretty sure this move made my brain hurt the first time going through this workout, but it's easy now!

Then we jumped out feet wide and did the Cize Bounce four times (twice on each side). The Cize Bounce is where you lean to the right and then your left hand is up by your shoulder and then you push it down towards your hip. Then you lean left and do it with your right hand. After four counts of Cize Bounce, we jumped back with our right foot and then our left while we crossed our arms in front of us and then jumped out wide while our hands came down by our sides. This really hurt my brain during the first round. I still mess up the arm part of this. 

Then we did a knee lift on the left while we hit our knee with our left hand. Then we did the same on the right and then cross our wrists near our right hip. Then we did four steps with our right foot sort of doing a 90 degree turn while keeping our left foot planted. We stretched the right arm out forward and sort of brushed crumbs off the right shoulder with the left hand. I can't really describe that well. We ended up facing the left wall at the end of the move.

Then we jumped up and pivoted 180 degrees so we were facing the right wall and landed on our right leg as we did The Trip with our right leg planted and our left leg doing the kicking. We did four counts of that and then jumped up and faced the TV as we cross jacked our legs twice while our hands just stayed up by our shoulders and went up and down a little bit.

Then we did the Manny which is basically stepping a foot out to the side and then back and then the other foot out and back while your hands go up and down from your hips to your shoulders sort of. The hands go up as the foot taps down. So we did that for an 8 count. This was crazy taxing on my brain the first time around. I couldn't get my hands to anything.

Then we moved on to this thing that he called the Vacuum. So the left foot slip out to the left a little then back in. Then it slid back out wider this time. As the left foot goes out, the right hand goes down. Then we did a knee lift with the left knee as we punched our hands down on either side of our knees and then a right knee lift with the hands punching down on the sides of our right knee. Then we jumped out feet wide and squatted down into a Sumo squat while we punched our hands out in front of us like we were driving a car. We were at 12 and 6 with the left hand on top and then did 12 and 6 with the right hand on top and then back to 12 and 6 with left on top. Then we jumped our feet in and punched our hands down at our sides.This was a big section and it really hurt my head the first time we did it. It's pretty easy now, but it's fast!

Then we did the High Low from Crazy 8s. We did a little cha cha to the left as we put our hands up in the air and then we did the cha cha to the right as we bent down and put our hands down low. Then We took a big step back and to the side and acted like we were shooting a basketball. Then we did a bit step to the right and back and shot the basketball again.

Then we stomped with our left foot towards the TV and did a bit of a hip twisting thing that I can't describe. We did that four 8 counts, but on 6, we crossed our wrists in front of us and then raised them up over our hands and then on 8 we whipped them down and out for a big finale finish.

This workout was fast and there was a bunch of jumping. I had to pause the DVD a couple times to catch my breath. The video was taken at the end of the workout and you can tell that I wanted to die during it. I do feel pretty accomplished though because I was able to get through it today without screwing it up too badly. I'm not a perfect dancer and I don't look at all graceful while doing it, but it doesn't matter. I had fun. Even though I wanted to die, i did have fun. You can't tell by the look on my face, but I really did have fun. I enjoyed this much more than doing 21 Day Fix Extreme.

I didn't bother with the Polar M400 screen shots for this workout. My heart rate was all over the place and I don't think it could possibly be accurate. It was around 50 and then went to 80 and then 130 and then 150 and back to 80 and up to 160 and down to 50 and then it wasn't connected. It was pretty much like that for the entire workout. 

Want to Learn More? Watch the Video! 

If you decide to buy Cize, make sure you buy it from a Beachbody Coach so you can get the best price and the FREE workout! If you don't have a coach, you can sign up to get me as your coach! Shipping is about half the price through a coach and you get all of the same workouts that you'd get through the infomercial plus an extra one that you can't get through the infomercial. 

***Edited to include the number of moves because I forgot to go back and do that.***

Cize Mini Round Day 2: You Got This

Day 2: You Got This

Day 2 of my Cize mini round was You Got This. This was the first Cize workout that I did way back before I bought the program. It was on On Demand as the preview workout. I really enjoyed it, but it was a bit challenging for me, so I picked up Rockin' Body to work my way up to Cize. It worked out pretty well. Once I finished Rockin' Body, I was able to do You Got This a bit better. 

This workout is a bit slower paced than Crazy 8s, but the moves are a little bit more intricate. In Crazy 8s, we mainly just did the same move for 8 counts, but in You Got This, the moves were longer. The workout follows the same basic format though where we learned stuff slowly. For example, the first move has arm movements and footwork, but we learned the arms first. He teaches things in such a way that it's pretty easy to pick up if you just get out of your own head.

I didn't have to pause the DVD as much for this workout as I did with Crazy 8s. 

There were 13 moves in this workout. Some of them were repeating moves like from Crazy 8s and some where moves that took the whole 8 counts. Some of the moves were actually in Crazy 8s.  

We started out swinging our hands like a pendulum and then moving them in a circle as we hopped to the left. We then went the other directions. This was basically a four count move that we did twice.

Then we stepped to the left as we raised the left hand up over our heads and snapped. Then we stepped to the right and raised up the right hand and snapped. Then we did this heel tap thing to the left as we brought our hands down in front of us. This was our first 8 count move.

Then we did a heal tap forward with our left leg and then tapped it back and forward and back as we did an arm movement that I can't really describe. Then we stepped out to the left and tapped our heel down as we snapped our fingers on our left hands. 

Then we did four counts of the Row the Boat from Crazy 8s. So we stepped our left foot across our right and then the right out to the right and then across the left and then the left out to the left. Then we threw our hands in the air and did a bit of a moon walk back.

Then we did The Throw from Crazy 8s. 

Then we stepped our feet our wide and brought our hands up to our face and pulled them down while we did a hip thrust kind of thing. We did that on each side. Then we brought our hands down to our hips and did an arm move while we twisted on the balls of our feet.

Then we sort of walked forward while doing the Cize bounce and then took a step back with our left foot as we clapped and then a bit step back with the right foot as we did a clap.

Then we did the Pull Down. I think it was called the Temptation in Rockin Body. We reached both hands up to the right and then pulled our hands down to the left as we stepped to the left. We did the same going the other direction and then did a few quick steps as we "ran" forward. We ended with a cross jack and a clap. This move drove me a bit crazy in the beginning. I still can't get the feet quite right, but I'm getting better.

Then we did another cross jack and a clap and then did five knee lifts starting with the left knee. We ended the move by pointing at the TV.

Then we looked up at the ceiling and followed that with our hand which is now pointing at the ceiling. We snapped our fingers and then squatted down as we swiped the floor with our hand.Then we jumped up.

Then we did a bit of a knee left as we swiped our shoulder with our opposite hand. We stepped back a little bit and did the same thing on the other side. 

Then we put our hands up near our faces and then did a cha cha to the left and then a cha cha to the right. 

Then we did an exaggerated step as we did a different kind of swipe thing with our hands to our opposite shoulder. Then we stepped wide and sort of twisted as we did an arm move. 

I'm having computer issues so I'm not going to bother doing the Polar M400 screen shots.

Want to Learn More? Watch the Video! 

If you decide to buy Cize, make sure you buy it from a Beachbody Coach so you can get the best price and the FREE workout! If you don't have a coach, you can sign up to get me as your coach! Shipping is about half the price through a coach and you get all of the same workouts that you'd get through the infomercial plus an extra one that you can't get through the infomercial. 

Cize Mini Round Day 1: Crazy 8's

Cize Mini Round Day 1: Crazy 8's

I've decided to go through one week of Cize. I'm going to do each workout once. I never wrote my final blog post about Cize, so I have to redo the workouts so I can remember what each routine was like. I"m also going to record myself doing the Cize it up round. It's hard for me to describe the moves so the video will help with that. I've never even posted a picture of myself on the blog, but I'm going to post videos of me doing Cize. This i so far outside my comfort zone. I might chicken out of the videos for the harder workouts where I look even more uncoordinated. Hopefully i won't though because I really want people to understand that this program is totally doable for big people like me. 

Day 1 was Crazy 8's. It's been well awhile since I've done this workout. I remember it being fast, but it seemed even faster today. Since I went low carb, my heart rate has been faster than normal so I'm sure that has something to do with it. I've heard that it only lasts for a little while, but it's still pretty fast. I was breathing heavy during this entire workout. I actually had to take some breaks while they were doing the Cize Bounce a few times. 

I love that this workout has you doing the same simple steps several times before moving on to the next one. This is really the only routing in the program that has you repeating them this much. There are 8 moves and you do them for 8 counts each I believe or it's two sets of 8 counts. 

The moves are all very simple and you learn them slowly. In the video, you can see that the first move is called the Low High. First you learn the feet which is basically just a cha cha to the left and a cha cha to the right. You do it slow first and then you do it tempo. Once you've got the feet figure out, he adds the arms in.

After the Low High, you learn the Box Step which is basically just hitting the four corners of a square. Once again, he teaches the footwork first and then has you add the arms which is just lifting your hands in the air and then bringing them down slowly. 

After the Box Step there's a move called The Trip. You're supposed to sort of bounce on your left leg as your right leg goes back and then you kick it front. I don't bounce on my leg because of my balance issues. I just planted my left leg. I also tapped my right toe down a few times because my balance really is terrible. 

After The Trip, there's a move called Baseball. Your feet are out wide and you cross your hands near your right hip and then you lean a little to the left as you open up your arms. You repeat the move a few times. 

After Baseball is the Up Down. You arc your hands up and over your head to the other side as you step to the other side. You cross your arms in front of your chest and hug yourself as you squat down come up and squat down again. Then you arch your arms up and over as you step to the other side and do the same thing. 

After the Up Down is The Throw. you step one foot back and reach your arms out in front and then pull them back. I kinda of think of it as hugging someone and pulling them in. Then you turn to face the other wall and do the same thing. Then you go back to the opposite wall and put your hands up high. Then you do the other side with your hands up high.

After the Throw is the Criss Cross. Your feet are a bit wide. You bring one arm up and cross it over your chest then you bring up the other one and cross it to form an X. Then the first hand goes down by your side and then the second hand goes down by your side. Then you jump up and land with your feet crossed in the center and then jump out and land with your feet wide again. Then you drop your head in your hand and then stand back up again. I like this move now that I know how to do it. I hate jumping repeatedly, but doing this move gives me a little bit of an exercise high.

After the Criss Cross is Row the Boat. it's the final move. You cross your left foot in front of your right and then step out with the right and then cross in front of the left with the right then step out with the left. You do that as you walk up towards the TV four times. Then you step back with some attitude. The video cut off before I stepped back, but I didn't want to redo the video just for a couple seconds of my walking backwards. 

Crazy 8's Cize It Up

After you learn all the moves and you've done a few practice rounds with all the moves you get a water break so you can catch your breath before you Cize it Up. The music changes to a real song instead of just electronica type stuff. The music gets louder and Shaun T talks less. In this routine, He calls out the moves, but in future routines, he doesn't. You can still see the names on the screen though and that helps at times. We went through the whole routine three times at the end. This is a video of the second time.

Polar M400 Screen Shots

Here are the screen shots from the workout. There's a bit of a difference between these and when I did this on Day 1 of my first round of Cize. I'm not really sure what's up with the comment on there about Extreme Training Load. I most certainly did not workout for three days. 

Want to Learn More? Watch the Video! 

If you decide to buy Cize, make sure you buy it from a Beachbody Coach so you can get the best price and the FREE workout! If you don't have a coach, you can sign up to get me as your coach! Shipping is about half the price through a coach and you get all of the same workouts that you'd get through the infomercial plus an extra one that you can't get through the infomercial. 

Review of Cize: The End of Exercize: Day 28: Hold Your Own

Day 28: Hold Your Own

Day 28 is supposed to be a rest day, but it was a Friday and I hadn't done the free workout yet so I did that. This workout was not like the rest. It wasn't really a workout. He taught us some moves that we could do if we went to a club or a house party. I don't go to clubs or house parties. I don't dance in public and these really worked much in terms of dance moves. I can't really describe this workout, but I have no plans on doing it again. It was short and fairly slow paced. I don't have much to say about this workout.

Polar M400 Screen Shots

Here are the screen shots. Rather unimpressive I know. 

Want to Learn More? Watch the Video! 

If you decide to buy Cize, make sure you buy it from a Beachbody Coach so you can get the best price and the FREE workout! If you don't have a coach, you can sign up to get me as your coach! Shipping is about half the price through a coach and you get all of the same workouts that you'd get through the infomercial plus an extra one that you can't get through the infomercial. 

Review of Cize: The End of Exericze: Day 27: Livin' in the 8s

Day 27: Living in the 8s

Day 27 was Living in the 8s. This was the final day of the regular program! It was amazing to know that I got through this program. I don't dance. I don't do dancing workouts. I can't move all of my limbs at the same time, but I did Rockin' Body and I did Cize. You don't have to be a dancer to do Shaun T's workouts. He's amazing! I used to do a lot of Leslie Sansone walking workouts because I had a hard time mimicking what was on the screen. I don't do well with reversing what I'm seeing so I always picked simple workouts. Tae Bo was another great program for me because you learned one move and then you did that one move for a long time. There were some sections where you would string together several punches, but those never went well for me. Dancing workouts are epic failures for me, but I got through four weeks of Rockin' Body and four weeks of Cize! 

The final day of the program went well. It was another day where I kept thinking to myself that it just made no sense that this program had been so difficult for me during weeks two and three. I struggled so much during those two weeks. I felt like a failure and I wanted to give up, but I kept going and I got through it and in the end, I danced like no one was watching! It was awesome sauce and amazeballs all at the same time! Once I was done, I kinda wanted to go through the program again, but hubby and I bought bikes and we were supposed to start riding in the mornings before work after I was done with Cize. I'll redo the program at some point. I might not do the full four weeks, but I'll probably do a mini round like I've done with PiYo and Les Mills Combat.

Polar M400 Screen Shots

Here are the screen shots for the workout. Look at all those calories burned! The pace of the week three workouts is much slower than the pace of the week two workouts. The week two workouts are closer to 1000 calories an hour than this. 

Want to Learn More? Watch the Video! 

If you decide to buy Cize, make sure you buy it from a Beachbody Coach so you can get the best price and the FREE workout! If you don't have a coach, you can sign up to get me as your coach! Shipping is about half the price through a coach and you get all of the same workouts that you'd get through the infomercial plus an extra one that you can't get through the infomercial. 

**Edited to fix the day because I jumped from 21 to 23**

Review of Cize: The End of Exercize: Day 26: Go For It

Day 26: Go For It

Day 26 was Go For It. This was the first workout of Week 3. This wasn't as hard as week 2, but it was still pretty challenging. At the end of week 3, I really just wanted to be done with this entire program. I felt like I bumbling idiot when it came to these workouts. I just couldn't get my body to do what it was supposed to. However, the same thing happened today as the previous few days. While doing the workout, I kept thinking that it wasn't really that hard and I had no idea why I had found it so challenging before. All of that wasted frustration! I wasn't perfect by a long shot, but it was totally doable and I felt like if I did it a couple more times, I could actually do it well. So very strange how taking a week off from it made it easier instead of harder. 

Polar M400 Screen Shots

Here are the screen shots from the workout. I didn't get as much of a calorie burn as the week 2 workouts, but oh well. Check out my heart rate screen shot though. This one is more of a HIIT workout than some of the others in the sense that there was a bigger gap between the highs and the lows. I didn't get it up quite as high as I had in previous workouts though. It seems a bit less structured too so maybe it's less of a HIIT workout than I originally though. :) 

Want to Learn More? Watch the Video! 

If you decide to buy Cize, make sure you buy it from a Beachbody Coach so you can get the best price and the FREE workout! If you don't have a coach, you can sign up to get me as your coach! Shipping is about half the price through a coach and you get all of the same workouts that you'd get through the infomercial plus an extra one that you can't get through the infomercial. 

**Edited to fix the day because I jumped from 21 to 23**

Review of Cize: The End of Exercize: Day 25: In the Pocket

Day 25: In the Pocket

This was the other workout from week 2. It was sooooooo hard for me in week 2. The moves were fast and they were much more intricate than the week 1 workouts. Once again, I was doing this workout and thinking to myself, "Why was this so hard in the beginning? Why did this workout make me want to bail on this entire program?" Doing it again after having had over a week off from it, it was just so much easier. I wasn't perfect for sure, but I got through it and didn't feel like a complete failure. I was so glad that I hadn't bailed on this program like I wanted to in week 2!

Polar M400 Screen Shots

Here are the screen shots. It wasn't as much of a calorie burn as the day before, but it's okay! I had fun. I got my heart rate up and moved my body! 

Want to Learn More? Watch the Video! 

If you decide to buy Cize, make sure you buy it from a Beachbody Coach so you can get the best price and the FREE workout! If you don't have a coach, you can sign up to get me as your coach! Shipping is about half the price through a coach and you get all of the same workouts that you'd get through the infomercial plus an extra one that you can't get through the infomercial. 

**Edited to fix the day because I jumped from 21 to 23 and to fix the tag for Cize**

Review of Cize: The End of Exercize: Day 24: Full Out

Day 24: Full Out

This was the first workout of Week 2, which was the wee where things went a little downhill for me. I wasn't looking forward to doing this workout again. It was just hard for me the first time around and the second and the third. I was happy to put this workout behind me when I started week three, although I did know that it would be coming back. 

I gotta say that I'm glad it did. I'm really glad that they did the advanced calendar the way that they did. This final week where I had to do all of the workouts again was really amazing. While doing this workout, I kept thinking to myself, "Why was this so hard the first time I did it?" It just wasn't that hard this time around. I can't say that I was perfect and I won't say that I remembered every move, but I had fun and I got through it. I felt like I was dancing instead of doing a workout video. It was awesome sauce!

Polar M400 Screen Shots

If I had done this workout again right after finishing it, I should have gotten pretty close to 1000 calories in an hour! That's just amazing! This is another one where the heart rate monitor shows that it's kind of a HIIT workout. 

Want to Learn More? Watch the Video! 

If you decide to buy Cize, make sure you buy it from a Beachbody Coach so you can get the best price and the FREE workout! If you don't have a coach, you can sign up to get me as your coach! Shipping is about half the price through a coach and you get all of the same workouts that you'd get through the infomercial plus an extra one that you can't get through the infomercial. 

**Edited to fix the day because I jumped from 21 to 23**