The One with the Trouble Free Zones

Wow.

I just got my tail kicked.

Hard.

Last week I received my order from Amazon in the mail.

I was so excited.

I had ordered three new workout dvds.

In preparation of the cold weather which necessitates indoor workouts.

If I had an extra $700 to spend on an uber awesome treadmill I would.

Or an extra $300 a year for a gym membership.

And a spare car to drive myself to said gym.

But I don't.

So I figured I would need some variety.

I have loved my Jillian Michael's Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism.

This is an intense cardio exercise that keeps all hope of breathing far from reach.

Muscles burn for days afterwards.

It's good stuff.

I have recently "mastered" this workout in the sense that I can still walk comfortably the next day.

My muscles have settled into the routine.

After reading many reviews, I settled on three new workouts.

Two of them are from the 10 Minute Solutions series.

I came to love this series when Angie let me borrow a Pilates dvd from her.

Over two years ago.

Ooops. I totally forgot that wasn't my dvd.

Do you want that back, Ang?

I chose a second Pilates dvd: Lara Hudson's Rapid Results Pilates.

For something fun and different I added Jennifer Galardi's Fat Blasting Dance Mix.

And because I couldn't help myself...

because I'm like a bug to the light which is Jillian Michaels...

I ordered No More Trouble Zones.

It's great to have a new pilates workout.

Just for something new and different.

It's perfect for my weekends where I like to "take it easy."

And I really like Lara.

She's a great instructor.

The Dance Mix was fun.

I would never ever ever allow anyone to witness me in action during this workout.

At least not without a great improvement in my choreography-following abilities.

It was a bit tricky.

I got lost frequently.

But Jennifer adds the moves little by little in each segment.

So after another day or two on that dvd I think I'll have it down.

But surprisingly enough when it was over I was like, "Wait, what?! It's over already? That can't be right."

But it was.

It had been 50 minutes.

So the workout wasn't as aerobic as I would have liked.

But I think that's mostly because I wasn't able to keep up with her instructions on the first time around.

And therefore I wasn't focused on strengthening particular muscles.

I was just trying to catch up.

And then there's this new Jillian dvd.

Wow.

Just wow.

Though not as focused on snatching every last bit of oxygen from your lungs as Banish Fat is, it's still ultra aerobic.

I end up out of breath and sweating like crazy.

As per usual.

But that's not the hard part.

The entire 40+ minutes you're working with 3lb weights.

Which aren't that big of a deal.

At first.

But today my shoulders and triceps and hamstrings and quads are SCREAMING.

Yet I tried the workout again today.

She combines muscle toning with aerobic movement.

And I don't think there's one exercise that isn't incorporating more than one muscle group.

Yikes.

It's great.

I highly recommend it.

If you want to torture..errrrr...tone yourself.

but seriously it's great.

It's low impact compared to high impact ballistic movements in Banish Fat.

So there's my review for the day.

I like the variety and I recommend each of them.

Do you have a favorite workout dvd/instructor?