Self Magazine Workout-Gimmick or Not?

I've realized in my foraging across cyberspace that there are a lot of "Lose 10 pounds in 1 week!", "5 minutes for a Better Butt", and "Easiest Weight Loss Plan Ever" things out there. Most of them I look at and think "Sh*t 10 pounds in 1 week is super unhealthy, what the heck are these people thinking?" or "If it really only took 5 minutes a day to have an amazing butt, I would already be styling Beyonce's booty." In a quest to find some diamonds in the rough, I decided to give a promising workout regime a try, and post my thoughts here.

Questionable? I think so... [Image]

I must admit, I didn't go very far out on a limb with the first workout regime I want to try. I found it on Self Magazine's website, called The One-Hit-Wonder Workout, by Jessica Smith. I think it's the name that caught my attention, I read One Hit Wonder and I'm thinking of that old movie, "That Thing You Do." If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check it out-pretty sweet movie if I remember correctly. 

Glancing through the workout, I saw some cool exercises that definitely looked like they would challenge my flexibility and coordination, but I wasn't too sure about pushing my strength. Overall, I deemed it worthy of a try. I'm not going to write down the exercises or how to do them, because the website already does a way better job of it than I could ever do.

Here's my analysis:

Overall, I liked the workout today. So far, Ms. Smith at Self has my vote-it does not look like she is pulling our leg.

It was WAY more difficult than I imagined. Though it did not directly challenge my strength, the exercises asked my body to do things it wasn't used to-and my muscles weren't exactly jumping for joy at the prospect. Smith suggests doing 3 sets of the circuit-I did only 2 today and am already starting to feel it especially in my back, inner thighs, and calves. I often neglect these muscle groups, so it's nice to finally be making them work.

 [Vanessa Rogers Photography]

If you do this workout, you'll need a decent amount of space. I live in a small apartment where it's difficult to not stick an arm out and hit a wall or piece of furniture. Some of these exercises require kicking or reaching out, and left me scrambling to find a way not to accidentally kick through a wall. I had to stop and reset for the exercise in the photo or else I would have put my foot through a glass door every time.

11/2/2012 Workout

[Image]

TGIF people! I'm running out of cool names for my workouts, so I think I'm just gonna go with the date. Feels awesome to get back into it though.


Yoga

3X through 10 reps each
Military Press
Upright Rows
3-Way Lift
Pushups
Bicep Curls
Superman
Spinal Balance Opposite Arm/Leg

Where has Summer Gone??

I know its November now, but I'm used to my nice mild Southern weather. Not this cloudy, raining, cold stuff. My ears are still defrosting from my run. Wishing for those hot summer days...

Workout:

3 mile run-this is my new thing, though I run less, I'm running at a faster pace

Yoga
towel slides (10)
toe touches (10)
crazy Ivans (10)
plank (30 sec)
side plank (30 sec each)
Spinal balance (10 each)

Happy Halloween!!

Trick or Treat!!! Hope everyone is having a wonderful Halloween! Here it is:

Yoga

3X through 10 reps each
Military Press
Upright Rows
3-Way Lift
Pushups
Bicep Curls
Superman
Spinal Balance Opposite Arm/Leg

Time to Catch Up!

So now that Hurricane Sandy has blown through, I can sit down without fear of sudden power outage or falling trees and catch up on my workouts. To say I feel blessed that DC didn't suffer too much is an understatement. I spent half my day trying to help my parents in CT find a place to stay with power. Here's a picture of one of the trees that went down on their property: luckily none of the trees hit the house!

This evergreen took 2 apple trees with it too.

Sandy was my first hurricane. I've spent the last several days operating under this weird combination of anticipation, excitement, and fear. But I somewhat managed to keep up the exercise! Considering that there were people out running along the Hudson River in NYC Monday, the least I can do is get up off the couch.

I've broken down my exercise by the day to better keep track of what I do. It's an arms kind of week: my hamstrings feel like they are about to snap they are so tight for some reason.