tamilee webb:tight on time:body blast-LONG!

[Guest guest]

feeling great this morning, lots of energy! that big rest day that

i had yesterday really was the best thing to do.

i started the day with snow shovelling... light, fluffy stuff so

nothing strenuous, but i did get nicely warmed up.

then i did today's dvd, 'body blast' which is a new one from tamilee

webb (TL) and follows a 'tight on time' philosophy (as does its

sister dvd 'hot spots').

the dvd provides four 10 min workout selections -- basic step,

buns/thighs, core and a bonus full body ball workout.

tamilee was smart and also created a cardio warmup and a stretch

session, and gave them their own chapters on the main menu too.

so, besides the variety in the workouts themselves, the dvd allows

you to easily use these workouts as add-ons or to just do one or

two, but get warmed up and then stretched properly.

today i chose to do the entire dvd... each of the workouts has a

clock at the bottom of the screen, so you know that each of those is

about 10 mins, but the warmup and stretch dont have that. i think

that cover of the dvd said that they were 4 mins each, giving a

total workout time of 48 mins. however, my HRM gave me a total of

57 mins! (cal burn 314) where that 10 mins went, i dont know.. i

did take a short pause but certainly navigating the menu system

didnt take all that long! ... or did it? .. hmmm.

together, the segments gave a pleasant intermediate workout and i

enjoyed it. tamilee looks good... much better than she did in her

'defy gravity' workouts. she is real nice in this workout, and she

gives some good pointers, but honestly i thought she could give a

few more, in places. some of the exercises that she has included

in this workout are new and unique, and there was actually one

instance where i didnt know what she was doing and i had to stop and

watch her.

the basic step workout is basically up-down only while using light

hand weights on the upper body. the weights are not meant for

strength training, but to increase the heart rate. TL suggests 1-2

pounds. i used 1's and will use 1.5 next time. she also does

squats on and off the bench with a back cross-over step which got me

good.

the buns/thigh workout is 'oldies' floorwork -- donkey kicks and

alot of variations of leg lifts, although TL does add some bends and

extensions to jazz it up. i need 1 lb ankle weights for this next

time.

the core workout was very interesting. a mixture of pilates and

balancing moves which took strength. and it was just that... a CORE

workout... not specifically an ab workout. no crunches!

definitely not traditional stuff, so it was here that TL should have

instructed more. includes side planks and some of the balancing

moves are done on one knee, so watch out if you have knee issues (TL

suggests putting a pillow under your knees at times in this

workout). for instance, TL does this 'airplane' exercise which

starts you in a 'bird dog' (which is that extension of one leg and

opposite arm while on hands and knees), but then she has you set the

toe of the extended leg to the floor, slide your weight back a bit,

move your extended arm out to the side, then lift your other hand

off of the floor, arm extended to that side and balance! this takes

alot of core stability! to top it off, she then has you move your

arms up/down like airplane wings! she also adds another modification

which goes back to bird dog, then lifting the foot of the supporting

leg and balancing only on the one knee and a hand. wheew! this

was so much fun to try and i was actually good at this stuff!! LOL.

good workout, but again have a folded towel or small pillow (or

double up your mat up) for under your knees.

the bonus full body workout was a ball workout! a pleasant surprise

for me... for some reason i thought it was a tubing workout... that

must be on the other disc. TL does the standard ball exercises

here.. crunches, oblique crunches, reverse crunches with ball

between the feet, glute squeeze with feet up on the ball, ball

between feet and lower knees to either side, etc. i really like

ball workouts and enjoyed this one.

the warmup and stretch were nice... effective for such a short time.

sorry so long!! im blabby today

:*carolyn.

PS: tomorrow is kickboxing day... i think that i will do janis

saffell's 'kick-it!'