Tuesday - T-Tapp & Body Lift w/ Liz Gillies

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I did plan to do a FIRM today, but when it was time to

get up and do it, I didn't want to! I think part was

b/c my DD got up in the night and I laid down with her

for a little while. She is better with that - now if

I just lay with her for 10-15 minutes she'll be okay

and I can go back to my bed. It is so sweet to sleep

with her, but I'm trying not to do that b/c then she

ends up wanting that every night! But 10-15 min of

cuddling is okay.

I started off w/ T-Tapp Basic from Tempo and then I

was up in the air about what to do. I was going to do

the sculpting work on the Shape DVD (the new one) -

but I didn't really feel like that - so I pulled out a

new one (purchased w/ an Amazon gift card during our

snowed in phase) Trainer's Edge Body Lift w/ Liz

Gillies. The jury is out on this one. It is

different, in fact, so different, I'm not sure what it

would be classified as - it isn't quite Pilates, or

dance, or body sculpting...

It starts with a warm-up that I guess is dance in its

origin. You do different stretches at a two count and

then single count. It really is hard to describe.

Following that is floor work - including a push-up

variation - you push-up and then go back into a

downward facing dog. You do some floor work - all

fours - lifts to the side, back, etc. (sort of like

Blanks, but with two and single counts). Then

you do a series of pelvic lifts - you're on all fours

again, but with your front body facing up (sort of

like a crab walk) and you do different variations of

pelvic lifts to work the hamstrings/butt. I think

this could be problematic for someone with wrist

issues as you're up on your hands for a while. Then

on to ab work, which is sort of Pilates-inspired.

Then a stretch. It is really hard to describe! Maybe

it can be called " lotte berk-ish " ???

I don't think Liz did a very good job of cueing or

describing the moves. Since these were a bit unusual,

I think better instruction on form and technique was

in order. That may be solved by doing the workout

again.

It is one that will be hard to fit into a rotation -

it isn't quite strength training, yet it isn't

" relaxing " or " active rest " I'm not sure where I

would put it.

The DVD is well chaptered, though. Like other

TRainer's Edge workouts, the set is bland. The music,

(what I could hear of it) was pretty good, though. I

keep me TV turned pretty low when I workout these

days! There are two background exercisers with Liz

and she uses them to demonstrate two different posture

types - pelvic tuck and pelvic arch. Supposedly they

show variations based on their posture, but I couldn't

really see how they were doing anything different from

each other. Also, you are forced at the beginning to

watch one long commercial about the other Koch Video

offerings. You can't skip it or FF through it.

All in all - this one is a strange one and I'm not

sure if I'll keep it or try to find it a new home. I

suppose I should see if I'm sore tomorrow (I may be,

you never know!) and I should probably do it one more

time to see if part of what didn't click with me was

the lack of instruction.

There was a clip of Integrated Strength on this DVD,

and that looks like one I will pass on. The workout

looked interesting with different balance challenges

included in the weight training, but the instructor

seemed to be pretty non-descript and I have plenty of

other " functional " workout to work on these days

anyway.

I'm still not sure what to do the rest of the week. I

guess it depends on how I feel. I may still get to my

FIRMs - I have three more days left in this workout

week!

Take care!

Donna

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