Punch Up Your Walk

[Guest guest]

This afternoon, after a rousing game of Chicken Run (seriously cute game) with both kids, Miriam and I headed downstairs to do Punch Up Your Walk together. She hasn't worked out with me in a long time but was eager when I invited her. She's 8 years old and used to do her own "walks" when we did workouts... elephant walk, cat walk... She also rarely lasted past the first mile which was good because she drove me nuts after a while. Today though, she did the entire workout and followed along as best she could. To my credit, I was also much more relaxed and didn't get bugged by her variations! I put on my weighted gloves and she held 1 pound dumbbells. It was actually almost fun to work out with her but I can see why people wouldn't have wanted to be behind me in most aerobics classes! I had to focus on otherwise I'd be all over the floor doing all kinds of interesting variations at a very different pace if I had watched Miriam much! Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just anal about trying to do what the instructor is doing. :-)

This was my first time doing this particular workout. It is 4 miles. I expected it to be more kickboxingish or even boxing but there was very little of either, just a few times where you do some punches. The gloves primarily work to bump up the intensity of the walk and add some variety. They are very non-intimidating and she makes no attempts to make you think boxing of any sort. She puts them on after the warm-up and takes them off for the cool-down. The first 2 miles are basic and I had a difficult time getting my heart rate into my training zone, even with the gloves (although my cute little distraction may have had something to do with that too). The last 2, however, are more fun. The pace is faster and the movements are more varied. She does a bit of jogging and also tap outs that turn into fast moving side lunges, twisting the body into each lunge. I did these at a higher impact than her and also added tricep kickbacks as I did them. Very cool. I can't remember what else there was but I enjoyed it. When she does some of the faster moves she always shows and talks about modifications for beginners and working your way up. She is so encouraging. The rest of the music must have been okay but I don't remember it. The DVD is chaptered so you can do the miles separately but there is hardly a pause at all as she goes from one mile to the next so I didn't do pushups or anything between miles. I can see using the 3rd mile especially for a fast-paced add-on to another workout or when I just need a quick mile. The 4th would be good as an end to another workout because it includes the cool-down. The stretch is typical and too short but I didn't feel like adding anything on. We're going to my in-laws soon and I needed to eat lunch and get some other things done before we go. I think the workout was almost an hour. Good stuff. Thank you to my wonderful EV friend who sent this to me, I loved it! :-)

No workout planned for tomorrow but might get a short one in during the evening. This week and next I'm starting 2 new WW meetings so I'll be adjusting to a new schedule and getting in workouts might be tricky but I'm planning for them and motivated so that should help. My new Jari Love's & Jillian's came yesterday so I'm looking forward to trying those soon too!