FIRM Cardio

[Guest guest]

This was a weird day and getting this workout in wasn't easy but I finally did it at almost 6:00 PM, very late for me. I know I've done this at least once before but did not remember anything about it. I thought I remembered liking it, but wasn't thrilled today. I knew it was AWT/Tortoise (so 75% weights, 25% cardio) but I still coudn't picture how that translated to something called "Cardio." After the workout I looked at reviews on YaYas and someone explained it was cardio because you alternate between upper and lower body and that pushes blood from one part of your body to the other, making your heart work harder. Okay, that makes sense, but it still doesn't say "cardio" to me unless you're actually moving around the floor. That aside, this is a decent workout but wasn't much fun. I was hungry when I was doing it and kind of stressed because of how late it was (and this is an hour long workout) so that might have affected my experience with it. Heidi Tanner leads it and I didn't click with her at all. I didn't understand a lot of her cues and she didn't give enough information about what kind of weights to pick up. I hated the 4-limbed aerobics too. I used 4 lb weights during that but even if I'd gone down to 3s, I still think she asks you to swing the weights around too fast with leg movements that are a little too involved for moving your arms holding weights too. I had a really hard time following the choreography right from the warmup, I think because she did a lot of moves I haven't done before and her cues didn't tell me anything about what was coming up. I'd start out behind and then she'd switch to a new move just as I was catching on so it was frustrating. The weight work itself wasn't bad. I didn't dislike most of it but I didn't have a lot of fun doing it either. I was proud of myself for going up to 4s for all of the shoulder work and doing all the reps with good form too. I probably could have gone to 10 for leg presses too but didn't, I might try next time they come up in a workout. I was disappointed with myself for the floor work though. There's a long segment with ankle weights doing what she calls tablework (donkey kicks, etc.) I had a very hard time with that stuff and am feeling my glutes now so I guess I was doing better than I thought I was. By then I was really hungry and tired though and having a hard time sticking with it. The abs section was interesting but I'm not sure I got a lot out of that. Overall, it was a just okay workout. I was very glad to get it over with so I doubt I'll be pulling this out on my own often. I would like to try it sometime on a better day though to see if I like it better. It comes up one more time in this rotation so hopefully, that will be a better day for it.

Miriam is sleeping at a friend's house tonight and the boys are still camping (with temps in the low 30s and yes, they're in a tent!) so I'm on my own again. Very weird day and weekend but I am not complaining either. Tomorrow I have to do coffee hour at church and a meeting after church too, then I have to run and pick up a cake for my father-in-law's 70th birthday party (he has a Harley and I found a cool cake with a Harley on it!) then the boys should be coming home and my girlfriend will be bringing Miriam by on their way home from church THEN we're all going to my in-laws for FIL's birthday celebration. I have Calorie Killer on the agenda per the rotation schedule and it will be another difficult day to put in a workout but I will do it. I'm just glad it is only 40 minutes. I just unwrapped the shrinkwrap on it and watched it, as my last few experiences with FIRM style cardio have not been, shall we say, ideal, but this one looks MUCH easier to follow, plus I like Tucker so now I'm looking forward to doing it. I hope I'm right! Monday is a rest day and I'm looking forward to it, just because it means not scrambling to get in a workout!