FIRM Bikini Bootcamp Day 4: Fat Blaster

[Guest guest]

Got up and got downstairs, no breakfast, at 6:20 this morning. Today was Fat Blaster with Kay, Tucker and Allie Strickland (they take turns leading). It is cardio with some very light weights (the FIRM's 4-limbed aerobics sections appear at least twice). It is a nice mix of floor and step (on a small step, I used the shorter portion of the fanny lifter). The choreography is FIRM style so, in other words, it is not overly complicated but cues are just announced and you have to figure out what it means which means I was behind a lot. Oh well. I kept moving anyway and jumped in as quickly as I could. If I did this more often than once a year or so it would probably flow very well for me though! All 3 women cued quite well. This is an older workout (late 90s I think), set in the museum or library or whatever you think of it as with a large group. The cueing is also very tight. No chatter, just "Get your tall box for tall box climbs" or whatever. It was a little strange seeing Allie like that because she is usually more talkative and friendly with at least form pointers and there are no form pointers at all in this. Alll 3 women seemed to be enjoying the workout though and I did too. It is pretty light, especially for The FIRM but that was okay today. I didn't have a ton of energy so that might account for the some of why I was rarely in my training zone but I'm sure that is not the whole reason. Next time I do it though, I will probably use the 8" portion of the fanny lifter (instead of the 6") and pick up heavier weights (I used 3s) for the 4-limbed aerobics. One thing I find funny but others probably find annoying is they cue for "low impact aerobics" and just a minute into it are doing "plyo jumps" and "bunny hops." I am quite sure feet leaving the ground is not low impact! It is The FIRM though and I expect it so that's why it cracks me up.

Working out without breakfast worked for me today. I noticed I was hungry about 20 minutes into but I mangaged (after a struggle) to ignore the hunger and was fine. I didn't notice myself feeling at all fatigued from lack of food (or caffeine either) but then again, this was a light workout so that could be why too. I still think I prefer eating before working out though. It is funny, we were talking about that a bit here lately and then in my WW meeting yesterday afternoon a member asked specifically if she should eat before working out! She was leaving the workout feeling very exhausted and even light-headed, which I'm thinking means she might need to eat at least a light snack (preferably high carb) before working out. I don't remember if I emphasized starting and staying hydrated too but will bring that up next week. We had an interesting discussion about it and came to the conclusion (the entire group) that what works for one person won't work for another on this one and that you need to experiment to see what works best for you. My experiment today was mostly inconclusive but it was still good to know I could do it if I had to, at least with a light workout.

Now I'm going to do a bit of work on the computer and then force myself to work on taxes (ick) and will try very hard not to allow myself to get too distracted by other much more interesting things, including postings here!