Better Body and Buns

[Guest guest]

I got this from Amazon after doing a FIRM parts workout that had some parts from this in it and I am so glad I did! It is a full body sculpting workout but it has an emphasis on lower body (which I guess I should have realized from the title so it might have been better in last month's lower body rotation but it was okay in this month's upper body too). It is led by Peluso, Taber Bruner and Jen Carmen. I don't know if I've seen Jen P or Taber in other wokouts but both of them were good, Taber especially. Jen Carmen is always good! There were a lot of things I liked about this workout...

1. It is only 45 minutes but moves fast so your heart rate stays steadily elevated through a lot of it. You move between upper and lower body sometimes which elevates the heart rate or do a ton of lower body (leg presses followed by tall box climbs, for example).

2. According to reviews on YaYas it is supposed to be aimed at intermediates but it is easily made harder or easier by the weights you use. I can see intermediate because some of the sets are shorter but most are 16 reps. Beginner/intermediate modifications are shown. I did all the pushups on my knees (intermediate level). They come in somewhere in the middle and I was very hot and tired and did not want to push myself too hard by doing them on my toes since I didn't know what else was coming up. Next time, I'll try them on my toes probably. I started with very heavy weights too and gradually had to lower them. My workout room was again stiflingly hot and I just do not do well with that kind of heat. I'm afraid to push myself too hard because I'm concerned I won't be able to finish the workout, then I feel like I'm wimping out. My excuse today is that since it was my first time through the workout and I didn't print a worksheet for it I didn't know what was coming up next so I didn't know what else I had to be ready for!

3. All 3 instructors were great! The transitions between them were smooth, they looked like they were having fun and overall, they all cued well. There were some missing instructions here and there (oh, we were supposed to start with that foot? pick up heavy weights for which exercise, oh that one, hey wait, I still need to grab my weights now that I know what to grab) but it wasn't bad.

4. Abs were first!! I have some really good DOMS from yesterday's Complete Aerobics and Weight Training workout (I really put myself into that part and loved it) and was not happy to be doing more but was happy to do them first, when I was still fresh. They were pretty good but not as challenging as CAWT's were.

5. Hover squats were 2nd!! Again, while I was still fresh and could put a lot into them.

6. There is standing leg work and floor work. I like both and like workouts that do both. I would have liked more time to mess with my ankle weights though.

My only complaints would be that I wanted more upper body but, like I said, with a title like Better Body and Buns I should have expected it. Also, while a lot of people on YaYas rave about the music, I really found at least one section, can't remember which exercise, maybe leg presses, where it was intrusive and annoying as all heck. There's a lot of horns, which I like a lot but there was this one bit done on piano or guitar or something (can't remember now) and then a whiny horn over and over while doing a repetitive, difficult exercise. It was NOT helpful because the music was distracting. The rest of it was okay but not memorable.

Anyway, this was a great buy for the few bucks I would have paid without Amazon credits and I would have paid more too. I see it is on DVD but for $22 and higher. Not many workouts are worth that for me, not even my beloved FIRMs but this one is very good!

Tomorrow is Maximum Cardio Burn which I have not enjoyed much the 2 times I've done it so far. If I still don't like it after this time through it is going in the trade pile. My kids are at camp all next week (day camp) but I've picked up extra meetings subbing as leader so I may or may not have extra time to workout. There are only 7 workout days on the rotation after this. I was hoping to be done by June 30 but now it is looking like first week of July, I hope. I'm loving it but I want to have the feeling of accomplishment that comes with finishing it now that the end is so much closer!