O'Brien's Latest

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone!

Back to normal today - school is back at least! Anyway, today I tried out O'Brien's latest - Strong Body, Fit Body. I liked it!! Some caveats though - you can't go super heavy with this one because she does

combined/compound exercises - so you can really only go as heavy as your weakest muscle group without compromising form. For the most part, lower body is done without weights. She does indicate it is a moderate

weight/higher rep workout and I would agree with that assessment. At the beginning she recommends that women start w/ 5 lbs and men w/ 8 lbs.

I used 5's throughout - for some exercises I can definitely go up - for others, not so much b/c of the compound/combined movement thing. The workout itself is divided into 4 circuits. The first 3 circuits consist of 2 sets of 3 different exercises, the 4th circuit puts everything together having you do 1 set of each of the exercises you did

in the prior circuits. There is nothing tricky or unusual. The 4th circuit that puts everything together would actually be a very nice "mini" workout. Each circuit according to the chapter menu is 7 minutes. Let's see if I can remember the exercises:

Circuit 1 - bicep curl in plie stance combined with lateral stretch (to work obliques) and releve (standing on your toes); tricep kickback, walk

out to push-up do 2 push-ups, walk back to triceps; squat/squat jump (unweighted)

Circuit 2 - plie stance - lateral raises (8), then a twist to each side;

front lunge (unweighted), something else....can't remember! Maybe french press with pull down???

Circuit 3 - rear lunge w/ bicep curl and shoulder raise, plie squats to each side, then plie squats with jump (a real thigh burner!!!)

Circuit 4 - combines all of the exercises from the first 3 circuits doing one set each.

Floorwork - some pec flies - one arm at a time, w/ leg extensions, some arm pull-overs with leg extensions, and traditional ab work (I wish she did more planks - I think in her Strong Body, Ageless Body - she did more interesting floorwork)

Final Stretch - Very nice - athletic stretching held for a decent length of time and pretty thorough, too!

Overall, I liked this one and it shall remain on my wish list! (This was

a borrow - THANKS!!!!) I plan to fit Strong Body, Ageless body in again soon so I can compare them. As I recall, though, I think Strong Body, Ageless Body did not use as many combined/compound moves. I also think that one may have had more interesting floorwork variations.

herself is interesting - I can see people finding her annoying. I don't, personally, but she does have some quirks. Her cueing technically is good, but her motivational speak can sometimes be a bit over the top - at times she sounds like she is talking to a Kindergarten

class ("no, it is not time for a water break, that will come later") other times she is just a tad over the top ("this is for you, it is not for your mother, your father, husband or wife...") At the end of the program there is a little impromptu piece where the film crew is asking why various people involved with the video exercise - some responses are

cute/funny, others are a bit strange, 's daughter is on camera and says she exercises b/c her mom makes her!

Anyway - back to FIRMing and walking tomorrow!

Take care -

Donna