Cher Body Confidence: Mighty Bands Workout

[Guest guest]

Today, I did the bands workout from the Cher tape I did yesterday. Her outfit isn't nearly as outrageous but it is Cher. She's wearing a black sleeveless top that essentially looks like a bustier, black shorts trimmed in fishnet and black fishnet stockings. This workout is just Cher and her trainer (can't remember her name). Cher faces the camera the whole time and her trainer mostly is at a side view, facing Cher. The music, like in "The Hot Dance," is quite loud (but really good) so you can't hear the trainer well. The last song, for the stretch, is Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time" but she's stretching, not performing. It is the only one of hers in either workout I think. It is still playing in my head now. I love that song but will eventually want to shut if off in my brain!

The trainer does the entire workout with Cher, ocassionally commenting on Cher's form, but not often. Mostly just telling her (us) what to do next and the ocassional encouragement to Cher. I sometimes missed cues because of the volume but picked up what was going on right away. There is no instruction other than "put the band under your feet" or whatever. Every once in a great while we hear Cher as a voiceover giving form pointers. Cher groans through some things but definitely works hard. It is a total body (except abs) 45 minute workout. All the exercises, except pushups (a lot, all on knees) are done with a band. Actually, Cher and her trainer are using two short bands for many of the exercises. I only have long bands so that's what I used and it seemed fine too. I checked the resistance on the 3 regular bands I have and found they are all very different so I experimented with what kind of resistance I needed. The light (purple stretchy band) was way too light for anything. The green (from a 10 minute solution workout I think, Amy Bento maybe?) was too heavy for most upper body, especially when I had to stand on the band and pull it up, but the pink (stretchy from a workout, not sure which one) medium was perfect for most. "Perfect" might imply they worked well for me though. I did feel most of the exercises but I was also finding myself fooling with the band too much, trying to get just the right (comfortable) grip on it without cutting off circulation in my hands, trying to figure out where to hold them to get the right resistance for each exercise, etc. I do that with any band workout which is why I don't like using them. With dumbbells, I just grab 'em and get to work. With bands, every time I use them I have to figure out how to use them. If I used them more often it might be different but I'm not sure. If I traveled a lot, I'd probably appreciate them more too. I did find them mostly effective today, but 99.9% of the time I workout at home with my weights handy. I'll keep the bands and I'm sure I'll use them from time to time but this tape is now up for grabs. Both workouts are enjoyable, probably best for lighter days (unless you go heavy with the bands) but just not my style. If anyone can give it a good home, please let me know and email me your address. I'll send it out (free) next week.