Gin Circuit Challenge & A.M. Stretch (long review)

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I've tried to edit this down but apparently I have too much to say. My thanks to anyone who reads the entire thing!! :-)

I decided this week is a circuit week and started it with Gin 's Circuit Challenge which was new to me. The workout is broken into 3 circuits (A, B & C). Gin tells you that beginners can quit after A and then fast forward to the cooldown, intermediates can quit after B and advanced do the whole thing. I never know if I'm intermediate or advanced on workouts I've never done but I'm always up for a challenge so I did the entire 45 minute tape and was fine with it. Most of the cardio moves are high impact "power" moves on a step and a modifier is shown doing low impact. Gin does the workout and cues it too, unlike the talking Big Brother head in Step Reebok The Workout. This is way more creative choreography than that one too but that's because most of that video seems to be basic step and v-step, this is still waaaaaaaaaaay simpler than most step workouts in terms of choreography.

The circuits consist of a very short (1 minute??? I didn't time it but another review I saw said 1 minute but they seemed longer to me) cardio segment followed immediately by a 1 minute or so weight segment. After the first step segment she went right to pushups off the top of the step, 20 of them. Then you go back into cardio, then back to weights and do that for about 10 minutes each circuit. There's also a short abdominal section done after the circuits (and done on the step), plus a warm-up and a cool-down/stretch rounding out the 45 minutes. Each circuit covers chest, back, triceps and biceps, there's also some squats and lunges off the step during some of the cardio but because the cardio is lower body intense the strength emphasizes upper body. I'm feeling my chest now.

I did circuit A with an 8" step. Gin says advanced can use a 10" step but they're using the Reebok step and my step (club size but not Reebok) used risers and I only have 2 sets so I can go 8" max. That was high enough with all the power moves and not knowing the workout at all. I brought it down to 6" for the last 2 circuits to try and keep my heart rate in my training zone and that was better.

Overall, I liked this workout a lot. The moves are very simple and while she does combinations, they're mostly 3 parts so not a lot to remember. Gin starts off doing the moves without power and then adds one or more levels of power to each move. She cues extremely well too. The only thing I found hard about the workout, besides so much power step which I'm not used to doing, is that she mostly tells you the sequence of movements instead of the name of a move making it hard to remember the first time through so if I wasn't way out of my zone on the high end, I was out of it on the low end because I was confused. I think my HR will be more even next time because now I know more of what to expect. This cueing of movements was especially noticeable in the weight segments because if she'd said "Next we're going to do upright rows" I would have had a better idea of what size weights to grab. Instead, I had to figure out from the description of the movement sequence which exercise it might be and then figure out which weights to grab. Most of the time I was too low since I didn't have enough time to figure it out and just had 8s near me. I needed lighter weights for the shoulder work and did stop the tape to grab 3s but tried not to stop it too often. Gin and some of the backgrounders do the weight segments use tubing, keeping it tucked under the step during the cardio. I tried using tubing I have and hated it. I hate the handles on it and have decided I just need to get rid of it at this point, I've never been comfortable with it. I thought about grabbing a resistance band instead but just went with dumbbells. At least one person is always shown with dumbbells but he's a huge guy and I couldn't use him to gauge what size to get for myself. The workout didn't flow well for me today because of these things but I'm sure it will go better next time (I think it was me and not the workout). I'll probably try using a band too and see if that makes a difference.

The abs at the end are all done on the step which is slanted (I could have used my slanted risers but just played with the risers I was already using) and a mat on the step for comfort. I didn't get a lot out of this segment. It seemed too short and the angle wasn't very comfortable for me. It could be because I'm not used to it, but I'm not sure.

After Gin, I pulled out A.M. Stretch with Madeline . It is 25 minutes long and covers the entire body. It is voiced over but the voice and on-screen actions match very well most of the time. Madeline is very pleasant and encouraging, upbeat but not too perky (it is a morning workout after all). She holds the stretches for a good amount of time and I really enjoyed this a lot. I've been trying to find good stretch videos and this is a definite keeper (thanks Stacey!). I also have her P.M. Stretch and want to try it later this week.