Get Ripped & Chiseled

[Guest guest]

Finally! I've been wanting to do this one forever and finally did it! I almost didn't too. I got this DVD in a trade and the person who went it taped it into the case. Some tape got on the bottom of the disc and I had to VERY carefully remove it. I put it in and immediately it froze during the warm-up. I tried cleaning it up more and it got a little farther, then froze again. This happened at least 1 or 2 other times but I was absolutely determined to do this workout. Finally, it was fine, then during the workout I accidentally hit the power button on the remote control and turned off the DVD player! I was right at the end of the chest flies section so I restarted the disc and while the warnings were up (that you can't get past) I did more chest flies then went right to the next chapter. The rest of the workout went much better!!

It turned out to be worth all the effort, I really enjoyed it! I was very inspired by the women she had working out with her, one was 57 and I'm not sure how old the other one was but she looked like she was probably in her 40s. The man was also very good looking (and younger) and all are members of her classes, not fitness professionals (but they sure look like they could be). I managed to use the same weights as Jari for most exercises and they seemed really good for me today. I did notice my back really talking during the deadlifts though and dropped down in my weights. I think I was doing them right, my abs were very engaged, but even with only 5 lb. dumbbells, I could feel it more in my back than my hamstrings. Not sure what I'll do about that section next time. I did the pushups on my knees. I did a few on my toes and said, never mind. There's "only" 36 of them (compared to 70 something in another workout someone was writing about recently) and she does them in 4 sets but there's also a lot of pulsing with them so knees were tough enough, especially towards the end. I was very impressed too that Jari paused to lower her weights when she felt her form suffering during the overhead presses. I did the same in other areas, including this one. I started with 8s and had to go to 5s because of all the reps. I felt wimpy using 5s for biceps curls and maybe could have gone to 6s or 7s. I did pick up 8s for the hammer curls at the end though (because I'd felt wimpy with what I'd chosen for the regular biceps section) and those were really challenging but doable so next time I'll try to go higher on the one. I didn't do the optional abs workout on the bonus menu only because I didn't know how long it was and I'd already gone almost 80 minutes and needed to shower and be ready for work. I just watched it as I'm resting with my post-workout smoothie before work and realized it is only 5 minutes so I'll have to do it later today or another day. I put it in my spreadsheet as a separate workout so that I can remember I have it to as another option if I want to add on a really fast abs workout sometime. Other thoughts on this were that the music was really good and helped to keep it moving. It seemed to go fast despite it being such a long workout (65 minutes). Camera angles were great, easy to see everything. I love how they show what weights everyone is using and the 57 year old woman sometimes did lower intensity options and sometimes Jari did. The only criticism I have is that there wasn't quite enough stretching (there never is) though this wasn't bad and I had to keep adjusting my step (used it as a bench) from incline to straight, taking more time. The picture with the title of the exercise coming up next always showed it straight, then the exercise would start and they'd have theirs inclined so I'd have to pause and change mine. Minor issue I know. Anyway, I'm very glad to have finally done this and am now fired up to try some other virgin Jari's soon! But right now, I'm off for a short work day. I love Wednesdays!