Pilates Cross-Trainers NOVEMBER 2020

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

This morning was:

Pahla B - Total Body Low Impact Workout - Good for Your Body & Brain - this was a mix of cardio work, body weight strength and balance. It got the job done!

Jessica Valent - Side Lying Series and Booty Burner - combined, this was tough. All floorwork, but cumulatively effective.

I have the day off today, we're going to decorate and just not do much of anything else.

My foot got a tad irritated yesterday - I think the biking did it - too much pressure I guess. My poor doggies match me - my Lab always limps now but my Golden is limping as well. She hurt herself somehow earlier in the week and was looking better yesterday so I made the mistake of throwing the ball for her....and now she is back to limping. I guess none of us are getting any younger.

I haven't been super tempted by any of the Black Friday deals so far. I really am considering cutting back on my subscriptions next year and using my DVDs and You Tube.

I think I will stick with Jessica V - I have a year until July and I'll re-evaluate then, but I'll probably stick w/ her b/c her prices are reasonable and her stuff is easy to fit in w/ whatever else I'm doing. And, of course, Ellen - I managed to do something from her at least once a week.

I think Trifecta will go and FW, too, probably, b/c I have many of her DVDs and also she posts on You Tube.

So, so far, no Black Friday temptations...

Carol - I know, there is going to be a huge COVID spike as a result of Thanksgiving, and then, again, I'm sure after Christmas and New Year's.....

Dana - glad you got back to working out. I have seen some of Fabulous 50s workouts and they look fun....I got an e-mail from her w/ the 14 day challenge, too!

Hope everyone has a good day!!

Donna

[Brenda in WA]

Still doing lots of stepping...


Donna, sorry about your foot! Foot injuries can take a while since it's hard to give up walking. Thanks for always adding a last name onto "Jessica". I struggle to know whether people are talking about Valent or Smith. I too plan to buy whatever Jessica Smith puts out. Of course, that means I should try to get some more real workouts in....

Thanksgiving was nice though weird. No big family group this year but just hubby and I and our boys. My oldest is home from long-haul trucking for a couple of days, so that's been nice to see him.

Black Friday... I never thought about fitness options for purchase. LOL So far I've been buying the boys clothes online since Old Navy is 50% off of everything. Oh, and a couple of cardigans for me.

[txhsmom]

Black Friday workouts were:

Jessica Smith - 15 Minute Fast Fat Blast: Power Pick Up Walk - 15 minutes;
Suzanne Bowen Fitness - Advanced Barre with SBF Ball - 20 minutes & Lower Back - Back Body Target - 15 minutes

I might tack on a short pilates routine before bed (or not). It has been so long since I've done this walk from Jessica that I remembered nothing about it - who knows, I may not have ever done it. It was good, filmed poolside in sunny Florida. Much warmer looking than here.

I hadn't done either one of Suzanne's workouts - they were both relatively new - new within the last few years. I enjoyed them and was suitably challenged by them. I'm thinking I will subscribe for a year and just spend my streaming $$ here.

Still debating streaming options though. I purchased Jessica Valant's Pilates Bootcamp workouts several years ago, and I could do those for a while or her stuff on YouTube. At this point, I am leaning towards cancelling Pilates Nest (it's pretty pricey, compared to other streaming services, but pretty much in line for streaming pilates workouts). Jessica V is on the low end for pilates streaming. Decisions, decisions!

Brenda - Good to see you! I've bought a few things online - some Old Navy masks that were half price, a bottle of perfume on sale to replenish the bottle that is almost empty, a new pair of walking shoes, and thinking about stocking up on Clinique skin care since it's 30% off. Exciting stuff!

Donna - No real temptations for me either. I'm just stocking up on stuff I would regularly buy. I did buy the Door Barre and am looking forward to getting that for Christmas. Sorry about your doggies and your foot! Hurting your foot is the pits - I remember when I broke my foot several years ago what a pain in the *** it was.

Waves to all ~

Carol

[Usia]

Good morning!

Angie Fitness Power Walk with Strength - 40min: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8tZJI5N3wA
DoYou Breath & Flow - 30min. This was an intermediate pilates class focusing on breath. It's Do You Yoga's Forever Fit Revolution program that combines pilates and yoga classes. It's a different program from what I did for 4 weeks back in the summer. We'll see how long I can follow this 56 class program but I like that there is both yoga and pilates included.

Black Friday Sales: I wasn't tempted to buy anything either. I didn't even spent much time looking. I was hoping for Jessica Valant's special but there isn't one, so I've just moved on to use what I already have. I may have finally reached my saturation point.

Donna, I hope your foot feels better. It's been a while, right?
Waves to Carol, Brenda, Linda, Cheri and Christine!

[fanofladyvols]

Hey everyone!!

It is just been my two kids with us but I really am enjoying the simpleness of it.I have been busy cleaning, cooking and baking but today announced I was taking a break, lol. Plus my husband has gained 5 pounds,

I'm going to start decorating for Christmas while they're here. It will be nice to do that over the next two days.

I wanted to thank you guys for alerting me to Jessica. I enjoyed her challenge ( I ignored the arm workout though). My favorites of hers were the power , the upper and the bedtime stretch. However the daily fight trying to get the smartTV for youtube to stream, then it would buffer and then the ads..blech..it was too frustrating. I just don't think I would use her enough to even consider her for streaming.

Here's the funny thing...I checked out essentrics TV from a season 12 link someone posted and it casts to my smartTV seamlessly! No issue at all. I'm just not willing to pay $15 a month. If ETV went on sale, I'd be seriously tempted.

Donna I hope your foot feels better soon. I hate being injured and you are so faithful in your workouts that I'm sure it stinks for you too.

Dana good for you getting your groove back! I totally get needing a week off. It is called working out after all.

Carol I love the idea of doing barre..I just can't seem to make myself do barre. So I was able to resist the streaming deal. You must give your reviews of door barre as soon as you open your present!

Brenda I love buying fitness things for myself for Christmas. We used to only buy the kids stuff but we now budget for ourselves things we want. I bought a DVD set that I have hid from myself and fitness toys have made the list the last several years. The privilege of this season of life!

Happy Saturday to each of you!!

[txhsmom]

Today's workouts were

Suzanne Bowen Fitness - Barre Hiit - 27 minutes & Children's Christmas Workout - 11 minutes

Both of these were new to me. The Barre Hiit workout alternated strengthening/toning moves with low impact (or high impact if you wanted) cardio moves. Suzanne led and Tina - the Barre Amped Trainer teacher - showed the higher impact/harder moves. The first time through you did 1 minute of each move, and then the second time through you only did 30 seconds of each move. Mentally that works pretty well for me - I know what's coming and I know I can do 30 seconds worth.

The Children's workout was lower body focused and featured Suzanne and her daughter, with Christmas music (Mariah Carey "All I Want for Christmas is You" and "O Holy Night"). I definitely need some Christmas music to get me in the spirit of things.

Dreading going back to work on Monday - we've had some new positives that are going to complicate things significantly. And to top things off, my dryer isn't working AGAIN.

Linda - So glad you've had a good Thanksgiving. LOL on your husband gaining 5 lbs. I told my son I'm probably the only person in America who actually lost weight on Thanksgiving - down another pound for 23 to date.

Dana - Nice job! Glad you are getting your workout groove back.

Waves ~

Carol

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

I missed checking in yesterday, it was:

Ellen - Power 15

Ellen - Quick Fix - this was her new workout for October, it is all floorwork - Pilates/Yoga blend

Pilates Nest - Rise & Shine Workout Retreat Day 1 - I got an e-mail from Smriti - offering this free five day challenge and since i haven't done any of her workouts lately I decided to sign up. I enjoyed the workout - it was mainly core as I recall.

Outdoor Walk w/ DD


Today, so far, has been:

Pilates Next - Rise & Shine Workout Retreat Days 2 and 3 - Day 2 was standing and balance and day 3 was stretching.

I plan to walk later today w/ DD.

MY foot is improving, I can tell b/c even if I do something that irritates it, it takes less time to feel better - I just have to be patient I guess. It sort of feels like shin splints across the top of my foot and into the lower part of my ankle. Weird. Especially since I don't recall hurting it - I was blaming it on my tightly laced shoes causing tendonitis - maybe that is what it is, maybe not?

I wonder if Smriti will offer a discount after the challenge? If so, I may sign up for a month...we'll see. I'm late to the party, but I enjoyed her style. And, it doesn't seem like she closes her membership down - it seems it is always open to join - which I really appreciate. I don't like these instructors that only open up membership a few times a year. They claim it is to focus on their members more, but I think it may be an attempt to get us to sign up based on FOMO.

I also got an offer from Blessful Body for $1 for 21 days...and 50% off her courses, but not sure I will bite on anything there. I do like her stuff, but it is a bit on the easier side and then it all starts to feel the same. Still, I may go for $1 for 21 days... LOL!

Carol - Ugh. I'm also dreading tomorrow, but not for the same reasons as you - I just simply don't want to go back to working! And, congrats on the weight loss - that is amazing to lose weight not only during the holidays but during COVID. I have put on a few pounds - snacking more and moving less since working from home.

Linda - I think ETV may offer a discount if you sign up for a year. I tend to do all my streaming workouts on my Chromebook. We could cast to TV, but it just seems more trouble than it is worth, plus I like being able to bring my Chromebook down to the floor for matwork, etc.

Dana - I hear you on the saturation point. I'm pretty happy with what I have been doing and don't feel a great need for more. I am not interested in signing up for a year long membership at this point, I'd rather use You Tube and drop into sites for a month here and there.

Waves, Brenda - I thought about Old Navy's sale, but I honestly don't think I'm going back to work until the spring, at the earliest, so I'll probably be in my sweats all winter! My DD will need some new things eventually, but, I don't think she is going back to school until spring, the earliest, either, and at that point, it will only be for a few months...

Hope everyone has a good day!!

Donna

[txhsmom]

Nice job Donna! I don't remember whether Smriti offers a discount after one of her free challenges. I'm hoping she offers one for Cyber Monday on her annual membership, although it's already somewhat discounted (roughly 2 months free) from the monthly rate. I should really just switch, but it's a bit pricey for one chunk.

For me, losing weight was easy. Just stop eating all the junk I love, like sweets and pasta.

Carol

[Usia]

Good morning!

Nothing for me yet, but I'm thinking of pulling out my Ellen DVDs and do some of them this week. Not sure if I'll stick to it the whole week because while I like Ellen, I only like her in small doses. A lot of her workouts seem the same to me. I may try doing her 7 Day Challenge set. I got it when it first came out but I'm pretty sure I only did the first couple of workouts and never finished the set.

Carol, congrats on your impressive weight loss! While it's not a rocket science, I know from personal experience that it takes a lot of motivation, dedication and consistency to lose the weight. Well done! I hope to find my motivation sometime soon.

Donna, hope your foot feels better. I hear you on dreading to go to work. I've retired (kind of!) early and like working whenever I want to and only the hours I want to. I also pick and choose the work I want to do. Ideal situation for me.

Right now I'm down to only 1 subscription and that's Do You Yoga. I bought it last July when they were offering a lifetime special for $72/year.
They have a nice mix of yoga and pilates. I have lots of time to decide if I'll renew it again or not.

I too, dislike the fitness sites where instructor opens up their membership only a few times a year. It's actually a turn off to me. People have lots of choices nowadays and may easily lose interest in becoming members when their membership finally opens up. Seems to me that it's more geared towards instructor's convenience rather than their potential customers. It's a business and should be treated as such - with customers convenience in mind. Ok. Off my soap box now.

Waves to Linda, Cheri, Christine and Brenda!

[txhsmom]

Sunday's workouts were

Jessica Smith - 5 Fat Burning Miles: Warmup, Belly, Buns & Thighs Walk & Cooldown - 25 minutes;
Suzanne Bowen Fitness - [I]Christmas Upper Body Workout/I] - 15 minutes & Christmas Express Stretch - 12 minutes;
Pilates Nest - Reset Retreat - Day 2, Legs & Glutes - 10 minutes

These were all enjoyable today - lots of Florida sunshine and movement from Jessica, Christmas cheer from Suzanne (recognizable Christmas music in Suzanne's workouts) and pilates chill from Smriti. Perfect!

Dana - I swear, for me it wasn't hard once they told me I had Type 2 Diabetes. Knowing what that does to your body and then adding in the CoVid factor - I was terrified. Once I started eating keto/low carb style, I lost my desire for sweets. No one was more surprised than me. I didn't think that could/would ever happen.

Waves to all - got to run - I've got a work zoom meeting in 5 minutes. You know that can't be good.

Carol