Hi girls -
I have had the FE dvd set since it came out but am only now starting to appreciate it. I used to not like the DVDs because I felt the bursts were too high-impact and the moves just didn't feel solid.
Since joining the October FE Challenge, I've been working thru all the FE DVDs again and wanted to share some tips; some of you may be like "duh, I already knew this" but since I have had the set for 2 years almost and am just now realzing these things make a huge difference, I wanted to share my process for making the FE workouts more enjoyable!
- Skip the first burst! (until you get them memorized) This allows me to watch what they do and quickly come up with a modification.
- Figure out the non-impact version of whatever they are doing. For example, they do a lot of plyo-based moves! I am not a huge plyo fan because I know it's tough on my joints; so I try to focus more on changing planes but keeping my feet on the ground.
- Use hand weights like 1 lb or 2 lb, and do press-style moves (either both arms or alternate right left) while doing lower body work, to help up the intensity a little bit while keeping your feet grounded (this works for moves where it is lower body moving only, but they MIs are jumping or plyoing)
- for the pushups, I have started doing push-up pulses instead of being on my knees. my pushup range of motion is like, an inch, instead of a few inches. I think this helps to activate all of the same muscles used in pushups, better than being on your knees.
- The biggest change for me was figuring out how to take out the impact of the moves. I know I am probably lessening the intensity but to me, they were too intense! So my #1 piece of advice for learning to love FE workouts is to figure out the best modifiers for YOU - and I best taking out the impact/jumping/plyos will help a TON!
Anybody else who has had to "learn to love" FE workouts, please share your tips!!