What workout or system has made a noticeable difference in your fitness level?

[marmact]

Originally Posted by laurajhawk

The OP was really specific about which types of results she's interested in. I don't consider that to be pooh-poohing other types of results; it's just focusing the thread on the topic she wants to know about.

Totally agree with this. Plus, then the thread becomes IT'S ALL ABOUT WHAT YOU EAT. Which I'm pretty sure most people already know and is a total derailment from the original topic.

For me, I gained strength and muscle in my upper body with P90X. For my lower body, Cathe's STS and spinning both do wonders for my musculature. For my core, Venus Index and Horizontal Conditioning. I did 12 weeks of Venus Index and had excellent aesthetic results, plus my core was much stronger. When I used HC, I rotated the four volumes and included HC in my rotation 2-3 times a week.

[Sophie]

Originally Posted by chapina

So VFers, what specifically has made a difference in your fitness level? Please share!

I'm a chronic re-starter due to injuries, so for me, fitness level would also include regaining not just strength and endurance, but some resilience, increased function, and pain relief.

That said, Tonique was probably the one that made the biggest difference for me this year. My muscular endurance was pitiful when I started it last January, and grew by leaps and bounds. The unexpected side benefit from Tonique was regaining the ability to start doing plyos - by May, I was able to do leaping side to side skater jumps, box hops, etc. I still have to be careful and watch my volume - but it was something I couldn't even consider doing earlier in the year.

I can't give all the credit to Tonique, since at about the same time I started working with a trainer to help address my hip/glute inactivity issues and did my strength work based on his programming, and those have helped tremendously. The closest commercial programs to what he gave me would be the NROL or Strong Curves type of workouts.

And then, TA Meta Omni - at least the first couple of weeks. My plank and pushup work has suffered all year due to a chronic neck/back issue that flared up badly in the fall, so getting back into it was challenging. But for some reason, the all-fours and plank stuff in Omni turned out to be good for it, and from about late May to mid-July, this finally got me strong enough to regain my toe pushups. I kind of fell off the routine in August when I went on holiday, and should really get back to it, as it did make quite a difference.

[daisyfit]

For cardio endurance, Insanity hands down gave the best results
For strength, Cathe's STS
For all over body toning, Michelle Dozois's workouts
For increasing my fitness and fun factor Amy Bento's workouts.

[bubbles76]

Originally Posted by laurajhawk

The OP was really specific about which types of results she's interested in. I don't consider that to be pooh-poohing other types of results; it's just focusing the thread on the topic she wants to know about.

Me neither. What I meant was that comments on this thread reminded me of comments on other threads which got me to thinking about aesthetics. Sorry for the confusion.

Originally Posted by mtngoat

I don't know if you were referring to my post, but since it appeared right after mine...

I only added my 'eta' not to 'pooh-pooh' aesthetic results, but because I realized STS really did not give me the results others are after. I thought I should clarify. I was pleased with my results, others would not be. Plus the BP and cholesterol readings were quantifiable.

No I wasn't referring to your thread specifically. I don't usually express myself as well when I wake up late and haven't had my tea.

Originally Posted by chapina

I didn't mean to dismiss aesthetic results; I'll be the first to admit I'm vain! I exercise as much for strength, health, endurance, etc. as I do to tone up and get rid of flab!

- Maria

I don't know this is just funny to me haha! It's nice to hear that people admit they are a little vain But I realize that the original topic was about what made the most difference in your fitness level, so I don't derail the thread anymore than I have.

[macska]

Interestingly it is yoga for me. When I do yoga regularly -- mainly UY nowadays -- I do everything better including dbell lifting or kettlebell snatching. Tony Horton proved to be correct for me when he said in P90X Yoga that whatever you do you will do better when practicing yoga.

[Debbie S.]

Kettlebells

P90X

CLX

Dropping strength DVDs and doing my own circuits

Tracy Anderson

[princess76]

Originally Posted by chapina

I know there was a similar thread recently, but I'm curious about whether there are specific workouts or systems that you've noticed have made a difference in your fitness level. Note I didn't say 'results,' as results vary from person to person, unless by results you mean greater strength, endurance and/or flexibility for daily life.

I'll give my fitness journey as an example. Other than doing Jazzercise and Richard Simmons as a toddler with my mother , my official start to vidiocy was in high school with Callanetics and the Cindy Crawford Shape Your Body workout, both of which I would do several times a week. Then I went to college and used the university gym for the most part. After college, I found Jillian Michaels in the library so I did her videos for a while. Then I saw an infomercial for P90x while on vacation (I don't have cable) and remember thinking that unlike other mainstream workouts out there, it didn't seem gimicky. I eventually did two rotations of that, though I only had 3#, 5#, 8# weights and bands. Up until then, pretty much every workout was difficult until I had done it a few times, and there was no noticeable improvement of my fitness level (probably very slow and incremental compared to not doing anything at all, but not noticeable). That is, I was fairly fit to begin with, but had no noticeable change to my fitness level since high school. My DH and I have a very heavy mattress, and I remember struggling to lift the corners when changing the sheets but during P90x it was a piece of cake with one arm. My DH also noticed my back was extremely toned. I think that the combination of consistency with the variety of the P90x program ('muscle confusion') really made a difference in my fitness level, and also got me started on yoga, which in general increased my strength and balance. I'm sure I would have had more 'results' if I had a greater range of weights, but it still made a noticeable difference. I'm also sure that another rotation of workouts or other systems with this combination (consistency, variety) would make a difference. P90x Yoga in particular noticeably improved my push-up form.

Another series of workouts that I feel has made a huge difference is Horizontal Conditioning. Interval workouts used to always be challenging for me; workouts such as Paul Katami's 4x4 Bootcamp or Patrick Godeau's Lean Hot Body would leave me wheezing and gasping for air. In daily life, jogging or running up a set of steps would leave me out of breath. After starting HoCo, I did 4x4 and Lean Hot Body and they were completely doable! I wouldn't say they're a breeze, but I noticed that I could at least do the whole workout without breaks. I also notice that I'm not out of breath after jogging up steps. This was a very interesting observation because HoCo is not interval training and it's mostly strength training done at a slow, controlled pace, but I'm pretty sure I can attribute my improvement to HoCo since adding it to my mix was the only difference in my fitness routine. (Note: I'm a variety junkie, so my fitness routine includes a wide range of workout types).

I'd like to give an honorable mention to Tonique and Dream Body - though I've only noticed my increase in endurance when doing their respective workouts - but Tonique does put other workouts with squats and lunges to shame and Dream Body is definitely a league beyond any barre/fusion workouts out there (that I know of). Another honorable mention to power yoga type workouts in general, that improve my strength for body-weight workouts, balance, and flexibility (I know, this isn't specific, but in the case of yoga I can't attribute these benefits to one workout or system).

So VFers, what specifically has made a difference in your fitness level? Please share!

- Maria

The FIRM, Jillian Michaels and Chalean Extreme- I can lift heavy boxes and change out the 35 lb. water bottle in the cooler at work.

[hotncmom]

Ballet Body, without a doubt for me. It's really the only system I've been able to stick to for longer than a month. It's also the most balanced system I've ever done - I've done BBL, Tone it Up, Ultimate Yogi and probably a bunch of other things along the way. I was really strong and lean halfway through the Ballet Body plan (as far as I got before). I just finished week 2 having restarted the plan again.

Also, when Zuzana was on BodyRock several years back I was doing those short circuits and I was in good shape then, but became weary of high intensity after a while.

One of these days I will tackle HoCo again because those are darn good workouts that will get you in prime shape. There's a huge jump between the Getting series and the Volumes, though.

[ARTmethodfan]

The ART Method has helped me to increase my fitness level. I have gained strength, endurance, and most importantly to me - flexibility.

[fatkat555]

Bar Method did it for me. I'm a complete convert.