My miracle Slim in 6, 20-minute total body workout

[blueskies]

Hi All!

I’ve just completed a 6-week experiment with the Si6 program with absolutely fantastic results! Tighter, more defined and streamlined muscles; increased fat/cellulite loss (went from 19% to 17%); and with none of the unwanted bulking from previous Si6 (and other exercise program) attempts. It is very apartment-dweller friendly with limited space required and no pounding/stomping/high impact within the workout so as not to disturb your neighbors. I thought I’d share the details for anyone who is interested.

The modified workouts are total body, with a back-of-leg/buttocks focus for the lower body. All muscles are worked, including the abs/core (through bracing and stabilization; no specific/direct work).
I used two programs from the original (not the updated 2010 edition) Si6 program: Burn It Up! (BIU) and Keep It Up! (KIU). I’ll detail what portions of the workouts I did, and what I eliminated.

This rotation should be followed 4-6 days a week. Due to Debbie’s tendency to unevenly count, switch off lead sides each time you do the workout to ensure that both sides of the body are eventually worked evenly. Both of these workouts shorten the original workout times down to roughly 20 minutes; as you get more familiar with the workout set up and efficient at maneuvering through the segments, the total workout times will decrease. Feel free to print out this post for reference. Have your DVD controller handy for moving through the chapters.


BIU:
--Do entire warm up.
--Skip next four chapters.
--When Debbie is drinking water, rewind to the beginning of the traveling plies (last 1:15 from previous chapter).
--Do traveling plies.
--Do the first exercise only in the band work chapter. If you use dumbbells/barbell/body bar, do bent-over double-arm rows. Focus on form—hinge from hips, flat back, brace the abs, and keep knees bent.
--Skip to next chapter.
--Do entire floor leg and push up chapters, both sides.
--Do your own stretch sequence if you prefer; stop routine here. You’re done! Or,
--Skip ab chapter.
--Do stretch sequence.
--Skip yoga chapter. You’re done!


KIU:
--Do entire warm up. (Note: Due to personal biomechanical/other issues, I subbed out the following exercises: when Debbie does the bent-over lunge and reach, just lunge side to side without bending over, moving your arms naturally with your side-to-side movement. When Debbie does the standing side crunches, stay in a slight squat position and do gentle waist twists toward the side that they’re doing the standing side crunches on. Continue with the up-and-over; repeat gentle waist twists when they do the standing side crunches on the other side.)
--Skip next four chapters.
--When Debbie is drinking water, rewind to the beginning of the standing leg curls (last 2:15 of the previous chapter).
--Do standing leg curls.
--Do the first exercise only in the band work chapter. If you use dumbbells/barbell/body bar, do bent-over double-arm rows. Focus on form—hinge from hips, flat back, brace the abs, and keep knees bent.
--Skip to next chapter.
--Do the remainder of the workout (which is the floor leg and push up chapter, and final stretch chapter).
--Add further stretches if desired. You’re done!


Tips on getting great results:

--Don’t phone it in. You must stay engaged and hyper-focused during the workouts. Otherwise, your form will suffer and you won’t get the total-body benefits from the workout. Remember that it’s only 20 minutes, and in those 20 minutes you are working your entire body, if you put your mind to it.

--March in place or do step touches when fussing with the chapters. Once you get proficient at moving around within the workout, down time will naturally decrease.

--Here is an example week’s rotation: Monday – BIU, right side start. Wednesday – BIU, left side start. Friday – KIU, right side start. Sunday – KIU, left side start. Mix it up to keep it interesting and for muscle confusion.


Please feel free to ask any questions, or comment. I’m thrilled both with the results and the efficient length of time the workouts take—keeping well within my “no more hour-long workouts” parameter!

[summer breeze]

Congrats on your results!!! I love Sin6 and SS and you have re-sparked my interest in them. I am curious why you shortened them to 20 minutes, and I would also like to know what poundage you used. Did you use ankle weights for the floorwork? TIA

[blueskies]

Originally Posted by summer breeze

Congrats on your results!!! I love Sin6 and SS and you have re-sparked my interest in them. I am curious why you shortened them to 20 minutes, and I would also like to know what poundage you used. Did you use ankle weights for the floorwork? TIA

Hi summer breeze!

Thanks!

I shortened them because I wanted to eliminate all the bulking exercises (for me--YMMV! ), and I no longer do hour-long workouts or workout systems. Although the entire length of KIU is a more doable and shorter 37 minutes, I really wanted to see if I could get both of the workouts down to 20 minutes. Success!

Poundage used for rows: 5-8 lbs.; this will increase as I continue with the rotation.

For pushups, I'm still doing knee ones, and feel plenty challenged with the number of reps Debbie does. IIRC, in BIU, first set is 16; second set is 22. In KIU, first and second sets are both 18, but she varies the style and arm positioning. As I progress, I plan on throwing in some straight leg ones, once my strength increases. This should also help in more upper body and core engagement.

I added no ankle weights for floorwork. Depending on how your body reacts to added lower body weights, this is a definite option, though, and it adds no extra time to the workouts.

[summer breeze]

Thank you so much for your reply. I don't usually have lower body bulking issues but I think it's great this worked so well for you with just 4 workouts a week for 20 minutes! You added no other workouts on the other days?

[blueskies]

Originally Posted by summer breeze

Thank you so much for your reply. I don't usually have lower body bulking issues but I think it's great this worked so well for you with just 4 workouts a week for 20 minutes! You added no other workouts on the other days?

You're very welcome! I usually upped the workouts to 5-6 days in the beginning few weeks (similar to how the Si6 workouts originally were designed to be used), and did my ~10K steps a day which I have been doing since last December. Nothing hard core, and the 10K steps are all within my normal daily activities, not in addition. I did (and still do) have a rock solid eating plan in place, which had gotten me down to a body size/body fat percentage that I was very happy with (see my post from June of this year in Tugger31's thread for more details). Basically, I just wanted to play around with some body sculpting workouts I already had to see if I could improve upon my results.

[intelsana]

This is great! Congrats on your results

I am going to PM you about the diet if that's ok.

Sana

[bee]

Congratulations on figuring all of this out and thank you very much for sharing!

[blueskies]

Originally Posted by intelsana

This is great! Congrats on your results

I am going to PM you about the diet if that's ok.

Sana

Thank you and a PM is perfectly okay.

[violingal3]

Congratulations on the results and making it work for you! I forget about it, but Sin6 is such a great program!

[blueskies]

Originally Posted by bee

Congratulations on figuring all of this out and thank you very much for sharing!

Thank you, bee!

For those who are wondering why I eliminated the segments from BIU and KIU that I did, my body type leans toward pear/spoon. I've always tended to bulk in my lower body when doing heavy weights, or too many squats and/or lunges. I also found that Debbie's kickboxing (especially the side kicks) really bulked up my outer thighs and did a number on my lower back. Her side crunch series thickened my waist instead of cinching it in. I always likened the side crunches to reverse dumbbell tick-tocks with the results I got from them. Remember Kay Doran from The Firm's 20 Questions About Fitness? She had a segment on why The Firm avoided having weighted dumbbell tick-tocks in their routines because they thickened the waist. Reflecting back on that, I wasn't surprised that a move where I crunched in the entire weight of the leg to the side accomplished the same thickening phenomenon that Kay discussed. Thus, one of the many reasons for eliminating the side crunches!