Howdy! I have today off for President's Day and I have been enjoying it! I did a little research on how to do side crow pose and I was finally able to figure it out! This video helped a ton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=OGLHSBnlX3A

This morning I did BodyShred: Zenith. This is the most challenging workout of the series for me. I followed up with Ultimate Yogi: Detox. I will do a round of Shovel Max this afternoon.

On Saturday I did BodyCombat and Shovel Max. Sunday was Flexibility & Beyond: Splits.

I am very pleased with how much flexibility I have gained in the past 5 months of practicing yoga on an almost daily basis. I definitely plan to keep it up! I still have some hip/hamstring tendonitis and I ordered a percussion massager on sale from Costco last week. Hopefully it will help speed the healing process.

Malinda: Your farmhouse sounds lovely - super cozy and homey.

Kim: Amy B's choreo scares me! :eek: Glad you got it down easily.

Kate: It has warmed up above zero here - hope it is warmer for you too! Did you find anything good on Gaia Yoga?

Jules I envy your flexibility gains. I definitely need to do more yoga. I hate it when I feel tight and I've been feeling that way a lot. :p

I hope all the FitChicks are staying warm! We got about 5 inches of snow last night! No ShovelMax needed, but I am having to wear my boots to trudge out to the coop and care for my chickens -- I'm changing out their water every few hours because it freezes up pretty quickly. They are being very sweet hostesses and letting the little backyard birds hang out in the coop with them.

We are having rolling blackouts, but not too bad -- the power goes down for about 15 minutes every two hours. We just aren't used to these single digit temps in my neck of the woods!

Workouts:

Saturday - Turbo Fire Greatest HIITS
Sunday - Triple Wave Pyramid with DH for our Valentine's Day workout
Today - I'm calling it an unplanned rest day

Great job on the workouts, everyone!

Malinda I'm sorry you're having such terrible weather and the rolling blackouts don't sound fun at all. Your poor chickens! The chickens up here in Pennsylvania are used to the cold. Funny how they are hosting the birds in their coop. :heart: I hope you get some relief from the cold soon.

Jules inspired me to do some yoga today. I chose Travis Elliot Crosstrain from the Level Up 108 program. It was really nice, just enough strength, just enough stretch. :love:

Have a great night everyone.

The frigid weather bottomed out over the weekend. Was -22 on Sat and Sun and Mon morning and -16 today when I got up. Finally supposed to break today. We are going to be near 130 hours STRAIGHT of below zero temps!!! :0

Yesterday I did Cathe LITE Pyramid Pump Scrambled Mix. New to me and wicked good!! That one alternates lower and upper. Next time I may do the longest mix that scrambles and adds in the core work. Totally feeling it today, especially my glutes and calves. Made all the stepping today a challenge.
It surprised me how light Cathe goes as LITE is supposed to be low impact, not low weight. So I bumped it up to my usual. Sure do love my Plate Mates!

Today was Cathe's Cardio Fusion!!!! I had so much dread over this one, thinking it was going to be killer hard and too hard to follow. Fun stuff and although I got a wee bit lost on a combo or two, once they are all put together is fantastic. I was dripping and had so much fun (we're the kids in America...whoa-oh)!

My legs sure got tired though, especially from yesterday's workout. Can you say sore calves?

Jules: WELL DONE on your Yoga! It saved my life. Not just for the flexibility but for the peace of mind.

Kim: You guys sure got dumped on. We got the cold but hardly any snow on the ground.

Malinda: Where are you? East coast?

Keep up the great work you girls!!! Fit and Fab! :sun:

Just popping in to say Malinda is in central Texas!!!!! TEXAS and it's that cold!!! OMG!

Hi all!

Yesterday was Katami 4x4 I Am Warrior 2. These are for sure getting harder. And this one has a very strong core focus with lots of plank work. Even the cardio was kind of "core-y". I sure like Paul's personality. I was tempted to pick up his 4x4x2 workout but I REALLY need to keep working through other new/untried workouts.

Today I did Les Mills on Demand Body Step 120! Thirty years of Body Step!! OMG fun! Not killer hard, lots of options, lots of fun new moves and choreo that I could totally do. I like Cathe's step workouts a lot, but I don't have to think much with Body Step. Sweaty mess! Mark and Lisa and one other gal. No audience yet but a really nice new stage and backdrop. This is one of my favorite BS workouts.

Hope everyone is making it through all the bad weather, no matter where you are! Climate change anyone?

Hiya! I've been busy doing Shovel Max lately, but got a little reprieve today. This morning I did BodyShred: Zenith + Travis Short & Sweet #2. I also decided to do a short cardio after work: Cathe"s 4 Day Split Higher Intensity Step.

Yesterday I did a 60 minute Spin from Studio Sweat - Clubbin' Party Cycle. After work I did an hour of Shovel Max.

Tuesday was BodyShred: Apex + Flexibility & Beyond + 90 minutes Shovel Max.

Kate: BodyStep 120 sounds like fun! I will have to give it a go.

Malinda: How are the chickens doing? Are you still having rolling blackouts?

Kim: Level Up Crosstrain is tough! Good one!

Linda: Hope all is well with you!

Jules I love those Travis Short and Sweet practices. He really packs a lot in for 30 minutes.

Tonight I did the Flexibility practice from Level Up 108. Another good one. I forget about those because they're downloads. I'm so stuck on DVDs that I never think about my downloaded workouts.

Malinda I hope you and your husband, cats and chickens are staying warm. :heart: And I hope the blackouts have stopped.

Have a great night, everyone.

Hello Weekend Warriors! Yesterday I did BodyShred: Apex + Yoga 30 for 30: Gentle. Today I did 40 minutes of Cathe's Low Max and Flexibility & Beyond: Bliss.

I decided that BodyShred is a wrap. :sun: I was going to do the final 2 workouts next week, but my knees have started aching - especially my left knee. I am sure it is from all the below parallel squats and one-legged plyo moves in the last 2 BodyShred workouts, and I don't want to end up injured.

I am very pleased with my results from BodyShred. I lost 10 pounds and 3% body fat according to my Aria scale. I am not at my goal weight yet, but I hope to be there by Easter! :p

I am going to listen to my body and do some lower impact workouts for a week or two before I start up a Ripped with HiiT rotation.

Kim: I really like Level Up: Flexibility too. It might be my fave of the series. :heart:

Kim I think the cold makes me feel more achy. I blame achiness on weather conditions rather than ol' Father time. That's my story and I'm sticking to it :p

Malinda I'm so glad you haven't been suffering from lack of electricity. Your home sounds charming!! Your chicken max sounds like quite a workout. I eat tons of eggs...but I still don't have the dedication to own chickens.

Kate have you dipped into normal temps yet?

Jules my commitment to mobility is also becoming more important. In fact, it's sharing equal billing with strength. I sure wish I had done this all along. I'm not really spending as much time on cardio separately anymore.

So still kettlebelling for strength (single deadlift challenge and squat challenge) and cardio(swings), doing mobility and CS. I focus in different areas of my body. I throw a bit of pilates but it's not my focus. Currently working on the clean and the turkish get up. It's funny but while performing the turkish get up, I can use a heavier dumbbell than I can a kettlebell of similar weight. Isn't that strange?

Warm hugs to each of you!!

I missed you Linda. I’m happy to see you again. :heart:

Hi FitChicks!

Apologies for checking out for a week - things were topsy-turvy for awhile there. We were so very lucky - we never lost power, just had the rolling blackouts for 4 days. They were on somewhat of a schedule so we could usually anticipate when they were coming. DH and I were both able to work quite a bit, but several of my co-workers were without power for days. We had to start boiling water on Wednesday, but at least we had water to boil - many people did not. We are still under a boil water notice but I'm thinking that will be lifted as soon as the city receives lab results. The chickens were real troupers - between the 4 of them, they laid 20 eggs last week - I wasn't expecting any in those conditions! They were very ready to get out of their coop on Thursday afternoon when the thawing began. All-in-all, we were super-fortunate and are very grateful.

The shorter MBF workouts were just perfect for me last week. I only have one more to do (except for the recovery workout which I may or may not do). I previewed MBFA and it seems to keep with a similar format. I plan to do the three weeks of it -- the workouts are a little longer, and that should work well for me now that things are back to normal.

Tues - MBF Day 15 Lower Body Burn
Wed - 5 Parks Yoga Hips
Thurs - MBF Day 16 Core
Fri - MBF Day 17 Upper Body
Sat - MBF Day 18 Core
Sun - Breathless Body with DH
Mon - MBF Day 18 Total Body Burn

Jules - congratulations on finishing BodyShred, and on your results - very impressive!

Kim, Kate, and Linda - Lots of variety in your workouts - I love it!

I hope you all have a wonderful week, full of sunshine and warmer temps!

Wish the weekend was longer, but Monday it is. It felt very refreshing to pick the workout of my choice this morning. I did Cathe's Afterburn + Yoga 30 for 30: Flow & Stretch. Ahhhhhh.

Yesterday I did Les Mills The Trip and followed up with Level Up: Flexibility. (Thanks for the inspiration, Kim!)

Malinda: I am glad to hear that you made it through last week without losing a lot of power. All the stories about Texas in the news are so sad and awful. Have fun with MBFA!

Linda: I am so with you on the mobility! The older I get the more important it is. Yoga helps calm my mind as well. I wonder if it is the weight distribution of a dumbbell vs kettlebell that makes the Turkish get up easier with the DB?

Almost the end of Feb!!!

Jules: I love my LMOD subscription. I have paid so much for instructor copies of LM workouts..it's nice that they went to streaming for the "regular" people.

Kim: I often overlook my downloads too but I put them on my main spreadsheet so I don't totally forget them.

Thinking I should pull out 30/30 or Level Up this week.

Linda: Temps DID moderate. So much so now we're above normal. Got up to 47 degrees yesterday...way above our average of about 30. Felt great. I even took the car to the carwash.

Malinda: Well done!

Friday was Katami 4x4 2x4 Up & Low + 2x4 Cardio & Core. These are the two led by Amy Dixon and I love them! But I love her. Did the strength work first, then the cardio/core. Really the only difference is that there are 2 rounds instead of 4. Same format. Great way to end the week.
Yoga was Udaya/ Jason Anderson/ Game Post Game 2 Lower. So-so. I want to like Jason but I'm not too keen on how he instructs. This was more Yin like.

This week!
Yesterday was Cathe Live 194 Vertical Loading 2. Love all the Vertical Loading workouts. She mentions something about making a VL3 sometime. Wonder if she did? This was only the 2nd time I did this one. I'm really tempted to renew my Live subscription.
Yoga was Power Yoga/ Steve Jones/ Side Body Release. Ahhhh very nice stretches especially for the whole side body.

Today I tackled Cathe Hardcore Ext Hi/Lo Intervals! I have NEVER done this workout ever. It was GOOD!!! Lots of fun! So now I'll be adding these into my rotation.
I was surprised that I didn't get too lost on the choreo. Cathe cued well and I watched carefully. I was dripping sweat! Lots of fun. A little of Imax3 (which I now want to attack), Low Max and Kickmax. My legs are tired though. But really good stuff!

Stay fit and fab my friends!

HI all! How do the days go by so fast?!

Today I did Katami 4x4 I Am Hero 1. These are definitely getting harder. I only used my 10s and 15s except for one rowing move where I used 20. The pace is a bit faster, the moves are definitely more compound/total body. Dripping again as usual. This one also had a lot more bodyweight only moves.
I found myself going at my own pace. One cardio segment they did High Knee run and I actually went faster. Other moves I went slower like a plank/knee to elbow/scorpion move.

One more 4x4 and I am ready to move on. Good metabolic workouts. I'm not finished setting up my March rotation plan. Lots of mix and match I think. Cathe and whatever. Stay tuned.

:D

Hi y'all!

It is 80 degrees here today -- go figure! A week ago we were in the teens and 20s.

Workouts:

Tuesday - Triple Wave Pyramid with DH
Today - a 6-mile walk, including six .25 mile intervals of jogging

It felt so dang good to be outside in just shorts and a tank top.

Kate - I have to say, I don't think I would even try a workout with the words "Cathe", "Hardcore", and "Extreme" in the title. Go you!!!

Hey Gals! Gotta make this checkin quick today.

Tuesday: Cathe"s Step Works + UY Vitality
Wednesday: Studio Sweat SpinCore
Today: Cathe's Flex Train + yoga tonight!

Malinda- 80 degrees? Lucky! It is snowing here.

Kate: Sounds like Katami 4x4 is well worth the money! I still have not tried Cathe's Vertical Loading workouts. I may subscribe soon to Cathe Live for a couple of months. It has been a while.

Kim I think it was you who asked how many workouts? Anyway, I seem to hover in the 325 mark for dvd cases (many sets in there) and about 35-40 vhs. That seems to fit comfortably in my bookcase and averages to never repeating a workout in a calendar year. Your collection sounds FABULOUS :heart: Wouldn't it be great to visit each other's collections and talk about then like we were visiting a museum? :love:

Kate thanks for your thoughts on Katami...it sounds well worth the investment. I look forward to hearing your March rotation.

Malinda your workouts sound pretty tough to me... I'd say you could handle Cathe hardcore extreme.

Jules the weight distribution may be the key. I will say my 15# dumbbells feel light when I pick them up to move them when my husband leaves them in the middle of the room now and those were my go to dumbbells of late.

I have developed fabulous calluses working on the clean. Getting real close to getting it right. My favorite right no is the one arm swing switching in the high float to the other arm.

My workouts are no different than before and I'm having a blast working out this way. I will continue to do this as I feel strong, worked out but not beat up.

Linda I agree, it would be fun to visit each other's collections of DVD workout. :D Fun, fun idea! I'm glad you're enjoying the kettlebells. I have two sets (5 lbs and 10 lbs) but I rarely use them. First of all, I never put the effort like you have into learning the absolute perfect form when using them. And second, and likely due to reason one, I find they clunk uncomfortably against my wrist when I use them for certain moves.

Malinda I agree that you could definitely do Cathe Hardcore Extreme workouts no problem. Your workouts are no joke!

Jules and Kate those Cathe Vertical Loading workouts sound interesting. I don't have Cathe Live, but I don't think I have ever heard of the term "vertical loading". What type of workouts are they?

The past few days our weather has been sunny and warm for February so I've been walking at lunch.

Enjoy the weekend everyone! :heart:

TGIF!!!
Hey, quick QOTD...what is your ONE all time favorite workout?
Mine has to be Les Mills Body Combat #43. I bought this one off ebay ages ago and it is SOOOOO much fun!! Great energy, GREAT moves, great music.

Temps have not only moderated but now we're above normal!! Supposed to be about 30 average. We've been near 40-45 for the last 3 days. Love it!

Malinda: did all the snow and ice melt fast? Any flooding?

Jules: I'm mighty close to renewing my Cathe Live also. We'll see. I have SO many workouts!

Linda: You make me want to revisit many of my kettlebell workouts. I always felt so strong after a rotation of those.

Yesterday I did BC 43 which is why I asked the QOTD. Very high fun factor.
Yoga was from Gaia, a little Yin with Bernie Exploration of Existence. Ahhhh.

Today I really went for it. Did the last Katami 4x4 I Am Hero 2 workout and close to the hardest. Lots of up/down, planks, burpees etc. Definitely many compound moves. And I had to keep my weights pretty light. 10s, 15s.
Then I just felt like more true strength work so I did Cathe Perfect 30 Upper + Core. I was tired but I needed the "pump" I guess.

March rotation is going to include MetaShred Extreme. It has been two years since I've done them and I LOVE this set!!!! One of my favs of all.
Then I'll layer in some Cathe Cardio and then I'll have to fill in some more blanks. Maybe good time to add in some Kbell?

Have a great weekend!!

Happy Friday!

Answer to QOTD: Turbo Fire 60. I just love that workout - the music, the moves, and I feel good and worked out after it.

Kate - I'm glad y'all are having a little "warming" trend. The snow melted off here very quickly. No flooding, but our backyard was a muddy mess for days.

Kim - Glad for your warming trend, too!

Jules - Do you have a spin bike? DH has his road bike set up on a trainer in the workout room. I have never enjoyed biking, despite many attempts, especially when we were first dating and I was trying to impress him ;)

Linda - I developed callouses when I was doing pull-ups regularly! I've never tried kettlebells - we have a device that clips onto a dumbbell to convert it to a KB, and I sometimes use it for swings.

Workouts:

Thursday - MBF Days 20 & 21 - Power Ignite and Recovery
Friday - 21 Day Fix Cardio Fix

I'm looking forward to starting MBFA next week.

Y'all have a great weekend!

Kate your QOTD is a tough one. I think my answer would be Christie Taylor's Totally Cool Step. I absolutely love the music in it and how Christie choreographs the moves to fit the music perfectly. I've posted about it before how I was actually smiling during the workout. It was the first workout I ever did where I noticed myself smiling because I was having so much fun.

Tonight I did a Youtube step workout by Kat Gates-Bruenner (I think I got her last name wrong, but it's close.) She has some fun workouts with good music. Her choreography is easy to grasp and sometimes her cats wander into the frame of the camera. So cute. (that makes me smile too, come to think of it).

Hope everyone has a great weekend. :heart:

Kate ohh what a tough question! Well I'm going to have to say that it's probably Crunch the next step Kendall Hogan...or maybe Tamilee's total body stretch. Both make me super happy ☺️

Kim the wrist or forearm thing is definitely an issue. I cut the ends off some wool socks that were too tight on my calves and doubled them over in my forearms. They're working great so far.

Malinda ohh goodness..maybe pullups are contributing to the calluses. Although I realized I think I'm actually doing chinups? My palms face me.

Jules hoo all is well with you!

I did Firm Strong heart today. I honestly thought this was a backup vhs copy of another Firm and didn't realize this was a workout I had never done. The similar cover pic threw me. Um vidiot embarrassment!!

Anyway, I have definitely gotten stronger. This long workout would have worn me out in the past.It was easy to add my mobility stuff in between and paused the workout for 30 seconds to make sure I did. I was totally up for it and had a good time. I ignored their floor ab exercises and did two handed swings, one arm swings and my planks instead.

Happy Sunday to all!!

Good Afternoon! It is a beautiful, sunny day here on March 1st. :sun: I actually have the day off from work today and I am also taking off Thursday to go skiing with the fam. It will be slushy spring skiing conditions for sure.

This morning I did Cathe's Crossfire + Core, which is one of my fave workouts. :heart: I plan to do some yoga later today.

Friday: Flex Train + Level Up: Yin
Saturday: 65 minutes of Cathe's X10 + Stretch Max with the band
Sunday: Les Mills The Trip #13 followed by Travis Short & Sweet #3

QOTD: Oh boy- so tough!!! I guess I would have to say BodyCombat, but I don't know that I can choose just one. I have quite a few faves (58, 64, 66, 68, 77, 78) :p

Kate: Congrats on finishing 4X4! Sounds like your March will be a fun mash-up of all the good stuff.

Malinda: Turbo Fire is definitely a party. :music: I love my spin bike. It is a Sunny Health bike with a belt drive and 49 pound flywheel. Total bargain!

Kim: I used to have Christie Taylor on VHS. Her choreo is tough for me, but once I got it down it was a blast! She has such a happy and sweet demeanor.

Linda: It seems like you have really found the "secret formula" for what your body needs right now. Keep up the good kettlebell work!

It is really hard to just pick ONE fav. You guys listed good ones!!

Malinda: Turbo Fire is a superb set! We're having a heat wave now, if you can consider mid 40s a heat wave. It is in MN. LOL

Kim: I just put Christie Taylor's Totally Cool Step in my wish list. SO easily enabled. Ha!

Linda: I remember Tamilee! She has the BEST butt of any fitness instructor I've ever seen.

Jules: I bought BC 58 off eBay. SOOOOOO fun!

Yesterday was MetaShred Extreme MetaPocalypse Upper + Mobility. I LOVE THIS SET!! This starts out with some wicked band work, then moves to weights. Upper body is hit good and there is a tough finisher with all bicep/tricep work. A little like Cathe's 100 rep challenges.
I used several bands and find that I'm already starting heavier than I did last time I did this in 2019.
I have NEVER done the Roller/Mobility/Core workout so did the Moblity one after this and it was quite nice.
I really need to pick up a foam roller.

Yoga yesterday was from Power Yoga - Bryan Just a Sensuous Flow. So nice!

Today I NAILED IT!!! I have avoided IMAX3 like the plague because I thought the choreo would be too hard. But after doing some of the Hardcore Extreme workouts, I thought I'd tackle it after all.
Hey! I got almost all of it! And the few moves that I struggled with I started to catch on. I even repeated a couple of rounds. Heehee!!! So fun that I'm going to do it again Thursday while it's still fresh! Not as fun as Party Rockin' Step 2, but a good time, good workout!

I also caved a bought the last 2 LITE workouts that I didn't have. The Band one, Cardio, and Rumble. So I'll add those into my rotation this month. Looks like it will be BJ Gaddour and Cathe.

I am really starting to re-evaluate all my DVDs. I have so many, and many that I will hardly ever do. So I am going to start downsizing again. Plus I'd really like to resubscribe to Cathe Live again.

Anyone looking for something special to add to your collection? Feel free to PM or email me. I bet we can work out a sweet deal. I have a list on the Exchange but have several other workouts I'm ready to part with.

Howdy y'all!

It's a beautiful day here - cool but not freezing, with beautiful sunshine!

I admire you all for being able to master step workouts. I do not consider myself uncoordinated, but danged if I can figure out step workouts. Part of it is I have this intense fear of tripping and falling, so I am constantly looking down and then missing part of the choreography. I know they are great for your legs so I wish I could get over that fear.

Workouts:

Saturday - Five Parks Yoga
Sunday - Breathless Body with DH - we are all caught up from the days we had to miss in Dec. and Jan. due to DH's surgeries
Monday - MBFA Day 1 Lower Body Burn
Tuesday - MBFA Day 2 Cardio Core Circuit

I really liked the 2 MBFA workouts I've done so far - same format as MBA, but a little bit longer. She adds in a "Megan Minute" (couldn't they have come up with something more creative than that?) to each circuit, which is basically a burn-out round.

Keep up the good work everyone!

Malinda it made me smile to see you and husband back at Breathless!

Kate you cracked me up in one breath saying you bought more DVDs and the next purging, lol. I think Cathe and BJ in one month is a killer mix. Congrats on conquering Imax 3! I will try to commit to those Cathe step workouts sometime.

Jules hah! I don't know about magic so much as it's hitting all the right notes for me. I DO feel like such a bad mama doing the clean with a bell though. :music:

Kim what are you tackling lately?

I am doing a little harder Kettlebell workouts. For example, this one had you alternating cleans with squats. Pretty fun. Almost done with the squat challenge... actually one more day. I haven't done them continuously so it's taken me longer. May take a rest/mobility day tomorrow.

Happy Marchness to all!!

Malinda I was also smiling and had a warm fuzzy feeling to read that you and your husband are back at Breathless Body together. :sun: So nice that you share working out together. Sorry you don't enjoy step workouts. They really are fun. I've been doing them since they were invented. :p I was a gym member way back then and before we could sign up for these "new step classes" we had to take a training course so we could learn the choreography. It was immensely helpful and it gave me confidence to do the workouts.

Kate I sent you a PM about your purging efforts.

Jules how fun to have days off to go skiing. I hope it was great! I love the feeling of having a day off from work to do something fun.

Linda have you tried Cathe's Perfect 30 workouts yet? I recall when we all got them from the preorder you were going to save doing them for a later date. I did them when we got them and haven't done them again since. Not to say that I didn't love them; I did, it's just that I've got so many to do and I have exercise ADD.

Linda I'm never on any type of rotation or schedule with my workouts, but I'm currently in a little project where I'm going through my DVDs and doing the ones that I don't have notes written on the back that describe the length, likes and dislikes, etc. For my more recently acquired ones I have notes, but for some of my older ones, I don't.

Last night I did Gin Miller's Simply Interval Short and Sweet. I used to do this one a lot. It's 43 minutes, short athletic step combinations with one minute blasts at the end of each one. Gin gets silly at the end which makes me smile. She's so fun! I like the music and the moves are easy to grasp and it's fun.

Have a great week everyone! :)

Yeah, I do that...feel overwhelmed with all my dvds!

Good stuff today! MetaShred Extreme MetaPocalypse Lower. Partially band work, partially weights, some bodyweight. These always get me and I'm currently using some pretty heavy bands but leaving room to grow.
I had notes in my log that these give me some serious DOMS and I am certainly feeling my legs now. And butt.

So glad to see you are all powering through. Well done!!
Just about ready to hop onto PowerYoga site for a little BK.

I tackled Imax3 again. So glad I did as I just about nailed everything. Still flubbed a couple moves but I'm getting better. But my butt! I have a stand up desk that I work from and even standing is sore. But I'm proud of myself for trying this one again.
Note: a couple times I kept the blasts a little lower impact. I probably wouldn't be able to walk up my stairs if I did. Heehee.

I always get some soreness from BJ's workouts and yesterday's lower workout was not any different. I could absolutely feel my legs last night. Must just be from the repetition. Each set is 30 seconds but you are asked to do at least 10 reps of whatever exercise. Sets repeated 3 times then the Metaset (quick cardio burst).

So between Cathe and BJ, my lower body is toast right now. I am rethinking tomorrows total body strength workout to just be upper body. Or maybe all core? Pondering my options.

So some Yin this afternoon for my Yoga as I really need to stretch!

Have a great day all! Almost the weekend already. :eek:

Happy Almost-Friday!

Kim - You do such a nice variety of workouts and instructors.

Kate - You are a beast!

Linda - How'd that squat challenge go? What exactly was it - I might have missed you describing it.

Jules - I love Crossfire! I rarely do the entire thing, but I need to sometime.

Workouts:

Wed - MBFA Day 3 - Upper Body
Thur - MBFA Day 4 - Cardio Core Circuit

Still loving these workouts! Megan definitely took it up a notch with the Advanced program - especially the core circuits. She upped the AMRAP from 4 minutes to 6 minutes, which I appreciate. I had taken to repeating them while doing MBF.

Good grief, my kittens are ripping back and forth through the house like lunatics right now! I'd better go see what they are up to. Have a great day, everyone!

Malinda OMG!!! I cracked up at the last part of your post about the cats! :D:heart: I love cats so much!!! They're the greatest!!

My cat Finley is a year now and he's got so much energy it's nuts. My other cat Rudy, is 10 so he pretty much likes to sleep and eat treats. :) Finley's new trick is to burrow under the throw rug, crumple it up, and send it skidding across the room. :heart: He's such a goof.

Have a great day everyone.

Kim, I love cats too. I've had them my whole life - it all started with Minnie Poo, who used to check on me for my mom when I was a baby.

My husband was standing outside our house with our contractor one afternoon a year and a half ago on a very hot summer day. These two itty bitty kittens came wandering up to them, crying and panting. Sigh... Over the course of our marriage, we usually had four cats at a time, but we had finally dwindled down to one older kitty. We did not have any interest in adopting two kittens, but they instantly captured our hearts, and I couldn't bear to take them to the shelter. I put up flyers but no one claimed them. So, BT (short for Boy Toy, since our older kitty initially liked him) and Emmie got us back up to three cats. But we had always adopted older cats, so we had no idea what we were in for, with two 8-week old kittens. I hadn't had a kitten since I was a kid. They are wild! But so much fun. When we had to send the older kitty over Rainbow Bridge last April, we were so grateful for those two little love bugs.

Ah, I could talk about cats all day!

Malinda I also could talk about cats all day! That’s true for a lot of us here on VF - many, many cat lovers here.

So very kind of you to keep those wee kittens. So sad and cute!

When I was dating my husband, who is a cat tolerater, I told him I come with 4 cats. If he was serious about our relationship he needed to know I wasn’t going to get rid of the cats. Over the past 30 years he has grown accustomed to them, but isn’t a true cat lover. He is a lot happier with two cats instead of four. :p If he liked them I would have a few more for sure. :D

Oh, also if you check out my photo albums in my profile you can see some pictures of Rudy and Finley if you’re interested. :love:

Malinda I love these furfriend stories :love: My husband is a cat tolerator, too (GREAT name, Kim). And my kitty FREQUENTLY gets called Minnie Poo. I finished my squat challenge yesterday and it went great! Went up in weight and my squat form is so much better. I feel so so much confident doing squats now..esp. goblet squats. I took 43 days to do a 21 day challenge though, lol.

Kim I know this may sound odd but I have held back doing the new Cathe's Perfect pump and HIIT in case there is a holdup from the next Cathe release. I figured they would make me feel like a new release. I also have several others that are new to me that I haven't tried yet. So slowly introducing those.

Kate I wanted to thank you for your thoughts on the Katami set. You managed to talk me out of it! Congrats on kicking your own butt with imax3!

Yesterday, I finished the squat challenge, continued with the single leg deadlift, turkish get up and followed it with mobility. I have 6 'days' left of the single leg deadlift challenge but will take me longer. I'm not sure what I will do after I progress past these slightly more advanced kettlebell workouts. I don't want to lose momentum in the skill set but I am not sure how to keep it in the mix enough AND do other things. It's a nice dilemma to have :D

Happy weekend wishes! Waves to Jules!

TGIF!! Friday came up fast!

Malinda: I had an outside farm cat that would race around like that and run right up trees. It was because I have wild catnip growing all over my yard.

Kim: Just thinking about all those cats make me sneeze. I'm pretty allergic to cats so can't have any in the house. (itchy)

Linda: I think you will like those 2 Perfect 30s. I really like the HiiT one and putting them both together is awesome. Nice going on your challenges!!!!

Big change in workout plans today since my legs and butt were so sore last night!! I decided on a long Yoga practice. For two reasons...to give my body a bit of a break and because I have to take my son to an appointment this afternoon so would miss my usual Yoga time. I also missed my Yoga on Tues helping hubby with an appointment also, so felt like I wanted more.

So I went over to PowerYoga.com and picked out Rudy Mettia's Pause for the Cause practice. It is 80 minutes and although there was still some leg cooking, it was a nice slow flow. I liked the longer holds so I still got plenty of strength work. I also did not modify and went as deep into the pose as I was able calmly.

A few times in just some simple stretches, my legs were shaking. I can still feel my legs and butt, that's for sure. And I chalk that up to the MetaShred Extreme workout. I think that means I'm shaking things up.

Have a great weekend everyone! :sun:

Whew! This week went fast!

Tuesday: Cathe's Party Rockin' Step 2 + Yoga 30 for 30: Intention. After work I did a 55 minute Straight Up Spin from Studio Sweat.
Wednesday: ICE Metabolic Total + Short & Sweet Yoga #2. After work I did a 35 minute power spin from Studio Sweat.
Thursday: Ski Day! It was a bluebird day and the snow was perfect! We did get stuck on the chairlift for about 30 minutes so I am glad the sun was shining! :sun: I got sunburned on my face.
Today: This morning my knees were a little sore so I did BodyPump 102 + Flexibility & Beyond: Short & Sweet. I am still going to ride my spin bike for a bit.

I am adding in some extra spin bike sessions in the afternoon now as I am close to my goal weight and trying to hit it by Easter. The extra cardio allows me to bump my calories a little higher and gives me energy. I would take the dog for a walk, but the roads are super muddy and I don't have the patience to give her a daily bath, LOL.

Good News! Montana is not allowing school employees to be vaccinated yet, but thanks to the new vaccine directive issued by the federal government, we are cleared to get vaccinated through participating pharmacies starting next week. Our school nurse is on top of it and is setting up appointments for staff so we don't all go at once. Fingers crossed I will get my shot soon - sounds like it will be the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Covid cases have gone down in our county, but the new more contagious variant is now here, so I expect cases will start to rise again.

Kate: So glad to hear you are having fun with Metashred! I do wonder if I would get bored doing the Katami set? That is why I haven't caved on it yet. Nice work doing Imax 3! It is definitely the toughest Imax - plyometrics galore. :heart: I always feel very accomplished after that one.

Linda: Congrats on finishing the squat challenge! I understand what you mean about not wanting to lose progress but also wanting to do other workouts. I like to have a main focus that changes every couple of months (i.e. strength, endurance, flexibility, cardio gains.) Sometimes I will do a generic rotation that incorporates a little of everything, but I find I get my best "results" when I stick to one main goal at a time. I guess that is why rotations, systems and challenges are a good thing even tho it can be tempting to just throw caution to the wind and do whatever I feel like each day.Looking forward to hearing what you decide to do next! :p

Kim and Malinda: Keep the cat stories coming! I wish I could have a cat, but my husband cannot stand the smell of kitty litter. We can't have an outdoor cat because the mountain lions around here kill them. :eek: I am a huge dog lover and so is he and we adore our collie.

Kate your story of the barn cat racing up trees really made me laugh! I can just picture it. :D

Jules such fantastic news about being able to get the vaccine. I'm very happy for you. And glad you had a great day skiing in the sunshine. :sun: Oh, and I'm a lover of all animals, not just cats. Collies are so beautiful. I used to babysit for a family that had one. I'm glad you don't have any outside cats. Yikes!! We have coyotes in our area and they can sometimes get small animals; I've heard stories of people losing cats.

Yesterday I did my first Ingrid Romero Edge Booty workout. Yikes, my quads are sore today! My legs were quivering while walking down the steps last night after the workout was done.

Today I did Christie Taylor's Still Steppin' Just for Fun. FUN, FUN, FUN!!! :love: I should do her workouts more often. Christie is so darn cute and motivating and I love it when she sings her instructions. :music:

Have a good day everyone!