I tried, I really did.
 

I tried, for the 3rd time, to give Jessica a try. What's not to love about all her 4-limb routines and no impact cardio that I'm totally in to?! Yet, I find myself stopping about 15 minutes in and changing to something else. I adore her personality, as I've stated several times... yet my motivation isn't there. :confused:

I end up jumping on the rebounder to finish my workout time. I really do want to expand beyond my Firms and Fitprimes. Dash it all Ann Benson!! LOL :D

What instructor or method have you tried more than once wishing they or it would click with you?

I have tried Classical Stretch numerous times, but rarely last more than one workout.

Carol

Carol ~ I've hung on to a few CS, but never reach for them. I know her method is sound and does terrific things for the body, yet I pass it up.

I am a hit or miss with Jessica. I do seem to prefer her YouTube workouts over her Walk series. But I agree, some of her workouts, I get about 15 mins in and shut them off. I think one of the reasons is that some of the moves don't make sense to me. I wonder "are we doing this just to make it a 4 limb movement, but is it really?" I understand as an instructor there is so much competition and finding ways to be creative has to be tough but for me if there is no why we are doing this or for what purpose I lose interest.

On the other hand, I love Classical Stretch/Essentrics.

I tried Cathe a few times. I felt like I wasted too much time switching and/or moving equipment. Maybe now that I have a larger workout space, I should try her again.

I have tried Cathe as well. I am a bit jealous of those who use her workouts regularly. She seems amazing. Yet, I pass on her. I'm so thankful for the variety of instructors that are out there.

Well, I've repeatedly tried CS, Jessica and Cathe...and none of them work for me, lol.

alisoncooks ~I don't feel so bad now. LOL I sometimes feel like I'm going crazy with not being motivated by the popular instructors. Cathe, JS and CS are all making current workouts.. yet I find myself reaching for something out of my vintage collection.

There are lots of instructors that I just don't click with. No worries though, there are plenty of instructors that I do. I just work with who I like and that keeps me very busy! ;)

Wendy ~ I agree. I find myself only reaching for my Firm and Fitprimes tho. (with tons of modifying). My choices that motivate me are very narrow for sure. I need to be ok with this. I guess it's why I keep trying other instructors. I don't want to have FOMO. (fear of missing out). :D

Tina it's great that you had an open mind to try though. Keeps things interesting and reinforces what you do enjoy. :)

I have tried to do different instructors with walking only workouts and barre. Just not my bag..but like wendy said, I have tons to keep me busy :D

Not everybody clicks with everybody! I love Jessica, but I mostly just do a few of her DVDs, not her YT stuff too much. The one I've tried to like but just can't is Cathe, not because of her personality but the sheer level of impact and complexity of her stuff. I really, really, REALLY want to get into her, but I just think she's not for me.

I also tried qi gong and tai chi and just find them irritatingly boring. The slow speed combined with controlled movements trigger me somehow, making me want to either hold a static pose more like a yoga move or speed the movements up and make it more of a dynamic martial arts workout. I have generalized anxiety, so it's the exact type of workout I SHOULD be doing, yet that same anxiety makes me just so annoyed by it. :o

Popular ones that didn’t work for me are Lucy Wyndham Reed and Cathe (although I only did one workout). I guess it is a personal thing, different instructors work for different people.

I mostly do Jessica Smith, so can relate to being limited, although I’m on the opposite side lol.

I haven’t even gotten myself to try anyone new since I started working out again. There’s been like a decade’s worth of new workouts and instructors out there but I keep reaching for my Firms. I’m finding them so motivating right now, so I guess I’m just going to stick with what’s working. Oh, I have tried the two Fitprime workouts with Keli Roberts. I had never done any Fitprimes before, but I’m not sure that counts as trying someone new since I’ve loved Keli from back in her step days and the workouts are so reminiscent of the original Firms!

I guess I need to stop spending money on thinking I need to try different instructors for awhile and just use what I have. Actually, my Jumpsport Rebounder gets the most use, but out of my dvds, it's the FIRM and Fitprimes/Kickbutts. I need to allow myself to be content. :)

what JS have you tried, i've been thinking about buying some of her stuff. i mainly do Cathe, Firm, and KCM

schoolgirl-01 ~

Walk Strong 3
WS Build Balance + Inner Strength
WS Boost Metabolism + Muscle
Feel Good Fusion

Most folks really enjoy these titles.

For me, never clicked with The FIRM or Classical Stretch/Essentrics.

I never liked anything other than The Firm for a million years, but something clicked with me and Jessica at the start of the pandemic. I've been doing her workouts pretty much exclusively for the past year. I still see myself going back to The Firm someday though.

Jessica's workouts all have a distinct rhythm. I'm not sure if I am describing it correctly, but she does two or three moves and then she repeats. But it is not always the same or predictable. All that to say, once I got into it, I really liked it.

Nothing wrong with The Firm though!
Liz

the 1st three are the ones i've been thinking about getting.

Same here. And I really tried with Classical Stretch/Essentrics.

Most other instructors kind of wax and wane for me. I'll get really into someone, move on, and then when I come back to them I can't get into it. So I take a break, come back later on and get enthusiastic again. This happens to me a lot with Lauren Brooks. Sometimes her workouts are just the ticket for keeping me motivated, and other times it's an automatic Joni-O.

That's fine, I haven't/don't like many vastly popular instructors discussed here. I actually like Jessica's youTube stuff but there are many I avoid: circuits and those workouts with lots of planks. #1 because they're boring and #2 because my bad shoulders won't tolerate planks.

I had to have CS/Essentrics grow on me and I still have limited tolerance for them, especially Miranda's chatter and mispronunciation of body parts. But they are useful for me and I use, if not daily, the workouts I have.

I was never a FIRM onlyexerciser, but I did use the heck out of the Classics and whatever the next series was after that. I believe that the overuse of the heavy tall box step ups set me up for a very painful situation I am prone to these days, hip bursitis. I started feeling some of it when I was doing the workouts and cut way back then stopped; a year ago I was motivated to try one again and BAM 6 months of serious pain. NEVER doing a weighted step up again.

We have to learn both what works for us and what we like. I did a workout I liked today on YouTube by Pahla B after many recommendations. I liked the workout but if I do it again you can bet the mute button will be on. I cannot tolerate the incessant, if pleasant chatter. Nope, deal breaker for me.

I've tried to vary things up with FIRM workouts over the years but just don't gravitate to them much... I do some of the upper body splits and lower body floorwork routines a couple of times a year, and I know the longer AWT-oriented ones (I have many of them) would be super efficient, but by and large I still prefer split routines and I don't like fast paced lunges/step ups + compound moves + lots of equipment changes :mad: Still, as the vidiot I am, I keep the DVDs on my shelf, thinking the right mood will strike one day!

This topic is so timely for me. One that I can no longer do is any Les Mills workouts and I'm a certified LM instructor! I just can't take the screaming and the blaring music. Maybe I'm just getting old and cranky!

The last year I have really gotten into yoga. I started with Bad Yogi and loved it. I then switched to Yoga with Adriene and I just can't. She's just too chatty for me. I switched to Fightmaster Yoga and back with Bad Yogi and just love both. The right amount of chat for me.

The good thing is there are so many workouts to choose from so we should never feel bad about passing on one instructor or the other.

I threw in some Jessica when I was doing my Pahla B walk/run rotation last year and preferred the Walk n' Talks to the straight up workouts. Wish she had done more of those.

Over the years I've tried so many "methods" and instructors. Some of these methods and instructors can be valuable, but it's no good if I don't want to do them, LOL!

I gave up on Pilates and Classical Stretch decades ago. Life is too short to be bored and frustrated! After reading about how fantastic Essentrics is, I recently tried a freebie on Youtube. I lasted about 5 minutes before I wanted to pull my hair out.

I'm hit-or-miss with Yoga. Many of the moves are prohibited due to a back injury, so it was kind of nice to not have to do it. I still like Jane Adams though.

I am apparently guru-proof and it's no use listing all the many instructors I have not clicked with. I was never a Firmie, although I like some of their workouts. I remember rolling on the floor laughing (literally) when I watched my first FIRM video. The artificial attitude, the stilted dialog, the bouncing microphone (and braless boobage.) Yet, the workouts are hard!

I like Jessica. Mostly her YouTube workouts although I do have some of her DVDs that I enjoy. She does too many "wood chop" moves to do one of her rotations. They bother my back.

I still like to re-try some methods and instructors to see if I still find them annoying. Usually, I do. :p

ETA: I've tried Pahla B a few times. No, just no.

On paper Jessica Smith is perfect for me. I own almost every DVD she's released.

Her workouts have functional fitness, good messaging about health vs body image, scalable intensity, well planned balanced rotations, she does every rep...

But I don't like to do them. I think there's too many reps and not enough fun factor.

I'd rather do Cathe (ICE/LITE timesaver with half the weight) or Essentrics or Just Dance.

If I buy Lift & Shift as I'm destined to do, I will be very mad at myself.

That's hilarious! And I can relate 100% !! Not for jessica but just in General! Lol

sue

I sometimes wonder what my deal is with the Firm, they were my mainstay for so long, yet I hardly reach for them at all nowadays. Yet I can't seem to part with them. It might be the tall box thing, though my box is much shorter. I remember doing Firm Strength a few years back and it really bothered my hip. I think if I visit them a couple times a year I would be fine with keeping them, otherwise they might be going once and for all. I actually prefer Cathe nowadays, which is something that I thought I would never say.

The Firms are good workouts! But maybe they just aren't the best fit for my aging frame, who knows.

Jessica, I like her but don't click with all her workouts. Some I find to be repetitive. I really like her Cardio Ball Blast, need to do that one again soon.

Pahla B, seems like a really nice lady but I can't deal with the constant talking. Probably why I ditched Angie Miller moons ago.

Caroline Girvan, really like her but not all of her workouts are for me either. I just do the ones I like.

Heather Robertson, her workouts are more my level, the setting might be dark but I am liking her stuff right now.

If someone doesn't work for you, then just do workouts that do work for you. You can try to analyze why, but you may never come up with the answer aside from that you just don't click with the workouts for some reason.

I really do feel like my Rebounder gives me the best workout, along with being gentle to my body. But I still use the FIRM...with crazy modifying. One reason I keep them is the music...beats per minute...I can do cardio on my Rebounder during high impact segments of the FIRM and then go back to the weight segments. It's a nice blend for me.

It's funny how an instructor that some people just love doesn't ever click with other people. Thankfully, there are many (too many) instructors to choose from. I love Jessica Smith's workouts. I think there seems to be a purpose for every move, and they seem well organized like she's thought out a good balance of the right exercises. And they are creative in a good way - new and different but not just weird. As for things I just can't get into I could never catch on to Classical Stretch or Jillian Michaels. Jillian was like my old PE teacher yelling at me. I'm not a big Paul Katami fan either. He seems like a likeable person and a knowledgeable instructor, but the only workout of his that I've ever kept is Ab Lab. I didn't like his multi DVD set at all.

My favorite of her strength dvds is Get Strong.

Oops, wrong thread.

Paul is another one that I have tried several times but never could click with him. I think he has well designed workouts, is knowledgeable and pleasant, but I don't like working out with him and I can't pinpoint why.

Also, yoga. Pretty much all yoga is just dread inducing to me. Even Hemalayaa's yoga workouts, which I used to at least be able to tolerate pretty well, don't work for me. The only yoga I can do now is Buti (I've really been enjoying ButiTV). It's a totally different feeling to me than all other yoga and I actually look forward to doing those workouts.

I have to say, since we left Hawaii and I no longer have a dedicated exercise room, I really miss my rebounder. We had a community gym we could use until COVID, luckily we can still use outdoor heated pools on an appointment basis, but when it's in the 40s and drizzly I can't summon enough of an inner warrior to do that.

I do appreciate the great variety of exercise/instructor options we have now vs when I started video exercise in the early 90s.

Just to show how different we all are, Buti yoga turned me OFF so hard with just a few minutes viewing. Of course, I've been doing traditional hatha yoga since I was a teen, and I'm 67 now. Might be set in my ways??

It's the same for me. I can't do high impact cardio, and the strength dvds I tried strained my glutes. But I think they would have been great if I had done them in the 90's, when I was in my 30's.

Yeah, I've never been a yogi, and I've tried so many times because I guess I thought it should be good for me. All it seems to do is stress me out, though :o With Buti, the more I explore in their streaming service, the more I like it. Especially the ones that Bizzie leads. I probably like it though, for the same reason you don't... it doesn't feel like traditional yoga. While yes, I'm aware I'm performing traditional yoga poses, the presentation tricks me into thinking I'm doing something else, lol.

I feel like I have two health conscious personalities inside. One is logical & counts the facts whereas the other is illogical & simply approves or not & gives no reason for the final decision lol

A conversation between the two goes like this

"Logically, ______ (insert a popular instructor or method) is the best! Tons of fans, impeccable method that will help meet all your fitness goals - go for it!"

"Um, hold on a second - before you begin. Does it have music you like? Do you like the setting? What about the instructors voice? Can you tolerate the dated-ness of it? Or is it too youngish for your 53 yr old tastes? And before I close, I claim the right to veto or approve based on any criteria listed or not listed above."

I have been almost in tears because I have not been able to stick with superb workout routines & wonderful instructors that my illogical inner exercise guru will not let pass go lol

I like Jessica Smith's older youtube workouts but not the well produced dvds (go figure). A few Jillians - sometimes the yelling keeps me on point, sometimes I need more nurturing. Cant do the classic Firms I loved in the 90's cuz too dated now & never liked the newer ones. But I can do all older, dated Ellens! And, like, 90% of all workouts do not fit my musical tastes, but I can do Denise Austin with or without music!

I am open to trying new stuff, sometimes I like it!

I havent been working out due to covid life & all it's stresses & other issues even before then. As I start back up again I surrender & am just gonna do my faves for now. This thread is a good reminder to not waste time & energy fighting my inner illogical exercise guru - thus far it has won every time.

The nice thing about the remasters is that they are chaptered well. I have the cross trainer strength/cardio pair and I have just skipped the cardio parts, because I have them in Tough Cardio Mix. I am also not a fan of the Firms ab work so I skip that as well. It shortens them up nicely and it's probably how I will use these. 30-40 minutes is about the right amount for me, anything longer than that and it drags.