2013 Hits and Misses

[bee1forfitness]

Originally Posted by rhbrand

Hits: mainly for me, and this is so against what we all talk about here, but has been getting away from home workouts. Crossfit has been my BIG hit, The only one in fact.
I've gained so much strength in the last 3 months. Got my deadlift up over 215lbs, bench 130lbs, squat 175lbs. Learned to clean, jerk, snatch. I love it!

Misses, well, sadly, pretty much all my dvds I've gotten this year have been a miss for me. I either didn't like them, or just never used them and went back to my old stuff before I started Crossfitting in Aug.

Congrats !!...this is so impressive...sometimes I think I can only dream of lifting that heavy. I've always wondered about Crossfit. I'm sure with those type of strength gains and the camaraderie of Crossfitter's I could see why home workouts may not work for you right now

[Breezy Trousers]

I'm terribly sorry for slightly derailing this thread with my TMI rant yesterday. (Sheepish grin.) Thanks for being so cool about that. While I don't regret saying what I did -- it's one of many legitimate perspectives here -- each of you has been absolutely wonderful in sharing your insight on this topic in a way that has been respectful and enlightening. I have a much better understanding of where you are coming from, now, even if I don't necessarily agree. (My apologies to OP, too.) .... Rhbrand, good for you on your strength gains with CrossFit. I guess you can't put a price on that, can you?

P.S. I'm conscious enough to know that if I have hurt feelings, that's my responsibility and no one else's. However, that's entirely different from asserting a strong opinion on a topic. I'm glad we're able to do that here.

[BunnyHop]

Originally Posted by BunnyHop

I hear ya!

One of the problems so many online forums have is that people seem to think it's okay to criticize other people's lives, critique their souls, with no idea where they're coming from.

Compassion and gratitude are useful skills, I wish they were as easy to develop as judgement, resentment and unhappiness.

Originally Posted by sophiesmom

Oh, damn it! I needed this slap! Thank you!

I honestly didn't intend it as an actual slap at anyone. (Where's a shrugging smiley when you need one?)

The main trouble, as I see it, is that with nothing but text (and sometimes smileys) to convey meaning, people tend to read things into the discussion that were perhaps never intended.

Add that to some people's tendency to inject their easily wounded feelings pretty much everywhere, and things get messy.

Given that some other people then get resentful and feel as though they're walking on eggshells just because they have to use some restraint before they hit send, it's pretty much a given that nobody's really happy all the time.

Human interaction is hard, that's all.

(I think this community does a pretty great job of reining in a good many bad behaviors, for the sake of keeping the conversation going, and that's a good thing. )

[Eibhinn]

Originally Posted by Breezy Trousers

I'm terribly sorry for slightly derailing this thread with my TMI rant yesterday. (Sheepish grin.) Thanks for being so cool about that. While I don't regret saying what I did -- it's one of many legitimate perspectives here -- each of you has been absolutely wonderful in sharing your insight on this topic in a way that has been respectful and enlightening. I have a much better understanding of where you are coming from, now.

P.S. I'm conscious enough to know that if I have hurt feelings, that's my responsibility and no one else's. However, that's entirely different from asserting a strong opinion on a topic. I'm glad we're able to do that here.

I'm glad that you spoke up and that hopefully the air was cleared and we all feel good that VF is a supportive atmosphere for everyone, different though we all are. Of course our feelings are ours to deal with, but it's also our responsibility to let others know how we're feeling so that possible mis-communications don't fester. I think the whole conversation you've started on how and why we make the purchasing decisions we do is a very relevant parallel conversation alongside our Hits and Misses, particularly if it helps us feel empowered versus guilty about purchasing decisions.

[Breezy Trousers]

Originally Posted by Eibhinn

I'm glad that you spoke up and that hopefully the air was cleared and we all feel good that VF is a supportive atmosphere for everyone, different though we all are. Of course our feelings are ours to deal with, but it's also our responsibility to let others know how we're feeling so that possible mis-communications don't fester. I think the whole conversation you've started on how and why we make the purchasing decisions we do is a very relevant parallel conversation alongside our Hits and Misses, particularly if it helps us feel empowered versus guilty about purchasing decisions.

Thanks, Eibhinn! Truly, I appreciate your generosity of spirit. You've made a great point. I feel a little less embarrassed about the hijack now that you've threaded this all together for us, too .... This is an example of why I love the VF community.

[Leonana]

Originally Posted by mle777

I
Walking for Weight Loss, Wellness & Energy - Jessica Smith (I know a lot of people didn't like this one, but I really enjoyed it)

I've read quite a few comments from people here who didn't like it. However, it's one of Collages best sellers.

I'm a big fan, but I have to admit I liked the you tube walks better. OTH, I tend to be much less critical when things are free, lol.

[LynnO]

Hits- Streaming Workouts, The Gymbox in particular. I almost never do a workout more than a handful of times, so finding a streaming service with hundreds of the kinds of workouts I enjoy for less than $10 a month has been amazing for me.

Ruthless- I still get the buying urge now and again. This one I do like, but it isn't really a system. Just a variety of drill based workouts. But a great bargain and decent workouts. Can't stand the isntructor though, so he has to go on mute. He talks way too much and shouts a lot.


Misses

Cathe - XTrain. My bargain hunter gene kicked on when I saw this was $75. But what I ended up with was a series of workouts that were almost identical to other workouts in my collection. STS has weight workouts in mesos 1 and 3 that cover the weight work. Anyway, there aren't horrible, these are more of the same of workouts from Cathe I already don't do.

Then I turned around and bought a download of her (nominally) 10 minute workouts which I like a lot better, but still... didn't need.

[CoolGirlinFl888]

Misses- JNL set. It was terrible! All of her introducing backgrounders, saying their ages, blah blah all of the whooping. I gave it away to someone who doesn't even work out lol.

Metrx system. I was very disappointed with this one.

Hit: Obviously the Weider Ruthless!

[windyh]

Hits:
Rachel Cosgrove Drop 2 Sizes - 12 workouts for about $30 and a great progressive rotation - love it
Firm Total Body Toner - An old Allie workout that I somehow had missed out on

Misses:
Reboot 1 - didn't click with me
Cathe LIS Athletic Training - all the repetitive stepping messed up my knee so this was a major miss!

[dela]

I'm not sure I'll be able to remember everything, but here goes.

Definition of a hit, anything I enjoy using for at least a month. But in most cases no matter how much I love something, there is usually something new in the wings waiting, and my attention span is pretty short.

Hits:
Christi Taylor Pure Spice - FUN! Still using it today to get my sweat on, but have some fun doing it.
Cathe XTrain - I did and enjoyed the rotation for about 5 or 6 weeks, and I still go back and use one or two of the dvds now, and I even liked a couple of the workouts that I was sure I would not. Then I moved onto...

Drop 2 Sizes, I am a HUGE FAN of this system, I bought it immediately and paid full price, and it was worth every penny. I loved Rachel, everything about her, her demeanor, her instruction, the way she led and had useful tips and instructions. I feel her style of training is excellent. I followed the full 3 month rotation. The book is great too, and I bring it with me on every vacation to use in the hotel gyms. Then this led into...

Kettlebell Kickboxing, The Body Series - Again, big fan, the workouts are a bit easier, but I loved Dasha in theses, loved the moves and the format. I did about 6 weeks of this rotation. Sometimes I would string 2 together sometimes to get in a harder workout. Went on vacation, did D2S all week, then attempted Met-Rx for a few workouts, but that was a miss.

UFC heavy bag classes (gym) - I love going to the kickboxing and boxing classes at this gym. The moves they introduce are so much more unique than CKO or Title. VERY hard workout, but also lots of fun.

Combat Kettlebell - LOVING this right now! The mixture of all these unique mma moves with kettlebells is awesome and fun, and my favorite, the rolling around moves! I wasn't expecting it, but I got a killer workout this morning with the 5x5 workout today.

Atletica 1 - Surprise hit! I got this in one my very few trades, I was CERTAIN I would hate the drums, but I finally tried it, and this is a great workout. Ilaria is as awesome on this one as PS 4,5 and 6. I did have to sub one of the circuits for something a little easier, but I got a great workout, and the drums kind of faded in the background after a while.

KCM Health Back - I am very glad I added this and pre-ordered all 3 at the time, funny thing, this is the one I was on the fence with, but this is the only of the three I like and use. I used this along with CS and Essentrics during another bought of back pain. The exercises are a lot like the D2S mobility workouts, just longer.

Misses:
Met Rx -Disclaimer, I'm not disappointed, I got this for $15, and it was worth every penny to try a system like this that was on my wish list. The dvds, packaging, materials, and filming are all top notch. In fairness, I have not tried out phase 2 yet, but after my second workout, I found these pretty boring, and the instructor with all his talk about "my transformation" was really annoying me. I'm not trying to transform, I just want to workout! Normally, I can ignore this type of talk, but it's too prevalent in these to ignore. One day, I'm hoping to talk myself into checking out phase 2, but it probably won't be soon.

KCM - Something happened, we are not clicking lately . However, her Healthy Back dvd is great.

I know I'm missing stuff. I'm sure it will come to me