Am I the only one disappointed in the new Tracie Long w/o

[LovingLife]

Originally Posted by Kathryn

It's in the 15-minute (labeled as 20 minutes) cardio premix, with no glitch. Ive done it, and really like it.

I'm planning on doing this workout today (as part of the VF exercise marathon) and I'm going to be changing over to the premix when that segment comes up, then going back to the regular workout to continue.

I am somewhat tempted to try the workout with the glitch, to see if I can do as I see rather than what I hear (but I think it would be like rubbing my tummy while patting my head...though I can do that fairly easily, LOL!)

I did Step Forward for the first time today and (surprising to me) didn't have a problem following Tracie at all during the glitch. The choreography is pretty basic and repeats itself, so I just watched and followed. A few times I was a step or two behind, but it wasn't hard to catch up or keep my HR up. I'm no choreography wiz either -- I've mostly done Cathe's step and take a few times to catch what she does. I think it's pretty doable this way until the new dvd comes, which is a relief. I thought I'd have to do basic steps or something on my own throughout that part until the new one came.

BTW, I absolutely love this step workout. I haven't done anyone else's step besides Cathe in probably 5+ years (last non-Cathe was probably Rob Glick's Amazing Step Styles or Kelly Robert's Step workout that she did that year with CIA). It was really fun and fresh for being so basic.

[BarbK]

Originally Posted by LovingLife

I haven't done Defining Shape yet, but could you add ankle weights to the floor work to make it more challenging?

Definitely - ankle weights would definitely work.

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I'm defintely don't regret the purchase - since I tend to like her workouts a year or two later... but she is so ORANGE during all the intros, (so this will only be a one time deal), but the picture is pretty blurry on a regular Sony TV....Hi Def should be worse - I'll report back later.....

The sound is pretty bad - I remember the sound/picture being criticized in the TLPs, but after doing DSP last night, I think the sound quality is way worse in these new ones.

[Soapmaker]

Originally Posted by nyxblack1

Hi, I am curious about what you said about the instructors lacking a basic understanding of AWT. Would you mind explaining what is lacking in pink Firms? Allie and Kelsie were trained by Anna, I thought, so is it the other instructors?

I hope this is not coming off as calling you out or argumentative. I totally don't mean it that way...I really am just curious. Thanks in advance for an explanation!

Nyx, you don't need to walk on eggshells around me. I posted my opinion of workouts that is based on my own experience with them. My opinion maybe useful to some and useless to most. However, it is always fair to ask me to clarify it.

I don't know who choreographed the pink firms. I never really checked. To me they fail as AWT because:

1-The weight segments are usually done with one set of weights but they involve multiple groups of muscles that can't be engaged properly with the same set of weights. As a result, the moves become easier to perform and never work the muscles properly. The classic firms changed weights based on the muscles worked. When the moves were done with a challenging weight, they forced you to engage core muscles that you can't easily be worked otherwise. With the pink firm, there is very little core engagement. The workouts become intermediate cardio that happen to use some weights in some segments. You can use the classic firms with light weights and turn them into pink firms but you can't use heavy weights with the pink firms and turn them into classic firms.

2-The sequencing of the moves in the classic firms engaged muscle groups in a way that allowed repeated work and recovery cycles similar to what you do in weight lifting. You don't get that in the pink firms. I always get the feeling with the pink firms that the instructor had a list of upper and lower body moves that they combined at random just to get the moves into the workouts and create weight segments.

3-The overall effect from the classic firms is an overall improvement in whole body endurance. I don't know how to describe this. It is easy to improve endurance or strength in a muscle but to get the body to work together is much more difficult. This requires more neuromuscular development than you can get from workouts like the pink firms. It is also more than functional training. I really appreciate that aspect of AWT. When I fell few years back, my body twisted and adjusted before I was really aware of what was going on. I want more of these types of workouts as I grow older.

I hope I was able to explain the difference between these workouts. I'm not saying that the pink firms are bad workouts. They are good intermediate cardio workouts. They just don't take me to that level that AWT does. I use the ones I own occasionally for extended warmups before weight training mostly with STS or Amy.

[horusosiris]

"Am I missing something? What does everyone like about Staying Power? What weight Medball are you using; I'm using 6 lbs and it just doesn't get my HR up at all. I've done the entire workout and the 22 minute premix as an add-on.[/QUOTE]

I used a 12 lb Med ball.

[Soapmaker]

Originally Posted by LovingLife

Soapmaker -- I liked reading your review of these workouts. I've only done one so far and don't have a heart-rate monitor, so I couldn't see what was happening to that degree, but I could tell that my heart-rate was up enough to be working in a satisfactory cardio zone. With Cathe's cardio, I end up sweaty, which feels great, but like I mentioned before, it never gives me weight loss results like I think it will. I was hoping to do the step workout today, but I slept in and don't like doing new cardio workouts when all my kids are up. Hopefully tomorrow though.

I think we are in the same boat. I get better results from AWT in a shorter period of time than I get from separate cardio and weights. I have to workout much longer to get the same results from separate cardio and weights. Right now I don't have that kind of time. I started a classic Firm rotation after I heard about Anna. It took less than 2 weeks for me to see changes in my body and the way my clothes fit and I just turned 46.

I was at first disappointed that the aerobic segments from Tracie's new workouts were so short but now I'm glad. I'll be able to combine them with other workouts. I have a feeling that I am going to extend my classic firm rotation from 90 days to a full year. I am starting every workout with 30 min from a classic firm followed by anything I want cardio or weights. These new workouts will fit right into this rotation.

[horusosiris]

Originally Posted by Soapmaker

I think we are in the same boat. I get better results from AWT in a shorter period of time than I get from separate cardio and weights. I have to workout much longer to get the same results from separate cardio and weights. Right now I don't have that kind of time. I started a classic Firm rotation after I heard about Anna. It took less than 2 weeks for me to see changes in my body and the way my clothes fit and I just turned 46.

I was at first disappointed that the aerobic segments from Tracie's new workouts were so short but now I'm glad. I'll be able to combine them with other workouts. I have a feeling that I am going to extend my classic firm rotation from 90 days to a full year. I am starting every workout with 30 min from a classic firm followed by anything I want cardio or weights. These new workouts will fit right into this rotation.

Would you be willing to share and post your classic firm rotation?

Thanks

[Soapmaker]

Originally Posted by BarbK

Definitely - ankle weights would definitely work.

---
I'm defintely don't regret the purchase - since I tend to like her workouts a year or two later... but she is so ORANGE during all the intros, (so this will only be a one time deal), but the picture is pretty blurry on a regular Sony TV....Hi Def should be worse - I'll report back later.....

The sound is pretty bad - I remember the sound/picture being criticized in the TLPs, but after doing DSP last night, I think the sound quality is way worse in these new ones.

Something does not sound right. The picture is crystal clear on my new Sony HD both with regular connection and HDMI. My TV is 3 weeks old. She looks tan but not orange. It could be your settings. My TV has about 20 different modifiable settings for each type of picture. Does anybody actually need all that? It can be a full time job just changing the settings on the stupid TV. I left mine in default.

With the audio, her voice is louder than the music but it is also crystal clear. The level of the music varied too much. I was able to modify the audio settings to bring up the music somewhat without having her yell too loudly. It would have been so much nicer had they got the audio right. I liked what I heard of the music. In comparison, the audio on shock cardio was just right. The quality of the picture was the same as Tracie's.

[counterclockwise]

Originally Posted by Soapmaker

Nyx, you don't need to walk on eggshells around me. I posted my opinion of workouts that is based on my own experience with them. My opinion maybe useful to some and useless to most. However, it is always fair to ask me to clarify it.

Thank u so much for taking the time to explain. You make a lot of good points. Are there any more recently released AWT workouts you could recommend that meet the criteria you described in 1-3 in your post?

Thanks again.

[Soapmaker]

Originally Posted by horusosiris

Would you be willing to share and post your classic firm rotation?

Thanks

Please give me few days and I will post it. I received shock cardio and Tracie's right before Christmas and I am trying to add them to my rotation. In December, I was doing 30 min of classic firm (TAM, NSTA, TCM, Firm 2 or 6, TT) followed by weights from STS meso 2 (1 body part at a time for a total of 4 days a week) or additional cardio (whatever I felt like for 2 days) plus one rest day.

[BarbK]

SOAPMAKER - That was the best explaination I've read re: AWT.

I will check into my TV settings re: the color / sound; but all others are fine, so maybe something re: to these.


horusosiris - 12lbs - well that would do it!!!..... 6 lbs is my heaviest med ball, I'll try with 8 lb Kettlebell next and then a weight.