That one.
It was great. It has two ten minute and two twenty minute routines, so you can build a workout to your liking. I did all 4 routines daily. Did I say that it was great? Because it was great. I could feel it, and I could see it in my body.
Then I moved into an apartment with a friend. There was no place I could really work out in our apartment/town house, and, let's be honest, the gym's right out for me. I hate exercising in front of people. Hate it! I just refuse. I feel like no one needs to see me all sweaty and out of breath. At least, not anyone I'm not intimate with. You know what I mean? Exercising, for me, is an uncomfortable enough experience without others being there to witness it.
Also, I refuse to pay for being uncomfortable.
That said, I let my fitness regimen slide. A lot.
Still, I walked my roommate's dog twenty minutes everyday, and my meals were smaller, so I was eating more healthily even if only because I couldn't afford snacks.
Then, I moved home...and the holidays hit! I gorged myself. I gorged my inactive body full of sugary, fatty goodies of goodness! It was only a matter of time before it caught up to me.
That's when I started trying to get back into the above pilates video. I started slow, 20 minute sessions, then doing 30 min sessions, then working up 40 minutes everyday. I know this sounds like I worked out a lot, but it was really only over the course of four weeks? Maybe five? And even then I'd skip days. I think I even skipped on whole week once. So, really, don't be impressed. I cheated. A lot. Still, I had been making more of an effort than I had in the past six months so it had to be doing something, right? I couldn't tell. If there was any difference at all it was completely unnoticeable to me. Maybe it was all that Christmas candy I'd been eating?
So yesterday when I tried on those pants from October...and they did not fit...not even remotely (imagine something from "The People of Walmart" only, you know, tone it down just a liiiittle bit and you'll have what I felt like), I knew it was time to amp things up.
Enter Weight Loss Pilates:
This was one of the original three I had bought about a year ago. I didn't do it back then because it was "too hard." I attempted it once and then put it to rest in my work out video graveyard.
Thing with this video is that it combined pilates moves with cardio bursts to keep your heart rate up the entire workout. This made sense in my head as being better for losing weight, so I tried it again last night. It too was broken up into smaller sessions like the previous video, but I, determined as I was, decided that I WILL CONQUER ALL!
It totally kicked my ass.
No, really. Some of the moves she pulled caused my muscles to abruptly faint and refuse to work again after, completely mistrusting my judgement. I only (barely) made it through one session. If my muscles could've curled up into the fetal position and rocked back and forth in a corner, they would have.
I'm pretty sure my heart didn't even know it could beat that fast. I know I sure didn't. Of all my muscles, I'm happiest that one didn't quit on me.
Let me just share with you some of the moves she had me do. They are intense. They may not seem intense, and maybe aren't as challenging when standalone, but on top of everything else she has you do in the video, your abs will be quivering in fear.
So, this generally isn't so bad.Except for the fact that we get there from lying completely flat. I'm used to getting to this position when my knees are bent. My knees are also usually bent while in this position. I know. I'm feeble. I think it was this position (though it may have been another) in which she then had us hold it while we beat out ankles together. OHMIGOSH it was hard! (see: I gave up and gasped for breath)
Zomg, this one! So, you keep your hands pointing straight ahead...while moving your legs in a circle. Yowza! I think I completed it once fully then collapsed on the floor.
This is the last I'll share with you. This itself isn't hard, but there was one move that looked a lot like this, and it killed me. Dead. You lower one leg (but so it's still off the ground) and raise the other. With the raised leg, you do leg circles. I know, this probably sounds like a piece of cake. Either it is and I am far more atrophied than I thought, or this really is a lot more challenging than I can accurately describe. Try it. Go ahead! I dare you.
Anyway, despite the physical discomfort and the inability to do some of the moves, I'm really excited, because after one day, one 33 minute session, I am feeling it today.
This bodes well for my bod. And my October pants.
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