So remember when I told you last week that I was going to be starting the new 20 Second Fitness program? Well week 1 is now complete! I can’t wait to tell you all about it! I’m loving it! I honestly can’t believe I just said that about an exercise program; but really it’s one of my favorites!
The program shipped very quickly and it was at my house in less than a week! I immediately opened it up and this is what I saw!
The program comes with everything you need to get started, with all the DVD’s, the food guide, the jump rope; and all the resistance bands in the nice black carrying bag! And yes, they all fit nicely into the bag, so it’s not a struggle each time you have to “repack” the chords. They even come with a handy chart that lets you know which color chord will give you the most resistance, so you never have to guess.
When you start your 20Second Fitness; you will want to watch the DVD called “Start here.” Rather self explanatory right? I love it! It will give you a great introduction to the program and explain a little about how it was designed and what you can expect from it. It also has short videos that will show you the correct posture and way to do every exercise that you will be doing in the program; so it is important that you watch this video so you are doing the exercises the right way. Even if you are a fitness Guru and think “oh, I know how to do that exercise” you still need to watch their demonstrations to be sure that you are doing it the proper way to prevent any injuries and to get the most benefit for your effort. The only drawback I have with this disc, is I think it would be nice to have a “play all” option in addition to being able to select each individual exercise.
When it is time to start exercising; the first 2 weeks you will be using the DVD called Warm Up. You select the correct week that you are on, and then it will have an individual workout video for each day. So for at least this first week while we are on the Warm up Disc I will give you a short day by day preview of how the workouts went.
Each workout is 4 minutes long this first week. You begin with exercise #1 and you do your very best for those 20 seconds. You then have a 10 second break and then you move onto exercise #2 for 20 seconds, have another 10 second break and move onto exercise #3 for 20 seconds, have another 10 second break and then you do the 4th exercise. After the 4th exercise, you will reach your half way point. Congrats! You have just completed 2 minutes! Now you will repeate the entire process again. So basically you are doing 4 different exercises, twice over for 20 seconds each, with a 10 second break in between each exercise. You still with me? And then you are done! So this is what I experienced this last week:
Day 1: Today’s workout was only 4 minutes long. Seriously! 4 Minutes! That was it! And yet at the end of the workout; I felt energized while still being worn out, and I could definitely feel that my muscles had reached their max potential in effort. Can you believe it? All that accomplished in just 4 minutes! Usually it takes me about 45-60 minutes at the gym to get this much feedback from my body! After the workout I was a bit sore, but not so much that I couldn’t walk, do the stairs or even sit down. This is very important to me; because even though I’m working out I still need to be able to function as a mom! Today was a very good day!
The Husband’s reaction: After I told him that day 1 was only 4 minutes long, he was thinking maybe he should just skip the warmup weeks, because he’s more physically fit and didn’t think he would get a good workout from the “beginner” workouts. But I told him I needed him to start from the beginning to help with my review, so he did. His reaction after those 4 minutes:
Haha! Oh my husband the comedian. But really, he ended up having a wonderful workout and can you believe it..in just 4 minutes. He wore himself out and really worked up a sweat.
Day 2: Today I woke up feeling great, but as the day went on, I could definitely feel the soreness from Day 1’s workout. But even though I was sore (which was a good thing) I wasn’t so sore that I couldn’t function and go up and down the stairs, or lift my daughter, or any of the other normal day to day activities. It gave me encouragement that I can do this and still be a functioning mom!
The workout today was again, just 4 minutes and it was great. At the end, my muscles definitely felt worn out, my heart rate was up and I felt so accomplished that I completed another amazing working in just 4 minutes! While the entire workout really pushes you, the individual exercises aren’t necessarily hard..but it’s the intensity of which you doing the workout that really creates the results.
Day3: Today I had a migraine, so I actually had to talk myself into working out today. But the best part is that it was so easy to do! I mean, it’s only 4 minutes! Even with a migraine I can do my best for 4 minutes! All I had to do was the 4 exercises, and do them twice. That was it! Today, I loved how quickly the ‘half way’ mark came. I though, “wow! Really? I really CAN do this!” It’s so nice that even on the days I don’t feel like exercising, I can still talk myself into it because I know it won’t take very long.I can do it and get it out of the way for the day! But I’m still getting the amazing workout!
Day 4: Today was difficult. I got off my schedule. I had an upset stomach this morning (due to something I had eaten the night before). It was not the kind of upset stomach that you can just work through. I had to basically stay laid up until it started to feel better. At that point, the baby was now up, it was time to do the household chores and work. Then the husband needed a ride to the store for school supplies, and then dinner needed to be made, and kids needed to be delegated through the chores, then bedtime routines. And by the end of it all I was just worn out and ready to crash on the couch and call it a day. Then I remembered, “Oh yeah! I haven’t done my workout today!” It took me about 10 minutes to talk myself into it because I was so tired, but then I remembered, “oh wait..it’s only 4 minutes, it goes by fast. I’ll be done in no time, and it’s OK that I’m tired, I just have to do my best.” So I did it, and I’m so grateful I did. Because, yes, even though I’m even more worn out now, I feel better than I have all day.
One feature I really like about this program is that if there is one
exercise in that daily routine that you can’t due for injury reasons, you can substitute it for another exercise from the Form Videos that will work the same muscles. Today, we were to do lunges. I can’t do lunges due to a knee injury; it causes too much pain. So I went through the form videos and selected a different exercise to do during those 20 seconds that the video was doing lunges. I still pushed myself through those 20 seconds; and at the end I felt great! And in the future when my knee is stronger, I’ll be able to put back in the lunges.
Day 5: Today I loved the variety in the workouts. you rarely do the same workout 2 days in a row! And you cycle through the various target zones of your body to ensure that you get a full body workout each day! Today was busy, so it helped that I was able to achieve total muscle failure in only 4 minutes, instead of trying to fit in 30-60 minutes; which would NOT have happened!
Day 6: Today; it was a crazy busy day and I didn’t get to workout. And I actually MISSED it! We had a lot of family activities and we weren’t at home almost the entire day. I’m sad I missed today. I will do better next week and plan better in case we have another day with family activities; I’ll get up earlier so I can be sure to get my few minutes of exercise in!
Overall:This week I have truly felt an improvement in my fitness. No, I haven’t lost an amazing amount of inches or lbs from my starting weight. But I can now feel my muscles! There were some muscles I had forgotten were even there! I’ve been quite sore this week, which is a good thing because it shows that my muscles are definitely getting the workout they need, but I haven’t been so sore that I can’t function as a mom. I’ve had a few days when I’ve needed to take a few ibuprofen, but it hasn’t been overwhelming and I now look forward to my short workouts each day. Plus, I feel stronger than I have in quite a while.
One thing I have noticed is that my appetite has increased, probably because I’m more active now; so I will need to check more closely what I eat for next week, and try to follow the eating guide better.
As for the Husband. He has really enjoyed his workouts too. Even though they are only 4 minutes, he’s been able to achieve muscle failure, sweated, and elevated his heart rate as well! And he’s the one that is already physically fit! He’s been grateful for the shorter workouts as he’s started back into school this semester and finding time to workout has become a bit harder as he has to work around his classes and do all his homework. But he’s easily been able to set aside 4 minutes each day, and add a 20second fitness workout.
Next week our intensity increases and I can’t wait to see what’s in store! I hope you will join us next week for our Week 2 progress report!
Don’t forget! If you are ready to get started with your 20Second Fitness you can get free shipping when you use the code: “jade louise designs”