Week 3, Day thursday work out (day 1 on week 3):

OMG... mountain climbers.. suck.

It took me 54 minutes to get through all of the circuts.. and I was exhausted afterwards! It felt good and horrible all at once! I have to say I could do the mountain climbers for the full minute, but ONLY the first time, the time after that I did only like 45 seconds, and after that it was only about 25 seconds... LOL

Wow, Amy, it took 54 minutes? It took me 29 minutes to do it. I wonder why. I'm doing all of the repetitions and on the mountain climbers, when my legs failed, I quick stood up and did high knees for the rest of my time. Hmm, now I'm confused why my workout doesn't take as long as everyone else's. I do my reps slowly with weights and do a 1 second pause, but I don't rest at all between sets. Do you?

Emma, are you doing each circuit 3 times?

I was wondering the same thing. I do each excercise listed 3 times for 20 repeats. For my ab crunches.....I generally do a little more since its an area I need a real miracle in. Today I did 100 full on crunches, and 50 each side for my obliques. From start to finish,....5 minute warmup on treadmill....45-50 min on circuits....and then I add another 30 min on treadmill (incline5,speed 3.8) I know I should do some stretching after that and sometimes I do and sometimes I just want to call it a day and stretch later.

I'm sure she does... she is pretty thorough. I'm just slower I think than you are, in general with the exercise. I TRY to not rest but I do..

Hi....I forgot to mention.....I saw this on Discovery Health channel.....There is a theory that training (esp. for highly competative athletes) with a twitch factor improves muscle and toning. The athlete on focus was an olympian woman athlete for volleyball. She believes that very fast reps conditions the muscles to have a faster response time to react...ie, in reacting to the speed of the ball. The reps are lightening fast jerks almost, and not a constant exact muscle move. It was really incredible to see her workout routine.

I'm sure as long as our heartrates get up into our target zone, we are doing it correctly. There is no right or wrong way in my mind.

I take about 30 mins at the most, or have so far, for each full circuit workout.

I stepped it up yesterday, with a minute to 2 minutes on the orbitrek in between each circuit so it went longer than usual.

I do each circuit 3 times before moving on to the next one. I don't rest between sets, just keep going as fast as i can without compromising form. I don't mean flailing arms and legs - just fast enough to get the heart rate up and still have a hold in between each movement to contract/flex the muscles.

I am familiar with weights and using them to almost an aerobic capacity so this is comfortable for me which may account for why I do it within 30 minutes. I did a program a couple of years ago based on someone elses principles - generally the same without the cardio intervals.

Also with the rest thing - just getting up off the floor I consider enough of a rest to get my breath back. Also a drink when required gives me a break.

So timing wise, you sound ok Emma

HA, yeah I know I'm just a slow poke! I'm going to try and kick it up today though, especially knowing how long it took yesterday. Damn those mountain climbers..

Same for me. I don't rush the moves but keep up pretty steady movement. Takes me about 40 minutes to get through the circuits. Pretty much don't take breaks except a quick check on the next circuit, or for water between circuits.

Back on track with working out. Last night was great. I always feel so "FIT" when I am done. But also dead tired. I have never taken several days off a program and then picked it back up so I am quite proud that I am back at it. Woo Hoo.

I takes me about 40 minutes to do the complete circuit including the 5 minute warm-up. Week 3 and 4 took less time because you are only doing 2 sets of each exercise and you don't do the cardio portion on all the circuits. I am on week 5 and it takes a little longer to complete because you are doing the 1 min cardio in each circuit

Week 1 and 2 did take longer, I think around 35 minutes to because of more sets, but now there are more exercises to do each circuit.

Week 3 and 4 are now 2 sets of 15 reps. I do EXACTLY what she has listed. I'm not new to weight training so I also do the full 1 second hold on each weight training exercise, whether it's a squat or a curl. I'm doing all the exercises and all the reps and sets for each circuit, but I don't rest at all.

If I am doing a bench press, I jump right up to get into my next exercise, then right back down for my crunches. I do take drinks of water between circuits, but I think I'm just fast because I'm not resting. Although Daisy's coming out just like me also.

Day 2 Week 3 (Friday's workout)
43 minutes today through the circuits, which is better but I still see places I'm stalling. My daughter smashed her finger somewhere during the pelvic thrusts and I didn't count that 5 minutes of consoling.

For the record, I don't know just how capable I am of those buttkicks.. I felt like SUCH a dork even trying it, but then I couldn't even do it!

Join the club, girl....dorkettes UNITE!!

I'm glad today is my rest day....walk the dog - nothing more. On to Week 2 on Saturday.

61 minutes ... half of that was Week 3, Day 3 and the other half was incline/speed intervals on treadmill. Also stretched afterwards.

Hi JG's...... I'll be MIA for a few days. My bestfriend from highschool (back in the horse and buggy days... ) is flying in tommorow for a visit. I won't be going to the gym although I plan on doing lots of walking and shopping. Does shopping count as aerobic or anerobic excercise? Anyways, first thing Thursday, I'm back with a vengence. Hope everyone stays on program!!! Can't wait to catch up with y'all. tc