Addition to Workout: The Biggest Loser Cardio Max

After about 40 days, I finished the 30 Day Shred (end date was about two weeks ago).

Results? I lost about 5lbs, developed some great arm and leg muscles, got what may be a two-pack, and enjoyed feeling better about myself and feeling better. Yay.

I continued doing the workout five days a week. Last week, I even upgraded to 5lb weights (from 2lbs) to give myself a better challenge. In the meantime, I decided to order this DVD from Amazon to intersperse with my shredding.

I give you The Biggest Loser Cardio Max.



The premise? The three trainers from The Biggest Loser join forces to give you the workout of your life (or reduce you to a blubbering puddle of weepiness, depending on your perspective).

There is a 5 minute warm up and a 5 minute cool down. Then, you can choose a the Level 1 20 minute Boot Camp Workout with Bob, the Level 2 10 minute Super Cardio Drills with Jillian, and/or the Level 3 Cardio Kickbox with Kim.

The cool thing is that you can customize the workout. A screen comes up and you can select which portions you want. For example, since it's my first day, I selected the Warm Up, the Level 1 Cardio and the Cool Down. The DVD then automatically plays these segments for you, one right after the other. Technology at its finest, people.

The big difference between this DVD and the Shred is that instead of beautifully toned and exquisitely cut "professionals" in the background, they use actual cast members from The Biggest Loser. On the plus side, it's nice to see "real people" with "real sweat" and "real coordination" issues, unlike Jillian's Glamazons. On the downside, there's really not a whole lot of attention paid to form and a lot of times, the people are bumping into each other. You really have to pay attention to the quickie demonstration to make sure you have it down.

WARM UP:
It's hard core. Bob wastes no time. The mantra is get that heart rate up and keep it there. Fair enough, Bob. Fair enough. He seems sweet enough. All encouraging and whatnot. I wonder if I cry, he'll show mercy. Jillian would scoff because apparently Bob allows something called a low-impact jumping jack. I chose to ignore that. There was rope jumping, lots of lunges (he's totally lunge happy), some light shadow boxing, etc.

LEVEL 1 CARDIO:
The fact that I am typing this all out of breath should be a clue. This is not easy. The moves themselves are not difficult exactly, but they are fast-paced and continuous. I got a little mucked up because Bob doesn't really seem to care if anyone is doing them right or wrong. He just wants you moving. Everyone's timing is really off, and since Bob kind of flits around from person to person to give them proverbial pats on the ass, it's a little more challenging to keep on track.

He's also really forgiving. You can use the weights. Or not. You can add an extra jump. Or not. Heck, you can run around in circles if that's all you feel like doing today. Or you can follow along. I don't like that. I want "Ok, people, we are going to do 2o pushups, now 40 lunges, now eleventy billion of these things that make your knees want to separate and your lungs explode. And go!"

So I went through it all. It's pretty intense. Which is good. My legs are a little shaky, too. My big complaint about the Shred is that there was not enough attention paid to thighs and upper legs. I have really, really powerful legs, so I need something really crazy to get through to them. This might be it.

At one point, Season 3 cast member Pam says she wants to kill him. Bob laughs at her. Then he gets real close to the screen and says that we should really love him. I'm kind of siding with Pam on this one.

I admit, I was counting the seconds until the circuit ended.

COOL DOWN:
Yeah, let's just go ahead and call this what it is. Yoga.

If you know me, you know I hate yoga with the fire of a thousand suns. And Bob uses the dreaded "it's not the destination but the journey." No, Bob. It's the destination. And if you tell me that I need to balance on one toe with my leg over my head, then damn it, that's what I need to do. And there IS shame in holding the wall.

But, I will grudgingly admit that there is some excellent focus on breathing, even if I did have to do it on one foot.

Stay tuned for more updates!