Fitness Thursday?

Well, I had wanted this to automatically post tomorrow, but I couldn’t figure it out.  So Fitness Thursday it is! : )  There was a request for workouts that work the abs this week – so here ya go! 

The dvd featured today is Tracy Anderson’s Post Pregnancy Workout.  This dvd is NOT just for post partum women.  In fact, I think if a freshly post partum woman tried to attempt this dvd – they’d probably injure themselves.  Even after the usual 6 week required exercise hiatus after giving birth – I still think it would be pretty tough to do.  I mean, this DVD is hard for me at times and I had a baby 13 months ago!

It starts out with a “warm-up.”  If you’ve never done a Tracy video, let me tell ya – her warm ups are whacky.  So I don’t do them!  Then she moves right on to abs – which is the main part of the workout.  There is a series of crunches in various positions.  Tracy’s variations are pretty unique and you feel a burn in your abs quite quickly.  Then she moves on to what she calls the “piking series.”  These. Are. Hard.  If you can do half of them, you’re doing good!  Basically, you are laying on your back with one light weight(1-3 pounds) in your hands and your arms outstretched over your head.  Your bring your arms and legs up to meet in the middle at the same time.  Sounds easier than it is, probably.  I usually end up dropping the weight half way through.  Then she does a series of side planks and regular planks.  I used to be really, really bad at these, but now I think I’ve gotten pretty good at them thanks to this DVD.  That is it for abs.  The abs portion runs I think 30 minutes or so.  And then after that, she has you doing some “all fours” butt exercises that also burn real bad.  Or burn real good, depending upon how you look at it! : )  Finally, she works your arms with her signature unweighted arm routines.  I believe there is a short weighted portion too (I favor her “Mat” DVD for working on my arms, as it’s longer and more intense.  Yes, I am glutton for punishment!).   There is NO cool down.

This DVD leaves my abs sore for DAYS.  Especially my obliques.  I happen to like the soreness (it’s gotta mean its working, right?!) but if you don’t you could stretch your abs out really well afterwards with perhaps a cobra stretch. 

Here’s a clip from the DVD.  Sorry I couldn’t find a better one with more of the actual “workout” instead of Tracy babbling on and on about her super cool “Method.”  Oh well, you can at least get an idea what it’s like. 

                         Another abs workout that I like is “8 Minute Abs.”  (Back me up here, my people!)  It’s super old and kinda cheesy, but it totally WORKS!  And, the best part is – you can just pull up good old YouTube to do this one!  And if you want, you can download it to your computer using RealPlayer (I downloaded the free version of RealPlayer for purposes such as this).  Here is the link to 8 Minute Abs:

 

 

 

                              

 

Next week I think I’ll probably blog about Barre.  It’s my fav and I simply must discuss it with you all!   As to which barre workout – that remains to be seen!