Here’s how it went down this week.

  • Monday I completed two rounds of part 1 Buns & Fat Burning workout in 7 min 27 sec. This is better than two weeks ago but I still felt just as dead afterwards. Still wanted to hurl, still my head was pounding. I’m starting to think I’m just not ready for that level of workout. The other days also really get me winded but I also don’t feel like I’m going to pass out afterwards. Unfortunately I don’t like the exercises quite as much in the other days. Maybe it’s just time for something altogether new…but I do like the results it’s having on my bum.
  • Tuesday I went back to the Beginner’s Workout again. Still did all exercises with at least 2o reps each and quite possible have totally bored myself of this routine.
  • The rest of the week was a total bust. I’ve not really been getting as much sleep as I’d like so when it’s time for me to get out of bed in the morning, I just want to pull the covers back up and keep snoozing.

So after 3 days of nothing and a few less than stellar weeks of workouts, I looked in the mirror this morning and reminded myself that you cannot have a killer body just by working out once a month. It’s unfortunate but oh so true. And that means I am going to kick myself in the butt the next time my brain says it’s too early to work out. Getting up at 6:45am is the only practical time for me to workout because Mackenzie sleeps until 7:45 or 8am and then plays along in her crib for 30 minutes or more. So this gives me plenty of time to get the warmed up, workout, cool down and shower.  Working out in the evening it just not really suitable as it’s the only time of the day Stefan and I get to see each other and I’ve already been chasing the kiddo and the dog around all day.

I thought that having familiarity in the workouts would help to keep me going because I would know what was coming and not have to spend so much time figuring out the routine each morning…but I’m thinking that’s no good either. I just tire of the routines too quickly. I’ve been doing the beginner’s workout for 6 weeks and now the fat burning & butt workout for 3 weeks and although the latter still kills me, I could definitely benefit from some variety. I didn’t even realize I’d been doing the same stuff so many weeks. Of course, since I really only do the fat burner workouts once or maybe twice a week in most cases, they almost don’t count. But from here on out I will try to avoid scheduling any workout more than twice a month. Many of the exercises repeat themselves anyway so at least I’m not having to learn 5-8 new exercises every morning and every time I do them, I get a better understanding of how they are supposed to be done. It’s always important to remember that quality, not quantity, is what matters!

For next week, here’s the workouts I plan to tackle…and not in any particular order although I will probably just go down the list to save my brain from too much data processing that early in the morning.

  • Ball Buster Workout — These rounds a really long but there’s no squats so we’ll see how well I do with getting 4 rounds in.
  • Body Burn Workout — Explosive push ups…those are going to be interesting 😉
  • Fast Burn Workout — Time to beat is 19min 28sec. Oh yeah. But I love that you can see how this workout really pains her too even though she’s in awesome shape.
  • Balance, Strength & Agility Workout — LOTS of balance needed here. Again, reassuring to know that Zuzana wasn’t always a workout goddess!
  • Second Six Pack Abs and Love Handles Workout — Clip of the exercises from 0:20 – 1:25 in the video…the rest if just “coffee talk.”

Don’t forget to warm-up before each workout and have a look at Zuzana’s stretching routine to help cool down after your workouts. Stretching is not only important for improving flexibility but it will also help improve your workout performance and ultimately decrease soreness after workouts. And after these intense interval workouts, you definitely want to let your muscles wind down.

I’ve ordered myself a new black Gymboss internal timer and a new jump rope to replace the one I have yet to hunt down. (Funny side note: If you order the Gymboss from their website, they ask where you heard about them and Zuzana is actually on the list!! Worldwide shipping is only $2.99 and the timer just $19.95!) With these two items I’ll be able to do a lot more of the workouts, especially some of the more intense timed workouts like this Sucker for Sweat workout where you do as many reps as you can in 20 seconds, rest 1o seconds, then repeat until you’ve completed 6 rounds of the same exercise…and you do that with 6 different exercises. Crazy and fun!!

I’m also starting to wonder if maybe I should move my workouts to the kitchen or maybe even somewhere else due to the jump roping (not so great in the living room with very little space and not extremely high ceilings) but will definitely just move outside when it gets a bit warmer since it’s already a bit too warm for me in the house most of time to exercise. Unfortunately 40°F outside may still be just a bit too chilly for all that. I’d like to have some place where I could do pull ups and especially hanging leg raises for ab workouts, too, but I just haven’t determined which door frame I’m willing to sacrifice yet. Maybe I just need to clean out nearly everything in the mudroom and start doing it out there. We have a heater out there to keep the washing machine from freezing so it’s not that cold…unless it’s below freezing outside. But these workouts will have me working it so hard I won’t even notice the cold, right? I’d have 2 door frames to choose from (one totally made of stone so no fear of the pull up bar hurting it) and if it’s cleaning out there would be a relatively decent amount of space to workout in. Definitely going to think more on that idea.

And I’m going to start trying to cut some sugar out of my diet. I can’t promise that I will cut it all out but I should at least cut it back. I drink a LOT of sugar in my coffee…and iced tea. But at least if I can reduce some from the coffee I will be better off. I find that if I drop one-half or even one-quarter of a cinnamon stick in my coffee pot, the cinnamon flavor masks the lack of sugar. I’m not going to drop all the sugar from my coffee but 1 spoonful versus 3 has to be an improvement, right? And adding more fresh veggies to dinner meals also wouldn’t hurt. If spring is indeed just around the corner, at least we’ll have lots of our own produce to eat up soon!

I’m really fired up about working out for next week. Can you tell? I actually might get up tomorrow morning and workout if we make it to bed at a decent hour. Then I’ll be pumped up and showered before everyone is up and if Stefan gets up at around 8 with Mack, then we’ll even have time to squeeze in a walk with Ayla before I have to head to the hair dresser. That might be pushing it though. Yep, that’s right. I’m getting my pretty on tomorrow morning. That might just warrant some new photos finally. Worst case, you get them at week 8. And if you’re tired of hearing about BodyRock by then, I might just stop blabbering about it. On the other hand, I still think you should be working out with me! It’s only 4 months until summer…don’t you want to have one of the hottest bods on the beach or by the pool? You know you do! Male, female, young, old…grab your fitness by the arm and drag it along on this crazy ride!


Do you want to workout with me (and Zuzana)? I’ll be posting a new BodyRock Challenge post every Friday. There I will recap my own progress from the previous week, leave some motivation for all of us and announce any changes to the workout routine. If you aren’t ready to move up to the next level, don’t worry; just keep working out at the current level until you feel it’s too easy or you notice you aren’t winded at the end of the workout.

I’d love to read your comments and progress. If you are linking to your blog and you talk about other things than BodyRock, please link DIRECTLY to your own post so that those of us who want to give you some encouragement can easily find your post. If you don’t have your own blog or website where you can talk about your progress, then just tell us how you did in your comment!