Turbo Jam: Ab Jam
When I first looked at this dvd, I thought twenty minutes was an incredibly long time to be working on my abs. I’ve got to tell you that the time just flew by. I’m not sure what it is about Turbo Jam or Chalene Johnson, but each workout is fun. Fun means you’ll keep doing it. Fun means you get through the workout before you realize you’re exercising…just kidding.
Keeping with the trademark of Beachbody workouts, Ab Jam uses cardio interval training to keep your heart pumping. You’re going to sweat, burn calories, melt fat, and pump up your metabolism.
The first half of the workout is standing. If you’re used to working your abs with crunches, a ball, or ab machines, you’ll be surprised at how many different ways you can work your abdominal muscles standing up.
You may not be comfortable doing standing ab exercises. Give it a chance and work through it. It’s probably just new to you. Some of the standing ab exercises are similar to those in Debbie Sieber’s Slim in 6. I also noticed some similarities with Tony Horton’s P90X Extreme Home Fitness System.
The second half of the workout moves to ab exercises on the floor. I learned some new moves. I was expecting something in between Slim in 6 and P90X’s Ab Ripper X or Yoga Belly 7. My favorite floor exercise in Ab Jam involves sitting on the floor with your hands on the floor behind you. Your knees are bent…feet off the floor. You then lean back and touch your knees to the left until they hit the floor. Then, your bring them to the right until they hit the floor, etc. This works the lower abs really good!
I’ve got a few more ab routines to review for you, so you’ll have plenty of information on how to get yourself a tight, flat set of abs. Still coming up: Turbo Jam Booty Sculpt & Abs, Tony Horton’s One on One Core Ball Sandwhich, and Brett Hoebel’s new 90 day ab solution Rev Abs.
Rev Abs isn’t available, yet. This Beachbody workout won’t be released until the fall; however, I have a preview dvd. It’s the first dvd in program. Getting free preview dvds of upcoming releases is one of the benefits of being a Beachbody Coach. Speaking of previews, I have an extra Tony Horton One on One Cardio Intervals dvd.
Here’s all you have to do to get it. Click here to sign up for a free Beachbody account. When you sign up for your free account, Beachbody will let me know that you signed up from this website. I will then send you an email to make arrangements to get the dvd to you. If you’re not the first to sign up, don’t worry. I will personally make sure you get a dvd for free just for visiting my site and signing up for your free account. (Of course I won’t be able to extend this offer forever. You must act by August 31st, 2009.)
Do you know the benefits of getting your free Beachbody account? They’re amazing…
1. Access to the WOWY (workout with you) online supergym. Here, you’ll be able to schedule workouts and track your progress. You’ll also be able to connect with other people in the supergym with you and be eligible to win cash and prizes of up to $1000 per day.
2. You can compete for the $25,000 grand prize in the Million Dollar Body Game.
3. Your own personal coach (me) to help guide you to the support, tools, and motivation you need to reach your goals.
4. Workout buddies to help keep you motivated.
5. Access to the Beachbody message boards and cool down chat room.
6. Weekly Beachbody newsletters where you’ll learn about nutrition, exercise, and more.
Go ahead, sign up here! You’ve got nothing to lose except all those extra pounds.
Raising the Intensity of Slim in 6 & Other Beachbody Workouts
After doing 90 days of Tony Horton’s P90X Extreme Home Training System, you’d think that I’d be ready to take a break. The fact of the matter is that once you start seeing your own results, you get hooked on Beachbody workouts. I’m in the middle of Debbie Sieber’s Slim in 6 slim training workout program for weight loss at the time of this writing.
Each new workout in the Slim in 6 program challenged me in the beginning, but I knew that if I wanted to continue seeing the results I wanted that I had to raise my intensity level. It’s important to keep your heart rate in a working zone throughout your workout. That’s where you burn fat and calories. So what did I do? I put on some kickboxing type of hand weights. You can get a pair right from the Beachbody store. Chalene Johnsons’s Turbo Jam workout comes with a pair of these weighted gloves. You’ve probably seen her use them in the Turbo Jam infomercial. The gloves help increase the intensity and increase the burn.
Other things you can do to increase the intensity of a workout if you have extra energy on a particular day or if you don’t feel like you’re working hard enough to get the results you want include adding movements that raise your legs or knees higher, going deeper into lunges and squats, and/or raising your arms above your head. You can also do more reps than they are doing on the video. For example, I can do far more push ups from my P90X experience than the number Debbie’s team does in Slim in 6.
What’s my point? Every workout program has to be personalized. And, you’re the only one who can do that. If you’ve read any of my articles on P90X, you’ll notice that I often had to modify the other way. Heck, I still can’t do even on pull up, but I’m still working on it. I did what I could with each P90X workout and kept it as intense as I could. I often had to modify until I got stronger or had more endurance. As I look back, it must’ve been a pitiful sight to watch me do my first couple of rounds with P90X Yoga X!
I like the intensity of the P90X training program and the personality of Mr. Tony Horton who is the fitness expert, trainer, and author of the program. To stay in touch with that energy, I subscribed to Tony Horton’s One on One program which allows me to get a new P90X level training program every month. Each workout focuses on one area such as cardio or abs or delts. The workouts are shorter (20-40 minutes on average) than they were in P90X. The P90X workouts were about an hour long….unless you did the Yoga X…a grueling 92 minutes!
If you’re a graduate of P90X, here are a few options for keeping your workouts new and challenging. Try the One on One automatic shipment or try P90X+ which was developed for P90X grads who just couldn’t get enough of the X. You can also try Tony’s 10 Minute Trainers which are intense short workouts that you can fit into those tight schedules. But, if you want to try an intense workout, and you’re up for a 60 day cardio challenge, you might be ready for Shaun T’s Insanity.
I’m not ready for a cardio program that intense, yet. My personal coach is doing this program and loving it though. I’m ok with not being right there at the starting line as Insanity takes its hold on the world. It was just released this month, so extreme fitness fanatics everywhere are ordering this program. Shaun T’s program has a unique offer with the program if you’re one of the few, the proud…oh, wait a minute – that’s the Marines…if you’re one of the insane, crazy people who think they can do this heart pumping, sweat pouring 60 day program. If you graduate the program, you’ll get a cool Insanity T-shirt if you send in your before and after pictures. How cool is that?
You know what’s really cool about Beachbody workouts? You’ve heard me say this before. There is a Beachbody workout that is right for everyone, every body, every fitness level. Beachbody’s philosophy is to get you moving and help you live a healthy and fit life. So, what are you waiting for? “Change your body. Change your life.”
One on One: Cardio Intervals
I’m really hooked on Tony Horton and the P90X Extreme Training System. After going through this grueling 90 day program, I decided to take a break from building muscle and focus on losing a little weight. To accomplish this task, I turned to Debbie Siebers and her Slim in 6 workouts to burn fat.
I still have the P90X bug though, so when Beachbody offered the July DVD of Tony Horton’s One on One: Cardio Intervals for one penny, I had to get it! I figured that it was a cardio program so it would support my current fitness goal of dropping 15 pounds. I knew it would be good because it was Tony’s workout…read more
Insanity Released. I’m Not Ready – Are You?
It’s really awesome that Beachbody has so many workout programs, each designed with particular fitness goals and fitness levels in mind. I wrote about this in an early article when I told you that after doing Tony Horton’s P90X Extreme Training System for 90 days that I started Debbie Sieber’s Slim in 6 program and fully expected to blow it away. Although I gained strenth and built muscle mass during P90X, I wasn’t quite ready for the continuous cardio training of my current program. My fitness goals changed, so I changed up my workouts to reach those goals.
Well, Shaun T’s much awaited high intensity max interval cardio program called Insanity was finally released by Beachbody. I’m not quite ready to take on the challenge of this cardio explosion…read more
