Turbo Jam: Cardio Party
Where did that 45 minutes go? Once again, Chalene kept my mind off working out and just having fun. I’m sitting here dripping in sweat after completing my first Cardio Party workout in the Turbo Jam program. I’m not a dancer, so trying to move like some of the gals wasn’t pretty. The important thing is to keep moving. Afterall, you are in your living room not under a spinning ball on the dance floor!
I noticed that in this routine, the Wheel reminded me of the low side crunches in Slim in 6. The difference here is the Wheel is a much wider and flowing exercise. It stretches the whole body while working the oblique abdominal muscles.
The kicking and punching in Cardio Party remind me of Tony Horton’s P90X Kenpo X workout. I was already familiar with the basic moves from P90X, so I was really comfortable with them. If you haven’t done kicks or punches, you’ll probably have a similar experience as I did when I first did the Kenpo X DVD. I was elated. Somehow, it was empowering and didn’t feel at all like exercising. Kicking, punching, and blocking help me focus my mind and relieve stress.
I think this workout is absolutely an ab ripping routine. Well, I’m beginning to think that all the Turbo Jam routines work the abs. Hmmm. Maybe that’s why Chalene has hard abs. Come to the party. Are you ready to lose weight, boost your metabolism, burn fat, increase your energy…and have fun doing it?
Turbo Jam: Turbo Sculpt
Do you know what I really love about Beachbody workouts? Each one is different. Variety is the spice of life and what some of us need to stay motivated to keep exercising regularly. I also like the seemingly endless supply of abdominal exercises. I learn new ab moves everytime I try a new workout. Chalene Johnson’s Turbo Sculpt routine exceeded my expectations.
The Turbo Sculpt workout is about 40 minutes long and focuses both on strength training and keeping your heart rate up. I was amazed that I could work up a sweat and get my shoulders burning with only two five pound weights. Chalene tells you that you don’t have to use hand weights, but you can increase the effectiveness and intensity of the workout if you increase the amount of weight you’re using over time.
A lot of the ab work is done standing up with Chalene’s signature moves. She does have a small section at the end of the workout for floor work that focuses on abs, but it is minimal. This is where I picked up a new ab move that works the obliques very effectively. You’re laying on your side and basically doing oblique side crunches like the ones Debbie Siebers does standing up in Slim in 6.
If you are new to strength training with weights, listen to Chalene’s instruction. For example, she does an excellent job talking about keeping the weight of your body on the heels of your feet while in a squat position and how to properly pull back your arms to work your posterior shoulder muscles.
Turbo Sculpt uses light weight with high repetitions which results in toned lean muscles. This is the look that many women seek. You’re not going to bulk up your muscle mass doing this routine, but you will burn fat and rev up your matabolism.
This is definitely a fun workout. I’d recommend it for anyone who new to fitness or who needs to lose weight. I think it would be fun to do this one with my sisters or a friend. You almost forget you’re working out. That seems to be the theme for Turbo Jam – have fun and forget you’re that you’re actually doing something good for yourself by working out.
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
