LIIFT 4 for the third time!

 Hi everyone! Today I started LIIFT4 for the third time, and I feel like I've done this program enough to go in depth and talk about it! Yesss!

LIIFT4 is a bit different from any kind of workout program I've done before. You can find it on Beachbody On Demand and it's created by Joel Freeman. (I also want to say that I am NOT a Beachbody coach. I just did the workout and enjoyed it and never used a coach myself.) It's eight weeks total, and it starts out with six build weeks and the last two weeks are shred weeks. You work out for four days a week, hence LIIFT4. You have three rest days a week. I love that you never, ever do the same workout twice throughout the program. There is no way you're going to get bored with it. I also love that it focuses on lifting heavy! Jillian workouts are great, but there is only one program that I know of where lifting is the focus, and that's Lift and Shred. I also love, love, love that this workout ends with a core workout. That's something I really missed in Lift and Shred. It also has focused/targeted workouts, like shoulder days, chest and triceps, legs, and back and biceps rather than a full body or front of the body one day, back of the body another day. I also love that there are stretching workouts included that go beyond the normal cooldown. I'm telling you, throughout this workout I was always sore, which is something that didn't happen with other workouts. I felt like my body got sooo used to doing the same things all the time. I feel like LIIFT4 is built to be able to do again and again and just add heavier weights. 

In LIIFT4, there are three blocks. And in each block, you do three sets. After you do your three sets, you write down the weight you're using and do the next one three times. Write down your weights and repeat. Depending on what type of workout is up for that day, you either go right to the core component to finish for the day, or you do a burnout round. 

On the subject of types, there are four different types of workouts. 

LIIFT 50/50 - You do all your lifting for the first half of the workout, and then the second half you do a HIIT style workout with lots of cardio. 

LIIFT Circuit - This reminds me a lot of Jillian where each set finishes with a quick cardio interval. So you do two lifting moves (say shoulder presses and lateral raises, and then you do a cardio interval). You do that three times, and then your next block is two moves and a cardio interval. 

Straight Lift - No HIIT! Yessss! It's all lifting and I'm telling you right now that you may think that no cardio means an easy workout but oh my goodness, it's not!

Straight HIIT - just what it sounds like. All cardio. No need to drag out your weights because you don't need them. I thought that I'd love this since I'm definitely more of a cardio girl but it's HARD. 

Your straight cardio is always on leg days, except for the shred weeks where it is a full body HIIT. But we'll talk about that more when we get there. 

And so that's LIIFT4 on paper. Are you ready? My plan is at the end of every week to give a rundown of the four workouts you do that week. I hope that helps me get back in the swing of blogging more often! 

I completed LIIFT4!

 Hi everyone! I completed LIIFT4 a week and a half ago and immediately started a new round. Starting L4 was so intimidating, but I'm so glad I gave it a chance. I'm on Week 2 since restarting and feeling super strong. 

If you're looking for a strength based workout but don't know where to start, I highly recommend LIIFT4! 

Soon I will talk about each workout one by one. Keep an eye out! For now, stay safe out there! <3 

Two weeks into LIIFT4!

Two weeks down, six more to go! 

I'm really enjoying LIIFT4 so far. I love the change from Jillian to Joel. LIIFT4 is challenging, too, and when I finish a workout, I am SPENT. I'm working muscles that I didn't know existed, which blows me away, to be honest. I've been doing these types of workouts for several years and I thought I was hitting everything. Nope!

One thing that I really like about LIIFT4 is that you never do the same workout twice. At first, when I was reading through and looking at the calendar, I saw the same title a few times and figured that you got about 5-6 workouts, and you repeated them once a week. Nope. You never do the same workout twice. Cool! So that gives me a wide variety to go back to and play around with in the future. That's cool, and I REALLY like that. So that gives me, what, around 30+ different workouts? Four different workouts for eight weeks? I'm pleased with that!

I also really like the schedule. You're working out four days a week with LIIFT4 - workout 1, workout 2, rest day, W03, WO4, and two rest days. So for me it's Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday I do Country Heat (or have been) and then Thursday and Friday. Saturday is my scheduled rest day, and on Sunday I ride my spin bike. Lately I've also been spending Sunday mornings at the lake on my paddle board. 

I gained around 5lbs at the beach, and I've been working on taking that off. I feel like I have, but the scale fluctuates and I've never been good about using the measuring tape. Ha. But clothes are starting to fit me better and I feel good. I feel like I'm getting myself back to where I was before the fire and that makes me happy. Last year, I really wasn't feeling my new paddleboard, but this year, I've made sure to work on core strength and I've dropped 20lbs from last summer, and I really like the new paddleboard. That is awesome, too! Crazy what dropping even 20lbs and working your core and adding in yoga can do for you. :) 

LIIFT4 by Beach Body

I did workout one today! I definitely wasn't sure what to do. I figured that I would do Jillian Michaels' Body Shred, but I had a weird feeling about it. I didn't see fantastic results from Body Shred. Granted, the first time I did it was in the hotel, but when I did it when I got home, I wasn't pleased. I loved doing Lift & Shred though, and I wanted to continue the lifting.

So I took the plunge and started LIIFT4 today! I've give a more detailed post about it down the road, but here is my initial reactions.

1. I LOVE IT. It's a little longer than the Jillian workouts I've been doing. Some of this is because Joel Freeman (the LIIFT4 creator) implements 30 second breaks, and 60 second breaks here and there. To be honest, that's one thing I don't like about Beach Body (that, and the trainers can seem really chatty) but I really liked the little breaks.
2. I love the preview of the moves. I don't have to watch this workout before doing it. If there is a move and I'm not sure what it is, I can demonstate it rather than stare at my TV screen for a few seconds and then jump in.
3. Wow, these 35 minutes WENT SO FAST.
4. I stink at tricep pushups.
5. I love the core implement. That's one thing I really felt like I was missing in Lift and Shred, and that's why I implemented the 10 Minute Meltdown workouts.

I'm glad I took the plunge so far!

An update on Operation: Floral

So in my last general blog post, I talked about being back on the fitness bandwagon and how I was so excited about upcoming events that were keeping me motivated. Such as my trip to the beach, the Alanis Morissette concert, my uncle and his long time girlfriend getting married. That was at the end of February and at that time, I had no idea that the coronavirus, or COVID19, was going to derail almost ALL OF THAT.

Noooo! The first corona casualty was my aunt and uncle postponing their wedding. I was so bummed. By mid-April, I was really starting to get concerned about my trip to Virginia Beach and thinking it wasn't going to happen. In Mid-May I learned that the Alanis concert was postponed. Oh man. What a crappy Spring and Summer this was turning out to be!

Despite all that, I'm proud to say that I managed to say motivated enough to continue with my workouts. That was a great feeling, honestly. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but I continued to work out and eat healthily, just like I did before the fire. It was like I found a bit of myself that I had lost along the way. And not only that, but I was noticing positive changed both with the scale AND in my body. Finally! So even if I wasn't going to the beach, or wearing one of my favorite dresses, or attending a bucket list concert, I still had a reason for doing it. It wasn't for nothing and it added to the motivation.

Luckily, we did manage to go to the beach. I've been back home for a couple days now and I though I'd give a visual update not only on Operation: Floral, but on whether or not I wore a two piece swim suit on the beach.

I'm not at my lowest weight, and I still would like to lose around 25-30lbs to lose before I feel like I can be "done" or maintaining, but I'm happy with what I've managed so far.

Not sure what my workouts will be. I'm totally sick of Lift and Shred and the 10 Minute Meltdown Pilates, Hard Core and kickboxing workouts. I'm tossing up LIIFT4, Body Shred, or Body Revolution in my mind. We'll see where we go. Hopefully the results continue to happen. While on my trip to the beach, I ate like crap (manicotti, a cheese burger, a TON of fries, lots of ice cream, haha) and I put on about 5lbs. I thought that I'd get a ton of steps in, but honestly, I found myself marching in place most of the time to get to 10k steps. But we're starting anew, and this time I know I can do it. I had a great week of rest and fun. I'm ready to kill this, bring it back to life, and kill it again. :D

How's everyone faring during the pandemic?

Lift and Shred: Level 2

Lift and Shred: Level 2

It's time for a review of Level 2! It's definitely more advanced than Level 1, but not toooo much of a stretch. I do it on Wednesdays only one day a week and I do Level 1 on Monday and Friday. I've contemplated switching Level 2 to Monday and Friday, and Level 1 to Wednesday's, but we'll see. Anyway, it's time to break it out!

This workout has two people - Kenta and Maddie. (Kenta and Rocky were in Level 1) I think I forgot to mention that in Level 1, Kenta didn't get the right amount of weights, and that becomes a running joke throughout the two levels, which I love. You get a few laughs during the workout which is great to try and distract you from the fact that you're dying! haha. 

You start with a warmup, that consists of butt kicks, lunges with a psoas stretch, arm circles, wrist circles, and twisting side to side jumps. Circuit one starts on the floor with one hand on a dumbbells, rolling it in and rolling it out to do a pushup, and then a tricep pushup. Then you lay on your back and do a closed grip chest press. Next is side plank rows, and the finally a Turkish sit up, holding one dumbbell. You repeat on the other side, and then it's on to Circuit 2. Beware - I think it's my least fav!

In circuit two, you do Russian twists, burpee rows, a sumo squat and a high and wide pull, and then a deadlift into a lunge. You repeat on the other side. Yep - pretty sure this is my least favorite. 

In Circuit 3, you do bent leg deadlift jumps. Next she has you do good mornings. She tells you to cross the dumbbells over your chest, but I put them over my shoulders like I'm used to doing. Rear delt flys come next, and finally, my favorite move is lateral skater with a dumbbell pass. And then repeat on the other side! 

Finally, we're at Circuit 4! It starts with a side lungs into an overhead press, which I like. And then you're doing snatches. It's like a bent knee deadlift where you snatch the weights over your head. Then you do a split jerk, where you jump into a lunge position while sending the dumbbells over your head. Then finally is a goblet duck walk, which you're holding the dumbbell in goblet position, and you squat walk/duck walk for four steps. You walk back holding the dumbbell in one hand. You repeat on the other side and you're done! 

You've earned your cool down! 

Lift and Shred: Level 1

Lift and Shred: Level 1

I’ve been doing Lift and Shred since the beginning of the year, and it’s about time that I let everyone know how I feel about it! Here is a rundown of Level 1. 

First of all, this is Jillian’s ONLY DVD or workout program (that I know of, unless there is one on her app) that is purely strength training and no cardio. I love that, because I run five days a week. I don’t mind the cardio intervals that are in a lot of Jillian DVDs, but only when there is a few minutes total. I love Jillian’s longer programs like Body Rev or Body Shred, but don’t like a dedicated cardio day. Then it is a double cardio day and gah - just doesn’t seem to always work for me. 

You start with a warmup that includes jump rope, knee thrusts into crescent kicks, plank into downward dog, and behind the back jumping jacks. Then you jump right into lifting heavy for Circuit 1. I started L&S using 10, 12, and 15lb dumbbells, but now I’ve migrated to using only the 12s and the 15s. The first move you do is a basic squat, followed by alternating reverse lunges, high and wide rows, and then finishing out with a shoulder press. You do it again to finish out that circuit. 

Circuit 2 has you doing alternating side lunges, stiff leg deadlifts, bicep curls, and goblet squats, which you repeat for a second time. Out of all of them, this is probably my favorite circuit. I use 15lb dumbbells the whole time. 

Circuit 3 has you doing a kettlebell swing with a dumbbells, low rows, a hammer curl with a bent arm fly, and then tricep extensions. So on the hammer curl, Jillian tells you to go heavier with your weights, but since your shoulders are a smaller muscle group, do you fly with a bent arm instead of your arms fully extended. For me, the bent arm felt funky. I always felt like I was going to pull something or do it incorrectly. So I just did hammer curls and then flies like normal. I’ve bumped up to 12lbs for this. I’m finding the flies really challenging with the heavier weight, but it just felt much more natural to me.

Okay, I may be wrong about Circuit 2. Circuit 4 may be my favorite. That’s because you finish out on the floor. Phew. Jilllian has you get into bridge and do a lat pull in bridge pose. With your back down on the mat, you’re doing chest press into chest flies. Then you’re doing a weighted crunch. And finally, there is a pure evil move called around the world. You get back into bridge, and raise the dumbbells over your head, and you circle your arms down to your hips, almost as if you’re making a snow angel. Holding onto heavy weights, of course. But best of all with circuit four, you repeat it once and you’re ready for your cooldown! Yes!

There is a running joke in this DVD that Kenta didn’t get the right weights which is amusing. And Jillian’s ribbing of him grabbing the wrong weights gives you a much needed break on occasion! Haha. 

All in all, L&S Level 1 is probably up in my top favorite workouts! I love it!