Saundra

March 2019 Monthly Rotation Well my schedule has stabilize somewhat, so I am hoping to be able to complete a full monthly rotation this month. Breakdown Sunday - Treadmill Monday - Cathe Lower Body Tuesday - Cathe Upper Body Wednesday - Treadmill Thursday - Cathe Total/Metabolic Body Friday - Ilaria Kickboxing Saturday - Essentrics Aging Backwards

Atletica 3 clocks in at 48 minutes.  It consist of a warm up, three rounds of ten exercises and a stretch. Ilaria describes Atletica as a fitness program that trains the whole body with high intensity exercises. In Atletica 3, you are doing an up (or standing base) exercise and a down (floor base) exercise. In round 1, you are alternating up and down exercises for 1 minute each.  In round 2, you are doing the up exercise for 2 minutes and the down exercise for 1 minute. In round 3, you are doing the 5 up exercises back to back and then you do the 5 down exercises in a row. So expect lots of reps or as many as you can do in the 1 to 2 minutes given per exercise.  And for the most part you are doing all the exercises back to back; with only a real break coming between each round. Most of the exercises use a pair of dumbbells. The DVD menu offers the following options: Play All Introduction Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 credits I didn't like this workout as mu...

Atlectica Vol 4 Body Weight Training.  This workout is 30 minutes in length and includes the following components: Core Work in the form of planks, sit ups, crunches, and oblique work Shoulder and chest in the form of planks and variety of push ups Lot of Burpees.  For the burpees you are doing a total of 5 minutes worth of burpees There are three rounds of burpees.  The first round is 1 minute in length.  The second round is 2 minutes of sumo burpees.  The third round is another 2 minutes but this time you are doing one legged burpees. I didn't find the workout too difficult.  It was doable.  This workout is really similar to an older Ilaria workout called Abs & Pushups Plus. Along with Ilaria there are 4 other cast members.  From time to time, Ilaria would demonstrate a modification but there is not a designated modifier.  This is not a workout that I would readily grab again but with that said, it was okay. 3...

 Ilaria's Atletica Volume 2 is approximately 45 minutes in length. It consist of doing two rounds of total body (compound) exercises.  There are lots of repetition in this workout.  For example, the first non-warm up exercise you are doing for two minutes straight.  The exercise that follows that, you do for six sets of 8 reps. Because the moves are compound in nature working both the lower and upper body, expect there to be a cardio effect with some exercises. Essentially you are doing the same exercises from round 1 to round 2.  Ilaria slightly alters the exercises in the second round. When I first started out, I thought it was going to be really hard. But after round 1, I was like yeah bring on round 2.  If you want a shorter workout you could just skip round 2 and move to the snatches and core segments. The DVD menu offers the following options: Play All introduction round 1 round 2 snatches abs credits I thought the workout was goo...

February 2014 Monthly Rotation This month I will be doing Les Mills Body Combat, Combat, and Pump workouts. I also have Ilaria's Atletica workouts as well as Discount Workouts  Advanced Strength Training DVDs scheduled. This rotations is similar to last months.  Last month it was 4 cardio and 2 strength a week.  Plus I tagged on some Yoga.  This month it is 3 cardio, 2 strength, and 1 cardio/sculpt a week.  I will also be tagging on some yoga.  The yoga I have schedule for this month are the Jennifer Kries Vinyasa Yoga workouts and the Les Mills Pump Flow workout.

Bodystrikes 3 is primarily a lower body workout that is 56 minutes in length.  I really like the soundtrack Ilaria uses for this workout - easy tunes to workout too. This workout is slightly longer than the other Bodystrike workouts and I wish this one was the same length too.  I like the under 50 minute format. The DVD menu breaks down as follows: Play All Intro Warm up and technique exercise 1 exercise 2 exercise 3 exercise 4 final exercise credits After the warm up (includes 3 minutes of jingas) and technique section (the technique section takes your through all the kicks), you move into the exercise combos. Exercise 1 - Alt three front push, side kick, squat front push, front push hold Exercise 2 - six out in squats, alt single roundhouse, alt double roundhouse squat roundhouse Exercise 3 - Crescent out, crescent in, two diagonal jump squats,  Front snap, corner snap, front snap, leg circle out, Exercise 4 - Burpee into side plank right, side plank...

Powerstrike 7 is approximately 57 minutes in length and like other Powerstrike workouts it is characterized by lots of reps. It starts with a warm up and the warm up features Ilaria's trademark push ups to warm up the upper body.  You then move into a series of punches, next comes kicks and then combos leading left followed by combos leading right. And then the workout pretty much ends. Not much of a cool down. The punches start off with a double jab, slit, fast punch. Ilaria layers on  a hook, cross, upper-cut, cross, fast punches.  These punches are done on both the right and left lead. When I say there are lots of reps. I am not exaggerating. For instance, once series of kicks you are doing 100 on the left  and then 100 on the right. And Ilaria hits all the kicks - front push, snap, side kick, back kick, round house and crescent in and out.  At the conclusion of the kick section you are about 30 minutes into the workout. Then the real fun starts w...

Well, if you can't tell, I am pretty much ignoring my December Rotation. I decided to plug in some workouts that I have never done or haven't reviewed. One such work is Ilaria Montagnani Abs & Pushups Plus . I have had this workout forever. Probably since it was release. I am not a big push ups fan and I have enough other workouts that work the abdominals. Because of the pushups this workout had a real dread factor for me, but it wasn't that bad. I did most, actually all the push ups on my knees. The only part of the push ups section I did on my toes were the Plank type exercises. Ilaria starts the workout with Plank variations. So I really consider this workout an add on because you really do just hop into the workout. The workout alternates push up sets with ab sets. In the push ups sets, you are doing about 3 sets of pushups and Ilaria gives you a rest and brief stretch between the push ups sets. Whereas during the ab sets, you are going form exercise to exe...

Bodystrikes 2 is a 48 minute lower body emphasis workout. It starts off with a warm up that includes (and I am not kidding) about 3 minutes of alternating dips. Can you say ouch? Can you say enough? The warm up also includes a review of the kicks that you are using throughout the workout. After the warm up, comes the combos. There are four combos total. Ilaria teaches you combo 1 on the right, then the left. She then combines the two, and moves on to teach you combo 2. After you learn combo 2 (using the same pattern as combo 1), you go back to combo 1 and layer it with combo 2. She does the same for combos 3 and combos 4. Each time after learning a combo, you go back to the beginning and run through all of what you have learned. So by the end you are doing all 4 combos back to back. Combo Breakdown combo 1 - front snap, diagonal snap, round house, squat, three front pushes into back push. combo 2 - squat, squat with knee raise, squat with front kick, dip, front kick combo 3...

Atletica is a 50 plus minute toning and sculpting workout that uses compound movement for almost all of the exercises. One of the things that Ilaria does throughout her workouts is she introduces them with real meaningful content. Atletica has an introduction and in the introduction Ilaria shows you some of the moves you will be doing throughout the workout. The workout is divided into roughly 4 series. Within each series, you go through all the exercises twice with the exception of the push up set. Mostly you do the exercises on the right, do them on the left and then go back and repeat the exercises on the right and the left. Then you move on to the next group of exercises. Ilaria keeps the workout moving. You may get a short very brief break before a new series start but usually within the series you are moving from one exercise to the next without a break. Each exercise last for about "a minute plus" which translates I guess to between 60 and 85 seconds. My beef (or ...

2010 is flying by. I have one more workout schedule for this month (Kelly Coffey Meyer's Circuit Burn) which I will do tomorrow. Then, I will be off to Denver for the weekend. I built November's rotation around Turbo Fire and Cathe newest four workouts. Now, I know I am going out on a limb to schedule the Cathe workouts in before I have them. In fact, I moved the workouts as close down towards the end of the month as I could. Hopefully this delay won't be long and I will get the workouts in as scheduled. I am also having to work around having family come in for the holidays. So the break down is: Sunday: Cathe Interval Training. It has been ages since I have done any of the IMAX workouts. Monday : New sculpting workouts. Every workout listed for Monday will be my first time doing that workout. I have had Kettlebell Boot Camp for quite sometime and I am just now getting it in, but that is mostly because I am not a huge Kettlebell fan. Tuesday : Turbo Fire Fire workouts. Thi...

Ilaria's Powerstrike 5 is approximately 48 minutes in length. It is a kickboxing karate style workout that follows the same pattern as Ilaria's other Powerstrike workouts. You work a series of punches and kicks. This is followed by a series of combinations that combines the kicks and the punches into a mini routine. There are three routines in this workout. What I like about this workout is that normally Ilaria (like most instructors) teach you the routine on one side and then repeats the routine on the other side. In this workout, Ilaria teaches a routine on one side but completely changes the sequence on the other side. However, you end up doing the same amount of kicks and punches on both sides. I think this approach really adds variety to a routine. Lots and lots and lots of reps. I was definitely fatiguing in the hip flexor area and the shoulder area. I have really grown to like the Powerstrike workouts a lot. I like the karate elements that are included. Ilaria...

Powerstrike 6 is approximately a 50 minute kickboxing karate infuse workout. The only thing that irritated me about this workout and most Ilaria workouts - are the camera angles. In the case of Powerstrike 6, there were camera angles that only showed the face and only showed the feet. Come on!!! Other than that - loved the workout. Yes there were push ups in the warm up but I have just come to expect that from Ilaria and I just get down and do them. Ilaria always does a good job of choosing music for her workouts. In PS6 the music match perfectly and every move occurs in time with the beat. So the workout really flows. Something else you just come to expect from an Ilaria workout is lots of repetition. I think I am building up my endurance because for the most part I was able to keep up with most of the reps and you are doing a lot of reps - upwards to about 32 per punch and per kick. So after the introduction (where Ilaria goes over the punches and the kicks), you start wi...

Powerstrike 4 is a 57 minute kickboxing workout that adds karate type elements to the kickboxing moves. Ilaria takes time to introduce you to her workout by going over what to expect and the type of moves (punches and kicks) you will be doing. This isn't really part of the workout and you can easily fast forward through it. I mention it because I think it is very informative and reminds you about form and instructs you on how to perform the elements she will be doing in the workout. The workout starts with a warm up that includes push ups. I actually did the push ups this time. She then moves into left-side drills - or you can call it practice if you want to - of the various punches and kicks. This section requires a lot of endurance because there are a lot of reps. I didn't count them but we are easily doing anywhere from 16 to 32 reps per punch/kick. After the warm up, Ilaria teaches routine one and routine two on the right side. Then we go back to drills on the right side ...

Powerstrike 3 Millennium is approximately 56 minutes in length and features Ilaria Montagnani and Patricia Moreno as leads. Now I have workouts by both Ilaria and Patricia and I like them very much as exercise instructors. They are both very informative and precise instructors. They teach. Here in this workout, they are both very good except when they try to spar with each other. They turn and face each other to execute the moves and that just throws off the rhythm of the moves. Other than that I thought they were both excellent; and I like this workout very much. I love the music. It has lots of energy. Their style of kickboxing is about execution and through proper execution you get a good workout. My calorie burn for this workout was high; in fact it was higher than the circuit workout I did yesterday. There is lots of repetition - so expect that. Now what I didn't like about the workout - and really this is the majority of workouts with Ilaria and that is she puts push ups in ...

This is my second time doing this workout. The first time I did BodyStrikes was about 8 maybe 9 months ago. I remember really liking this workout the first time I did it and the second time doing it was no different. Once you get pass the warmup and the hundred or so (I am exaggerating) dip lunges that Ilaria has you do the workout becomes super fun. There were a lot of dip lunges in the beginning. Ilaria teaches your four combinations that are kickbox based. As you progress through each combination, you go back and combine the combinations that you learned before. So after you learn combination 2, your are doing combos 1 and 2, after you learn combination 3, you are doing combos 1,2, & 3 and the same for four. Combinations are done on the right side and then the left. Within the combinations, you will find your self doing squats, lunges, front kicks, side kicks, hip flexor and knee lifts. These moves are very fluid and move somewhat quickly. By the end of the workout, you have hit...