Melissa,
It sounds like you and I were doing some of the same workouts back in the day! I had a Gin Miller tape too, I think I found her after Kathy Smith. Her workouts were much harder, at least that is my memory now. I loved her Texas accent. She was doing a lot of athletic moves off and on the step that seemed ahead of their time back then. Now those types of moves are more popular but I think she was a pioneer in many ways.I don't know anyone that knows Cathe either, but I don't know anyone who works out at home the way I do. I think a lot of folks I know think that the only real workout you get is at the gym itself, or with a personal trainer. Even my fiance says that and he sees me killing myself in there with Cathe almost daily. It's a weird bias that I think a lot of people have, unfortunately. I always tell him by the time he gets dressed, drives to the gym, gets to the locker room, etc, I'm halfway done with my workout, and his has not even started yet.
Congrats on making it all the way through Cardio Leg Blast with no rests. That workout is very challenging. Hearing you mention it is making me think I should put that on my list for tomorrow...I do like that workout a lot, and I am spent by the end. Maybe I'll tack on a Tonique mat section and really burn up those quads tomorrow. We're going out for dinner again on Saturday, so I'll have to burn some extra calories for that anyway. I plan on getting french fries, and I'm already getting psyched about it. It's been 6 months since I had them last and I've been craving them lately. I hear you about the yoga being tough on your shoulders. That's where I was a little sore today, from all of those downward dog poses I think...or maybe it's those slow yogi push ups (or both). I rarely get sore there, so I thought that was pretty interesting. You're wise to realize that may not be a good match for your tweaky shoulder. I do like these UY workouts, but I am far from being a convert. It's just not clear to me that you can get in and stay in shape doing these. They are definitely challenging, but I can't wrap my mind around exercising for an hour and only burning 250 calories. And my cardio endurance would disappear. They're nice to incorporate here and there, though, and I definitely want to add them in more.
Katie, congrats to your daughter and her trio. I kept meaning to post to thank you for sharing that video of her and her group playing. That was absolutely beautiful. They are quite the virtuoso musicians. I hate to say it, but my nephew, who is studying music in college, is not quite where she is and he's managed to get into music school and has played gigs with some professionals, so I would say she has a bright future if she wants to stick with music. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that they do well at the semi-finals. A cash prize is a lot of icing on the cake. Glad you got some sleep last night, and good for you for not killing yourself on your workouts today. You push yourself really hard and you could probably use a mini-break. That's not really a break, but it's one for you!
Renee, sorry you are not feeling well, that stinks! Laying low will hopefully help you get back on your feet, although not being able to eat stinks. Hopefully you can at least hold down some fruit juice and water so that you're not getting dehydrated. I'll be sending you healing vibes. Maybe your Toniques will arrive just in time for you to feel better. I got the downloads from her website because I did want to wait. They're not chaptered like Cathe's are, but they are fine.
Today I did Tonique disc 1, and it was a good workout. I was determined to get through the first part with no breaks and I accomplished that today. It's not long, but it's high impact for about 10-15 minutes and it gets pretty rough for those last few sets. If you guys are curious about those workouts, here is a link to two clips, one from each disc. The first clip is the workout I did today. I've not done the second disc yet, I'm saving it.
TONIQUE 2 WORKOUT DVD SYLWIA WIESENBERG. I notice I've gotten really accustomed to having breaks in my workouts, which Cathe has used a lot the last few years. This woman does NOT take meaningful breaks and so even excluding them pushes the workout to another level. I burned 600 calories in about an hour (I add a few breaks here and there to get water, she does not even seem to stop for that! She's bananas, but very inspiring). The thing that is interesting to me about these workouts is that they get that kind of burn mostly from squats and lunges. Most of it is low impact, very lower body focused, but they are so challenging for me.
Okay, I've babbled on long enough. Take care!
Eva
