Several years ago I bought the "Slim in 6" work out series by Beach Body. It promises a beach ready body in just 6 weeks. Sometimes, I wish that merely making the purchase was enough to see the physical transformation.
The dvd came with three work outs, "Start It Up", "Ramp It Up", and then "Burn It Up". The package included a nice big chart to track your progress. It indicates that you should use the "Start It Up" video for the first three work outs before moving on to the more intense "Ramp It Up" work out. After a couple of weeks you finish off the series with "Burn It Up".
My problem was that I could never make it past the "Start It Up" phase. Several times, I would start my 'six weeks' all gung-ho. I did the "Start It Up" work out as directed by the chart. Then, as directed, I would move onto the "Ramp It Up" workout. I was always a little leery about the warning something like, "It is recommended that you master the Start It Up work out before moving on to the Ramp It Up workout."
I pondered at the definition of "master". Does master mean that I don't pass out before the end of the work out? Does it mean that I don't fall over when I do the squats? Does it mean that I should follow the instructions on the chart, and only do it three times?"
"The chart says three times," I would tell myself. And then I died. Well, not literally of course, but I wanted too, after trying the "Ramp It Up" workout. I never have made it all the way through that workout. It was very discouraging. So I would give up.
It has never made much sense to my why I do such things. Why didn't I just continue on with the "Start It Up" workout for another week or two. I would tell myself, "But the chart says to move on, If I keep doing the 'weenie' video, I'll never make it to "Ramp It Up" before my six weeks is up!"
I'm an engineer for crying out loud, you would think that I could see through my own illogical rantings. I should have been telling myself, "If you quit, you'll never make it through the 'weenie' video, ever!" That's the truth!
Yesterday, I chose to do the "Start It Up" video for my 30 minutes of exercise. I did pretty good, I didn't do all the squats or push-ups, but I completed the video. It felt good. It kinda made me want to jump back on the "Slim in 6" wagon. I was ready to pull out the old chart again. But I didn't. I'm taking it slow. Maybe I'll do the video again tonight, but probably not. I've got others in my collection. If the fog outside clears, I might just go for another walk.
Slim in 6
What I like
On screen clock shows you how much time is left in your work out. I like to watch it and say, "I can do this for another 10 minutes" or "Yay! I'm half way through!"
What I don't like
There isn't really a warm up and cool down/stretching session as part of the work out videos. There is a separate "Slim & Limber" work out which is 15 minutes of stretching. That just seems like extra effort. I want it all at once, included in the work out. It's a weird mental thing.
1 comment:
Hi. I'm on Burn It Up! of Slim in 6. The first video just gets you familiar with the moves and increases your endurance. The real workouts start with Ramp It Up. As for the chart, it's just a guide. Go at your own pace. That word "master" is misleading. When you feel comfortable with Start It Up then it's time to move up. It doesn't matter if that takes 3 days or 3 weeks. It takes a while to get used to exercising every day. Don't worry about doing every move perfectly. Just keep moving and trying. It gets easier. Then it's time to challenge yourself and move up again. I still don't do everything "right". I do what is comfortable for me. I suppose what I'm trying to say is don't give up. If you stick with it, you'll be glad you did. Results aren't instant. I didn't start getting big results until this week. But, wow! I've lost 2.5 pounds this week so far after just 4 Ramp It Up sessions.
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