Denise writes:
Overall, the whole week was great. The descriptions with pictures were good.........there's really only one exercise that I'm not sure I'm doing right (the waiter's bow....how would I know if I was doing it correctly? How is it supposed to feel? After doing day 1 twice, I'm still not sure how it's supposed to feel) Other than that, everything else was clear.
Day 1 is probably the easiest day for me. I even did 3 reps instead of 2 this week because I just felt like I could. So either my muscles are starting to remember that I used to be strong, or I'm seeing results after one week already.
Day 2 I felt the best after. I like doing the 6 exercises without a rest, it really gets your heart pumping and works up a sweat. It's my favourite day.
I found day 3 and 4 the most challenging. I think that my stability ball might be the wrong size for me (how do you know what size is good? Does it go by height?) so maybe that's why I feel like this is harder. But even though I find these days the hardest, it feels like a real accomplishment when I finish.
I hope your kids are feeling better today.
ONE MORE THING
I forgot to say this in my last email, but I thought you would find it funny. Last week I couldn't find my step that I have to use for the steps ups in day 2 so I used what was handy.....Leah's potty! She has a potty that has a lid that flips down to make a stool for her to stand on. Only a mom would understand!
Wow Denise, great questions/comments. This is a mother with 2 young children at home who is taking action, with what ever she finds around the house. Keep it up.
The Waiters Bow- this is a traditional Romanian Deadlift exercise, the name has been momified as many people are not familiar with barbell training terms. Description of exercise- bend at your knees slightly and hinge forward at your hip joint while bracing your abdominals. You want to think of pushing your butt back as you bend forward until you feel a small stretch in your hamstrings (back of legs). Keep you collar bone high and do not round your upper back, slightly squeeze your shoulder blades together to prevent this. You should only have to bend to about 90 degrees to get a stretch in you hamstrings, remember to push back through your heels and into your buttocks this will help. When you feel the stretch extend at your hip joint fully, squeeze your buttocks at the top of the motion to ensure full hip extension.(rising out of your lift to standing)
The Waiters Bow exercise- you should feel a small stretch in your hamstrings. It is a strengthening exercise mainly for your hamstrings, then gluts and entire posterior chain. This motion is key for many mom fat burning exercises such as the front chop, weighted deadlift, 1 legged reach. Please master this motion.
Denise as for your comment on muscle memory or results, this early in the game it is most likely muscle memory. You will feel results after about 2 weeks, and see results after about 6-8 weeks. You may go through a period of adjustment after about 6-10 weeks somewhere in there when you feel tired, this is normal and persevere. If it lasts more than 1 week you may just be exhausted, but you should snap out of it as your body is changing.
Day 2 was Denise's favourite and I will tell you why. This is a circuit day that gets your heart pumping. Women are built for cardio success, we have the ability to adapt to cardiovascular training quicker than men do because we do not have as much muscle tissue to pump blood to, also most women have probably done a tonne of cardio work before as well. You are always drawn to what you are most successful at. Onto the next point, Day 3 and 4 were difficult. One of these days is a stability day and moms abdominals have been compromised during pregnancy- time to get them back into shape with some hard work. The other one of these days is a strength day, women have to work extremely hard to build lean muscle tissue and are most likely not used to this type of training. Key points here- you need to do what you are not successful at. If you only have 3 days to commit to working out, pick the 3 hardest days for you personally from the program, don't just do your favourites.
Stability ball size. The majority of women are between 5"2-5"6 so you can use a 55cm ball, There is a guide on the side of the box. I use a 65cm ball as I am 5"8 and mostly legs. A great test is sit on your ball and your hip and knee joints should bend 90 degrees each. This being said the exercises in this program are not specific for any size ball, you can get away with using the standard 55 or 65 cm ball for these exercises. Inflation will obviously make the ball bigger and they can take a lot. If the ball is slightly deflated some on the exercises will be more challenging as this will provide more resistance.
I hope this response has helped Denise and any other mothers with questions.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline
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