Review: Turbo Jam

Look! It's my first video review!

I started off with Turbo Jam because it's a video series that I already own, I've done a couple of the videos already (two or three years ago), and I remember having fun. I don't remember why I didn't keep going. Probably that laziness factor again.

I remembered that I had Turbo Jam halfway through May, so I was only able to do two full weeks of the routine. The recommended schedule starts out with Learn and Burn a couple times before finishing out the week with the 20 Minute Workout. Because I had done these workouts once or twice before, I was able to skip the Learn and Burn, start directly with the 20 Minute Workout (or Cardio Party on a day that I had a little more time) and finish the week with Cardio Party Mix 1.

The initial workout had my muscles burning, and I was definitely sore the next day. I did the 20 Minute Workout everyday the first week except for one morning when I had a little more time (I did Cardio Party instead). By midweek, I was still sweating, but my muscles were recovering a lot faster. Since my body seemed to take to the workout pretty quickly, I decided to throw in Turbo Sculpt and Ab Jam the following week even though the recommended schedule tosses in Turbo Sculpt a little later. Week two for me consisted of alternating Turbo Sculpt on one day and 20 Minute Workout with Ab Jam the next day (I also had a rest day).

At the end of the two weeks, there isn't too much change in my body (I mean, really, it was only two weeks). There's a little more muscle definition in my arms (probably only visible to the hubs and myself :-P), and my body feels tighter overall. I don't think it LOOKS tighter, but I definitely feel better. I also noticed that my kicks are higher and more controlled than when I started.

THE GOOD

• I really like Chalene. She's bubbly but not over the top, and her attitude really motivates and encourages me. Her personality may not be for everyone, but for me it was just right.
• The pace of the workouts was good. They were just the right amount of challenging at first, and when they started to feel a little too easy, I could just jump more, kick higher, punch harder and the intensity was right back up there.
• The arm work in Turbo Sculpt was killer for me. It honestly made quick work of my lack of muscles.
• I love that everyone gets all sweaty. It makes me feel like they're all getting a good workout, too.
• The music in Turbo Jam may not be everyone's tastes, but I loved the tempo of the jams Chalene chose. They're paced very well and got me to the point where I wasn't thinking about how many kicks and punches I just threw, I just wanted to keep to the beat and choreography. :-) Some of the songs with lyrics seemed perfectly placed to me, too. Just when I'm tired of kicking I hear "I'm gonna knock you out! Mama said knock you out!", and I think "heck ya! I'm gonna knock you out!" Or when I really just want to be done with squats I hear "it feels good, baby", and silly as it sounds, it somehow makes me keep going.
• I loved that the moves were choreographed directly with the music and tempo. Loved it. That might throw some people off, but it was perfect for me.

THE BAD

• The standing ab work is kinda of easy. The floor work is tough, but for some reason, to me, the standing work doesn't compare. I started skipping it and going straight to the floor work.
• Correct form isn't emphasized a lot. She takes you through the Turbo moves in Learn, but you're a bit on your own for Turbo Sculpt. She does try to help you out with form a little, but for some of the moves a different camera angle would have been helpful.
• There isn't a lot of stretching. I'm not sure if it's common to have a very short cool down without much stretching in workout videos, but that's what Turbo Jam is like. The Sculpt has a little more stretching, but it's the only workout that does. I like stretching.
• The Turbo Sculpt is a total body sculpting workout. It's great for getting everything worked out in one go, but it wasn't very evenly distributed. There was a ton of arm work (or did it just seem like it because I'm weak?), a decent amount of leg work, then a teeny little smidgen of chest work.

THE VERDICT

Overall, I loved Turbo Jam. It was fun to workout to. On the days when I really just wanted to hit the snooze button a few more times, I was able to push myself out of bed because I knew I was going to have fun if I did. It got my heart pumping, and I had good energy throughout the rest of the day.

This one definitely makes my list of favorites. I only have the small set (Learn and Burn, 20 Minute workout, Cardio Party Mix 1, Ab Jam, and Turbo Sculpt), so I know there are a bunch more Turbo Jam videos that can be thrown in the mix when I want more. I can definitely see myself doing Turbo Jam long term (if I get more videos) because I enjoy doing it.

Up next...Women's Health: The Wedding Workout.

My Fitness Level

As kind of a disclaimer, I wanted to describe my level of fitness and my personal goals for this workout endeavor.

I am not what I would call "physically fit." I'm not overweight and am actually a pretty small person (I'm only 5'0"), but I have very little muscle mass and generally shy away from any physical activity. I've never had a regular workout regimen save the little stint in college where my friends and I got a little gung-ho about Pilates. That lasted a quarter. When I did try to go to the gym "regularly" it was usually no more than twice a week for no more than a couple months--and all I did was cardio. I'm not the athletic type, but I enjoy dance of almost any kind--jazz, ballroom, hula, hip hop, modern, etc. However, I've never taken the time to join a dance studio or group. All in all, I'm just darn lazy. The hubs does his best to ensure that he gets regular physical activity (basketball, swimming, gym time). I don't.

That said, I know that regular exercise is healthy and can only do positive things for my well-being. That's why my goal for this Workout Video Challenge is not to lose weight or get beach ready or what not. My goal is to find a workout that not only makes me look and feel great, but also makes me WANT to keep pressing play. I want to find a workout (or workouts) that I will enjoy doing over and over, not for my short term physique, but for my long term health.

There are a lot of videos out there that promise to make you look awesome in a certain amount of time (ex. 30 Day Shred or P90x). I'm not trying to find out if their claims are true. I'm sure they're great workouts. What I want to know is, after the 30 or 90 days, would I still want to do this workout? When the 30 days are up and I look great, would I still pop that dvd in because I actually enjoy doing it? If the answer is no, then it probably wont make my favorites list.

I understand that this may cause me to find multiple favorites or need to keep videos on a rotation in order to stay interested. That's fine with me as long as it keeps me going.

Background

Where did the idea for this challenge some from?

Honestly, I'm not much of a gym goin' person. We have a pretty well stocked gym in our complex, but I don't like to go because...I get bored. That's also one of the reasons I don't like running. It's just not fun for me. I'll do it for a cause, but I wont do it for my own enjoyment. Lame as it sounds, I have a hard time motivating myself to get up and do an activity that I just don't find all that enjoyable, even if I know it's good for me.

I have the same problem with workout videos. If the video doesn't stimulate me and actually get me excited to work out, I'm very unlikely to stick with it.

As a result, I've gone through multiple gym phases, classes, a few marathon/half-marathons, and even a few workout videos without finding something that keeps me wanting to come back. I have, however, based on the workouts that have failed to excite me, figured out what workout characteristics are most likely to keep me motivated.

That's when I thought of this project. Since I have a good idea of what I like, I wanted to find the best combination of motivation and results for my personal needs. In my quest, I'm likely to find many workouts that wouldn't work for me but may be perfect for others, so I'm hoping that others will benefit from my crazy, research-obsessed-ness, too.

The Challenge

I guess beach/pool season must be around the corner because everyone and their mama's mama has been getting back into the workout game. I jumped on the bandwagon last week because, really, everyone around me started working out, and I felt like a lazy bum in comparison. I'm all sore now, but it feels so good. :-)

Then a friend mentioned that she just bought 30Day Shred. I had never heard of it, so I went online again...and suddenly I was pulled into another one of my obsessed researching kicks. I wanted to try so many different workouts...

So I decided to take on a little challenge...

I'm going to try out and review workout videos! Right now my goal is to try out one video a month for a year.

I have a few videos in mind to try out, but I'm open to suggestions. And just to show you how serious I am, I started a new blog.

Oh ya, baby. This is for real.