Round 4: Day 75: Bun Shaper

The only negative about this workout is the name, which sounds more like it should be released by a woman trainer than a man. Tony never uses this title during the workout; he titles it Bun Blaster, or something like that. His workout sheet has a title and a handwritten title extension beside it, but neither of them is Bun Shaper. While I'm not crazy about the title, I am big on the workout.

I don't know if I mentioned this already (perhaps I should read what I've previously written), but this workout consists of a series of 9 moves, repeated twice. The first round moves slowly, due to instructions and Tony taking his time to demonstrate proper form; the second round moves quickly, due to time constraints and Tony's assumption that once proper form has been demonstrated, the second round can move faster. This is, in my opinion, a successful approach. I like Tony's comments about form, because they help me understand the intent of the exercise and will make each exercise more focussed and (hopefully) successful. It's also one of the rare DVDs where more time is spent discussing proper form and the reason for it. It's really like Tony is there to train you. I also like the speedier second half because while the slower pace of the first round isn't enough to exhaust you, the speed of the second round is going to make you sweat. That's what makes this workout worthwhile.

Kicks are not really my thing. I have a tightness in my hip flexors which, while improved through persistent yoga and stretching, doesn't allow me to really extend my legs high into the air while doing side kicks. Realizing that this is a personal weakness is half the answer to my problem; actually getting my legs higher is the other half. I've been doing deep lunges during the warmup to loosen up my hips, which is helpful; I've also been focussing on a target for each kick, which is also helpful. Thirdly, I've been focussing on really leaning over, and sliding my heel in the direction of my kick, keeping my eyes on my target. While my leg is up, I'm noticing a slight pull on the hamstring of the stationary leg. Memo to self: make sure to stretch out your hamstrings before leg kicks. Slowly, I'm seeing some improvement.

I'm glad this is part of my workout routine. It helps to break up the sequence of workouts in order to keep things interesting. Keeping things interesting is a key ingredient to fitness success. I bet more people get off their routines for no other reason than they're bored. Variety is the spice of life and helps to maintain muscle confusion. Keep your body guessing, keep mixing it up, keep at it, and change will come.