Friday, July 8, 2011

The Shawna Workouts

Time for an update on my progress with Shawna Kaminski's 21 Day Rapid Fat Loss program. If you haven't seen my previous posts about this, read here and here.

Let me tell you about the workouts . . . they are killer! I mean, I have been working out at the gym in my own little way for the past six years, so I didn't expect these workouts to be too hard for me. Wrong!


The thing is they are a completely different kind of workout. The focus is on doing short bursts of high intensity work, mostly using your own body weight. Shawna runs a boot camp in Canada and, let me tell you, she really knows how to run you through your paces. When you finish one of her workouts you are drenched in sweat and feeling those muscles.

Sometimes I ask myself why I keep doing it.

Me, who would much rather be reading a book "in santa pace" as they say in Italian (which means "in sainted peace"). I'm not doing it because I'm out of shape, but because I can feel these workouts are getting me into better shape.

And because they're addictive. I can. not. stop. In this program you have a workout to do each day. Three days a week you follow along with a video with Shawna (I feel so on a first name basis with her, what with her being in my living-room with me, sweating it out with me every day). She does the workout and you follow her . . . or try to follow her anyway.

On the other days, you follow a routine that's explained in a written document with pictures. The first time I did one of those workouts I was afraid I would feel all alone with no Shawna encouraging me from the video screen. How would I get motivated? But, there she was, her voice anyway, on the music tracks that accompany these workouts, calling out how many sets I had done, letting me know when I was halfway there. Awesome.

What about results? Well, I'm feeling them. Only the "after" pictures and body measurements will tell the objective truth, but I am definitely feeling the results of this program.

1. My weakest body part (my shoulders) is getting stronger. At first I could barely do a handful of modified pushups . . . now I can do about two handfuls! They are still modified, but I am doing more of them.


2. My abs are becoming visible. Wow! My tummy is getting flatter and I'm beginning to notice muscle definition down there. That really tickles me.

Not quite . . . but I can dream!
3. My energy levels are much higher. Now this was totally unexpected and I am loving it. I am getting so much stuff done around the house. Unfortunately, I work a lot on the computer and these days I have to force myself to sit down and get busy. The thought of sitting down without moving kind of irritates me . . . very surprising for this avowed couch potato!

Dust bunnies beware!
A lot of the change I am experiencing is also related to the diet plan that comes with the workouts. Stay tuned for more about that another day.

4 comments:

Gaspegirl said...

Sounds great! Isn't it great when we find a coach, virtual or otherwise, that drives us to continue!?! I find that in Tony Horton with P90x.

Keep up the great work!

make it a great day!

LindyLouMac said...

Um! I think I will stick to walking and my Wii exercise programmes.

Francesca said...

Sounds like the right workout for me ... and my family: no more dust bunnies!:) Jokes aside, I too need to consider something like this.

Shawna Kaminski said...

Sara: You're an inspiration! You're doing things exactly as I planned and your results will prove that with effort you can meet your goals. Keep it up!