I ordered the arm-slimming and defatting exercise and diet plan that is called “Sleeveless in Seven”. It’s a short ebook style program that tells you how to get smaller, more muscular arms. I had it with my arms.

I went out with my husband for St. Patricks day.  We had a great time, eating our low carb dinner of chicken wings (we had been low carbing it for a while, with no real big weight loss), and having a few brews.

Then we all had a bit too much to drink and the camera phones came out. Multiple pictures were taken. I’m not gonna lie. Looking at my arms in these pictures (I had a baby doll tshirt on that night) made me want to do something about them the moment I saw the pictures.

I’ll admit it. I was motivated by pure ego and vanity.  My arms have never been small. Even when I’ve been skinny, my arms still maintain a lot of fat on the upper arm area.  It’s always been a source of insecurity for me.  They just always look “big”.

I always admired those girls with sculpted, skinny arms that looked muscular and yet not manly or too bulky. That’s exactly how I wanted my arms to look – strong, and with not a lot of excess fat on the upper arm area.

But it just never worked out that way for me.  So I ordered the Sleeveless in Seven arm sculpting program that promises to help you slim down and tone up your flabby arms.  It comes with a very easy to follow diet plan as well that I have to say I’m having no trouble following because it’s flexible and has foods in it that I happen to really enjoy anyway.

I’m already starting to see results. My husband says he can see biceps on me now, and my arms are shrinking a bit after almost two weeks of doing the weekly exercises twice a week and following the diet plan.

I’ll keep y’all posted on my progress on my flabby arms!

An interesting piece of workout equipment to help us achieve better muscle tone and weight loss goals is called The Rack.  It is a portable and versatile style of workout apparatus that can be used in three different positions: flat, standing or for bench style exercises.

The Rack is made of heavy duty steel and can support up to 300 lbs.  The Rack, itself, weighs 30 lbs. and it is easy to assemble.  The Rack can be folded for the purposes of storage and transporting it.

With the purchase of The Rack, you receive a fitness guide and journal to plan out 12 weeks of exercise routine.  This journal helps to direct you on which combination of DVD’s to go through and in what order to reach your goals.

Also included with The Rack are many different workout DVD’s: Intro to The Rack, Fat Shredder, Big Arm Blast, Explosive Chest, Ripped Abs, Into The Zone and Bartendaz Workout.  The Intro DVD covers how you can do multiple levels of exercises to attain a sculpted physique.

The Fat Shredder DVD involves exercises done in all directions at a fast pace so you will work up a sweat and increase your heart rate and increase your metabolism.   The Big Arm Blast DVD goes at a fast pace also and is directed at pumping up your biceps.   The Explosive Chest DVD emphasizes exercises for building up your pectoral muscles so you can get a sculpted body.  The Ripped Abs DVD utilizes The Rack at all three levels and it is aimed at developing a tough, hard core for your body and it lasts for 10 minutes.

The Into The Zone DVD involves progression training and it’s focus is on the entire body.  The Bartendaz Workout DVD lasts for 15 minutes and it is a challenge and it does work to build muscle and strength.

The Rack is available online at a cost of $159.96 that can be done in one payment or you can do a $14.99 trial followed by 4 monthly payments of $39.99 each.  The Rack is also available at retail stores such as Target if you are not an online shopper.

The  workouts offered with The Rack are effective and the schedules and calendars make sense.  The Rack workout programs go over a period of 90 days and it specifies which workouts to do on which days.  The Rack is also very specific in it’s nutritional guide and it is strict.  It eliminates guesswork as to what you are expected to do if you want to meet your fitness goals.

It is the specific directions and instruction for the workouts and nutrition that make The Rack a stand out fitness package.  It is the supplemental directions that make The Rack worth the money invested.

Review : Ripped in 30 with Jillian Michaels

In a good way of course. Jillian Michaels has outdone herself with another DVD that’s a kick butt workout compressed into a half hour. Just what I love, because I hate sweating it out at the gym or in my basement with the precious little time I have in my day for too long. Sure, I want to look good – even great – but I just don’t always have that standard hour that everyone seems to think works so well when it comes to working out.

The DVD is called Ripped in Thirty. It uses the same principles as her 30 Day Shred video, but it kicks things up yet another notch in my humble opinion. Case in point, I did the first workout and was sweating profusel as well as cursing Jillian and her damned cohorts within the first five minutes.

These are a lot more dynamic and have some more complex moves, but they really do get the job done. They are a little more ab-focused as well, which is what I’ve always felt was missing from her 30 Day Shred DVD.  I love to get an ab workout in every since time I get in exercise mode because my abs are one of the first areas of my body that starts to feel like squishy mush when I am lazy for a couple days and just taking it easy.

When my abs are tight and toned, I feel much leaner, sit and stand much taller, and tend to look much thinner (not to mention more confident) so kudos to Jillian for focusing more on the core in these. Mind you, you might not be doing tons of crunches, but the exercises are built to engage the core a lot more.

Level 2 is definitely harder than level one with some more compound moves and a little more explosive movements than the first segment. The DVD contains 4 workouts, and they are progressively harder, so you really have to be in shape to get through them and to practice them regularly.

She does a lot more stretching and cooling down in these ones, perhaps because she got feedback that there was not enough of a warm up in the first ones and people may have been getting injured. I know when I first did 30 Day Shred, I really felt it in my ankles, and they actually swelled a bit because of all the explosive movement.   In comparison, this one does a lot better job on warming you up and preventing injury.

All in all, Ripped in 30 is a GREAT DVD. I really love these DVD’s too because they’re inexpensive. I got mine for just under 9 bucks on Amazon and will be doing it for years to come. Can’t beat that!

If you are looking to get fit and are interested in fast results to getting the toned and sculpted muscular look, Rushfit is a possible way to achieve your goals.  Rushfit is a fitness program designed by George St. Pierre, who is a mixed martial artist champion, and his trainer, Erik Owings.

This is a good solid exercise regimen that is actually quite practical in terms of time and money invested.  The recommended amount of time to be spent each day working out is 45 minutes.  The cost for obtaining the material needed is 3 payments of $29.99 plus shipping and handling for the 8 week home training camp materials.

The only other thing you will need is a set of dumbbells ranging in weight from 2 lbs. to 25 lbs.  You will not need any weights greater than 25 lbs., since you gain most of your strength from reps, not from heavier weights.

The eight week home training camp consists of 7 workouts on 6 DVD’s, a workout guide book, a nutrition guide and training plans.  The fitness and conditioning program has workouts that include: strength and endurance, explosive power, fight conditioning, abdominal strength and core conditioning, full body strength and conditioning and bonus workouts.

The workout guide book contains instructions on how to reach your fitness goals within 8 weeks step by step.  The nutrition guide informs you of the best nutrients to focus on to go along with a tough workout routine.  The training plans enables you to choose a workout calendar to mesh with your schedule and still meet your training needs.

This program is designed to help you build muscle and lose weight and it promises faster results for body toning and conditioning.  George St. Pierre is known for the intensity of his workouts.  He uses a mixed martial arts training style and his workouts are broken down into 5 separate 5 minute rounds.

This fitness program focuses on areas of strength, endurance, core stability, power, flexibility, balance and agility.  Each of his workout videos can be purchased separately online for a range of $14.99 to $19.99, if purchasing the entire 8 week home training camp is too expensive. The website for Rushfit is gsprushfit.com and it is comprehensive on what is offered.

The workout videos emphasize quality and intensity of each move.  They address all of the areas that are needed to build strength, both upper and lower body.  In addition to the five round divisions, there is a warm up and cool down to each exercise.

It is not an easy workout, but with eight weeks of really staying with this and following the nutrition guide, you would almost have to lose weight and gain strength.

Sometimes, taking vacations and staying in hotels with gyms, no matter how small they are, is a really great way to either take your workout in a whole new direction because you may not have all your devices at hand that you usually do, or to try a new piece of equipment, gadget, or fitness accessory.

We recently went on a tiny little getaway to Pittsburgh, and stayed at a Doubletree Hotel, where there was a pretty decent little gym. It even had that nice new tile that minimizes impact on your joints laid down, and smelled or new rubber – not at all like dirty socks and sweat like most gyms end up smelling!

So, needless to say, we enjoyed the one time we got to visit it on our two and a half day stay.  One of the pieces of fitness equipment this particular hotel gym had was a Bosu ball. A Bosu ball is something I’ve seen in other gyms and seen in ads, but I had never had the opportunity to try it.

I literally had no idea what I was doing because there were no directions on the exercises you can do posted in the gym.  So, I figured I’d wing it. I ended up flipping it, ball side down, flat side up, and using it as a balance board for me to stand on and do my squats. 

Boy, let me tell you, the Bosu Ball added a whole new dimension of difficulty to my squats. You really have to focus on balancing your body when you’re standing on the small flat board, and you don’t realize it until you get up on it. 

I was quivering and shaking the whole time. I only did twenty squats, and that actually seemed like an eternity to me, so I know I got a totally kick butt, different workout on the ball. I also know that I was utilizing muscles I rarely use since I was out of breath and shaky after only twenty slow squats, which I figure would help shape my butt and thighs and maybe even firm up some of my cellulite.

There is actually a lot more you can do with the Bosu ball that I didn’t try.  You can use it as an ab cruncher, by sitting on top of the ball part of it with your butt planted in the middle and your legs coming up to your chest, then back out and extended for an extended crunch.

You really work and tone the abs and stabilizing muscles a lot more, and your butt, because you are trying to keep yourself balanced the whole time, not just working the abs by doing mechanical crunches. I’m a fan of the Bosu ball, and will use it again when I have the opportunity, especially now that I know more ways to use it!

I must admit, I was embarrassed that my hubby watched WWE. I did not grow up with watching it like so many other kids did. I grew up to think that kind of television was sensationalistic garbage. So maybe my parents were a bit elitist, but I enjoyed a lot of the stuff they did let me watch – and a lot of that stuff was crap too, if I’m being totallly honest.

WWE is nothing more than entertainment, pure and simple. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy catching the occasional match with my husband on tv, and enjoying the comedy that happens in the ring, and looking at some of the amazing physiques some of these guys have!

When it comes right down to it, to be good in the ring, these WWE professional wrestlers, men and women, have to have a good athletic prowess. They have to be able to take hits, get thrown on the ground, and to make it look easy, when in fact it isn’t.

What they do really gasses most people quickly, even if you’re in good shape, as evidenced on the revamped reality show that seeks out new professional wrestlers. They basically put them through the ringer, and eliminate them one by one until the last man standing gets a nice contract and money with the WWE.

I never realized how much these guys and girls have to be in shape, and how hard they have to take hits.  They are throwing these guys and girls on the mats, making them roll and make it look easy, and having them run back and forth and bounce off the ropes, which apparently is a lot harder than it looks judging by some of the trouble these contestants were having.

Making it very entertaining is pro wrestler Steve Austin, who is extremely good to watch as the drill sergeant type, telling these people that they have to work hard if they really want it. It’s a great show – I have to admit – I’m hooked.  Even if you don’t watch pro wrestling, it’s a very entertaining show.