Monday, July 25, 2011

Nike Training Club

My daughter starts swimming lessons today and I usually run long at the gym. So in order to save on time (since I usually go over an hour at the gym) I did my work out at home.

I had heard about the Nike Training Club from a tweet from Lea Michele, you know, the girl from Glee. (I LOVE LOVE LOVE Glee. Had to get that out of my system.)

I never thought that working out by myself, aside from mountain biking and running, was worth it. My true interest in using self work out videos started with Zuzana who is partners with Freddie of the online, one stop shop fitness site. This women is intense and has the body to show for it. I started to get into this online movement but didn't like that I had to be stuck to my computer more than I wanted. The next best thing for me was to try the Nike Training Club app.

I downloaded the FREE app from iTunes which took a while. The app is pretty straight forward and you can be 'social' with your progress. That is not my main concern but it is handy.

I went straight to the work outs. There they were-- work outs planned for your fitness goal at any level. I selected my work out and then chose the music (already on my iPhone) that I wanted to play with it. During the routine, there were a few moves that I wasn't sure how I was supposed to do. I was able to stop the work out and watch a short instructional video that showed me the move. Not a bad gig. I didn't get cheated on my work out for the learning curve.

I didn't have hand weights which I desperately need! I usually just go to the gym and don't think to have any at home. So I opted for something else.


Yes, that is 20lbs. of cat litter. I had to use something for those lunges! I used two large cans of beans for triceps and the jump squats. Yeah, jump squats. Not my favorite thing to do.

I put my phone on the dock so I could jam out to Justin Timberlake's Future Sex Love Sounds -- THE perfect album to work out to. I cleared space in my kitchen and got to work.

Each move is prompted out loud by my trainer. She will periodically instruct me to keep my shoulders above my hands -- when I was doing the plank walks. She also helps to keep me on track with my time and then the occasional "dig deep" prompt on the lunges. She also reminded me to keep my chest up as I did my jump squats. I definetely like this app.

One thing that most people forget about is form. If you lose your form in your work out, then you're wasting your time. I am NOT perfect and my form does slack at times. I was super impressed that the trainer reminded me about form during each move during my work out.

I look forward to another work out with NTC. It's a good, effective alternative to working out if you can't make it to the gym.

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