Day 3

Well, it's 21:40 and I just finished Day 3 of the Beginner's schedule, Rebalancing with Sahra. I must be honest...I was trying to do 21 Day Fix along with Essentrics, but it makes me too sore. My fitness journey has been all about hard work. I started out with The Firm back in 2002 and kept going from there. I then changed over to TaeBo, BeachBody's original Tony Horton workout, then TurboJam, Chalene Extreme, Yoga Booty Ballet, Rockin Body ( which I still love! ), Hip Hop Abs, Jillian Micahels workouts, Zumba, Cathe Friedrich, Tracy Anderson, running, and unable to maintain any of it! I inevitably would get hurt, stay too sore for my comfort and would do the continuous start/stop thing.

Now I will say this. Tracy Anderson's method actually helped me to rehab an unusual hip injury I sustained on a dance floor ( don't ask...). Suffice it to say I popped my right hip bursa and was limping for almost 3 months. However...her death by leg lift meat hold as I call it really worked. Yet, after awhile it was giving me serious uncomfortable soreness. So I kept looking and managed to catch  Miranda on PBS. I tried it and it actually made me feel better afterwards.  But due to conventional fitness thinking I thought this " easy " workout couldn't possibly work for me. I mean come on! I lift HEAVY! I RUN! I use Kettlebells! I TurboJam! I......HURT. All. The. Time.

I have come to realize that I am sore and achy all the time. Something always hurts. Not the OMG given me Norco typos pain, but this constant, low grade a Hines that so many people who are middle aged talk about. Well yep, despite my best efforts I am there. And I want it to stop. My flexibility sucks, my tendons and muscles are tight as guitar strings and I need something DIFFERENT.

Enter the Essentrics 30 Day Challenge. Do 1 workout daily for 30 days and see where you are at the end. Day 3 is feeling pretty good. If any of this sounds familiar then keep on going. What's the worst thing that can happen? I'll see you again tomorrow for Day 4.

Day 2

Tuesdays are busy days for me, so I'll keep this short. I completed the Bone Strengthening workout on the website. I really enjoyed it but I am sore! Appearances are quite deceiving. I'll go into more detail tomorrow.

Day 1 of the Essentrics 30 Day Challenge

Yes, it's the time of the year when we all want to start fresh...new...commit to out new healthy lifestyle. But yet, I'm so tired of all the " no pain, no gain " approaches to fitness. Enter Essentrics, a much more gentle, yet tough way to exercise and also feel better at the same time. I know, I know. You're saying to yourself here's yet another method promising an easier way to stay fit.  I said the same thing. However, after I tried a few of the videos I was surprised that I felt better and had less pain. So...since the site launched their 30 Day Challenge I decided to do it and also write about it so others can benefit from my experience. It seems I can't find much about Essentrics/Classical Stretch online, so I suppose I can be the guinea pig. I plan to post daily for the next 30 days and see where I end up.

For the record, I'm 47.5 years old, weigh 146.6 pounds, am 37.4% body fat and 5' 3". I have a nagging right hip injury from several years ago which may have been from a slight forward rotational malalignment which leaves me with constant, low grade hip/low back/knee/ and neck pain. Given the reviews of Essentrics/Classical Stretch on their website I am hoping to reach 48 pain free. I'll add more information as I go.

Today was Day 1 and I did Classical Stretch season 11 episode 1: Full Body Workout. Let me tell you...this may be simple and weight free but it was NOT easy. I felt wobbly at points, had to come out of certain positions at other points and just decided to do what Miranda said...go gently, easily and only do what you feel you can without pain. This is going to be a very interesting experience. At the end however, I do feel less tight in certain areas and I feel like I'm standing up a little taller. I'll see you all for tomorrow.