Do You Smell the Calories Burning?

So my New Year's Resolution for about the last five years has been to exercise more. I've got a basement, now. And a gym membership. And the kids are older. Basically, I'm running out of excuses.

The fact that I'm still a working mom with a full schedule and unwilling to wake up at 5:30am to exercise still exists, however.

Anyway, this year's attempt at checking off that resolution included some exercise DVDs. We designated a spot in our unfinished basement as a gym. Set up an old tv, the old DVD player and stereo. We used the old rug from the living room and placed pads underneath for maximum protection from the cement floor. Dave even installed a pull-up bar he made from plumbing supplies!

Dave invested in P90X starring URI grad (Go Rhody!) Tony Horton. And I found Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 at the grocery store. And we attempt to get up at 6am each morning to workout.

After a few weeks of doing both I've come up with this: P90X, preferred by David, targets different muscle groups each day and focuses in. Ripped in 30, preferred by me, is all about maximizing your time by working several body parts groups at once. Kinda like the difference between men and women, right? Women multitask, guys can't concentrate on more than one thing. Seriously.

Frankly, I like having the choice. If I have a little extra time, I'll do P90X. The CDs are 60 to 90 minutes of intense working of the muscle group and Tony is entertaining. I watch to see if his hair will move. Though, I'm not a fan of that Kenpo stuff -- requires too much coordination and knowing your right from your left. Afterwards, I feel worked out and jellyish. 

If I have a limited time I can do Ripped. You're squatting AND doing dead lifts. You're stretching AND building the core. After Jillian, I feel half-dead and hurt all over. I'm lucky to make it up the stairs. And I'm only doing the Week 1 routine, so far.

As Jillian says, can you smell the calories burning?



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