Drop it in 30!

Drop it in 30! is another workout DVD I purchased to help me rehabilitate after my heels were crushed 10 years ago. It is led by Chris Freytag and contains two 20 minute cardio workouts. There is also a warm up and cool down so you can do it as two nearly 30 minute workouts (with warm up and cool down included) or do both back to back (with warm up and cool down) for a 49:30 minute cardio workout.

The warm up is 3 minutes and the cool down is 4 minutes long. There is a low impact modifier in the workouts. On the menu there is a selection for the warm up, the cool down, both of the workouts plus a “Play all” for the 49:30 minute combined workout. There is also a “Smart Ways to Live Well” selection. If you click on that, there is a break down section for each workout in which Chris breaks down some of the moves so you can learn them before doing the workout. There is also a 3:24 segment about how to maximize your workouts in which Chris talks about how to measure the intensity of your workouts using a heart rate monitor as well as using perceived exertion. And finally there is a 3:20 minute segment called “4 Moves to Firm Up Fast” in which Chris shows you 4 total body strength moves and explains how important strength training is to fitness. This is not a workout–she only demonstrates each exercise a a few times. You are on your own to do the exercises as a circuit workout. She recommends doing 12-15 reps of each exercise and doing 2-3 sets of the whole 4 exercise circuit. Do this 2-3 times a week.

When I did this workout I did “Play all” and did both workouts back-to-back. I got a great cardio workout for my current level. The first workout (Fat-blasting Workout) isn’t terribly intense, but it did get my heart rate up and I was sweating. The second workout (Metabolism-boosting Workout) is more intense but not HIIT level. This is definitely too easy for the advanced exerciser, but I think it would challenge beginners and is great for anyone rehabilitating. I found both workouts fun and easy to follow.

Fat-blasting Workout is 20:30 minutes. Below are all the moves in the order they appear, however you will repeat all of them many times.

1. Side to side step touch, bringing knees together w/ a partial squat with each step
2. Grapevine; add knee raise; changes to alternating knee raises; changes to grapevine + 3 knees
3. Squat; changes to squat and stand, doing a heel tap while turning shoulders to side
4. Stomp 4x w/ one foot then hop-turn
5. Side step 2x w/ shoulder rolls + jumping jacks
6. Attitude lunges (shallow walking lunges, pulse w/ each lunge)
7. Hamstring curls; add hip circles
8. Tap heel forward and back
9. Squats; turn to side and do stationary lunges

Metabolism-boosting Workout is 21:30 minutes long. There is a low impact modifier.

1. Wide squats to side (step in and out of squat); add knee lift when standing
2. Squat in place w/ basketball dribble hands
3. Jump squat + fast feet
4. Repeat 1-3
5. Step in and out (like stepping in and out of tires)
6. Fast feet
7. Repeat 5 & 6
8. Alternating front lunges; add knee raise (so lunge, knee raise, lunge, stand)
9. Insoles
10. Narrow squat and stands
11. Shuffle to side + one insole
12. Speed dribble (fast and low insoles)
13. Repeat 8-12
14. Double hops on each foot forward, step knee back
15. Jumping jacks; changes to double jacks; changes to squat jacks
16. Repeat 14 & 15
17. Step touch forward + march back; step touch changes to hop side to side
18. Mambo to each side + 2 hops
19. Repeat 17 & 18
20. Jog in place w/ jump rope arms
21. Skip kicks
22. Speed jump rope
23. Repeat 17 -22
24. Heel digs to the front
25. Low kicks across body
26. Repeat 24 & 25
27. In side lunge, hold arms out straight to side, hinge forward and transfer lunge to other side while still leaning forward then straighten