Beginner Rotation

I kind of hate to call this a beginner rotation, but I guess, in essence, it is. It is also a rehabilitation rotation. A way to keep exercising even when you aren’t at your best. I was an advanced home exerciser but I was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2018. It turned out to be stage III. So, what has ensued (and is not finished), is mastectomy, followed by chemo (currently still receiving chemo) which will be followed by radiation. Then, after a hiatus to let my body heal from tearing it down, I will undergo reconstruction. But this isn’t the first time I have had to work through some type of physical impairment. In 2009 a drunk driver hit my car head on. In addition to many other injuries and broken bones (including brain hematomas), both of my heels were crushed. I didn’t walk for 4 months and when I did start walking again it was a long and painful rehabilitation. But I did it! And within a few years I was working out harder and at a more advanced level than pre-accident. I believe I was able to do that because I exercised daily before the accident and started up again as soon as I was able. Even when I couldn’t walk and was wheelchair bound I found ways to exercise.

But currently, I am no longer an advanced exerciser. Chemo took away my endurance and my strength. But I have continued to exercise almost daily throughout it all. I do it to take care of myself, not for aesthetic reasons. I believe it makes me healthier and more resilient. It’s why everyone should exercise. To take care of the only house we were given, that we have to reside in every moment we are alive.

This post will have two parts. The first part will be a list of workouts that are appropriate for beginners and intermediate exercisers. Because you will not always be a beginner, so you need some idea for moving forward when beginner workouts become too easy. I am not a beginner every day. I get chemo every 2 weeks. Some days (the week after chemo) I am a beginner but the week before my next chemo infusion, I am more intermediate. But if you are a beginner, you will be working your way up to intermediate. If you are rehabilitating, there may be some types of workouts you can do at an intermediate level and some you need at beginner level. It is all relative to your unique situation. So keep that in mind. The rotation is for someone who has the full use of all limbs. However, I can no longer do plyometrics so the cardio is low impact or, if it is higher impact, it is not plyometric and usually has a modifier. Some days I can do some impact and other days I just can’t.

Finally, the list of workouts are not exhaustive. Not even everything I own that could be considered intermediate or beginner is listed below. What I am listing is what I have been using during my recovery and that is reviewed on this blog. There are lots more beginner/intermediate workouts out there.

Beginner Level Workouts: Many of the beginner level workouts listed below can also be low intermediate/intermediate level workouts by doing things such as using heavier dumbbells and a higher step height. The majority of the workouts will also have a modifier, so if it is high beginner or low intermediate, there is someone showing an easier version of the exercise.

Cathe:

Body Fusion

Low Impact Step + Total Body Sculpting

Basic Step

High Step Circuit

Jessica Smith:

Walk On: Walk off Belly Fat

Walk On: 15 Minute Fast Fat Blasts

Walk On: 21 Day Weight Loss Plan

Walk On: 5 Fat Burning Miles

Walk Strong 1

Walk Strong 2: Burn Fat & Have Fun

Chris Freytag:

Drop it in 30!

2 Week Turn Around: Cardio

2 Week Turn Around: Strength

Personal Training

3-2-1 Workout

Linda Wooldridge:

Barre Basics

Beginner Intervals (contains 4 workouts that are also available for free on YouTube, so they were reviewed individually on this blog, but they are all also available on a DVD)

Jillian Michaels:

Beginner Shred (Workouts 1 & 2)

Body Revolution (Phase 1, first 2 strength workouts and cardio workout)

Tracy Anderson

Perfect Design Level I

Mark Lauren

YAYOG (Novice workouts)

Intermediate Level Workouts:

Kelly Coffey-Meyer: She has a lot of workouts that can be done at various levels. She usually (but not always) has a modifier so you can make them even easier than how Kelly is performing the exercises. What is listed below is not a list of all of her intermediate level workouts. It is a list of her workouts that I used during chemo. The workouts listed below are ones I used during my good weeks, except for one–Body Training. I always did that one the day after chemo when the steroids and anti-nauseas they pump me full of during the infusion are still making me feel decent. I also had a Nuelasta on-body injector on my belly so I couldn’t do anything with impact. Body Training was perfect.

Body Training

Cardio Quick Fix

Muscle Up (I did this one most chemo mornings, before the infusion, when I was at my strongest)

Your Best Body

Weights

TLC

Plateau Buster

Chris Freytag

Fight Cellulite Fast!

Jillian Michaels

Beginner Shred (Workout 3)

Body Revolution (Phase 1, second 2 strength workouts–and then you can just keep moving up since this series is progressive; I believe there is also a modifier in all of the workouts)

Jessica Smith

Walk Strong 2: Build Balance & Inner Strength

Walk Strong 2: Boost Metabolism + Muscle

Bob Harper

Beginner’s Weight Loss Transformation

Cathe

ICE series

The Classics Volume 1

Gin Miller

Step Reebok: The Video

Workout programs that have a beginner modifier (I have not done any these during my chemo/recovery (yet) so I cannot vouch for how beginner the modifier is):

Riptensity

MetaShred 21

MetaShred Exteme

All in 18

Evolution 20

Focus T25

Insanity Max 30

The Anarchy Workout

PiYo

TurboFire

Walk Strong (all Walk Strong workouts have a beginner modifier)

Beginner Rotation: This rotation can be approached in different ways. If you are a true beginner then you might want to repeat each week–so do week 1 two times, week 2 two times, etc. If you are coming back to working out after a hiatus for any reason, you might regain your fitness quicker and can move through this rotation week by week. Another reason you might want to repeat the weeks is to increase the weights you used in the strength workouts the second week and/or to not follow the modifier the second week. So you make the workouts themselves more challenging the second week.

This isn’t the rotation I followed. My situation did not fit this structure. I generally had a good week and a bad week and they alternated like that. So I did beginner level workouts one week and more intermediate level workouts the next week. Then I got chemo again and it started all over. This rotation increases in level each week, which is why (as mentioned above), you might want to repeat each week twice.

Week 1:

Day 1: Jillian Michaels Beginner Shred Workout 1

Day 2: Cathe Basic Step

Day 3: Cathe Total Body Sculpting

Day 4: Jessica Smith Walk On: 5 Fat Burning Miles (2 walks, your choice + warm up and cool down)

Day 5: Cathe: Body Fusion

Day 6: Barlates Beginner Intervals: Cardio Sculpt

Day 7: Jessica Smith: Gentle Yoga for Back Pain Session 1

Week 2:

Day 1: Jillian Michaels Beginner Shred Workout 2

Day 2: Chris Freytag: 2 Week Turn Around: Cardio (choose “play all”–both cardio workouts + yoga stretch)

Day 3: Cathe: Total Body Sculpting: Solid Sculpting premix

Day 4: Chris Freytag: Drop it in 30! (choose “play all”–both workouts + warm up and stretch

Day 5: Cathe: Body Fusion

Day 6: Barlates Beginner Intervals: Compound Moves

Day 7: Element: Yoga for Energy & Relaxation: Relaxation only

Week 3:

Day 1: Jillian Michaels Beginner Shred Workout 3

Day 2: Cathe: Low Impact Step

Day 3: Cathe: Body Fusion add ons only (Upper Body, Lower Body + Stability Ball Abs)

Day 4: Jessica Smith: Walk On: 5 Fat Burning Miles (3 walks, your choice + warm up and cool down)

Day 5: Chris Freytag: 2 Week Turn Around: Strength: Part A & B + stretch

Day 6: Barlates Beginner Intervals: Old School Aerobics

Day 7: Jessica Smith: Gentle Yoga for Balance, Flexibility & Mobility: however many flows you want/need to do

Week 4:

Day 1: Cathe: High Step Circuit

Day 2: Cathe: Low Impact Step: Lower Body Cardio Blast premix

Day 3: Jessica Smith: Walk On: Walk off Belly Fat: Day 5: Belly Blasting Strength Interval Combo premix

Day 4: Jessica Smith: Walk On: Walk off Belly Fat: Day 1: Flat Abs Power Walk premix

Day 5: Cathe: Body Fusion

Day 6: Barlates Beginner Intervals: Ramp it Up!

Day 7: Jessica Smith: Gentle Yoga for Back Pain Session 2

Week 5:

Day 1: Cathe: High Step Circuit

Day 2: Bob Harper: Beginner Weight Loss Transformation

Day 3: Jillian Michaels: Beginner Shred: Workout 3 + Chris Freytag: 2 Week Turn Around: Cardio: Power Walk only

Day 4: Gin Miller: Step Reebok: The Video

Day 5: Chris Freytag: 2 Week Turn Around: Strength: Part A + Part B + 15 Minute Fast Track + stretch

Day 6: Barlates Beginner Intervals: Ramp it Up!

Day 7: Element: Yoga for Energy & Relaxation: Energy only