Fight Cellulite Fast!

Fight Cellulite Fast! is another Prevention workout led by Chris Freytag. It contains a 37 minute cardio workout, a 17 minute lower body strength workout, plus a 4 minute warm up and 4:30 minute cool down/stretch. Recommendations they give for using this DVD: do the cardio workout 4-5 days a week and strength workout 2-3 times a week. You can also choose “play all” and do the warm up, cardio workout, strength workout and cool down for a 62:30 minute workout.

This is yet another workout I bought a long time ago when rehabilitating after my heels were crushed by a drunk driver. I don’t know if I actually ever did this workout back then and, when I did it this morning, it didn’t seem familiar, so probably not. I found this more challenging than a lot of the other Chris Freytag workouts I’ve been doing recently. I scheduled these because I recently had chemo and need something easier until my strength and endurance can be built back up. So far, most of my Chris/Prevention workouts have worked very well for that purpose. This workout actually wore me out! I did the “play all” and I did make it through the entire 62:30 minutes but I was struggling by the end and I was only using 6 pound dumbbells. So I would say that if you are doing these workouts as presented (no modifications) then they are probably intermediate level. It’s always hard for me to know for sure after a chemo infusion but I definitely felt challenged this morning! I did not do any modifications–I did both workouts as Chris presented them. Chris and crew were using very light dumbbells too for the lower body strength workout. Because there is a lot of 4 limb exercises (upper and lower body working together) it is hard to lift very heavy dumbbells. But if you want to make the strength workout a pure lower body workout then omit all of the upper body moves and use heavier dumbbells. There are enough exercises and reps that it will work your lower body very well. But if you also want to get some upper body work then use the lighter dumbbells and it will also get your heart rate really elevated. At least it did mine. I felt like I was working harder cardio-wise during the strength workout than I did during the cardio workout!

I really enjoyed this workout and can see myself revisiting this one even when I have recovered from all of this treatment. This is a winner!

There is also a menu option called Smart Ways to Live Well. In that section there is a “Break it Down” option in which Chris breaks down how to do the lower body strength moves properly. It is 2:40 minutes and she describes proper form for squats, lunges, curtsy lunge and plie squat. There is a 6 minute segment called “What is Cellulite?” in which Chris and a Prevention editor talk to a cellulite research doctor. The takeaway? Diet and exercise are the only permanent way to combat cellulite. The final 3 minute segment is “Attack Arm Flab.” In this segment Chris demonstrates 4 exercises to build muscle in your arms. She recommends doing each exercise for 12-15 reps, until you feel muscle fatigue. This isn’t a workout, just Chris demonstrating exercises for you to do on your own. She recommends doing them 2-3 times a week.

Cardio Workout is 37 minutes long. This workout is done in 6 minute intervals that increase in intensity and impact as the interval progresses. The first 2:30 minutes is low impact/low intensity. The next 2:30 minutes Chris kicks up the intensity–adding impact to many of the moves. The final 40-60 seconds is a “power blast” in which you only do the highest intensity moves in the interval. There is a low impact modifier. For my current situation (chemo) I found this to be intense. Though in my normal healthy state I doubt I would find it nearly as intense as I did this morning, I do think I would enjoy it and still get a good cardio workout. But this morning–it worked me hard! The intervals work well too. The first low intensity/low impact segment works as a continuation of the warm up and all of the others are nice recoveries after the Power Blasts.

Interval 1:

1. Step tap to side w/ one arm swing; 4 side steps; power squats (wide step squat side to side); walk forward and back, tapping feet to side
2. Step hop to side w/ arm swing, raising one leg out to side; 4 side steps; jump squats; skip kick to the side forward and back
3. Power Blast: jumping jacks; double jacks; cross country skiers

Interval 2:

1. Grapevine w/ high knee march; alternating knee lifts; side heel digs; side tap lunges
2. Shuffle to side and jog in place; knee lifts with a hop; jumping jacks; side tap lunges w/ a hop
3. Power Blast: side tap lunges w/ hop; add a double knee pull

Interval 3:

1. Step touch w/ large arm swings; step kick across body; 3 side taps to side + march in place, alternate sides; step out and in
2. Step touch w/ large arm swings; step kick across body w/ a hop; 3 side taps to side + 2 hops, alternate sides; jog in and out (tire runs)
3. Power Blast: tire runs; increase tempo to double time

Interval 4:

1. Step kick forward and march back; low impact speed skaters; hamstring curls
2. Step kick forward (but kick higher now) and march back; speed skaters with a hop; hamstring curls w/ a hop
3. Power Blast: speed skaters w/ a hop; hamstring curls w/ a hop

Interval 5:

1. Step forward and back; alternating hook punches; upper cuts; bob and weave; front jab + half jack, alternate sides
2. Jump forward and back; fast alternating hook punches; fast upper cuts; bob and weave w/ a hop; front jab + full jack, alternate sides
3. Power Blast: 2 jabs + 2 jacks, alternate sides

Interval 6:

1. Low impact jump rope (Chris calls it a peddle jog); V step; repeater knees, alternate sides
2. Butt kick run with jump rope arms; double foot hopping jump rope; V jump (jump forward and step back); repeater knees but vary height (high, medium, low), alternate sides
3. Power Blast: Butt kick run with jump rope arms; double foot hopping jump rope; cross jack feet

Lower Body Strength is 17 minutes long. Equipment: dumbbells (I used 6 pound dumbbells) and fitness mat. This was an excellent workout. As mentioned above, use light dumbbells like Chris and crew do and this will be more metabolic, working both upper and lower body (tho primarily lower body), or omit the upper body moves and use heavier dumbbells. I am sure your heart will still be pumping and this will still be metabolic, even without the upper body exercises. There is no modifier in this workout until you get to the mat work. Then one of the background exercisers modifies one exercise. At the beginning of the workout, words appear on the screen stating that beginners should use no dumbbells.

1. Squats; add torso rotation w/ overhead press at top of squat; changes to pulse squats
2. Narrow squats; changes to pulses; pulse squat 3x w/ rear leg raise; add straight arm press back; singles w/ glute press back and straight arm press back
3. Stationary lunges; step front leg back into rear lunge and do more stationary lunges; changes to pendulum lunges; add 3 pulses to each lunge position
4. Repeat #3 on other leg
5. Alternating front lunges then alternate rear lunges; add bent arm side lateral raises to front lunges and bicep curls to rear lunges
6. Curtsy lunges w/ bicep curls; add a kick at top of lunge; changes to alternating curtsy lunges (no kick but keep bicep curls)
7. Stationary plie squats; add straight arm side raises; add a leg sweep at top of plie; return to plie squats w/ straight arm side raises
8. Lower into plie squat and hold, alternate raising heels; raise and lower both heels
9. Lay on mat and raise and lower hips in bridge; add squeezing thighs together at top of bridge; hold isometrically at top of bridge and rock hips side to side
10. Still holding hips up in bridge isometrically, raise and lower one straight leg
11. On all 4s, extend one leg out straight behind you and pulse it 3x then pull knee into chest; changes to singles, pulling knee into chest under body and pushing out straight behind you; bend knee and push sole of foot up to ceiling (pizza presses)
12. Repeat #11 on other leg
13. Genie: kneel on mat w/ legs together and toes tucked under, arms raised and crossed in front of you, lean torso forward and back keeping body straight