Ultimate 5 Day Walk Plan is another Leslie Sansone DVD I got for $1 at the yearly library sale. Its a pretty neat concept. The DVD contains 5 one mile walks that she labels with colors (blue, yellow, green, purple and red), plus it contains 4 very short and basic strength segments (abs, arms, legs, chest/back) and a stretch. Plus a warm up and cool down. You can approach this DVD several ways. You can do it as a program; Leslie has it set up with premixes labeled for each day of the week: Monday is a 3 mile walk (Yellow, Red and Green) + Abs (50 minutes). Tuesday is a 4 mile walk (Blue, Yellow, Green and Purple) + Arms (62:30 minutes). Wednesday is a 1 mile walk (Red) + Legs (25 minutes). Thursday is a 2 mile walk (Yellow and Green) + Chest/Back (37 minutes). And Friday is a 5 mile walk (all walks) + the full body stretch (74 minutes). All of the premixed daily walks also include the warm up and cool down. Or you can program your own walk and/or strength session.
That is how I approached it. One day I programed 3 of the walks (plus the warm up and cool down), all of the bonus strength segments and ended with the full body stretch. On a different day I just did 2 of the walks plus the warm up and cool down. As usual, I wore my 4 pound weighted vest and weighted gloves for all of the walks. I added additional arm movements but Leslie actually incorporated more arm movements than usual into these walks. In fact, I found these to be a bit more intense than some of her other cardio walks that I’ve done–at least the 3 walks I chose to do the first day (blue, yellow and red). The Blue Mile actually had some impact. I am currently medically limited to no impact, but I did not find it terribly high impact and I just did it anyway. I don’t appear to be suffering any consequences from it. The other two walks (purple and green) were less intense than the ones I did on the first day. It seems like she had a lot of grapevines in purple and green. Anyway, I did like this collection of cardio walks. Leslie was Leslie–cackling laughter and inane babbling, but I still liked enjoyed the walks–especially blue, yellow and red.
The Warm Up is 4 minutes and cool down is 5:30 minutes. The bonus full body stretch is 3:30 minutes and is done on a mat. It is a very basic, gentle stretch and it is all done lying on your back.
Blue Mile is 12:30 minutes. You are marching in place between every move. This walk actually has a bit of impact.
- March in place; add traveling forward and back
- Step side to side; add opening and closing arms wide with a clap
- Low alternating front kicks
- Repeat #1
- Repeat #2
- Double side steps w/ opening and closing arms wide w/ a clap
- Alternating knee raises; add raising arms overhead then bringing hands down to thigh that is lifting
- Repeat #1
- March in place while pushing arms from shoulder level to overhead
- Step side to side
- March in place but pace increases
- Double side steps moving forward and back on a diagonal w/ opening and closing arms wide w/ a clap
- March in place while alternating reaching arms overhead then out to side
- Boxer shuffle; add alternating punching arms overhead
- Jump ropes
- Half jacks (lifting arms only to shoulder level but jumping jack feet)
- Alternate #15 & 16 doing 4 reps of each
- Repeat #12-14
- Alternating front kicks; add reaching arms toward feet as you kick
- Repeat #1 but with claps
- Step side to side
- Repeat #3
Yellow Mile is 12 minutes. You are marching in place between every move.
- March in place
- Step side to side
- Low front kicks; kick higher while pushing arms out in front of you
- Alternating knee lifts; add tapping hands to top of thigh as it raises
- Repeat #2
- Hamstring curls; add reaching arms out in front of you
- Heel digs
- Repeat #3
- March in place while pushing arms from shoulder level to overhead
- Alternate tapping toes out to side (low jack legs)
- March in place but pace increases
- Double knee lifts, alternate sides; add woodchop arms
- March forward and back with claps
- Repeat #9
- March forward 2 steps and do 2 low jacks then march back 2 steps and do 2 low jacks
- Repeat #2; add opening and closing arms wide with a clap; changes to double side steps (same arms)
- Repeat #9
- March forward and back with claps
- Repeat #12
- Repeat #9
Green Mile is 12 minutes. You are marching in place between every move.
- March in place
- Grapevine
- Low front kicks; kick higher while pushing arms out in front of you
- Step side to side
- March in place while alternating reaching arms overhead then out to side
- Repeat #2; add one hamstring curl to the end of each grapevine
- March forward 2 steps and back 2 steps with claps
- March forward 4 steps and back 4 steps
- March in place while pushing arms from shoulder level to overhead; changes to pressing arms in front of you at chest level
- Alternating knee lifts; add raising arms overhead then bringing hands down to thigh that is lifting
- Repeat #3
- Repeat #6
- Repeat #5
- Alternating knee lifts; add reaching opposite arm overhead and tapping knee when it lifts; changes to double knee lifts (same arms)
- Repeat #8
Purple Mile is 12 minutes. You are marching in place between every move.
- March in place
- Step side to side; add opening and closing arms wide with a clap
- Low front kicks; add reaching opposite arm out toward kicking leg
- Alternating knee lifts, tapping hands to thigh as it lifts; changes to raising arms overhead then bringing hands down to thigh that is lifting
- Grapevine; add claps
- Mambo forward and back then out to the side and back
- March in place while alternating reaching arms overhead then out to side
- March in place but pace increases
- Alternate tapping legs out to side; add hip pivots as you tap; add punching arms out to front as you tap
- Hamstring curls; add pushing arms out in front of you then pulling arms back; changes to reaching arms overhead and pulling them down
- Boxer shuffle; turn body to side (still shuffling) and add a front jab
- Repeat #5
- Repeat #4; changes to double knee lifts (same arms)
- March in place while pushing arms from shoulder level to overhead; changes to pressing arms to the front at chest level
- March forward and back with claps
Red Mile is 11:30 minutes. You are marching in place between every move.
- March in place
- 3 steps + 1 tap
- Low front kicks; add reaching opposite hand toward kicking foot; changes to reaching arm overhead
- 4 side steps forward and back on a diagonal with claps
- March in place while reaching arms overhead then out to side, then down, then out to side then back overhead
- Repeat #2; changes to 3 steps to side + 1 tap
- March forward and back with claps
- March in place but pace increases
- Hamstring curls; add reaching arms overhead in a V then pulling arms down
- Repeat #4 & 5
- Double side steps; add claps
- Alternating knee lifts tapping hands to thigh as knee raises; changes to double knee lifts and arms change to more of a woodchop
- Boxer shuffle; turn to side and jab to front
- March forward and back
Abs is 4 minutes. Equipment: fitness mat. Very easy, beginner level. Not a lot of reps of anything.
- Lay on back, knees bent and feet on floor, alternate raising leg off floor, bringing knee into chest
- Same start position as #1, place hands in thighs and crunch head/shoulders up, running hands up to knees as you crunch
- Still on back, knees still bent, raise feet off floor, raise head/shoulders and extended arms straight along sides and hold for a few seconds then extend legs straight to ceiling and start pulsing arms (modified hundred)
- Repeat #1
- Bicycle maneuver
- Still on back, extend arms straight overhead and legs straight to stretch
Legs is 3 minutes. Easy, beginner level. No equipment is used. Since I currently cannot lift anything heavier than 3 pound hand weights (medical restrictions), I swapped out my 4 pound weighted vest for my 12 pound weighted vest for these exercises.
- Reverse lunges
- Squats; pulse squats
- Reverse lunge + step out to side squat
Arms is 3:20 minutes. Equipment: dumbbells (Leslie uses 5# dumbbells). Again, I am currently medically restricted from lifting anything heavier than 3 pound hand weights. So I cheated a bit. I have been making good use of resistance bands since I can’t lift weights. I used my 3 pound hand weights but I also stood on a resistance band and had one end wrapped around each dumbbell. I felt this much more done that way! Especially the tricep work!
- Hammer curls; she takes a brief rest then does alternating hammer curls and ends with more double hammer curls
- Overhead tricep extensions (French press); she takes a brief rest then does some more
Chest & Back is 3 minutes. Equipment: Fitness mat. I cheated a bit on this one, too. I am also restricted from doing any plank based moves, so I did wall push ups when Leslie did knee push ups.
- Push ups on knees
- Bird dog holds
- Repeat 1 & 2
