Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Day 4 from BR, 5 Min Workout from Zuzka and she said more workouts are coming

Day 4 is now posted from BR. I liked this workout too. The cardio was power squats and you could simply do bodyweight squats without the jumping. If you squat super low it would be just as intense. Sometimes enough jumping is enough. If it was just the 12-16 min routine I would say jump away, but if you are repeating days 1-3 first, I think it is a bit much. But that's me.

I remember reading something from Bret Contreras (one of my fav's) about jumping - unless it is necessary for your sport, you never see body builders, fitness competitors, and the like jumping. They lift heavy weights instead. The jumping can burn muscle instead of building it. It can tire your legs out so you can't lift heavy weight and get stronger. If you ask any reputable coach, s/he'll say getting stronger in your workouts should be everyone's number one goal. Whether it is to actually jump higher, squat more weight, press more weight, run faster, swim faster, etc, you need more strength to do so.

This is where both BR and Zuzka lack. There's NO plan. There's just a workout to sweat as much as you can. Fail to plan, then plan to fail. Workouts need to be planned so you see progress and continue to change your body and get stronger. Unless you are in maintenance mode - then lucky you!
Now I LOVE to jump rope, and love a certain amount of burpees, jump squats, mountain climbers, mat jump overs, jumping lunges, etc, etc. LOVE all that stuff. An hour of it though? No, I don't. I also don't think jumping is good for newbies or people who have a lot of weight to lose.

But I guess for the regular workout at home person Lisa is just giving us what we like and know her for. It's funny, after all her surgeries and facial manipulation, she hardly ever wears make up in her workouts. I find that odd. Or maybe she wanted all that work done so she didn't feel the need to wear make up? Who knows. But I love her spirit these days.

Speaking of spirit, did Zuzka seem kind of sad to anyone else in her 5 min workout today? She just didn't seem to have her usual pep and spunk. She seemed down. But she did say that she was going to have another new workout soon, and longer ones are also coming. I wonder what that means! But I am intrigued. :) I hope she has more coming soon. I know there are many people waiting in anticipation.
And has anyone else noticed that she is not promoting the ZGym anywhere anymore?

I have an imitation TRX at home, and it is breaking, :( I've had it for over 7 years though! I need to get a new one.
I'm debating on these 2:
Battle Rope - I really want this one but it is on back order. :(
Jungle Gym - another goodie!

I am surprised Zuzka and/or BR does not use these. I am SURE BR will for their next challenge. They just keep piling on the equipment! But I DO like that Lisa always posts people's home made stuff. Some of you out there have great ideas. One women took her ankle weights, put them together, and strapped it around her waist for a 'vest.' Love it!


4 comments:

  1. I did Days 1-4 of the HiitMax challenge this morning as "instructed" and yeah... there's quite a lot of jumping around. While I do like the familiarity of the workouts - as in it gets easier doing them from day to day (improvement) so I have to figure ways to make them more difficult - a brand new workout from day to day would also be cool. I am thinking that I might just do each day 3-4 times through, or 2 times through then do another routine to reach my goal for the day.

    I wonder what the future of ZGym will be.
    I wish Z wasn't so defensive in her communication with subscribers and other followers of her series outside of ZGym. Maybe this is where a blog or social media manager would come in handy -- she can be the face and the voice for the most part, but when it comes to dealing with customer complaints/issues/concerns, someone else can step in within her brand and provide information/communication. She's good at many things, but criticism and upset isn't one of them. It would be smart of her to do, but it sounds like some people have already been burned by her attitude already enough to unsubscribe..

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    1. Hi Lindsey. I agree doing the daily workouts 2 or 3 times through makes more sense than repeating all the days in a row.
      I am curious as to what the future of ZGym will be too! And Zuzka is WAY too defensive. That's not good customer service at all.

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  2. I agree and have thought this for a long time. She needs a PR person. She should look at Quest Nutrition’s FB posts for inspiration. They are very, very good at responding to negative feedback and have absolutely amazing customer service.

    I noticed in her second last video she posted it looks like she is in her home studio she was speaking of. I found the camera angles really awkward and choppy. That being said, in the big picture, I don’t care. I’d still pay $10/month for it. It’s not like her Watch it Now videos were even consistent with quality.

    There is this guy named Chris Vancil who comments on her FB all the time. He is so abrasive. Some people complained about the lack of communication from Zuzka regarding Zgym and he just went off on them being defensive. People who pay have a right to question why their service isn’t being provided! It looks like all the posts between the people complaining and him were removed. The people complaining were right though to question this. Normally if a service isn’t being provided, I think they service provider would explain why in advance! Not two weeks later after people question and question it.

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    1. Hi Lexxie. I think her home studio is just fine too. And who is this guy Chris Vancil? He's replied to some of my posts on Zuzka's page too. Very confusing. I thought maybe he was one of her CSR's but now it seems like he might be obsessed with her. yikes! and YES, the service provider DOES need to address service interruptions in advance!

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