Zuzka posted her latest Free 5 Minute Workout on Friday which was a pretty typical type HIIT workout. Nothin special, but certainly will get your heart pumping for 5 minutes.
Workout Breakdown
1. Mountain Climbers
2. Half burpees
3. Side lunge jump
4. Forward /back squat burpee
5. heel touch / toe touch
She also posted her latest Body Crush workout this morning:
15 Minutes AMRAP – all levels
Workout Breakdown
1. 180 Tip Toe Squat jump Burpee x 10
*low impact would be squat to plank to push up to stand up
2. Jump Lunge (x2) jump jack (x2) x 10 alt. sides
*low impact would be side lunge (x2) to sumo squat (x2) x 10 alt sides
3. Criss Cross Mountain Climbers x 20
*low impact would be criss cross step switch mountain climbers, which means basically the same move with no jumping involved. You just have to step forward and back to switch legs.
4. Plank side jumps / side to side push up x 5 sets
*low impact – Step forward and back instead of jumping.
5. Sit up foot taps x 20
Those damn tip toe exercises! I do like that she gives a low impact variation of each exercise.
I was not a huge fan of this workout. The tip toe squat jump would bother my knees - and I have great knees. The sit up foot taps would bother my lower back - but I do have lower back issues, so that's me.
Zuzka did not do a single back exercise all week long. She did only one pull exercise all week long - a variation of a deadlift - so I am not sure if that really counts. I am not sure if she did any last week either. Now I get that she has a pull-up bar in her house and randomly does pull-ups throughout the day, but if you are only following her workouts your body needs more pulling exercises to more effectively balance out your body. As a trainer, she should know better in leading us in workouts to make them better balanced - IMO.
Anyways, onto her interview with bodybulding.com:
What did you guys think of this?
First of all, I thought in this picture and in the video of Zuzka, she looked and sounded so very different.
She told her story and there was talk about BR.TV (which she mentioned on her on web-site the other day) but no mention of WIN Productions and no mention of her current web-site!!!! That made no sense to me. It seemed like more of a promo for Bodyrock than for her?
I see that it is really a plug for her new book - 15 Minutes To Fit - and she explains that when she and Freddy first started filming in Malta that it took hours and hours to upload the videos, so they had to make the videos shorter, so she made them more intense, and that's how she came up with her workouts.
There was no mention of her porn past - which I GET - but it is also a story of how she picked herself up from the bottom and worked her way up. But then again she would not be where she is today without the porn industry, so it is a double edged sword.
Zuzka also mentions this about her workouts: taking a few elements from an upstart movement called CrossFit, others from Tabata training, and adding my own unique twist to every influence I liked and thought would be effective. Hmmmm.... interesting take on how she sees it. I can see that too. But I've done CrossFit, and other than Competition Burpees and Double Unders, she doesn't use much from CrossFit at all. They use heavy weights and Olympic lifts and she uses neither.
She mentions her firm abs a couple of times in the article too, which made me chuckle. She's not shy about what she looks like in this article at all.
Zuzka also mentions doing gymnastics as a child, which is one of the reasons I think she is so athletic now. Gymnastics as a kid can teach you to overcome fears in athletic abilities in so many areas in more ways than a lot of sports - it is something I wish I stuck with as a kid myself. Zuzka has quite a bit of gymnastic ability left in her. She has a video of herself this morning doing a ONE ARM CARTWHEEL: https://www.facebook.com/ZuzkaLight/?fref=ts
One arm cartwheels? Come on now. That takes practice. PERIOD. She actually has a TON of videos on her FB page of her doing fun and different exercises around her pool, off of her diving board, handstand work, etc, etc, that have nothing to do with her ZGym workouts.
I'm sorry, I love Zuzka and find her so very inspirational, but this is just proof that she does more than just her ZGym workouts. Now I know some of you will fling to her defenses, and so be it. Go for it! But this is how I see it.
Anyways, I enjoyed her article for bodybuilding.com. I enjoy her. Like I've said before - I just find her disingenuous sometimes. Whether or not it is intentional, I don't know. She has a business to run, so whatever it takes.
I wish she was posting more intense workouts I mean sometimes I'm like -what this can't be what she's doing for real. She is making videos just for women who wanna lose weight. Sone of the old zshreds and zwows are better I think(?) than workouts that she is doing now
ReplyDeleteYa know, I often feel like Z goes through phases where she does these longer kick ass workouts, or another phase of shorter ones, another phase of easier ones, another one more strength based, etc, etc. I had posted one of her old workouts from BR - a 600 rep one that I remember being super hard that she did in a hotel room.
DeleteShe had another called 'Crazy B*tch workout' which was only 10 minutes, but a GREAT hard as hell workout that you could make longer or use as a cashout: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/531072981029249816/
Her most recent workouts with pull-ups, one arm push-ups and hanging leg raises were damn good.
Couple other of my favorites were her benchmark workout: https://zuzkalight.com/zgym/benchmark-workout-2/
And this one was probably one of my favs of all time:
ZWOW #71:
This ZWOW, you will be completing 3 rounds, for time.
• 20 DB Jump Squats
• 20 OH DB Olympic Squats
• 40 Alt. Single Arm DB Swings
• 10 Bridge Get-Ups
• 15-10-5 Burpees
Completely agree! Sometimes I find myself finishing the workouts way ahead of her, and wonder why she is huffing and puffing so hard on screen...that comes off as unreal. I also agree that some of her older workouts were more intense and better arranged than her recent ones. And yes Gina, she does seem to have these inspirational phases where her workouts are a-mazing.
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ReplyDeleteOk, Z went to the gym in the past (she said about it on the video), but on the site in on of her article she wrote she never did.. Hm. Or do I mix it up?
ReplyDeleteI think she tried going to the gym briefly when she first started working out, but didn't really like it. At least, that's my take on it.
DeleteIt looks like Zuzka have all her Zwows back on her youtube channel. Have you seen them? maybe this is the reason why she is not doing any new zwow on fridays
ReplyDeleteI think Zwow's 1-70 are available?
DeleteI find it funny how you always get going about Zuzka's "supposed" 15 minutes of daily working out ;-D Yes, I'm one of her defenders. I mean, yes, of course she does more than *just* 15 minutes a day, but it's also understandable because she does this for a living and it would be kinda weird if she didn't practice new routines and exercises before filming. I guess that's why I don't understand why you think she's fooling people. I think it's so obvious that she does more that it's not even worth mentioning :-)
ReplyDeleteHuh, funny take on it M. I think she is trying to fool people, and you think it is obvious she works out more than 15 minutes. Perception is reality in people's minds!
DeleteThanks for posting the bodybuilding Gina! I enjoyed it. A lighter back-story than the full details of her many starting-overs. I agree with M that I just assume she does extra fitness as prep work ect on the side / is less sedentary than most. However, I can totally see how she might seem like a hypocrite always saying "only 15 mins". I always just took it as her selling point, that general fitness is possible with her 15 minute branding. An interesting argument either way!
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