21 Day Fix Extreme - it's been out awhile.  It came out in February of this year, and I bought it as soon as it was released.  However, it was never the "right" time to start the program.  What with traveling to Singapore, work craziness, and traveling to San Diego; it just never happened.  I wanted to be able to dedicate myself wholeheartedly to the program so that I could both get the best results possible AND give the best review of it.

I did a quick count out to my next obstacle course race, and it just so happened that it's perfect timing to get a round of Extreme in AND complete P90X3.  What better timing than that, right?

Right.

So last week was week 1 of 21DFX.

Generally speaking, I definitely have some surprising thoughts on the program - so many that I decided to divide my review of the week in two.  There's just so much to say that this post would go on FOREVER if I didn't.

Thoughts on the program as a whole:

1. This is the FIRST Beachbody program I have done that I could never, in good conscience, recommend to a beginner.  It definitely requires a pretty solid base of fitness.
2. Even if you are physically fit, be prepared to be SORE.  Usually, when I start a new program, I'm sore for the first couple of days, but with Extreme, I was sore every single day last week.  Every one.
3. Do not base your weight selection on what you were able to lift in the original 21 Day Fix.  I was using 20s for heavy weights for Upper Fix and 30s for heavy weights for Lower Fix in the original 21 Day Fix.  There wasn't a single exercise all week where I could go heavier than 15s.  I needed to learn not to be cocky.
4. Nice girl Autumn does not make an appearance here.  Instead, we get tough love/drill sergeant Autumn.  I'm sure I'm going to love her in 3 weeks, but right now?  My new catchphrase is either "I hate you, Autumn!" or "You're flipping insane!!"
5. Finally, it gets better.  It's only been one week - which means I've only repeated one workout so far - but I have already seen DRASTIC improvement in that one workout (Plyo Fix Extreme).  It's really exciting to think how far I'll have come in three weeks!!

  Workout 1 is Plyo Fix Extreme - or, as I have come to call it:  Leg Day #1.  This one served as quite the rude awakening.  EVERYTHING hurt after Plyo.  My shoulders hurt; my arms hurt; my quads were SCREAMING in agony!

In a nutshell,  plyo is a weighted jumping workout.  There are squat jumps, burpees with squat jumps, jump lunges, skaters, sumo squat jumps... 

It's only 30 seconds of work for every 30 seconds of rest, but I am convinced that time slows down for the working phase and takes off for the rests.

Oh, and I still hate lunges, especially jumping lunges.

Tuesday was Upper Fix Extreme.  My shoulders were destroyed by the end of this one, but I LOVED it!

Upper Fix is based on the concept of drop sets.  Every exercise had a harder 30 second block of work immediately followed by a lighter block of work for the same muscle group.  Whether that meant lowering the resistance or even changing up the move, it still was 1 solid minute of work for each muscle group.

The biggest thing for me on this workout was my inability to choose appropriate weights for each exercise.  I was all over the place.  At the beginning, the weights I chose were entirely too light.  However, midway through to the end of the workout, I definitely needed to start lighter.  I burned out way to quickly.  This workout was the first one to really show me I needed to check my pride at the door.

Wednesday was actually my favorite workout all week.  If you've been a reader for any length of time, you know that I was not a fan of Pilates in the original 21 Day Fix.

That is not the case in Extreme.

Pilates Fix Extreme is AMAZING.  The entire workout is done with a resistance band.  Adding that little piece of rubber made all the difference for me.  There was resistance, something to push against, and it was a TON of fun!

Of course, my already-sore shoulders from Upper Fix protested the whole way through, but even so, I loved how strong Pilates actually made me feel!

There is a bit of a learning curve with the band, but once I got through it, I pretty much sat back and enjoyed the burn.  Oh, and burn it did!

-You can find the second half of the week here-