Budget Friendly Tips For Exercising in Cold Weather

Ummm... this would be the advanced section of outdoor exercise.

I do not like being cold. Also, I am cold all the time. Knowing these two facts will tell you pretty much everything you need to know about me. It why I hate swimming (also known as controlled drowning). It's why big fuzzy socks are my go-to gift (both for others and for myself). It's why I avoid Black Friday like the plague (Cyber Monday however did some wallet damage). It's also the 3rd main reason I married my husband - in addition to loving and honoring, he promised to let me put my ice-cube tootsies on him until I fall asleep; it's in our vows and everything. (In case you are curious, reason #1 was he is the smartest, kindest, handsomest man I have ever met and reason #2 was he proposed with a Cracker Jack ring - how do you say no to that?!)

So if I won't venture outside of my toasty house for even the lure of the best sale of the year, it goes without saying that outdoor running, biking, hiking, swimming and frisbee are out of the question until I can breathe without snot-cicles forming. But a girl's still got to get her sweat on, even if she does live in the frozen wasteland of the north. (Dear Global Warming, Can you please move a little faster? You are awesome and I love you. Kidding. Mostly. Please don't write me irate environmental e-mails.)

Of course working out in cold weather is easy if you have a gym membership and a car to get you there but there are lots of other options for the more frugal:

1. Go outside anyways. Some of you like this. For instance, Nitmos of Feet Meet Street loves running so much that the only concession he makes to the weather is in his choice of clothing. (Of course, this is the same man who measures the windchill by the amount of "nipple erectus" he is sporting so take his advice as you will.) Seriously though, there are lots of fun outdoor options like snowshoeing and cross-country skiing and snowboarding that are only available in the winter and even I will stop whining about my frozen phalanges once I break a sweat. Just make sure you wear gloves and cover your ears - no matter how warm and sweaty your core gets, your extremities will still be ice blocks.

2. Make a home gym. I know, I know, I said cheap tips and these can get pretty pricey but you don't need fancy equipment to get a good sweat! Do you have stairs? Run them. Yes, your cat will look at you like you're out of your freaking mind but that's what cats do. Do you have a long-ish piece of rope and a banister to run it through? (No, there will not be a knot-tying test you Boy Scout, you.) You can do pretty much every move from the TRX workouts with just a rope. Yeah, it's better with the TRX (man, I love that thing and no they're not paying me to say that) but you don't have to have one to use your own bodyweight against you.

3. Bodyweight exercises. You can do these anytime anywhere. Impress your boss by pumping out one push-up for every copy that comes out of the machine (just don't do this on annual-report printing day. Unless you're Chuck Norris.) Put your back foot up on a chair and do Bulgarian Split Squats (also known as chair lunges for those of us who can't find Bulgaria on a map with a compass and an East European field guide) while you check your voice mail. Do wall sits during conference calls (and if anyone questions why you sound constipated tell them you are and then just enjoy the awkward silence that will inevitably follow). You are only limited by your threshold for public embarrassment.

4. Online fitness tutorials. Hello, YouTube! There are free workouts doing everything from CrossFit to Pilates to Kettlebells and many are posted by professionals (that are then hoping you'll buy their books and DVDs, natch). Netflix also offers tons of fitness vids and you can even stream them instantly to your computer or TV! There are also free websites dedicated to just this kind of thing. My absolute favorite: Bodyrock.tv ! We talked about the fitness-porn aspect of Zuzanna's site before but I haven't told you (well now I have) how I have fallen completely in love with her workouts. They are hardcore! And frankly, if I had her crazy cut abs I'd probably dress like that too. (No I wouldn't. Not even six-pack abs can hide these stretch marks.) Want to start hard? Her Sexy Beast workout kicked the Gym Buddies and my butts. KICKED. Plus, she requires very minimal equipment. This workout only needs a broom and two chairs!

5. DVDs. They're kind of the go-to indoor workout but I have to be honest with you: I don't really get a good sweat from DVD's, not even with Jillian Michaels "shredding" me. (I know, it's blasphemy.) I don't know if it's the boredom factor or that I hate being able to recite their jokes along with them (you know I love you Tony Horton but I need P90X in real time) but I rarely do these. Yet I was recently reminded that they can be a fun change of pace when I tried out the Bad Kitty Sassy Fitness Bootcamp DVD. It's hip hop. It's boot camp. It... kinda defies description. But it was really fun! And decently difficult too. Plus, anyone that wears glitter studded cuffs and leopard burnout tanks is my kind of Gym Buddy.

Jamie Eason

Who doesn't like Jamie Eason?
She's very popular on the internet, and she seems to be a very nice young lady, who actually goes into forums and posts.
To get into the incredible shape you see here, Jamie used a personal trainer and nutritionist.
It looks like it really paid off.
I can't really find much on her in the way of contest history....
Maybe someone out there can tell us where she has competed.

Besides being a fitness model, she is a computer software consultant.
Jamie has been on the cover of Oxygen Magazine twice.

Fawnia Mondey

Fawnia Mondey (Fawnia Mondey-Dietrich) was born in September 24th,1975, in Kamloops, BC Canada.
She has appeared in Flex, Muscle & Fitness, Oxygen, MuscleMag International, American Curves, and Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness.
Fawnia is a dance instructor, fitness model, producer, actress and columnist.
Ever notice how these ladies diversify?

Contest History:
1st Canada's Edmonton Champion 95/96
1st Canada's Western Champion 95/96
1st Canada's Rookie of the Year 95/96
3rd Miss Hawaiian Topic - British Columbia, Canada 97and 99
1st place 1999 Muscle & Fitness Mania Women's Lightweight Bodybuilding
2nd place 2003 BC Championships Figure – short
5th place 2003 Sophie’s Swimwear Pageant
9th place 2004 Canadian Nationals Figure – medium
3rd Place 2005 Emerald Cup Figure 5’3” - 5’4”
2005 NPC Pittsburgh Amateur & Pro Show – up to 5’4”

Fitness Model and Competitor, Laura Coleman

Laura Coleman is an up and coming fitness model and competitor.
She's 5'7" and weighs 127.
I was only able to find two competitions Laura has been in, she placed 4th at the 2005 Los Angeles Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships, Class F and she came in 1st in Figure F at the 2007 Los Angeles Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships.
Laura has appeared in Oxygen, Ironman, Muscle Mag and Muscular Development.
And as far as I can tell, she is in a relationship with retired IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Eryk Bui.

My Favorite Health and Fitness Magazine [My debut as a video girl]

Having long professed my love for Experience Life magazine, I was beyond thrilled when they asked me to be in a promo video they were making. A camera crew camped out with me and my rowdy band of children for three hours one afternoon as I rhapsodized about how much I adore this mag.

A few things in the video made me giggle:

1. Can you spot the kid that's not mine? I do have a lot of kids but not quite this many! (Hint: The blond one.)

2. Back lighting makes my hair look reaaalllly thin. Note to self. Also, I should really wear lipstick.

3. That woman with the baby is the fastest nut chopper I have ever seen! She's amazing! I'd slice my fingers off for sure. Also, her baby sucking her lips is the cutest thing ever.

4. I would never, ever have my laptop at the table with my children and their sticky spilling fingers!

5. But true story: I do totally ignore them running circles around me while I giggle over blog comments and catch up on my reader, just like in the video.

6. Me sitting in a sunlit chair reading a mag? Never happens. More likely I'm holed up in my messy bathroom with the door locked again ignoring my kids for 10 minutes of peace so I can finish reading the article about how to find more peace in my life but the camera crew didn't think that was quite the vibe they wanted.

7. I have pretty fingers when I type! Look at that form! My piano teacher would be so proud.

8. Jelly Bean sitting next to me and shaking her head. Man my kids are cute!

9. My Twitter friend Brad is also in the vid! And he does perfect decline push-ups!

The best thing about this video though is that everything they (we) say about it is true. I've never read another mag like it. It's smart, well-researched, comprehensive and like Pilar, the Editor-in-chief says, it has authenticity and integrity. If you haven't ever read it, go check out their site. Their archives alone are a gold mine of reliable, well-written health and fitness info!

Kimiko Hirai Soldati, Former Olympic Diver

The fitness women on this blog are getting very diversified.
Kimiko Hirai Soldati is a former Olympic diver and a sports model.
She was born on April 10th, 1974 in Longmont, Colorado.
Like a lot of other women featured on this blog, she began her career as a gymnast until a knee injury ended that dream.
BUT, as with a lot of other women featured here, that didn't stop her, it just made her shift focus.
Kimiko decided to move into Diving and it was a good choice.
She racked up a very impressive list of accomplishments....

2001 United States Diver of the Year
2001 World Championship Team member and Team Captain, 6th - 10 Meter synchro, 7th - 3 Meter synchro
2001 National Champion 1 Meter, Silver medalist - 3 Meter & 10 Meter
2001 Goodwill Games Bronze medalist, USA - 3 Meter, first medal for the USA since 1984 on springboard in international competition
2002 FINA/USA Grand Prix Silver Medalist - 3 Meter Synchro, Bronze Medalist - 10 Meter Synchro, Bronze Medalist - Team Event
2002 World Cup Silver Medalist - 10 Meter Platform
2002 US National Champion - 3 Meter Springboard
2002 WHOSAM, Inc. Award recipient
2002 US Diver of The Year
2004 World Cup Team Member, 4th - 10 Meter synchro (partner Laura Wilkinson), 7th-3 Meter (partner Erin Quinn)
2004 American Cup Champion 10 Meter synchro (with Laura Wilkinson), 2nd - 10 Meter
2004 Canada Cup Bronze Medalist - 10 Meter synchro (with Laura Wilkinson)
2004 FINA/USA Grand Prix Silver Medalist - 10 Meter synchro (with Laura Wilkinson)
2004 US Olympic Trials Champion - 3M
2004 Olympic Team Member
2004 Wendy Wyland Award Recipient
2004 National Champion - 3M

Elaine Kwon, Superwoman

You know I joke sometimes about how a lot of these models have long resumes.
Well this one is long and it isn't a joke.
This lady may be an evolutionary jump in the human race.
Elaine Kwon is a......
Five-time US National Tae Kwon Do Champion. (She now studies Shaolin Kung Fu at the USA Shaolin Temple in New York. I guess Tae Kwon Do got too easy for her?)
Fitness model for Nike Asia and Bodybow
Fashion Model, (Vogue, Elle, InStyle, Ahead magazines)
Concert Pianist, she debuted with the Washington-Idaho Symphony at the age of 15!
MIT Professor, she has her Doctorate of Musical Arts with highest honors from Boston University.
TV host of ImaginAsian TV.

Mini-Experiment: Using Vibrations to Intensify Your Workout

I have a disgusting confession to make. I went 54 hours without a shower. But wait, it gets worse - I did five workouts during that time period. So in addition to leg stubble that could cut a brotha and armpit hair that would have made me the envy of the Lillith Fair, I had the stank of five sweaty workouts slicked and then dried onto my skin. Normally I'm not this hygiene challenged but circumstances and a packed workout schedule (concerns about over exercising duly noted) produced a confluence of nastiness hitherto unprecedented. Which is how I came to be introducing myself thusly:

Man at Power Plate Gym: Hi, I'm James and I'll be your personal trainer today!

Me: Hi, I'm Charlotte from The Great Fitness Experiment and I stink!

James: Oh, well, um, really? I can't smell you.

Me: And you seem too nice to tell me if you did. But seriously, I reek. So, I'll just apologize in advance.

James: Ah, okay. No worries. We always wipe down the equipment after each client.

After that inauspicious beginning, I began my first workout on the Power Plate, a large-ish machine with handles and a rubber padded platform that you stand on. It's all very beam-me-up-Scotty minus the pointy ears. So I did my best William Shatner and stood confidently on the machine. Well, as confident as I could be standing on a very big, very expensive piece of equipment that I had absolutely no idea what to do with.

James stepped in to rescue me from myself. After pointing out all the buttons on the Power Plate and saying a lot of science-y things about megahertz and g-forces and actually using the formula Force = mass X acceleration properly in a sentence, he got to the point. "What makes the Power Plate unique is the vibrating platform. The vibrations engage 30% more muscle fibers."

I tried to nod but by that point the machine was quietly humming while I held a static 90-degree squat. Normally I can talk during a squat (heck, normally not much can stop me from talking as the Gym Buddies will attest) but the vibrations went from my toes to my head, causing a not unpleasant tingly feeling. The best I could manage without my teeth chattering was a "hummmooooooowwwwwaaaaa" that sounded exactly like when you talk into an oscillating fan. Which of course made me giggle. Which made me notice that even my cheeks were vibrating. Which made me giggle even harder.

James was a very good sport through all of this, pausing to let me say silly things like "Luke, I am your faaaattthhhhhaaaaaa" and even laughing good naturedly despite the fact that I'm sure I'm not his first client to pull such shenanigans. He patientely explained that the thing that makes the Power Plate unique among fitness gadgetry is that due to the vibrations you "feel like you are working less but your muscles are actually working harder."

"So you perceive your exertion to be less but you are really getting a better workout?"

"Yes, and in a shorter amount of time." The typical Power Plate workout lasts about 30 minutes.

More for less. Which, correct me if I'm wrong, is the holy grail of exercisers everywhere. But the question was, would the Power Plate deliver on that promise or would it end up like those vibrating exercisers of yore?

James led me through an entire workout focusing mainly on lower body and core. I did squats, weighted lunges, rows, bridges and even a plank all while vibrating at approximately 35 times a second. Other than making my fatty bits jiggle embarrassingly, it felt a lot like a traditional body-weight workout. It was hard to compare my rate of perceived exertion due to the fact that I was so entranced by the vibrating that I kept forgetting to focus on my body but I'm pretty sure I didn't work out as hard as I normally would have. It's also hard to measure something like "30% more muscle activation" but I did feel like I was using muscles to stabilize myself that rarely got used.

At one point James instructed, "Stop moving your foot."

"I'm not," I answered, trying to keep my teeth from knocking together.

"You are," he replied, pointing at my toes.

I looked down. Sure enough my foot was dancing around all of its own accord. How embarrassing. I tried to put a stop to it but I couldn't really feel it moving, leaving me with the dilemma of launching into a full-on softshoe or using my other foot to hold it down. Thankfully the machine stopped vibrating saving me from what could only end in further giggling.

James then instructed me to drink water telling me that the vibrations would cause a lympatic "cleansing." I had no idea that the lymph system could "cleanse" or what that would mean (more peeing?) but apparently you helped the process along by drinking lots of water.

"So how do you feel?" he asked solicitously when I was all done getting smellier.

"Tingly."

"And...?"

The owner of the studio interjected, "You might not feel sore tomorrow; we always go pretty conservative on the first workout."

But the thing was, I was starting to feel a little tight in my legs which from previous experience usually indicates that I will be sore the next day. In addition, I sweated (swote? swotted?) plenty so I know I was working something.

My Conclusions
Does the Power Plate provide a more intense workout than traditional weight training exercises? Perhaps, but I think you could achieve the same level of exertion without the fancy machinery, it might just take you longer. The real selling point for me about the workout was not that it offered the fitness equivalent of a proceed-directly-to-go-and-collect-200$ card but rather all the attention that came with it. Every time you use the thing, you get a personal trainer. The monthly fee was about what you'd pay for a membership at a nicer gym but when you consider that you are getting a personal training session every time you go in (and they do have other equipment like cardio machines to round out your workout), then the fee becomes a screaming deal.

So my recommendation is that if you have a Power Plate in your gym already, it's definitely worth checking out. It was one of the most unique workouts I've ever tried and definitely ranked high on the entertainment factor. Also, if you are interested in hiring a personal trainer long term then a gym like Fit U is a great deal. (Thanks to Dennis for the tip! And to Candice, Keith and James for the great experience!)

Fitness Competitor: Jen Cook

This 5' 2", 115 pound beauty is fitness competitor and IFBB pro Jen Cook.
Jen has a huge modeling background including fitness, swimsuit, glamour and fashion modeling, commercial and print appearances, and being the spokesmodel for companies.
And besides being an IFBB Professional Athlete, she is a published international fitness and fashion model calendar model, and commercial actor.

Contest History:

1999- NPC Southwest USAs
Short Class, Fitness - 2nd place

1999- NPC Muscle Beach (Galveston, TX)
Short Class, Fitness - 1st place and Overall Winner

2000- NPC Jr. Nationals
Short Class, Fitness - 1st place

2000- NPC Nationals
Short Class, Fitness - 7th place

2001- NPC USAs
Short Class, Fitness - 2nd place
(IFBB Pro qualifier)

2002 - IFBB Jan Tana
Pro Fitness - 10th

2007 – IFBB Atlantic City Pro
Pro Figure – 8th

And besides being a fitness competitor, she is also a judge.

Ginnifer Goodwin's Epic Diet [How Old Were You on Your First Diet?]

I've always had a soft spot for Ginnifer Goodwin - we're both pale with dark hair, we're both 32, and she plays a polygamous Mormon wife on a show that purports to not be about Mormons but really is, (or at least is really about the weirdly naive-yet-oversexed stereotype of Mormons that Hollywood so loves) and I'm an actual Mormon (albeit a way more boring one than the Big Love family - once you take away the kinky sex quadrangle all you're left with is a bunch of smiley people who don't drink, don't smoke and bring Jell-O to parties). See? We're practically twins!

We also share another uncanny trait: We've both been dieting since we were children. She joined Weight Watchers at age nine and I started counting fat grams in my journal - my goal was 0g a day, no one told me you need fat to live! - at the same tender age. We split paths when she decided to stick with Weight Watchers for life and I decided to try out every diet in creation plus some I made up myself (ice cubes and baby carrots, no joke) before embarking on the long disordered-eating journey that finally landed me where I am today: recovering, intuitive eater, but still with some issues. Frankly I think she made the wiser choice.

Across the board, I think Weight Watchers is one of the most sensible and reliable diets (or "healthy lifestyle plans") out there. While there is much to quibble with in the details, overall I think they give people great tools for identifying healthy food and deciding how much of it to eat. Certainly many people have had a lot of success with it - there's a reason they remain perennially popular. The problem here is not with Weight Watchers per se, but the fact that Ginnifer has been on a diet since she was nine. For the record Weight Watchers would like you to know that they don't accept members under ten. Okay, then.

Why would anyone need to stay on a diet for their entire life? Here are two clues:

1. Elle Fanning (little sis of Dakota) is fashion's new It Girl, only thing is she's twelve. As in 12 years old. 12!! The Daily Beast writes unironically,

"Though she's still missing five teeth, Elle has shot up to 5-foot-6, and dresses look good on her ballet-dancer frame. "More designers are going to want to dress her because she's tall-it's sounds crazy to say someone has a good figure at 12-but she captures a youthful spirit," says Interview's entertainment director, Lauren Tabach-Bank.

Sadie Stein of Jezebel skewers the Beast with her characteristic wit retorting,

"That's not a "ballet-dancer frame;" it's called prepubescent. Elle Fanning is an adorable girl who shows all signs of being a very competent actress. But holding her up as a fashion exemplar largely because she's a child is just plain creepy."

2. One of the hottest models for women's couture right now is Andrej Pejic. Long blond hair, colt limbs, tiny waist, high cheekbones - there is nothing particularly surprising about his popularity except for one thing: he's a he.

It isn't that Elle is a remarkably mature looking young woman or that Andrej is a very effeminate man - the problem is that Elle looks exactly like a child and Andrej looks every bit like man (google him and look at his regular pics if you don't believe me) and yet they're trussed up and displayed to women who are told that this is the standard of beauty. When you think that we epitomize a prepubescent child and young man as the ideal of womanly beauty then suddenly Ginnifer's epic diet doesn't seem so crazy.

In an interview with Health magazine Ginnifer explains, "I’ve never had a dramatic weight problem, it’s just that I tend to indulge, and then I need to get back on track so I can button my pants." When pressed by the interviewer to further explain she elaborates, "It’s my hips and my upper thighs. Even at my crazy skinniest, where I’ve looked at myself and been like, “Ginny, you’re too skinny,” those are still there. And I think it might be … permanent?" Well that would be yet another thing we have in common because I can be skeletal up top and still have the fatty bits at the tops of my thighs. (Hmm, perhaps women aren't supposed to be hipless with thighs the same diameter as our calves... like prepubescent children and young men?)

The interviewer finishes the body talk by asking Ginnifer which movie stars she wishes she most looked like and she picks, "Jessica Biel [...] she’s a freaking knockout. Jennifer Aniston, too. They might be the only two women in the world who have bodies like that, so I’m really glad that they chose a profession where we all get to look at them all the time." Ginnifer finishes up by calling herself "curvy" which comes out sounding like an epithet. I appreciate the self-deprecation and all but I want to reach through the magazine and hug her and then yell, "Hasn't anyone ever told you YOU are beautiful Ginnifer?! Just the way you are! Hips and thighs and all!" Girl even cops to popping her own zits. And she rocks a pixie cut. See? Beautiful.

Ms.Fitness USA of 2008: Tiffany Yee

This beautiful lady is of Chinese, Hawaiian, Portuguese descent.
She is a former Denver Broncos Cheerleader and Featured Dancer on the Soul Train Television show.
Tiffany has competed in several fitness competions (I'm saving the best for last), she was 1st Runner Up at the 2002 Ms. Physique California, 2002 Fitness Northern California Champion, 2002 and 2003 Ms. Fitness Rocky Mountain Champion, 2002 NPC Colorado State Short Class Figure Champion, 2002 NPC Colorado State Fitness Champion, 4th Runner Up at the 2003 Ms. Fitness USA, 9th place at the 2004 Ms. Fitness World and 1st Runner Up at the 2004 Ms. Fitness USA.
And now, six years after her first big win, Tiffany Yee is Ms.Fitness USA of 2008!

The Beauty of Strong Women [Rachel Cosgrove Experiment Results are in!]

Fragile. Tiny. Vulnerable. Weak. I'll admit it: I liked being those things. For a long time (most of my life?), I enjoyed people grabbing my arm and cooing "Oh, I've never seen such a tiny wrist!" I liked that men got things down from high shelves for me without me even having to ask. I liked how boyfriends stood protectively around me, their arms a barrier between me and everything that was scary. I liked how I could punch a male friend on the arm and he'd just laugh. I liked being the damsel in distress, liked being carried over mud puddles and -heaven help me - liked being rescued. (Yes, I'm slightly embarrassed to admit this now.)

Muscles did not fit in with that image I held of myself. In fact, muscles made it hard to fit into all the uber-girly dresses that defined my image. I was one of those girls who would look at Hillary Swank in Million Dollar Baby and think, "I would never want to look like that, she's way too muscular." I used to covet the spaghetti-like arms of starlets and catwalk models, arms that are widest at the elbow. Besides, female bodybuilders are widely ridiculed in our society; childish women are still the ideal.

Then something inside me began to change. Maybe it was the realization, courtesy of my abusive ex-boyfriend, that the same arms that held me up could also be used to hold me down. I learned that my softness could be used against me. Or maybe it was discovering, as a teacher, that people don't listen to a shrinking violet. Or perhaps it was the epiphany after so many times of falling on my face that there is no one to rescue me. No one but me.

Moreover, now that I'm a mother, I'm the rescuer. I'm the one that has to be strong and steady. I'm the one carrying tiny bodies up six flights of stairs. I'm the one encircling my arms protectively against the harsh realities that fly at my children with alarming force. It's impossible for me to be needy in the face of their bottomless need.

This shift has caused me considerable consternation. If I am not the princess then who am I? A cross-dressing knight with the wrong genitalia? I'm pretty sure there weren't any of those at King Arthur's round table. An Amazon woman in a culture where "amazonian" is generally not a compliment? This ambivalence about being "strong" translated into a strange love-hate relationship with my muscles. I wanted to be strong but I didn't want to look like it and while there are many ways for women to be strong, having distinct muscles is an obvious way to proclaim your strength.

For years I have lived with this competing notion of always wanting to be ever smaller and yet needing to be ever stronger. I'd bemoan a few pounds gained on the scale but rejoice in the pull-ups that new muscle let me do. (Think pull-ups aren't a life skill? Once in college I locked myself out of my apartment with the only way in being through a second story balcony. I enlisted the help of the guy next door. He promptly jumped, pulled himself up and climbed over the railing. I'd been locked out for an hour. He was in in 30 seconds. A feat he and his roommates later repeated to relocate all our furniture to their garage but that's another story. Being able to do a pull-up would have been useful, is all I'm saying.) I'd cry about a dress not fitting but be ecstatic that I could heft the 50-lb bag of flour into my cart at Costco.

Then kickboxing and karate came into my life and the martial arts showed me that not only are muscles handy, they're life-saving. There was something so deeply satisfying, healing even, about punching and kicking. Sure it's not always the strongest one who wins - karate taught me the value of using my weaknesses - but muscles certainly don't hurt.

And that's the beauty of and the problem with strong women: we're immensely powerful. Even more powerful, perhaps, than we know.

All of this is a prelude to telling you about the conclusion of my Great Rachel Cosgrove's The Female Body Breakthrough Fitness Experiment. In a nutshell: I put on some serious muscle. And I think I like it. In the past 4 years of doing fitness Experiments, I've liked a lot of things. I've enjoyed doing the vast majority of the programs I've tried but there are only a few I have loved. CrossFit. Karate. And now this one. This program certainly ranks in my top 3 and is possibly number 1! I know!

What I liked

1. It lives up to its promises. I significantly changed my body composition. Dropping nearly all my steady state cardio (I kept 1-2 days/week of TurboKick) and really lifting heavy made a huge difference. Despite the fact that it flaunts the conventional wisdom that cardio is the all-mighty fat burner, over the past two months I've dropped 1.5 pants sizes (I know, half of a pants size makes no sense but I'm down at least a whole size and in some brands two whole sizes so I averaged that to 1.5.)

2. Real, measurable results. I'm down 5% body fat. (Yes, this month the calipers showed a 5% drop although I think that was probably spread across the two months and the trainer who did my body fat last month was off.) I've lost 1.5 inches off of my waist, 1 inch off each thigh and and half an inch off my hips. I didn't think to measure my shoulders but judging from the way my shirts fit, I'm betting they went up quite a bit. My biceps, chest and calves remained the same. The nice thing about not weighing myself during this Experiment is that I'm pretty sure all this new muscle added up on the scale but seeing as I don't know, I don't care! Seriously, people keep stopping the Gym Buddies and I at the gym to ask what we're doing because we look so different.

3. Nice variety. There are a lot of different weight routines so we didn't get bored. Often I find myself complaining that workouts aren't challenging enough but this one with its four phases had routines basic enough for the total beginner and yet also had workouts that kicked our been-there-bought-the-t-shirt butts. (Hello "complexes" - my butt's been sore for 2 months straight!)

4. The post-workout shakes. I should clarify: I didn't like the smoothies themselves. I never could get past the "chew" factor. (All of you that told me to put chia seeds in there to give it texture? I literally dry heaved on the stretching mats. That's like trying to drink tapioca! Gah, even typing that makes me shudder. Sorry you guys but I detest pudding - even creme brulee reminds me of snot once I get past the sugar shell.) However, I did like the effect the smoothies had. It was so nice to not be all shaky from low blood sugar while trying to collect my children, drive home, and shower before getting time to make myself lunch.

What I Didn't Like

1. Too easy interval training. While I adore high intensity interval (HIIT) workouts, Cosgrove's got boring. We also had a really hard time getting our heart rate up doing them. So after the first month, we switched them out for puketastic Tabata sprints on the treadmill and some harder intervals from bodyrock.tv.

2. The foam rolling. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong (if I posted a video would you guys critique it for me? Deb Roby??) but despite doing it religiously I never saw a difference from it. Never even felt so much as a twinge doing it. Gym Buddy Megan however liked it so much she bought her own roller for home.

3. Big training jump between phases. Gym Buddy Krista pointed out that the transition from Phase I to Phase II in the workouts was a huge leap and that beginners might need to spend a lot more time than one month in Phase I to be comfortable enough to move on. Of course we skipped Phase I entirely so, yeah.

4. The hilarious warm-up. (Although I need to clarify: I love that she has a dynamic warm-up. We are totally on board with dynamic warm-ups. We just felt kinda silly doing a maypole dance in the middle of the weight floor.)

Conclusions

I loved this. I want more of it! I'm actually sad to move on from this Experiment because I've enjoyed it so much. Plus? I love looking in the mirror when I punch and seeing rippling muscles. Maybe I'm finally coming into my own power. And I think we still look like girls:

PS. I tried to take some pics to show you guys my super duper new muscles up close but apparently I have vampire muscles - they disappear on film. Sigh. I don't know if it's because I'm so pale that porcelain gets jealous or if it's because that while the change is major to me it's actually pretty minor to everyone else. But, hey, at least you're spared more grainy pics of my messy bathroom!