Review of 21 Day Fix Extreme Day 3: Pilates Fix Extreme

Day 3: Pilates Fix Extreme

Yesterday was Day 3 of 21 Day Fix Extreme. It was Pilates Fix Extreme. I was kind of dreading this day. I didn't do so well with Pilates Fix when I did the original 21 Day Fix. I had never done Pilates before that. It's nice being on the floor and not doing anything that's crazy intense in terms of cardio, but it's not comfortable for me to be sitting in a C for extended periods of time. Maybe I just haven't found the right place to sit, but it's just not pleasant. I also didn't do well with one section of legwork. That thing hurt worse than leg day. I had to take soooooo many breaks doing it, but it was also on the schedule the day after leg day I think so it made it super challenging. For 21 Day Fix Extreme, they have Pilates Fix Extreme before leg day which I think is a brilliant idea. 

This workout used resistance bands. The modifier used them as well, but she did a smaller range of motion. There were times where she held a slightly different position and other times where she just worked her legs and didn't do anything with her arms. I didn't really follow the modifier, but I didn't go full out like the rest of the people were doing. I didn't think this was going to go well at all since Pilates Fix was crazy hard for me and we didn't have bands. However, I think the bands actually helped me in some places. There were some moves where we had to lay back or do other things where you're kind of fighting gravity and the bands sort of helped with that. They also help pull you up. There were certain positions where they were kind of awkward because all of my limbs were connected to each other, but for the most part, I liked having the bands. It was hard for me though because I don't wear shoes when I work out. We had to wrap the bands around our feet so they would stay there. I was already running late so I didn't take the time to find shoes and socks. I just wrapped them around my bare feet and that probably wasn't the best for my plantar faciitis issues, but I'll survive. 

I'm not going to go play by play through this workout because there were too many moves. This one didn't follow the pattern of having 3-5 rounds with 2-4 exercises per round repeating each exercise twice. I lost track of how many moves there were, but there were three basic sections. 

The first part was all about the abs. It was mainly done seated in some form. Each move lasted 60 seconds. The moves included things like starting out in a C position and then laying down and then coming back up to C very slowly, a Roman Twist type maneuver, One Hundreds, and some stuff where our legs were up in the air and then went down close to the floor. 

The second part was mainly stuff for the legs. A lot of it was done on our hands and knees. We did some Bird Dogs which were interesting to do with the bands and I don't mean interesting in a good way. This was awkward and my wrists didn't enjoy it much. We also did Fire Hydrants with the bands. At some point during this, I decided to lay my hands down flat on the floor and and have the handle around my wrists. This caused some button on my Polar M400 watch to get hit and then my watch proceeded to beep at me for the rest of the workout. I couldn't get it to stop and it was so annoying. We also did some leg lifts, but it was a short section and not nearly as torturous as the leg lifting section in the original 21 Day Fix.

The final part was pretty much done laying face down. I actually enjoyed this section and was kind of bummed that the watch was driving me insane because I could have gotten more out of this section had I not wanted to throw things. We did Supermans with the bands. I had never done this before, but I really liked it. I love Supermans anyway, but this really made me feel it in my lower back which is a place that I need to strengthen, but don't get many changes to work at it. We also did Swans which is pretty much a Superman, but the legs were bent at the knee and the arms were more to the side than out front.

The cool down last a couple minutes and was mainly just some stretching and deep breathing. I liked this workout much more than I anticipated. There were some moves that were challenging, but that's a good thing. I was still sore from Plyo Fix Extreme and Upper Fix Extreme, but I was able to get through it without taking too many breaks. I did take breaks during the Fire Hydrants and the Bird Dogs, but I was able to fight through most of the other stuff. I was watching the clock tick down though for some of the stuff just waiting to get that break. There wasn't much of a break in between moves, but it was enough to help a little bit. This one seemed slower paced than I remember Pilates Fix Extreme. For the most part, I was able to keep pace with them, which is totally new for me!

Polar M400 Screen Shots

I was surprised that I didn't get any breaks in the heart rate chart. Maybe tightening up that band actually did something!  This wasn't a huge calorie burn, but that's okay. I'm not about calories in vs. calories out anymore. 

Want to learn more? Watch the video!

If you decide you want to try the program out, be sure to buy it from a coach so you get the free DVD that you can't get through other sources. If you don't have a coach, you can sign up with me.