Saundra

  February 2025 For the next two months (8-weeks), I will be doing Bodi's Autumn Calabrese Belle Vitale Program. Autumn actually designed this as a 12-week (3-month) program, but I am condensing it down to 2-months. In Autumn's program, she has you doing 5 workouts per week, with 2-days off. On my off days, I will be doing treadmill runs (I am training for a 10K) on Sunday and yoga/active recovery workouts on Saturday.

Functional Pilates Fusion clocks in at 33 minutes. Several tools are used throughout the workout.  Cathe starts using the foam roller to help increase flexibility and to add a bit of resistance and expansion to the body. The mini-ball is added to work on coordination and increase intensity through dynamic movement. Cathe uses the fabric-loop band to add resistance during the leg floor series.   DVD Menu Full Series Overview Workout Intro Equipment Needed Play Functional Pilates Fusion Play Lower Body Foam Rolling Bonus Chapters Premixes Audio Settings I liked this workout. I felt I wanted more of the Pilates and less of the fusion. 3 & 1/2 stars

  Functional Core Fusion is a 32-minute core inspired workout. The workout is fused with stability and flexibility moves.  Cathe workouts all aspects of the core to include abs, hip and pelvis and low back.  A stability ball and mat are the equipment in this workout. DVD Menu Full Series Overview Workout Intro Equipment Needed Play Functional Core Fusion Play Level 2 Functional Core Bonus Chapters Premixes Audio Settings There are six premixes.  The basic premix combines the main workout and bonus workout. There are three timesaver premixes and two mish mosh premixes. I enjoy this workout. I do the Basic premix option which clocks in at 41:44. 3&3/4 stars

Functional Yoga Fusion is a 41-minute workout.  Cathe combines traditional yoga moves with traditional stretching and balances moves. The workout uses a mat and optional yoga blocks. The DVD Menu Full Series Overview Workout Intro Equipment Needed Play Functional Yoga Fusion Plat Restorative Yoga Bonus Chapters Premixes Audio Setting Audio Settings include two options. A Normal Mix and and and  Vocal Only Mix. There are five premixes.  One basic premix that includes the main workout plus the bonus workout. There are four timesaver premixes. 3 stars

Functional Mobility Fusion is a 41-minute workout.  The first few exercises are designed to warm you up and increase blood flood to the muscle using range of motion and dynamic and static stretching.  After the warm up, Cathe takes you through a series of core, cardio, and strength body weight exercises that are used to bring mobility to various areas of the body. You are working in all planes: lying, standing, seated, kneeling.  Cathe offers form and modification pointers for certain exercises. You do get breaks between the exercises.   3 stars

Functional Total Body is a 54 minute workout.  A mat, barbell, plate weight and dumbbells are on the equipment list.  Half way through the warmup does use a set of dumbbells.  This workout uses a combination of moves to work the entire body. There are a lot of "combo" exercises where you are taking two compound moves and combining the two exercises back to back for a certain amount of reps.  Exercises are performed from the standing position and some are floor based.  As with most of the workouts in this series, Cathe offers you modifications showing multiple ways or levels in which the exercise can be done to make it harder or easier.  See the spreadsheet for the list of exercises. 3 & 1/2 stars  

Functional Upper Body is a 48 minute workout.  Cathe uses a resistance cord to warm up the upper body. Once in the workouts, you are using a combination of weights, resistance cord, and a yoga block in the various exercises. There were very few isolation type moves in the workout.  Most of the upper body moves include the lower body or core (balance) to make the exercise more functional. These are multi-component exercises I felt the last group of exercises were more core based than upper body based. Cathe offers modifications throughout the workout. 3 & 3/4 stars  

Functional Lower Body is 53 minutes in length. Cathe uses several tools to work the lower body.  There is the fabric loop band, dumbbells, plate weight, resistance loop band, mini step, and your own body weight.   There are distinct segments in this workout.  After the warm up, the workout starts with a fabric loop segment. Next comes dumbbell (weighted plate) segment. There is a mini-step segment and a mini-loop band segment (standing firewalkers and lying floor).  The rep count varies per exercise.  You are doing anywhere from 8 to 10 to 12  to 16 reps depending on the exercise.  You are pulsing some of the moves so the rep count is higher for these exercises. I like this workout the second time through better than I did the first. 3 & 3/4 stars  

Functional Barre Fusion clocks in at 48 minutes.  In this workout, Cathe takes you through 5 rounds or circuits of a lower body exercise, an upper body exercise and a core exercise.  You are doing anywhere from 8 to 28 reps depending on the exercise. As you go in and out of each exercise, you will pull out various pieces of equipment for use.  Equipment use include the STS bar (or chair), mini ball, mini loop band and a single disc.  The workout moves at a moderate pace. There is enough time for a brief stretch between the exercises and rounds as Cathe uses this time to chat or demonstrate a move or offer form pointers. I think this workout here is my favorite in the entire LM&R series. 4 stars  

January 2025 I am doing a six-week rotation using Cathe's Lift, Move & Restore Functional workout series. This rotation will include Cardio Coach workouts as Sunday Treadmill day and it will include Jessica Smith cardio workouts, as well as Jessica Smith Healthy back workouts.  I am still nursing a low back tenderness. It is not  as bad as it was before. Saturday are typically Active Recovery for me or rest days so I have put those workouts there. I actually started this rotation a week ago. Just realized that I did not put out a December rotation.  Well I had a lot going on at the beginning of this month.  Anyway, I did all the bonus workouts that came with this series in December. And I have done all but two of the main workouts.  I will review the main workout this month when I have gone through them a second time. Happy January everyone and may you all reach your goals. 

  This is my big hello to 2025 . Yep. It is time for me to reset, refocus and refresh. I am also doing a lot of decluttering.  I have been working on my home. And after I declutter my home, I will declutter my digital life. I was listening to a podcast, a couple of weeks ago and the person made the comment, "Today is the youngest you will ever be. Make the most of it."   As I journey through 2025, I will try to keep those words as a primary focus. Wishing everyone a happy and very much a healthy 2025.