Hi everyone,
Before I share this workout, I want to mention a BodyRock comment with you. This is something that I have seen a lot of and I really would like to hear your feedback. This is not me trying to undermine, or belittle, as I am sure that many people have lost weight from doing their workouts that have wanted to. My feeling is, however, that there are many people under a false pretence, or ignorant to the fact that workouts at BodyRock.tv seem only good for getting thinner, like poor Eli who wrote (and as usual got no reply):
“Hi Zuzana, i just wanted to thank you for sharing with us all your amazing workouts and advice… I love doing the workouts and im already seeing results im thin but after two babies i have the nasty pouch 🙁 im following the workouts and losing weight but im not satisfied because im not seeing muscle gain.. i dont wanna be bulky but im just so skinny… should i be taking extra protein?”
This type of plea really pains me, and I have replied on their site before (but it never got approved, and I didn’t SPAM). Why can’t they just tell people that they need to lift heavier and eat more calories to build muscle?! You can eat all the protein in the world, but unless your body sees a use for it (repair of muscles), you will basically poop it out!
I want people to know that my resistance and strength based workouts will go a long way in helping you to build muscle, especially if you are just starting out in using resistance tools like Kettlebells. Increasing the weights will obviously help you progress with shaping and toning the muscles, but you will never get big, because Kettlebells are more for conditioning the muscles, plus you will never use the weights needed to get you big. And don’t forget the need for calories to feed the muscles! Kettlebells have their place in training, but as you all know I regularly preach VARIETY VARIETY VARIETY, as the path to get the best from your body.
Another thing, while I’m on my soap box, please don’t starve yourselves! You can still eat a varied and healthy diet and look good. I’m not as lean as I set out to be, but boy am I happier now than ever! My journey has shown me that wanting to be lean and only lean will lead you down a route of obsessive behaviour, vanity and “control”. Now, I think about ability and strength first, then the rest falls into place! And remember that more muscle you have, the more calories you burn even at rest! If you go all skinny and lose half your muscle, then one day decide to start eating more, then your metabolism will be shot and won’t burn off the extra calories. This = more bodyfat = at best, skinny fat person, untoned and 100 times more likely to crash diet! Who wants that life??? If you want to enjoy what you and your body can achieve, then give it what it needs and enjoy the physical and mental strength lifting and doing! Be sensible, not obsessive with food and you will see how less stress = contentment!
Now for today’s conditioning workout, containing all elements of training, cardio (c), strength (s), resistance (r), stability (st), plyometrics (p) and core activating exercises (cae). Today I decided to make things simple and only use one Kettlebell, 16kg for everything but the swings, when I used the 20kg.
First set your Gymboss Interval Timer for 24 cycles of 15 seconds recovery and 45 seconds effort. Complete 3 rounds of the following 8 exercises. The type of exercise and my reps per exercise are in brackets beside the exercise name:
- KB Thruster (right) (c,r,st,cae, some s) (14,13,11)
- KB Thruster (left) (c,r,st,cae,some s) (13,13,10)
- 2 Sumo Jump Burpee (c,p,r,s,cae) (11,10,10)
- KB Bent Over Alternating Row (r,s,cae) (16,14,15)
- Bench Jump Overs (c,p,cae) (48,51,45)
- KB Vertical Swing Burpee (r,c,s,cae) (11,11,9)
- Lunge Jumps (c,p,st,cae) (23,21,20)
- Two-Handed KB Swing (c,r,cae) (29,28,26)
For some reason I found this really tough today, must be tired because of the really cold weather we’re having here. Hope you enjoy this workout and, as always I appreciate any comments and feedback. I am interested to hear your opinions about the BodyRock issue too. I am aware that they have a lot of fans, but I know of a few cross-over fans to myomytv too, so I would like to hear everyone who has an opinion, and don’t be worried about disagreeing with me, I will hear you out 🙂 It’s just something I feel strongly about.
Cheers everyone
Marianne
I am so excited to find your workouts!! Thank you!
Hi Marianne!
Obviously this was an old debate, but being new to your site I thought I’d weigh in briefly. I really love the encouragement you exude from your posts. I also appreciate your humbled way of providing workouts, advice etc. ie this is a guide but may not be bible. I also appreciate your encouragement for opinions from your fans and openness to feedback. As I said I only recently discovered your site and mentioned it to a friend. At the same time she told me about bodyrocks. I did check it out and I’ve seen a couple of workouts that aren’t bad but they certainly don’t embrace diversity in body shape. Their “bodyrockers” will occasionally post progress posts. One imparticular shows a girls torso which is originally a little soft in the middle, but nothing over the top. Her “now” photo is of her torso again and she looks malnourished. Yes, she may have trimmed down, but she has no strength clearly and no muscle. And the official bodyrock comment on it is “good work but you still have some more work to do” that turned me off instantly. I love that your site is immediately welcoming and not intimidating. I love that u recognize that beauty goes beyond the waif malnourished look. And that we don’t have to starve!
I absolutely love your site – you are a positive role model in an industry where this is extremely lacking! And congratulations on the feature in shape magazine!!
Keep up the amazing work and stay your encouraging self!
Thanks Sarah Brown 🙂 I never want to even unintentionally make anyone feel they have to look a certain way, or that being skinny is better. I feel sorry for that girl – now she will go to all extremes to “do that extra little bit of work” ALL BECAUSE that’s what they told her! Makes me mad! I’, not saying all of what they teach is wrong, but they need to start addressing what is healthy!
Hopefully, more people will start looking elsewhere for home workouts, now Z is not doing them. Maybe they will come here instead 🙂
Thank you for your very encouraging and supportive comment. It’s nice to see that not everyone falls for this image!
I will definitely keep putting the word out about your site Marianne. It’s fantastic. My boyfriend has quite bit of training in exercise, we were both very impressed with your basic squat tutorial. Very detailed! He’s going to help me work on perfecting my squat technique. Who knew it was so complicated!
Thank you Sarah Brown. Good luck with your squat 😀
OMG just rocked this workout!!!! According to my HRM burned 404 calories in 24 minutes…..the sweat is pouring off me and I love it…..keep rocking it Marianne
Nice one Mike!! You must have been working really hard, that is a good amount of calories. Keep it up 😀
Hey I just saw your site and thought this was an interesting post. I have just started doing bodyrock workouts. Mainly because for the most part I can supplement the equipment she uses with weights I have at home. What I have just read has almost got me doubting whether there is any point in doing her workouts? I live in Kenya so kettleballs are not so easy to come by around here. Please advice me on what supplementing I can do to really rump up my results. I’m just beginning to see some muscle definition especially arms and legs but I really want to be strong and lean. What suggestions do you have for someone who cannot get kettleballs? Thank you in adavance for your answer.
Winnie, Thank you for stopping by and it is great that you are curious about other ways to supplement your training.
In order to see progressive gains in strength and muscle density, you need to increase the weights that you use over time. Kettlebells are one way of helping to increase strength and conditioning, but I do not only use Kettlebells in my own training. I used heavy weights to build strength. However, I did not start with heavy weights. It requires a process of becoming good at exercises with bodyweight, then adding more weight over time, to make the exercises more challenging so you do not hit a plateau.
What Zuzana does on her site is provide workouts that are may help beginners build some level of strength (under proper tuition), but they may also help her maintain what she has previously gained. She doesn’t actually seem to get much stronger, so I believe she has reach the limit of what her current style of workouts can achieve. They are now more like cardio for her.
Don’t make the same mistake, and continue to increase the challenge to your muscle by using more weight and lower the reps. You don’t have to use this approach all the time, but give your body variety and then you can perform BR workouts as “fillers” or “finishers” to a resistance workout. Resistance training is the key to strength – not cardio. Cardio or BR workouts are good for endurance, speed and cardio-vascular fitness. Building muscle will help you burn fat.
If you have dumbbells, you can still do my workouts, but modify the exercises slightly. It is possible to do. Over time you may need to invest in heavier weights though.
I hope this helps 🙂
I love your workouts and site I’ve been doing kettlebells for almost a year and I love it! As for bodyrocktv we all know what they are selling with those videos and it ain’t health. It’s so disappointing to see people actually follow that chick. Sure she has a perfect body but so what? She’s selling out as far as I’m concerned and I don’t give her workouts a second look I have no respect for her. JMO Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing more from you!
Thanks Aimee, I am glad you are enjoying my site. Perfect body though, mmm, not sure, she used to look a lot better. Think we can all aspire to do better. Nobody should need to follow, be guided, yes 🙂 Thanks what I like about everyone here, we all focus on the bigger picture.
Thanks for commenting btw, nice to hear from you.
Cheers
Marianne
Hi Marianne I really enjoyed “watching” your U-tube videos. Now in addition to all my Kbell workouts, (several by Pavel, Lauren Brooks, Sarah Lurie of Iron Core and Anthony DiLuglio of Art of Strength)I now have you as a creative inspiration. Once I actually visited your site I started to do your workouts, I now have even more appreciation for you and for all the routines you have shared with us.
I started watching Body Rock late 2009 and admittedly really liked the body weight exercises she demonstrated and tried following her daily workout. But the more I did them I found them very taxing and painful on my knee’s, (like the ninja and tuck jumps)so I eventually stopped. Now I create my own workouts using Kbells, TRX, my pull-up bar and just simple body weight exercises thanks to you and Melissa I’m able to get some geat ideas from both of you, although your workouts are challenging for me (I’m alot older than you)I find them doable and I feel I’ll be able to do them for years to come, unlike Zuanna workouts which I feel can only be done by younger people with zero knee problems (although when reading her blog…alot of people said they injured their self doing those jumps). I especially like workouts like Fitness – Fat Burning Furnace – Full Body Workout, the plyo/cardio in these are more natural and fun for me than ninja and tuck jumps. Keep up the good work and once again thanks for sharing
Hi Beeah, thanks for commenting. I am so pleased to hear that you are getting something from my workouts. I love putting them together, and if it helps others get some ideas for their own workouts, then I am even more happy. I think sometimes the exercises on Bodyrock are a little gimicky, so they are only for show but have little substance.
Knees are vulverable at any age, so I like most of my workouts to have exercises that keep your feet firmly on the ground 🙂
Thanks for sharing, and hope to hear from you again.
Cheers
Marianne
This brings up something else really important that I find is greatly lacking on the Bodyrock site. That is form. As a former personal trainer, this concerns me greatly. I’m amazed at the amount of sitesa featuring these exercises (like on Bodyrock) that are extremely advanced and there is very little explanation on proper form or warnings as to the importance of working up to certain exercises. One thing I was impressed with on your site is that you do exercises that are fit for most age groups and you talk about how to do them. You stay with what works without trying to pull in these bizarre things that can really injure someone (like Zuzannas side burpees. That nearly killed my BA k and I’m pretty knowledgeable about this stuff.) Maybe it’s just me but that is definitely something that bothers me.
It is ironic really as she does all these exercise tutorials now, but each exercise is so complex, it’s easy to forget. Didn’t like the look of those side burpees myself.
But there are so many people out there who just take her word for it. As a so-called Certified Personal Trainer, she should know better. But something tells me she has no actual experience as a PT. And she has no accountability to people if they get injured, as they have a massive disclaimer against that. I don’t think it’s just you who it bothers.
Cheers
Marianne.
Hi Marianne… I’m not sure if this is allowed, so, if you can’t post this, I understand. But, I’m responding to Jordan’s comment. She mentioned having to get some kettlebells. There is a site that sells kettlebells at really great prices. Since they can get kind of pricey, I wanted to share the site with her. The site is neptunebarbell.com. Thanks.
No problem at all Laura, I’m all for people sourcing the best prices, mean more people can get Kettlebells, I know only too well the cost issues. I added a direct link to the site 😀
Hey there! I have been doing Zuzana’s workouts from Bodyrock for a few days now, and I have to agree that they aren’t enough. You need to add in strength training for one.
I also took a look at her diet portion of her website, and I don’t agree with her views there, for one. I eat what I want, when I want… I just eat normal portions (unlike I used to…). I usually don’t stuff my face anyways, but I do allow myself to eat a bit more on those special occasions.
Anyways, reading what other people have said about the workouts (and especially losing muscle mass and gaining fat!), I know that I can’t do just her workouts… which I was adding in strength training anyways. So, hopefully I will get to try one of your workouts one of these days! (I just need a kettleball…)
Hey Jordan, thanks for commenting. I hope you get a kettlebell some day 😀 And don’t worry I will always use Kettlebells in my workouts.
Cheers
Marianne
I’ve found the latest bodyrock video post very disturbing and scary. It is no longer fitness blog with some occasional and out of place silly fashion haul. Why they are separating themselves and their viewers from the rest of the world? Are their trying to brainwash their viewers? I guess that most people can never be true ‘bodyrockers’, because their love and respect themselves, enjoy good food, appreciate life and don’t want it to be wasted on thinking of eating the smallest portions possible while the ‘normal’ people are having all the fun. This video made me question their work ethic if there is any. This site has a potential to become something dangerous but I really hope their will come back to their senses. And also Marianne I would like to thank you for answering my question.
There are plenty willing to be brain-washed – thaning her for her “pep talk”! There was a good reply though, someone from Holland posted, “you don’t get fat from Christmas to New Year, but from New Year to Christmas”! Love that!
You’re welcome Jussa, hope it helps 🙂
I just had to comment because of Amy’s story. So glad you were able to come full circle. I never heard of orthorexia. But it definitely makes sense. It’s an addiction pretty much and I know from my own experience you become completely self consumed. It takes over all your thoughts. A big part of getting East my own battle was looking outside myself and realizing what I was doing to those around me. For me I seem more content with my life when I’m thinking more about others rather than being consumed with myself. Sometimes that means I gotta go off my diet for a day or so because my mom put her time and energy into preparing Christmas dinner. In the long run its not going to mess things up all that much. Just saying.
I agree, my mum would be so hurt if I turned round and said “sorry I’m only going to taste your lovely dinner”.
I was just telling Andrew about the whole Christmas restrictions and dictations and he said “at my Xmas dinner, I’m usually saying “is that all”, so guess I’m not good enough to be fit in at that other site”.
Christmas especially is a time for focusing on others, how lean you are or your diet should be the last thing on you mind, not the first, last and only thing! I know I’ve gained a little fat this month, but I know that after Christmas there will be less goodies about the house, no mulled wine and a more motivated and fresh outlook, so I will lose it again naturally, AND I will have enjoyed Christmas guilt-free!
That’s getting the best of both worlds.
Cheers Laura, your clients are very lucky to have you to speak sense to them.
Marianne
Isnt life supposed to be FUN???? and food is FUN and YUM and part of being social..which is vital to human existence. actually so is food…
I am happy for you to do a collage or whatever with my story.
I know what you mean about it ‘popping up’ i get the same but I can see it coming and I just get it under control. I get the control under control!And Marianne you are 100% right about diet being something you can control when you feel like something in life is not going the way you want it.
I was such a nightmare to be around I feel so sorry for my poor family who had to deal with me. Also another huge thing is that orthorexics think they are living the ‘right’ way and try and tell everyone so and get them to eat ‘healthy’ like them. perhaps thats what ‘leading by example’ is..i have no idea. but really who are any of us to shove our ideas down other people’s throats. indoctrination.
I realised that I was unhappy and maybe the controlling lifestyle was a way to find happiness…
or cover up unhappiness like oh well.. atleast I have a 6-pack.
So i landed up turning my whole life around and went after what i REALLY wanted in life.. and funnily enough a 6 pack wasn’t it and now I am living in a country i want to be in and studying a second degree in something i am passionate about and am a 100% happier then when my life was just about training and food. how boring!
I love your attitude Amy, you have learned so much from your experiences. I can totally identify with what you’ve said too 🙂
Thanks again
Marianne
very good idea Marianne. I think it will be great to have a collage of peoples comments and and their experience.
but most of all I love the very challenging workouts that you post here.
BTW I am in no way interested in being super lean. I am lean enough as it is, and need some of that body fat to keep me warm it’s cold out there. LOL
hi Marianne
I think that Amy’s story pretty much sums it up. This story should be featured on your site, this is a big issue lately. Maybe it is so touching to me, because I have potential of going in that direction, although I am good at sensing when my body is unhappy.
I see a lot of women in New York City who struggle with that very same issue
“I just want to look hot in my bikini” syndrome. It is sad, sad, sad. That is the reason that I can’t watch Zuzana any longer. I seriously hope she comes around, because she has potential to turn herself around and set a positive image to her viewers.
To me it is a wake up call, and I thank you for having this website so we can all share our stories and try to stay away from the false hope that we will be happier if we starve ourselves or deny ourselves for the purpose of being “hot and lean”. How insipid is that?
Cheers
I hope you can control the feelings you get because I know how hard it is. But you don’t need to be super lean to be happy with your body, as we can read from this tread. Maybe I will post Amy’s story, or a collage of everyone’s stories together to feature the importance of recognising these feelings, and seeing that we’re not alone in overcoming them 🙂
Afterall the most attractive feature anyone can have is not a lean body, but a quiet self-confidence 🙂
Hi Marianne,
Mickela’s last post (hi Mickela by the way, great comment) is precisely the reason why I was saying in a previous post that it’s important to speak out loud when you see something (Bodyrock and the horrible message they are giving out) that is wrong and potentially very damaging for a lot of people.
Bodyrock is contributing in a very massive way – due to their vast audience – to a very negative and potentially hurtful “trend” in nowadays society.
This is not fitness and Zuzana’s latest photos, where she looks like a weird and undernourished alien from Outer Space (even the look on her face is “not healthy”), are quite disturbing and represent very well what Mickela is speaking about.
And bear in mind that I have always been basically thin, so I am speaking out of “sheer rationality”.
Cheers
Bianca
I agree with you Bianca, and I just watched a new video over there with some very disturbing advice being handed out! It actually shocked me that, in essence, they are now encouraging, not normal people, but “BodyRockers” to arrogantly sit at the dinner table on Christmas day on their high-horses, sticking to their diets and feeling superior! Have you ever in your life heard anything so dictatory (if that’s even a word LOL)! Us mere Normal people enjoy sharing and closeness at Christmas, not alienating themselves from their loved ones by judging and looking down at them for wanting to let go and stuff their faces for ONE or TWO days! As we say here in Ireland, “wind your neck in”!
All this does is reinforce the need for some realistic approaches to diet and fitness, there is far too many guilt-trips being handed out, is it any wonder our body image suffers if we let things slide even for a day. It’s good to have will-power, but if you can’t learn that falling off the wagon is NOT the end of the world, then your “diet” is more than a diet, it has become a control issue, such as the sort we have all been talking about here!
I would never presume to have the qualifications, position, or the brass neck to tell people to look down on their mother’s efforts to make a large feast on Christmas Day, and “lead by example” by saying no to her! In my life, rules are made to be bent from time to time. Have confidence in yourself and your ability to get things back on track after Christmas. Having strict control over everything is not always a good thing in life, because not everything can be controlled, so learn to adapt and enjoy the moment!
Cheers everyone
Marianne
Hi Marianne, it was precisely after watching that same incredible Bodyrock video – this morning – that I thought of writing my post. I just hated the way Zuzana was indoctrinating her viewers (poor Bodyrockers), preaching from her absurd Prague sitting room yet another “rule” out to them. “Only taste your food at Christmas. Taste your food, rather than eat it”.
Her pre-workout talks are becoming pre-workout sermons (where her coffee has been substituted by her workout drink, so as to at least make a little more money out of it).
Cheers
Bianca
HI Everyone,
I have been following this thread for a few days now and wanted to share with you my story.
i am 26 and have been working out in the gym now for 6 years. and it started off as fun and i wanted to get fit. i LOVE food and i thought brilliant i can eat whatever I want because i am training.
and then i wanted to lean- not ‘thin’ ..but lean . and it started off not missing a workout ( i won;t go into detail about the workouts i did!) and then…. i start becoming OBSESSED with my diet.
this was my diet: for 2 years
7am- oats and 6 egg whites and one apple
10am- small can of tuna and 4 rice crackers
1am- salad and eggs/ cottage /tuna/tofu and rice or somethiing like that
4pm- cottage cheese and crackers
7pm- fish . brocolli/ sweet potato
AND THAT WAS IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yes it may sound like a healthy mealplan and i pretty much eat similarly anyway now… BUT with so much more flexibility-the keyword.
i used to FREAK out it i was late for a meal… if it was coming up to lunch time and i wasnt able to eat lunch i would freak out.. because i thought if i missed a meal it would ruin my metabolism.
i would decline dinner invitations i would stress if we got invited out to people for dinner , i would eat NOTHING anyone else cooked and i ate no and i mean NO cakes/ cookies .. no juice no nothing. the only thing i drank was green tea and rooibos tea ( i am an ex-south african).
and a lot of water.
and i was a personal trainer and a spinning instructor.
until one day.. i realised how unhappy i was! how could this be i asked myself??? so i decided to do some investigating and to my utter shock and horror i discoverd i had an eating disorder called…. orthorexia. which i belive zuzana has and many of you guys have had as well.
its an actual eating disordering that is being obsessed with healthy eating to the point of being physically and mentally damaging.
anyway lucky for me i realised i had to stop and yes.. swang completely the other way and gained 10 kgs.. i used to weigh 45kgs… i am short though – and now i have NO idea how much i weight… last time i checked i was 53kg but to be honest i couldn’t care much about my weight. because i eat what i want and how much i wnat and train SMART not ‘hard’ and feel ok missing a workout and feel ok if i eat lunch at 3 coz i land up having a busy day . i dont carry food around with me everywhere ( actually thats not true i have snacks with me for when i get hungry!) and i love eating out with friends and going to restaurants and i think i look better then ever.
regards to the other site.. i was never a fan. i was looking for new exercise ideas on youtube coz i moved countries and couldn’t get to the gym. i saw her.. and was horrified. and didnt take it seriously. every now and then i look at some of her workouts for ideas and can’t believe how she has changed for the worse compared to when i first saw her a year ago. and the diet advise here someone mentioned is HORRIFYING. even at the height of my madness i knew how important carbs were!!!in fact if i didn;t eat exactly half a cup of brown rice ( crazzzyyy) i would freak out because i thought my body was missing out.
she needs help!
sorry for my rambling…. keep up the good work marianne and hugs to everyone here who has the strength of character to live a balanced life. there really are so many crazy mixed messages for women out there and its not easy to come to terms with it all and have a healthy body image. well done girls xxx
Amy
Hey Amy, thanks for sharing your story. It’s so reassuring to see just how many other people have been affected by the same issues, yet have come through the other side 🙂
I really hope all our stories will go a long way to helping even one person living in that self-induced prison. I don’t think we ever fully escape it as I have also experienced it “popping up” every so often, but it’s how we learn to deal with why it is popping up. Often it is related to the loss of control of another area of our life. I know that stress can make me think very strange things at times and I know that I start having silly irrational thoughts that I am fat, or I need to eat less (which usually results in me eating more :/ ).
Anyway, thank you all for sharing and I hope you will all help me to promote healthy, balanced life-styles here.
Cheers
Marianne
Hi everyone, sorry if I got very “passionate” regarding the “freedom of expression” concept: I am a journalist and the idea that people should refrain from expressing their opinions is so totally against my beliefs that….I got very passionate on this issue. Furthermore, I am Italian and I guess that getting passionate about things is in my “genes”.
🙂
Bianca
Haha … I hear that Bianca. I have lots of Italian friends. I can see what your saying. Thanks for the challenge. I’m all about passion. I know it’s what drives me to accomplish the things I want to do. Anyway – it would be good if we all got the word out there about myomytv. Marianne really has a good thing here and I know tons of people that would really benefit from it. Thanks again Bianca. Best to you. Laura 😀
Hi Marianne … This whole issue that you bring up has definitely confirmed some of my own thoughts. I actually was a faithful Bodyrock follower for a long time. I loved the short intense workouts and I did actually see some decent results. However, I am also a personal trainer so, was able to make certain tweaks to the workouts/diets. I think the thing I am most put off by though is the Hollywood portrait of perfection that is shoved in our faces. This is just so dangerous especially for the younger girls coming up. As women, we are constantly inundated with some kind of unrealistic body image. I went through the obsession with exercise and body image, body fat and food intake about 6 years ago. I had gotten down to about 15% bodyfat and held there for about 2 years. I worked out like a fiend and watched every single crumb that went into my mouth. Living that way caused so many problems not only with my own physical body (it’s never healthy to maintain such a low body weight for such a long time as I lost my period for those 2 years and my system, quite frankly, never recovered)… but beyond the physical problems I faced, I was setting a horrible example in front of my 2 daughters that caused them to become obsessed about their appearance and weight. This opened my eyes and I realized how damaging this kind of behavior can be.
When I came across your site a few months ago, I found it quite refreshing. Here was a no nonsense woman who obviously knew what she was talking about. I have been doing your workouts for quite a while and they definitely build great strength and I have developed some nice definition. You have a very down to earth and realistic approach to exercise and body image. I am very impressed with you and thank you for this. However, I will say this … as urgent as I believe it is to warn people about the dangers of obsession, to “badmouth” another site may not be the best way to do that. I hope it’s OK that I say that. Maybe rather than going off about Bodyrock, let’s get the word out to EVERYONE we can about myomytv. I think once they see what’s here, they’ll see for themselves where they can actually find the realistic results they’re looking for. Love you Marianne — thanks so much !!
Hey Laura, Thank you for your input. It’s great to hear from someone who has “been there” and “done that”. It is amazing how so many women just want to be lean, but they don’t realise the sacrifices needed to, not only get there, but stay there. And, as you highlight, children are so vulnerable to picking up vibes and behaviours from their parents. I am glad to hear how you turned away from that. But I totally understand the mentality, as I have been in the “zone”, although I have never managed to get that lean (my mind seems to sabotage any attemps to get super lean LOL – usually telling me to eat chocolate!).
With regards to BodyRock, thank you for your wise advice. Although it is hard not to “attack” the people behind the message and marketing, it is better to lead by example, showing people why the messages and goals here are more attainable and, long-term.
Cheers
Marianne
Hi Laura, I have read your comment with great interest and I completely agree with the first part of your message.
Quite frankly, though, I totally disagree with the second part about “badmouthing Bodyrock”. I don’t understand why – when you see something dangerous, negative, wrong, fake – you shouldn’t speak your mind and openly say so. Especially if you are doing so in your own site.
I believe that expressing your opinion, as long as it’s done in a civilized way, is always right.
I don’t appreciate the fact that Bodyrock always bans “comments which contain civilized criticism”, I don’t like this “mouth shutting” attitude which seems to exist around their site and I really think that everybody should be free to think and speak in their own way. Again, as long as it’s motivated and as long as it’s done in a formally correct manner.
Cheers
Bianca
Hi Marianne, this is going to be my tomorrows workout. Bodyrock used to be a breath of a fresh air for my workouts for a while until I noticed they are actually giving lots of bad advice. From the above comments I can see I’m not alone. One that stack with me for some reason was about diet (what else) : lean protein, good carbs and ‘a little bit of fat’ have to say it made my laugh, that’s really solid nutrition advice. I’m still wondering how much is a little bit. I also wonder if she is honest with her scores; I’m not proud of myself, but I thought I would share it anyway. Few days ago felt like doing something extra, had a great workout but wanted to do a little something in the evening and Zuzana’s 600 step ups seemed perfect. I should know better, to be able to complete this ‘challenge’ in 10 minutes (her time was just under) one have to do 60 step ups per minute and keep this pace the whole time. Is there anyone who can do that? I’m not angry because it took much longer but because most of the time I can smell the scam but this time I let it fool me. Don’ even do her workouts anymore and have no idea why I was tempted, good thing is I learnt my lesson and not going back to something I can not trust. Marianne, doing one of your workouts with kneeling presses I realised my left arm/shoulder is much weaker, do you think I could do vertical swing with two kb or db (crazy about vertical swing squat thrust) so the stronger side doesn’t take over? Or is it just silly and wouldn’t work.
Jussa, It does seem suspicious that her time was so good, 60 per minute is a lot! It reminds me of CPR, you have to try and maintain a speed of 100 compressions per minute, and this is HARD work, you need replaced by someone else after a few minutes, even the fittest of us! No one can go all out max effort for that long, once you reach your max heart rate, just try and maintain that for even 1 minute! Think she might be exaggerating maybe??
As for your question. I would not recommend doing the vertical swing with 2 KBs, as the speed of the exercise may affect your balance and you may strain your shoulder or back. Everyone has a weaker side. The best thing to do, is to do some unilateral shoulder work, like military and push presses, windmills, and if you can, Turkish Get Ups. Don’t work the weaker side any more than the other side as you will only over-train it and lose strength. Also don’t under train the stronger side. Another great piece of advice I got was to try and use your non dominant arm more in normal tasks, this will reinforce the neuro-muscular link and give you more co-ordination. It’s good to do some unilateral exercises but, your body is at its best working as one unit, hense the massive “explosion” of functional training. So still let your body do bilateral exercises too. It will even out, but you just need to give it more time and a little more attention. Like, don’t avoid doing shoulder stuff because of the weakness.
I hope this helps 😀
Cheers
Marianne
I did this workout yesterday. I don’t think I properly warmed up for it.
my awful scoreS:
1. 9,7,7 USING 8kg kb
2. 7,5,3 for some reason it is harder to focus when working on my left side, something that I only found out about thought the use of kettlebells.
3.?,4,5 I did push ups super slow 😛
4.30,26,20 10kg KB
5. 32,38,24
6. 6,6,5 I did a full extended plank 10 KG Kb
7. 17,14,14 %$@@$%@S
8. 21,22,23 I did the first 5 with bitchy the 20 KG kb then finished the rest with the 10Kg which is now way too light for this exercise.
I did a 10 minute yoga stretch after this sweaty workout. I really liked it,but I must say I cursed a bit towards the end.
By the way I just ordered a new gymboss and left a message that I found the timer via the ad on myomy.
cheers
Thanks Mickela. Love the colourful typing btw, I totally sympethise :p You should hear me sometimes LOL
Hi Marianne,
I tried this awesome workout this morning and by god did it wake me up!! It was tough but great. I didn’t have a bench to jump over so I did push ups to side plank raise (not really an exercise similar to the jumps lol) This workout really got my heart going and I had to take a breather before the last set!! Here’s how I did (used 12kg):
KB Thruster (right/right) (11,8,8)
2 Sumo Jump Burpee (7,5,4)
KB Bent Over Alternating Row (24,22,25)
Pushup to side plank raise (push up, L raise, push up, R raise = 1) (3kg) (6,5,3)
KB Vertical Swing Burpee (6,5,5)
Lunge Jumps (23,23,24)
Two-Handed KB Swing (30,31,30)
lol very evident I’m not good at Burpees or the pushup one! I’m going to the gym tomorrow, can’t wait cause I’ll get to play with heavier kettlebells 🙂 For things like swings, deadlifts, rows I feel I need a heavier one. But from all the running I did this year my upper strength isn’t so good!
With regards to Bodyrock, is she selling her body or giving advice, its pretty hard to distinguish. All the boob, arse shots are just totally off putting to me.
I completely agree with what you said regarding getting lean etc. I’ve been trying to “lose weight” for nearly two years now. (First year I lost nearly 2 stone but since I’ve just hovering around the same weight) Because of this mentality of wanting to lose weight I developed a completely skewed body image and a really bad relationship with food. I’ve stopped counting calories because I was actually driving myself mental. And to be honest the last couple of days is the longest I’ve gone in a long time without undereating and then overeating. Main difference I’ve made is shifting my focus away from food and making a start on improving my body image. I’ve been eating until I’m about 80% full and if I ever feel really hungry, I eat without feeling guilty. I can completely understand how disorders develop, its very scary. You can really be your own worst enemy!
Hey, You did a great job in this evil workout! Nice! Way to go with the heavier weights too, go show em all how it’s done!
What you said about the whole eating disorder thing is so true, I became totally absorbed by thoughts of thinking I was fat, being ashamed of any over hanging skin, or gaining a kg, I weighed myself everyday too!
I’m glad to hear I wasn’t the only one “eaten up” by this monster. I am also so glad to hear that you escaped too. I never want to be that obsessed again. You think you’ll be happer the leaner you are, but when you get there a) you don’t notice and b) if you do, it’s never enough. This is what I see happening to Zuzana, it’s never enough, how lean does she have to be before she’s happy to stop? It’s a trap and an endless cycle if you’r not careful.
Thanks for this
Marianne
Thanks Marianne! I’m hoping to eventually get up to using a 16kg. I tried swings and squats in the gym today with a 16kg and it was so tough and great!!
You are completely right! when I lost the weight originally I was totally fixated on getting down to 9st that I didn’t even notice and for ages I felt like a failure, not being able to. Good mentality and outlook is everything.
I had a look at Bodyrock site yesterday, she looks completely different since I saw her a good few months ago. I thought she had a great body back then, now she looks ropey :/ and definitely not healthy.
Thanks again for another awesome workout, I’ll def be doing this one again!
That’s exactly what happened to me too, I was obsessed with staying 53kg, but clearly that didn’t happen LOL, think I’m probably 63kg now, or near enough. The 53kg boat has sailed and I’m not sad about it at all (most of the time – nobody is perfect).
I reckon Zuzana must be about 51kg now, last year I remember Freddy saying she was 54kg or something like that, she’s the same height as me and I know NOW I looked ill when I was my lightest. Andrew said I looked like I had a string pulling my waist in and it looked weird :/ Only now I am out of that place, can I see what he meant. It’s amazing how your self image changes.
Cheers
M
Speaking of the “injured department”, I think Zuzana is really CRAZY in encouraging people out there to do the last exercise she showed in today’s video, called the pick and jump.
Now that really looks like the worst thing you could do to your spine.
I am not saying that nobody should do this type of exercise, but it certainly isn’t the kind of thing a serious and certified (though online) fitness instructor ought to blindly encourage people – regardless of their physical condition and without warning anybody – to do.
Of course, if I ever decided to raise this subject on their site I’d get banned and my account would be blocked.
Bianca
Yeah it looked a bit risky! Think the combo of the awkward picking up and lifting overhead was a no no, it should be a clean and press I think, least that’s safer.
Don’t think they like anyone raining on their parade much :/
Marianne
Hi Marianne,
I just LOVE your plea on healthy eating (not a diet) and exercise!!!
Cheers,
Ruth
Bianca, I am Italian too! 100% So I totally got you! Also yes definitely nothing sexy about pasta and spaghetti especially when you see it all over your 2 year olds face! (my little man) lol 🙂 Take care!
In this site there are starting to be more Italians than kettlebells….Lol.
Are you an Italian living abroad or do you live in Italy? I am in freezing (but sunny today)Milan.
Ciao
Bianca
Well, I actually like a lot of Zuzana’s workouts, BUT only as a base. I always add Kettlebell work to them! HA.
Zuzana reminds me a lot of Madonna – just ok at what she does, but a marketing genius. She is damn good at marketing. Now I cannot be sure, but I think her husband was one of her camera men or photographer, as her site is very professional looking.
It helps. Her fake boobs help. Sex sells. She gets her hair and make up done like it is a photo shoot. She wears expensive workout clothes. It is the whole package.
I honestly try to ignore all of that and take what I can from her site to use for my own benefit – that’s it!
Now as far as bodyweight vs. KB’s, I am torn. KB’s work your heart, lungs and muscles like no other workout can. Not to mention how much fat they burn.
But with that being said, I know a lot of people who are quite proficient at KB (they are very popular where I live here in Boston, MA) but cannot do a single push up or pull up.
Or can hardly squat due to flexibility issues. I think it is more important to achieve those skills FIRST, then add KB’s to your workouts. But that is my humble opinion. KB’s can help you get there as well, but I do not think bodyweight exercises should be ignored.
Hope that makes sense!?!
Marianne – keep up the good work. I LOVE your workouts!!!!! I cannot get over how damn strong you are. I workout with me who cannot clean and press 2 16kg bells. It is amazing to watch you.
Hi Gina, thanks for posting.
I think that beginners should start with both aspects of training. This is why I try and include pull ups and push ups, because these are GREAT compound strength exercises. I know that you will gain a great deal of functional strength and stability from using KBs, simply down to their shape, so I vote both 😉 Body weight exercises have their place, as do KBs. For me, so does the barbell 😀
It’s funny how marketing makes such a difference, and it doesn’t really matter what the product is – it’s how it’s sold that sells it (hope that makes sense lol).
Cheers again
Marianne
Hi Gina,
yes, you are right. Marketing helps and sex sells.
But in the long run it sells and helps if your main “customers” (viewers in this case) are undescerning male and female adolescents: the first ones looking for some easy free-of-charge “sexish” material online, the others looking for an easy icon to try and imitate.
What honestly will never cease to surprise me is the success she seems to have also with more adult viewers: to me, it’s so plain obvious that the main purpose of whatever they do is to sell and make money (whether they sell fitness, diet advice or boobs) that I really can’t take them seriously. And I find their hyper-commercial attitude very irritating.
Besides, technically speaking, their advice is often incoherent, contradictory and in many cases plain wrong. And I don’t like the fanatic tones and underlying arrogance.
I honestly prefer quality to marketing.
Bianca
Wow, what a great workout!
Ok, I was dreading it… at first I thought I would just do one round and see… but I am so glad I stuck it out.
I had pushups and pullups scheduled so I did those first, so my head wasn’t into doing this, but I knew I needed to do some more cardio. One of the gurus I read, Kareem Samhouri says that for efficient weight loss, you must have exercises that: squat, push, lunge, pull and plank. (Yes, I know I just blasted gurus, but they give me good ideas.) Well, this has it all! I only really get to sweat when I do major leg exercises and my workout room is cold (about 58 degrees F). Well, 1/3 the way through, I had to start taking layers off! I have really cold hands in the winter and they especially get cold after working out, but not today… I am still toasty.
This was a real keeper. It really got my heart going. The squat thrusters are a great exercise, and everything was a challenge but still doable. I did wimp out and cut my ab workout.
Here is what I did:
KB Thrusters R 10Kg 13,11,10 L 11, 10, 12
2 Sumo jump burpee 6 1/2, 7, 6 1/2 (I already did pushups but I did not think I was that slow!)
KB alt row 30lb DB 17, 18, 20
Bench Jump Over 37, 38, 39
KB vert swing burpee 12Kg 10, 8, 8 1/2
Lunge Jump 36, 37, 31
KB Swing 12Kg 27, 27,27
I do need to buy a heavy bell for swings and rows. I was happy with the thrusters, since I could actually do them on my left side, which is weak. The lunge jumps — I hate these and feel like I am so slow, but I I don’t go as low as Marianne, so I think I need to work on my form: there is no way I have more stamina that her!
Love it, love it, well hated it, it was so good! You know what I mean! If it was easy, it would not be worth it! This one gets a yellow highlight in my workout log!
~ Gillian
That’s the reaction I’m after from a workout, “I loved it” “I hated it” = great challenging workout 😀 Liking your numbers too – NICE! Don’t worry about the lunge jumps, they are an evile exercise and I was taking them slow (was watching my knees).
Yay it got a highlighted pen 😀
Marianne
I dissed Ms. Z on a thread on Facebook the other day where the guys where oogling her (I’m sure they don’t give a rats-you-know-what about her workouts and advice anyway and just think she’s hot) and I pimped this website out instead! I hope some of the visitors from her site came here for a visit!
Thanks Missy, I appreciate the mention, but there’s maybe not enough clevage here 🙁 LOL
Marianne
Marianne, you have plenty of cleavage! 🙂 Just the natural kind. And like everyone says, you are way more approachable and warm!
I think it is pretty daring to show as much as you do to the world… and we all know that cameras aren’t kind to either our looks or our voices.
~ Gillian
You’re right Gillian! I favour the long shots in film LOL, then I don’t need to do my hair, I mostly just throw it back 😉 At least at the end of a workout there’s an excuse for it being a mess 😀 😀 😀
Hey Missy I think you and I were on that Facebook thread. The Gorilla man right?
Hello Marianne,
I have followed both sites for a while. Last year I used bodyrock to keep myself active during the holidays. It was a fun way of exercising at the beach I must say.
Things went donwhill from me when she became a vegetarian (she seemed to have quit that now:??) and showed people what she ate. Tiny portions, scary tiny… no protein, just fruits (sugars), starch (more sugars) and that some vegetables. Never mind some good fats!
I was horrified and something just snapped. I think it is insane to be giving food advise to people out there. There was no way what she was posting could constitute a healthy diet with the calories needed to sustain most people. The problem is most people will just emulate without considering what they are doing.
I commented on that diet and my comment was barred it seems…
other than that, I must say that I did enjoy Zuzana’s workout inovations when she was still living in Malta. I thought she looked great and was badass doing her push ups and pull ups.
But then again, I am more of a crossfitter who loves kettlebells. That is how I train my own clients I must add.
Hey there stranger, thanks for commenting 🙂 I was horrified too! Couldn’t believe all the food groups she was missing out – this was part of her downfall in my eyes!
Loved her workouts in Malta too! Used to wish I could do all those cool exercises and pull ups on rings! Look at her now – skinny, gaunt and way weaker! Crossfit is really hardcore and KBs ROCK, but I may be bias I don’t know LOL
Pity there are so many sheep in this world desparate for a quick fix, if only they knew it’s not a healthy or long term solution.
Thanks Carla
Marianne
Bianca, I love your comment! lol I also didn’t know about zuzana’s past until I read something on this site. I understand everyone has the right to choose what they want to do in their life but for me it made me look at her in a whole new “Light”
I too worry for the young teens who may be following her and thinking that this is normal and how we should look. She is obviously starving herself to look that way. I feel she is not a very good role model. It saddens me. Also, I cannot stand the titles of some of her workouts. “The trainer who shagged me” This is just ridiculous! And the pictures of her in all these sexual positions! Anyways, you get my drift. I don’t even want to get started. It just portrays women in such a horrible way.
Thanks Marianne for being a your true, natural self and all the great workouts!
Lori
Hi Lori,
glad you liked my funny sentence “Naked truth coming to Light”. I hoped it would make sense in English as well – it sure does in Italian.
I agree with you: those workout titles are annoying and kind of absurd. I remember an older one – a recipe video – which was “Pasta and Orgasm”: I am Italian and I can assure you that there’s nothing sexual or sexy about pasta. Lol.
But then again it was just one of their many ways to attract male’s views on Youtube. Same old story.
Bianca
Mmmmm…sweat, so much sweat! Nice workout,really got my heart pumping.
I have also done bodyrock workouts and I made some progress with them. Maybe because they were very different to what I had previously been doing. I lost some weight and gained strenght as well(was able to do more pull ups and push ups etc..) And I still think her workouts are fun to do. But I must admit that I did more than one short(12min)workout a day but if it was 30min workout I did only one per day. First they felt intense but now that I’ve been doing your workouts bodyrock feels more like warm up or the finishing touch for workouts. But I still like them, though.
Oh, and it was Zuzana who introduced me to kettlebells, so I’m very happy about that. I felt that I needed something different to my workouts to keep me motivated and I bought 2 KBs. Then I started searching for more info on KB and found your blog and started following your workouts and saw some results really fast, especially on my legs and butt. Just where I wanted to see.
I didn’t follow her diet plan though, I would not survive with such small portion, and I don’t like to be eating all day long. I really need my carbs also or otherwise I wouldn’t have strenght to do any sort of workout. I don’t want to eat so little that I would have to start using supplements to try to keep my muscles…
So, I like her workouts but don’t really care about the diet stuff. We’ll see where it goes from there. she was talking once about thinking of having children, but I’m starting to wonder if she even “works” properly(because she is so fat free..)
aaa, I’m going to stop now. Funny how many of us find so much to say about this subject. 🙂
Annika
Thanks Annika, I’m glad you shared you views as well. Guess there is a lot to say when they make so many claims. It’s bound to get reaction out of people, and so it should – if we are not questioning, we are just robots.
I have wondered about Zuzana’s bodyfat % and having children too, I wonder does she realise the risk. So much to say indeed! If it was only her life I wouldn’t care less, but she influences so many other impressionable people, I worry about the most vulnerable, young girls!
Glad KBs have helped with your problem areas 🙂
Cheers
Marianne
Oh, I forgot your primary question as I started to read other comments.
I think they should change to fatloss.tv or something as they really focus on fat loss. As I said already I like her workouts and have made progress with theme, but for really skinny people and people who want to have more muscular body I don’t think bodyrock only is for them, bodyrock don’t give enough information on that matter. All is for fat loss. They are good to maintain your muscles but with her diet and instructions you’re not gonna get muscular body. Yes, you will get skinner and see your muscles(feel like you have gotten more muscles. well it’s possible to get more muscles if working out is totally new to you)and make progress on your endurance and strenght needed for that kind of movement and improve your cardio system, and that’s why I would recommend these workouts to anyone to include to ones workout routine. But I don’t think you can get ripped nice body only doing her workouts. So, it’s sad that they don’t share that info with others. Maybe many followers are first looking for fat loss but what after, what on the long run.There are a lot of people doing gym or other workouts as well but those who don’t might get disappointed at some point.
She started using sandbag to kick her butt and that says me that she feels that more resistance to her workouts is needed to keep her progressing.(what progress lately??) I don’t blame her for using equipment,(notice the homeworkout movement not the bodyweight workout movement) it’s her body and mind, sure she likes to change things up, but the fact that she doesn’t say that she needs it to build more muscles or to keep her muscles. It is hard to admit that the thing you advertise doesn’t work as promised…
It’s too bad they don’t answer to questions properly. or publish some comments. Feels like they don’t want to answer the questions. If that is the only “work” they do, it would be atleast nice to see some answers on various questions.
I don’t know how twisted Zuzanas body image is, but sometimes I wonder if she has somekind of disorder because she still strives for fatloss. I don’t think she is a good rolemodel especially when it comes to diet. Her diet is not sustainable for many of us. And earning your food sound stupid.Sounds eatingdisordered to me. Delicacys could be earned with a workout but normal food shouldn’t. Fat loss must certainly sell, but how about the tools to stay /get fit.
What I really like about your blog(not only your kick ass workouts) is that you seem to be just a normal mortal. You need food and like to eat( that’s my impression from your writings) and you will eat and enjoy it. That means you need to exercise a bit more but that doesn’t seem to bother you. And you share with us what it takes for you to keep you fit. You have a real job and it’s easier for us to relate and see that it’s possible to push your self to do a workout or skip a workout if you don’t feel like it. I really love that you have changed your goals from getting thinner and leaner to getting stronger and enjoying life more(not being too strict with food and be thinking about that too much) It’s so much easier to relate to you and see that you don’t have to be counting every calorie in order to look good and fit and rather listen to your body, sometimes it needs more and sometimes less.
Yet so many things to say, but I stop here not to make it tooooo long.
Bed calls.
Good night!
Annika
You are right in what you say about an apparent twisted body image, if she lost any more fat, she’d wouldn’t exist! I am glad I represent real life more, I don’t want anyone ever feeling deprived or intimidated by what I can do, or how I look. It has taken me a long time to get here, and I do have “fat” days like everyone else, but I decided recently that food is a pleasure and a privilage, so why do we put so many negative thoughts around it?? I know we need to watch the types of food, but the odd treat is fine 😀
Unfortunately I don’t know if the BR way will even help maintain your muscle, look what has happened to Zuzana since she went vege before and cut the carbs – she’s lost SO much muscle!! I think if you did it for a while, or cycled this type of living it might preserve more muscle and still make you leaner, but it’s scary to think how many people will blindly follow their advice.
I hope you sleep well Annika, thanks for posting.
Marianne
Hi Marianne,
Here is my experience: I have always been skinny but not lean. I did a lot of cardio like running but I was weak- I couldn’t do regular push ups for example. One year ago I decided to make a change to be healthier and get stronger. I started doing bodyrock workouts and at that time they were very challenging for me. But I soon realised that I cannot achieve my goals with these workouts. About eight month ago I found your blog and started using Kettlebells. Since then I gained a lot of strength (I now can do 50 push ups in a row)
As to bodyrock: I can’t take it that serious because I have the impression that its all about the look. Well if she wants to starve herself thats ok for me. I could never do that and I don’t want to do it. I want to be healthy and happy that’s why I’m working out.
I think what makes somebody attractive is to be strong – physically and mentally and not only the super thin lean look.
Anyway I’m a great fan of your blog! You are really strong and very nice! And I love your workouts which help me so much and are so much fun! Keep them coming!!
Cheers becci
Ps. Apologies for my bad english I hope you can understand me 😉
Becci, I am so pleased you have come so far! 50 push ups IN A ROW!! Wow, great stuff, you really have progressed. I hope you will continues with your journey, and my workout can always offer you something.
Marianne
ps You’re English is very good btw
You know what is really nice about this site? It’s an intelligent site. No dogmas here (dogmas that – in the case of Bodyrock – only last a few months, to be then replaced by new dogmas), but only suggestions and possibilities.
Besides, this site is really packed with valuable information on fitness: things are explained (instead of dogmatically stated, without any sort of explanation).
And then you give out personalized, tailor-made advice, depending on people’s needs. Understanding that someone might be super-fat and another viewer might be super-skinny and varying your advice accordingly.
And in your case the passion for what you do – even here on the site – is so obvious.
It’s a really good and “true” site. And I really hope that, in the end, “quality will pay”. Maybe in nowadays rather vulgar world quality will never “sell” as much as vain illusions, but please always stick to quality.
Have a nice day (I felt like writing this morning).
Bianca
Thanks as always my Italian friend 😀 Glad you talked about dogmas, because this is what society craves, the latest wave or fashion to pass us by so we can jump on the bandwagon. Never been a fan of fashion myself.
As you know I hope to further tailor the information here, when I get the generic programmes done. I know they won’t be fully individualised, but it will give people a chance to see how training differs depending on your start point and goals.
Thank you, for your very well written comment 🙂
Marianne
I think this search for dogmas is why there are so many gurus out there… most people want a cookbook fix that they follow to the letter. The problem is that most people also want it to be easy, and when it isn’t, they quit… until the next diet book comes out or the next workout craze! Zuzana is using herself as an example, and giving the impression that if you do what she does, you can look like her. Most of us realize that is unlikely.
I am looking back on what I have done in the last two years: I was 145 at my max, with a sedentary life. I am now 117 or so, and I exercise in some capacity daily. The first 10-15 pounds came from just doing yoga (some mild and some moderately strenuous, like Hot Yoga) and cutting out ALL processed foods (no gratuitous carbs, no white flour, no refined sugars, nothing fried, very little milk products.) That really did not take much work and I honestly could have stopped there and been happy.
Then I got it in my head that I would like 6-pack abs (before I ever saw Z) and I worked harder, doing HIIT and weighted exercises with dumbbells. Even though I had variety, it was getting boring and I was getting some some knee problems. Now I find the knee issues often have to do with tightness above and below the knee, so foam rolling helps. Along that crazy path, I found Melissa and KBs, and then Marianne, and now those are the predominant weights I use. I am beginning to fuss now with body support exercises — rings and parallettes, like gymnasts use.
I KNOW I ramped up my metabolism in a big way. I workout hard, but I eat a lot, especially in the morning, after my workout. I am baking a lot right now and I want to indulge, so I eat sweets in careful bits.
What happened to the 6-pack? I decided that I don’t want to have to starve myself for looks! And I have a 4 pack as it is… well, sort of.
I would like to be a bit stronger, but I don’t really need to change anything from here.. I just don’t want to lose what I have!
All in all, I have to say I did sensible things and it worked over time. I didn’t need a guru or anything special. Tabata was new to me, and I think that ramped up the intensity and effectiveness of my workouts. I do take some protein powder in the morning and have done so for about a year, but I also eat little meat and lots of fruit and veggies. (BTW, I use Jay Robb Whey protein as it tastes the best! Evil Grin)
Marianne has some great ideas about when to eat and that has removed some of my concern about whether I am eating too much. I just love the variety that she introduces with her exercises! Overcoming boredom is the biggest issue to keep going and challenging oneself. With variety, plateaus seem to be rare, or last only a short time.
Its still going to be a while before I can C&P 12Kgs or snatch 14 Kgs, as in the RKC snatch test! I’ll get there though… I am hoping in about 6 months!
Now THIS IS a supportive site! Thanks Marianne, I’ll be a myomyer any day!
~ Gillian
Thanks Gillian 🙂 Naturally, I think the goals we start out with evolve as we move through our training. The goal on BodyRock is always the same (get lean, lose body fat), but the method seems to change, as the next big diet or piece of eqipment arrives, I think this proves that their focus is on what initially drives people in their journey. Nothing sells better than fat loss or weight loss 🙁 Yet this can be a bonus from strength and resistance training. As soon as I turned my attention away from how many calories I was eating, I became so much more content. I know it seems easy for me to say, as I am not over-weight, but whether you are or not, the “get lean” bug can bite us all (pardon the punn).
I love your dedication to getting stronger!
Marianne
U rock! I always follow your video weekly.I watched BodyRock before. But, lady,I preferred yours,even recommended it to my clients for inspirations. U GAVE US REALITY.NOT FAKE & PLASTIC.
U still gave us good knowledge,motivations even though without huge spotlights,’exotic’,weird camera angles & super slim runaway model’s figure.
Go girl power
Regards
Mohamed, Kuala Lumpur
Yes who wants to be super skinny and worry about every extra bite, not me and not most women I talk to! The great thing is, it doesn’t have to be that way, it’s still a long journey, but I want people to feel good about what they can achieve and they need to have the energy to progress. Ability over vanity!
Cheers Mohamed, I am chuffed btw you send your clients here – thank you
Marianne
Hi Marianne,
I agree with Sara above. I also visit your website and hers but have found that her workouts are quite lacking. I have worked out for over 12 years with weights, cardio, usually always mixing things up. I was very strong. I found her website one day and wanted a change so I started doing her workouts. I didn’t change my diet to hers but I always try to eat a variety of healthy foods and drink plenty of water. I definitely lost weight and alot of strength. My muscle tone has really decreased. I feel as if her workouts from the past were better but something has changed. She just looks too skinny to me and undernourished. Maybe that is why she can only make it through a 12 minute workout? 🙂 I don’t know. Since, finding your site Marianne, I much prefer your workouts and was always intimidated by kettlebells but I have been practicing my form and getting better eah day. I am becoming addicted to kettlebells! lol I love your workouts and appreciate the positive body image that you portray! Your body is amazing by the way! So thanks and I am so glad I found your site!
Lori 🙂
Lori, it’s really nice to hear your views. Especially as you were coming from a different direction (weights and variety training), and you lost size and strength. This is what has happened to Zuzana too, only her’s is more extreme because of the loss of calories. Zuzana regularly mentions how she beats her old scores from last year and is stronger and faster now than then. I think this is all in her head of denial because if you watch the videos where they edit the old and new together, you see something interesting – 1) she rushes her exercises, and her form is off and 2) in her push ups, she no longers does full range of movement, it’s a partial! Before she had better range and could press to the floor, now, maybe half. You are prob right about the 12 mins too LOL it makes sense, muscles need energy stores – and it looks like she chronically undereats. If she’s not careful her body will be a mess when she’s older.
No need to be intimidated by the iron now Lori, you’re practically part of the KB Tribe 😉 I hope you will find the tutorials useful, and remember, if in doubt, just ask – I’m here 😀
Cheers
Marianne
Hi again Marianne and thanks for the new workout which I will try in the morning.
I am still sore from Monday’s workout, so I feel like I need a break. Also that 20Kilo kettlebell kicked my butt last night, just walking around trying to catch a cab and squatting to put it down to take a rest was brutal,plus the stairs and like 3 swings yikes! it will take me a bit to be able to use that kettlebell, but it’s my new goal.
In terms of your comments on the Bodyrock website, I used to do a lot of their workouts along with swimming and my ‘crazy cardio’.
I left the site basically for the same reasons you are explaining on here. I do have to admit that I did get some results, but I never really followed her workouts verbatim. I always added weights or cardio, or just made the workouts longer.
I was already in shape when I started as well, and always stated that on Zuzana’s website, but most of the time my comments were never published.
I also tried the diet approach and I did not like it.
I think Bodyrock was somewhat credible at the beginning, but now it has really turned into some weird infomercial, that is targeting insecure young people; to be honest. I stopped commenting on Bodyrock months ago, when I noticed how much muscle Zuzana had lost and how much she struggled with her workouts, and also the whole fanatical attitude just left a feeling like I was being manipulated. it made me wonder what their true goals really are.
The latest photographs are very disturbing to me, they are not even the original provocative images, they portray a person who is obsessed, a person who struggles with self loathing, which by the way made me sad, because this is an issue that a lot of women in the world struggle with and I feel that those new images really can lead young insecure people to develop disorders and to not seek to be healthy and love themselves which is hard enough as it is.
These comments of course are my personal view.
Mickela
Mickela,
Thanks for sharing you experience and your views. This is an open plateform here for all points of view (within reason of course 🙂 ). I TOTALLY agree with your comments, especially when you said that BodyRock used to be more credible, I used to love her workouts up until the first fashion hall and coffee talk, I really was confused then about their motivation. This is why I am actually reluctant to talk a lot in my videos, I always say basically, if you are interested to know more come and read it on my blog. I feel too much like a dictator on video doing some sort of campaign LOL – I know I don’t force things down people’s throats, but the way BodyRock has become doea not appeal to me.
My hope is that those insecure people can have the strength to turn away or close themselves off from that unhealthy image,. The sad thing is, they all love being part of BodyRock and being “BodyRockers” – sad 🙁
Last year I wanted to try and get really lean, like Zuzana, but slowly I have come to realise that in order to do that, you do need to count everything you eat – NOONE should have to do that! Doing this blog has really helped my body image, not because people tell me I look good, but because I realise the important of being able to do the training and reassuring people that we all make mistakes. Everyone who comments always has something useful to say and I appreciate the support and community we have. It’s two-way communication – not me talking and you listening, or at least it never feels that way 😀
Cheers, your comment makes really good points btw
Marianne
I used to love the Bodyrock site and tried doing her workouts because I couldn’t get to the gym (I have a 7 month old). I don’t know if it’s from her workouts or what but I have actually gained weight and feel I lost muscle. I was going to your site once in a while but because I wasn’t into kettlebells I only tried your bodyweight workouts. But I decided to try doing your workouts now and ordered my first set of kettlebells last week. I can’t wait till it comes in and I can start your workouts! Yay! I used to run on the treadmill and lift weights at the gym so I got a little muscle. But the more I research the kettlebell thing the more intriqued I am. The only thing I am worried about are the calluses. Sorry, I digress…getting back to Bodyrock, they have some good exercises but I find it hard to believe that the 12 minutes of bodyweight work is all she does. Does it seem possible to you? Melissa (at Fitmiss.tv) tried only doing Bodyrock workouts for a few weeks and lost muscle and gained some fat. So I am kinda skeptical of them now. Sorry so long winded, just my thoughts flooding out.
Thanks for all you do for us followers Marianne! You’re the best!
YAY a new kettlebella is born! 🙂 I’m so pleased you’re getting your first set, you’ll have to line them up under your Christmas tree when you get them lol!
Calluses come with any heavy weight training, but KBs are the worst offender. All you can do is try and watch your grip isn’t too tight, and if you really are having a hard time, you could wear gloves – but this does affect your grip development. Lots of filing and moisturiser too.
To be honest, I wasn’t a bit surprised by Melissa’s findings, she was coming from a similar training background as me and you, using resistance and longer workouts. If I go full pelt on the stairmaster in the gym for 12 minutes, doing HIIT I will burn at best 150 calories. Yes you will raise your metabolism etc for the rest of the day, but what about toning and strength training, that cannot be effective done in 12 minutes. Zuzana’s 12 minute workouts, in my view, should be “Add-ons” to finish your training – like I use Tabata sometimes. The main reason Zuzana looks like she does, is her diet, and that alone!
I had said to Melissa, to prove it’s her diet and not her workouts, I would keep my training the same, but do her diet – but I actually would die eating like that, my stomach would digest me to survive LOL. Well, technically it would – bye bye muscle mass.
After you do your resistance or strength training, if you have any energy left you could add on a BR 12 min cardio workout, that may help them work better.
Thanks Roxanne
Marianne
Hi Marianne,
as you may expect, I completely agree with what you say. I agree so much that I would like to copy here below another comment which really pained me today. It’s from a girl named Heather:
Hello Zuzana,
I am writing from Albany, NY in the U.S. I love your workouts and I’ve always been in good shape but these routines and diet tips are getting me into great shape! Just a couple things that I’ve noticed and others have commented on too. You previously said all workouts can be done with our own body weight and that even if we didn’t have the equipment (like a sandbag or dip station) that the routines can still be done. But you don’t show us how to do the workouts without the equipment and I’m noticing now that all of the workouts involve some equipment instead of focusing on body weight excercises. Another big thing, you said you were changing into real-time workouts so we can do them with you…well that only lasted about a week. Now you only give us the short, edited version of your workout. I really like your site but you got us all excited about this stuff and now it’s not being followed through.
Thanks!
Heather
To this very polite comment, Mr. Boulders (the husband) replied that lots of viewers were creating their own equipments and that as far as following through was concerned (quote): “updating pretty close to 7 days a week a free site requires a lot of follow through”.
I would like to add: a free site which is becoming a gold mine for them. And this is thanks to their viewers and subsequent commercial opportunities they have had.
Now, this really pisses me off. Even in their site’s presentation page, they write that their workouts are “only bodyweight and no equipment needed”: and now there are links to the sandbag and to the dip station all over the site.
Then they announce that, from a certain day on, they will start the workout classes with the real time videos and then what? They get irritated with comments like Heather’s.
They are so unreliable, so vain, so….money-only-oriented. How can people not realize what is plain obvious?
And their “dogmas” on nutrition, on earning your carbs, on loving natural food and now promoting recipes with protein supplements (of course with a link to the producer).
Not to mention the “injured department”: have you all noticed just how many comments they get from people who got injured while doing all that crazy jumping?
Anyway, Marianne. We are here and we like you. Personally, the first time I clicked on a charliejames’ video on Youtube I thought: is this fitness or is this porn? And I had no idea of the Light/Spears connection (in other words, the Naked truth had not come to Light yet).
Cheers
Bianca
That angers me so much that he would respond like that. If I was making that much money from my site, and basically it was my job, I would run it like a proper business, were I keep my “customers” happy and follow through on promises. And if I couldn’t for some reason, I would at least be sorry about it.
As for the real-time classes, I wondered what happend there. Don’t even get me started on the whole “all you need is body weight” speel – they are so full of s**t sometimes with all their arrogance, why not just be honest and admit that body weight can only take you so far, in your own home.
I promise to always keep it real here – so silly scams! If I become affliate for anything other than the gymboss, which I LOVE, then it will be for something I believe in.
Cheers
Marianne
Don’t worry Marianne. You can become affiliate for whatever product you choose.
I am sure you would never loose your ethical principles and integrity.
And making money as a more than welcome “by-product” of a serious, professional and high-quality fitness site like Myomytv is what I wish for you.
Ciao cheers ciao
Bianca
I appreciate that Bianca 🙂
Marianne
I know I need to squat lower, but isn’t that low bad for your knees?
Lunge jumps are KILLER!
Thanks
It depends, Amanda. If you are finding that squats are hurting your knees, then try looking at any imbalances in your legs during a squat. Do your legs bow inward when you rise from a squat? Try single leg exercises to improve the small stabilising muscles around the knees and ankles, try box squats were you sit back onto a low step or bench (legs parallel to the floor). The depth of a squat is not the culpret, but it can “flare” an existing problem up. Sometimes tension in the lower back and hips can prevent a deep squat, work on stretching these area to help deepen the squat.
Look out for my Tutorial this week on the Vertical Swing Burpee. Within that I have a variation for beginners, that will also help your squat.
Cheers
Marianne
i do visit both sites and do both workouts, but personally i just love weights and especially kettlebell, they make me feel strong and like a modern day amazon!!!
silliness aside bodyrocks approach to diet it is really starting to be annoying, i say fine share workouts and diet tips, but come on they border manipulation!we can’t all do the same things, because we are all INDIVIDUALS, not a flock of sheep mindlessly following the leader!
i want to lose weight and i not strong or toned at the moment, but i do want to be strong flexible and toned, and the skinny look with veins popping out just does not appeal to me!
mind you i think it is even because a big piece of society is so obsessed with skinny=beauty, so so sad!i am 25, there is no way that i would want to be as tiny as a 12 year old is!
if you give a look at youtube there are thousands of video of so called experts,giving their fantastic advise on nutrition, and in the comment you see people saying yes i tried everything and nothing works…. what about move more, cut the crap, increase the fruit and veg intake, and most of all STICK TO IT!
in the last year i slowly lost a stone, people ask me how i did it and are still surprised cause i eat, and I am always surprised that people don’t put perseverance in their “diet equation”, it seems that if you don’t lose a stone in 2 weeks then it’s crap, when crash are actually the real crap!
at the end of the day it’s a free world, zuzana can say and do whatever she likes on her site, and i do understand that it may get to you that a perfectly good comment like yours doesn’t get published, but then again this is your space, you are the queen here and we salute you!:) for us who do not fall prey of her ill advise we beg you to carry on with the good job, and thank you from the bottom of the heart for not calling us myomyers!
will try the workout tomorrow, already know that i’m going to fall over during the jumping lunges, my balance still need to improve!
sorry for the rant
Sara
Thanks Sara, I appreciate the rant, and I vow never to utter the word myomyers LOL (good one btw). I totally agree with you that people need to stick to their choice of “diet” or lifestyle changes, all too often they expect a quick fix and I am thrilled to hear about your realistic weight loss, which is great. Also great that you favour the weights too 😉
I never want to be as arrogant to dictate to people what they should do. Never will I have silly diet challenges, I think that is down-right dangerous, one size does not fit all, and there are people out there who will follow Zuzana’s advice to the letter. But hey, she’s a nutritionist now, so it must be ok, right? Any Tom Dick or Harry can become a nutritionist online, but it’s like anything, you need to understand the individuals you are dealing with and all the factors they may be contending with, before making dietary recommendations.
Thank you for your comment, and I will try my best to pass on my knowledge, but never forget to question things, even me – as soon as we stop questioning, we become sheep. I question everything Andrew says, not because I don’t believe him, but I just need to be sure and usually just want to know more.
Good luck with the Lunge Jumps btw. Thanks for the rant.
Marianne
oh don’t worry i question anything!maybe a little too much,i am driving my NVQ assessor nuts, but then that is fun :)(deep down i am evil hi hi)
some days ago Z said something that stuck in my mind. she was talking about her past, how she was overwight, and after losing quite a bit she still had a little bit on her sides. she said that she powered through, that with diet and exercise she lost that little bit on her sides, and the moral of the story was, persevere with crazy diet and exercise and you’ll get a body like mine!
well i think that that throws genetics out of the window!but unfortunately in real life we can’t do that, genetic is kinda what built us, what we are!and most of all being healthy and strong is much more important that obsessing on little tiny bits here and there, internet is already full of sickening pro ana sites, no need to give inspiration to them masking it as “fitness advice”.
ah feels good to rant!
better go to bed and get the energy for tomorrows workout, maybe it will warm me up for good, i am soooo freeeeezing!!!!i should live from november to march in australia that the rest of the year here in Wales, wonder if work would give me those months off…..
Bye
LOL Sara, good one! You might want to see if we can all move to Auz the whole year – let’s face it, British summers aint much to write home about 🙁 Or maybe that’s just Belfast 😉
People should be more aware of how genetics help, it is impossible for anyone to look that lean all year round. The behaviour she shows is dangerous and others should not want to be that lean. Maybe for a competition, but keep it above 15% – at least for your bones ladies. I wonder how many “BodyRockers” get it wrong and end up skinny without the “muscle”? mmm
Like your rant – it makes a lot of sense.
Marianne
Hi Sara,
you are so right: the term “bodyrockers” makes you really think of a flock of sheep who easily get manipulated. Great comment.
(by the way, are you the Sara from Italy or are you another Sara?) 🙂
Bianca
yes i’m the italian one… right kinda missing home, my friends say it’s quite mild there (i come from puglia, never this cold over there!)
by the way tried the jumping lunges, fell over a couples of times, third round i just did normal lunges as i need my legs for work this afternoon…
Thanks