A note on strength work...

dorothytd

As much as we all love the walking workouts, there really are great benefits to building muscle as well. The good news is that you don't have to lift big weights or go to the gym. Leslie has several workouts that incorporate the stretch band or dumbbells. The most recent one is Walk If Off in 30 Days, which has a great 30 minute strength session utilizing weights, with encouragement to go higher in weight as you get stronger. Some other titles include the newer "Mega Miles" dvds that utilize the stretch bands for more than just your arms, Boot Camp (comes with special bands) and my favorite oldie - Walk Strong. (I have increased my handweights over time with this one.) It is truly amazing how you can change your body composition by strengthening those muscles. One of these days I will need to post some better photos, but adding the strength work - and I mean until your muscles get TIRED - 3x a week has made a difference for sure! Always be careful and start with less weight or resistance and increase as you are comfortable and get stronger. But DO IT!! Your body will thank you! Happy walking!

dorothytd

Need to make the photo smaller ... back to you soon!

rainbow198

You make such a great point Dorothy. Over the past 2 months I've gone back to Leslie as my primary fitness focus and I have not only maintained the muscles I have gain from lifting heavy from other workouts, but body composition has changed as well (lost inches).

When I use the videos depending how I feel I use 3 or 5 lb handweights and I put my mind into the muscle. For example while doing bicep curls I squeeze as I lift. When doing side steps I bend over slightly and do chestflies or I will put my arms out to the side and squeeze the back muscles. Sometimes I move slower than the video, but it's okay.

I don't have Walk If Off in 30 Days yet (waiting for Christmas sales!) but my favorite dvd to use weights with is Burn Body Fat & Sculpt Your Arms.

dorothytd

I don't have Walk If Off in 30 Days yet (waiting for Christmas sales!) but my favorite dvd to use weights with is Burn Body Fat & Sculpt Your Arms.

Another good one!! And just look at your awesome profile photo - I'd say it's working!!!

rainbow198

Thank you so much Dorothy.

zichab

I don't have Walk If Off in 30 Days yet (waiting for Christmas sales!) but my favorite dvd to use weights with is Burn Body Fat & Sculpt Your Arms.

Burn Body Fat and Sculpt Your Arms is a good one and increasing your weights as you get stronger keeps this workout current as you increase in strength. I love the aerobic/strength combination of this one. I have Firm 30 and did the whole program for 1 month with a 5 mile walk on Sundays and I could not believe how muscular my shoulders got. My clothes look and hang so much better. I really hope Leslie does more of these aerobic/weight training workouts because as we walk off the weight, it is great to feel strong along with getting slimmer. Although lunges are hard for me because I need to "baby" my knees, I am shocked at how many squats I can do and I am up to 10 pound weights! Holy Smokes who knew this was even possible!!! :noway: So her strength training really works.

Having said this, if you are reading this and new to strength workouts, please follow Leslie's advice and start with light weights, slowly build your strength and do not overtrain. For me, as hard as it was because we want results fast, it is truly her best advice. Strength rocks!!! :happy:

TeaBea

Walk it Off in 30 Days is a good one....an full body strength workout in 30 minutes

There are also a couple more weighted workouts.....one upper body & another lower body on the 7 Day Calorie Blast (compilation DVD): http://www.collagevideo.com/workout-video/leslie-sansones-7-day-calorie-blast-6208

These workouts were on VHS and originally and called Leslie Sansone Shortcuts .....there is also an ab focused "Shortcut" workout somewhere....that one never made it to DVD (as far as I know).