TURBOJAM:IF YOU REALLY DON’T WANT TO WORK OUT

January 12, 2008

It’s one of those days when you would rather eat twigs than work out. Your muscles hurt from yesterday’s session. You didn’t sleep well. Work was tough, the kids were tougher. It’s not technically your day off but you really can’t face it today.

Here’s your answer : Chalene Johnson.

Chalene Johnson

Chalene is the instructor for the TurboJam workouts. It’s kickboxing with a little Capoeira and Tai Chi thrown in. The workouts are not particularly easy, even though they feel that way, but there are always 1 or 2 backup people demonstrating a low intensity or low impact version.

The TurboJam workouts come in a basic version and the Maximum Results series. I can never find the information on the basic series, but I’ve emailed them and they tell me it’s still available. Contact them from the Beachbody home page and ask about the basic or introductory set. It is a better place to begin if you’ve never kickboxed because there is so much instructional material included, and the equipment is less complicated to learn.

It’s time to party. Come on and move your body.

The music is great. You can even pump it up a notch once you know the workout routines and don’t need her voice cues anymore. It’s not techno-exercise music. It’s more like party music and it gets you moving easily.

She’s very entertaining to watch and doesn’t take herself too seriously. She’s very much a California Barbie-body type, but not at all in a way that’s just depressing to watch, and often makes jokes about being 5’2’’ tall.

Chalene is a mother and a wife, as well as a businesswoman. Like us, she is an empowered woman and has found the path to her own happiness. She’s a little silly and not at all shy about getting funky, with clips from her personal life at the end of the workout. She is probably a very kind and patient woman in her off-camera life. I would guess she is somewhere in her mid-thirties.

Exercise your ability to have fun

She’ll give gentle nudges about eating well and moving your body regularly, without being preachy or overbearing. The fitness message comes across, but in a lighthearted and humorous way. The hour you spend with her is more fun and seems easier than your usual workouts. In fact, you find yourself dancing along with the music and your kids will soon be joining you. It will take 10 years off you.

TurboJam DVD and equipment package

The DVD’s are available in various levels of difficulty and range from 20 to 60 minutes in length. The series with the exercise ball and the weighted gloves are my favorites. For advanced exercisers, the Basic series won’t be very challenging. If you like it tougher, then you’re like me. Try Total Body Blast holding a 6lb medicine ball. Or do Punch, Kick, and Jam but weight your arms and legs. They’re grand.

All the people on the screen are pretty interesting in their own right, so there’s lots to keep your eyes busy once you’ve memorized Chalene’s moves and her outfit of the day. They all put their own spin on the moves so you are kept quite busy watching them.

beachbody.com

Go over to Beachbody.com. It’s a site that sells a number of different movement formats. There are strength DVD’s (P90X) and toning moves, and HipHop Abs. You may have heard of Yoga Booty Ballet which I find appealing but haven’t actually bought.

You will also find diet advice links, chat lines and interviews. Their newsletter is pretty good, it’s about half information and half selling.

Take a look. Give it a try. You can return anything you don’t like. I’ve done it, no hassle whatsoever.
It’s different and will get your workout in on the “Please not today” days.

PS: TurboJam, if you’re reading this : I love the weighted gloves, but here’s a design improvement : make the weighted pocket removable so the gloves can be washed!!! And while you’re at it, make a 1 lb, 1.5lb, and a 2lb weighted pocket that can be interchanged.

Posted by Christine Scaman | Filed Under Move Your Body