Zuzka Light's ZCut Power Cardio DVD's

I bought Zuzka Light's ZCut Power Cardio DVD's a while back, and have just started using them again recently, and thought I'd give a review on them.  First of all, these workouts are definitely not beginner workouts.  These workouts are intense, and they will push you and you will be sore (unless you are already in good shape).  Zuzka breaks down each move for each day for you, before the workout begins, which is perfect for the first time you do each of the 12 workouts.  However, it gets a little old during month 3 when you have to sit through the intro again.

The workouts are very short, only like 10-20 minutes each, maybe a little longer on workout number two if you can't keep up with her.  In workout two, one of the seven workouts you do is 60 sets of 10 high knees to a half burpee.  So, for just that one part of workout two, you do 600 high knees and 60 half burpees.  I've yet to be able to keep up with her on that one.  The workouts have very little rest in them, and some of them have no rest at all built into them, which is part of why they're done so quickly.

One thing I suggest is to figure out which ones you can do without watching following her (or on ones that you can't keep up with her on), and take a picture of the "summary" screen at the beginning of each workout.  I will then just set my phone up with that picture and go through the workout on my own.  That way I can put some earbuds in and listen to some music to help keep me going through the workout, and not have to keep pausing to keep her from getting ahead of me and calling out the rep counts that she's on, which messes up my own counts.  The timed workouts I always follow along with her, so I don't have to set up my own Tabata timer, or interval timer.  I just get fewer reps done than she does during those.

The first time I followed this DVD series for the full three months, without changing my diet really, I lost about 20 pounds and 4 inches around my stomach.  I'm only a little over a week into the series this time through, and it's just as intense.  I have had to modify my workout schedule from what she recommends on days when I'm really sore.  I did that the first time through as well, and I still got the results.  I just rearranged the rest days, so I wasn't doing an intense workout using the same muscles I had just used the day before.  Eventually my muscles will get stronger and be able to handle it better, and towards the end it has you start doing two workouts a day.  From experience, although it doesn't seem like you'll be able to do both workouts in a day, I was able to without killing myself.

So, if you've been working out, and are in some amount of fit shape, I would recommend this dvd series.  It definitely gets results, and it's all body weight workouts.  I think the only things she adds are a chair and a box to jump over at one point (I just imagined a box).

Unico Nutrition

On April 1st, 2016, I decided I was going to get back in shape.  I took the right approach and started slow and built up to harder and heavier workouts, and changed the way I eat and the portions I eat.  I also did a lot of research for the best protein powder to use.  I had been using Gold Standard When protein in the past, but I wasn't particularly sold on it.  I ended up finding this brand called Unico Nutrition, and their protein powder Apollo.  I read about the amazing taste of it, and how it's got three different types of proteins in it (short term, middle and long term) to help do the work of rebuilding muscle for longer each day.  I also started looking around on their website and found their pre-workout supplement, and decided to try that as well.

I'm definitely hooked on the pre-workout supplement they have, and it has pretty much replaced coffee in my diet.  I get up every morning at 5 am and drink it mixed with cold water before I do my workout.  I went to the gym without it a few days in a row, and I noticed that not only did I feel like quitting much quicker in my workout, but I was more tired when I got to work.  This stuff really does help keep you going with your workout, and keeps you going in your day.  Now, it doesn't keep me going ALL day (though I only do one or one and a half scoops, so maybe it would if I did two scoops), but it does get me through the whole morning.

The protein powder does taste really good, if you get the right flavor.  I've tried three of their flavors so far, the Chocolate Peanut Butter, the Cinnamon Roll and the new one that I believe is called Molten Chocolate Lava.  The only one I haven't liked was the Cinnamon Roll because it was almost too sweet.  I had trouble finishing that one, but the other two flavors have been REALLY good.  Is the protein working?  I don't really know how to tell that.  I mean, I don't think my muscle soreness lasts more than a day or so, so maybe it's helping there?  I'm still pretty new at all this, and don't know how to really measure it's performance based on my performance, but I haven't noticed anything bad coming of it.

The only thing with Unico, is that they are pretty expensive.  They're not the MOST expensive on the market, but they're up there.  But, from what I've read, that's because they have some of the best ingredients and formulas in their products.  I'm fine with spending more money on my health, and cutting back in other areas.

So, as long as you aren't on a super tight budget, I'd highly recommend both the pre-workout and the protein powder from Unico Nutrition.

The Beginning of my Reviews

I am joining some product review programs, and I will be using this blog as a place to do my reviews.  I don't yet know what kinds of products I will be reviewing just yet, but I'm excited to start.