My friend Elizabeth -- newly certified T-Tapp trainer Elizabeth -- started a Gchat with me on Friday, and during the course of our chat, we managed to convince each other to do a T-Tapp MORE workout. Elizabeth had just gotten the new version of the MORE dvd, and I was curious to see how it compares to the MORE 4-in-1 dvd (released in 2004) I own. She agreed to try the MORE Home segment so I could do a compare-and-contrast with the 2004 version.
Only one problem -- I've owned the disc since 2006, but I'd never actually done the MORE workout.
Let me back up a step or two, in case I'm confusing someone. MORE is a modified version of the T-Tapp Total Workout that is designed for people with health challenges, whether that challenge be advanced age, illness, injury, pregnancy, obesity or simple out-of-shape-ity. I bought the disc primarily for my mother to use; she's over 60 and has had knee surgery and decades of foot problems. I thought it would be perfect for her to use for rehabilitation, and I also expected that I'd find it useful when I got pregnant again. But then I never got pregnant, which was unlucky, but luckily I managed to avoid injury or serious illness or any other untoward happening that would make me think I needed a more rehabilitative workout. Instead I just bought more T-Tapp DVDs, challenging workouts like Tempo Lower Body and Ladybug... and those I have used!
I tried to do the MORE workout, at least a few times I put the DVD in and hit play, but I never made it more than a minute or two. I'd heard people say that MORE is "like a clinic in a box," but I lacked the patience to really give it a try. It's odd -- when I'm at a clinic, I don't mind how slow it is, but when I'm working out at home I just want to get through the workout as efficiently as possible. Also, on the 4-in-1 disc, the instructional workout seemed to be precisely the same as the workout just labeled "workout." It begins with Teresa saying "this section is an instructional, but don't just watch it, you need to do it." But I don't need instruction, I thought to myself each time, I just want to do the workout! I never made it past the first part of Primary Back Stretch.
I have done the MORE workout at clinics, several times, I'd just never done the DVD. I thought it'd be too easy for me.
Why don't I ever learn? I worked through the MORE workout on Friday, and it was hard! I should know better by now. Other workout programs increase the intensity with external factors. You do more repetitions, or go faster, or add more weight. With T-Tapp, the intensity comes from within. To increase the difficulty of the workout, you don't need to add reps, you just hold your muscles even tighter tighter tighter! and push your form until your body is as close to perfectly aligned as possible. The exercises in MORE have only four reps, compared to the eight that's standard in most other T-Tapp workouts, but that doesn't mean it's half as hard. Hardly. Four reps, done slowly and while holding the form, is just as hard or even harder than doing eight. I tried to challenge myself, and it was indeed a challenge.
The MORE workout I did was about 40 minutes long, and consisted of modified versions of all the exercises in Basic Workout Plus (PBS, Plies, Reach Scoops, Jazz Twist, The Box, Oil Wells, T-Tapp Twist, Hoe Downs) with lunges and balance added. Once I accepted the fact that the workout was going to be slow-paced and have lots of water breaks, I threw myself into it, listening to the form instruction and working carefully. That "clinic in a box" claim is for real! With the way the moves were broken down, I was able to focus on little aspects of them that had eluded me for years. I got a much better sense of what the spinal stretch on Jazz Twist should feel like. I finally understood just how aggressive I can be about pulling up and holding in my abdominal organs during the Box. On T-Tapp Twist, with the bending down part eliminated, I was able to concentrate on holding the stance in my lower body while my upper body twists. It was educational... and it left me pleasantly sore!
Of course, now that I've finally done the MORE dvd I've owned for years, I immediately want to buy the new one. The new one has a newly filmed segment called "Home," and according to Elizabeth it's the same workout I've just described, but done with less instruction but plenty of form reminders. It's called "Home" because it was filmed in Teresa's home, and it features Teresa alone. I think this new version will be even better for me and my mom. She didn't use the MORE workout as often as she could because she was depressed by the very heavy women working out behind Teresa. Many people find it encouraging to see heavy people on a workout video, but my mom is very sensitive about issues of weight, and the women on the video made her feel as if she was the same size, even though she's still shopping in the Misses section and not Womens. For me, it'll be nice to have the workout done a little bit faster.
There's definitely more MORE in my future.
