After that title, is anyone else now singing…
Le freak, c’est chic, freak out!
No? Just me? Hmmm.
So, this morning, I rose bright and early to take on the Physique 57 DVD that had been judging me from its place on the TV stand for about a week. I was all sorts of big talk on Twitter when I asked if there were ways to take the classes online (since I’m about as far from NYC as it gets).
(All company images in this post are from the Physique 57 Facebook page)
The friendly people at Physique 57 tweeted me that the only way to take classes is at home is via DVD, and offered to send me one.
“Sure,” I said — I mean, I know I didn’t love barre54 when I tried it, but so many bloggers love Physique that it was worth a try.
OUCH. The pain…the humanity! I thought I was in shape, but this DVD humbled me. I’d say it brought me to my knees, but they actually do moves from the knees, so even the thought of it makes me wince.
I’m feeling the burn in many, many places. Which is especially shocking because, aside from a few 5-pound weights, everything is body weight. You just have to hold it…and hold it…and hold it some more.
Sweat-tastic.
So, kudos to Physique 57 co-founder Tanya Becker, who put me through the paces:
And thank you to the awesome people at Physique 57′s Twitter account for hooking me up!
OK, now I need your help. No matter how hard I work, I can’t seem to tighten up the muscle I’m pointing to below:
What muscle IS that, and how can I make it less jiggly? It drove me nuts on my wedding and it’s making me mental now.
Look at that muscle mock me in my photos
About Katy
My dear that’s your lats.(vastus lateralis) Overhead pull downs on a band machine or reverse flys are your friend. I hate mine too.
I will be happily reading comments on this one…owee, Physique 57 looks hard…almost nothing harder than holding and holding…kind of like the problem with planks.
sorry lat dorsi!
That is what I include in my armpit fat. Glad to hear it acutally has a name.
I am subscribing to comments on this one! Wait, do you have that feature? Anyway–that is the body part I loathe, too, and sometimes look at my wedding photos and cringe a tad. I want to try Physique57! Have a great weekend, lovely.
So I’m not expert and this might be totally wrong, but isn’t that muscle a part of your lats? If so, cable pull downs will really hit it this muscle, as well as wide stance push ups. I don’t have a problem with mine, but I have other areas (triceps to be exact) that are extra jiggly no matter what. I guess we all distribute extra fat in different places?
They’re your lats! Lat pulldowns with cables, chin ups, pretty much anything overhead and anything with an open grip!
Physique 57 sounds awesome!
Mine mocked me in my wedding pictures too. Cat’s comment about lat pull downs might be it b/c since doing them I’ve noticed my have gotten substantially less “flabby”
Katy & Janetha – You both were such gorgeous brides though! I love your wedding photos!
Yep. Lats.
Most “jiggly” areas just need to be worked out cardio-style – it’s the only way to shed fat! Other things to build the muscle there ate the lat pull downs that have been mentioned, push-ups, and straight arm pull downs.
Don’t let it drive you nuts – everyone has one of “those” areas and you always notice it more than anyone else.
So glad you liked Physique! It really is a humbling workout and believe me when I say it does not get easier!
That area is a tough one to tackle. Doing things like lat pull downs will definitely tone up that muscle but the ‘jiggle’ overlies the muscle and will decrease as your overall metabolism increases, be it via more cardio or strength training. That’s just based on my own experience with that area.
LOL – Those would be your lats. And you would need to do pull ups.
Agreed – they are your lats. And I’m going to be “that girl” and tell you that you can’t spot reduce. However, you can tone muscles, it just might not make them look the way you are wanting them too. But, it can give you a nice, defined muscular appearance. Lat pulldowns, overhand grip pullups, back flys – all great exercises.
Definitely do some pull-ups. I recommend wide grip. I think pullups are better than lat pull downs since it is more of an effort. Also, since most people have trouble starting out doing a pull-up without any assistance you can do a jumping pull-up. Give it a try. Jumping pull-ups are easier but will still wear you out and define those back/arm muscles.
enjoytheworkout
I’m glad you liked it. I love Physique.
late to the LATS-soiree
let me know if you didnt get your anwers!
late to the LATS-soiree
let me know if you didnt get your anwers!
Katy,
The exrcise that worked the best for me were wide grip pull ups. People don’t like to them because they are hard. But the reason they are hard is because most of us have weak lats. You don’t even have to be able to do a single one. Just persistesntly trying will signal to your body to start giving you extra strength in your lats to accomplish what you are trying to do. Just hanging on that bar will make your muscle sore. In a few weeks you will be able to do one or a half of one. Six months later you will be knocking out reps of ten and your back will look sexy. Main thing is persistency and attitude. Do not get discouraged at the beginning when you just hang on the bar like wet laundry with nothing but sore back to show for it. Good luck.
Great tip — thanks!
Th reason people say they cannot do pull ups because they don’t do them. If you don’t start – you never will.