Wow I love this!!! This is what I would like to do one day. I feel like I’m too much of a beginner to know what exercises to do but maybe after a year or so of ZGym I could get there.
I totally wing it with my workouts. Kind of like intuitive eating, I do intuitive workouts. They're based on how I feel that day, how much time and energy I have, and what I want to work on. Before I left ZGYM, I was spending a lot of time going through Zuzka's workouts to find one that matched my needs each day. The ones on the schedules often didn't.
I was a certified personal trainer for a lot of years. In olden times (early 2000s LOL), I would write my own workouts, make a schedule, periodize them. It was the kind of structure that tended to create dread and resistance. Now, I wake up and think about what I want to do that day, if anything. Sometimes I want to take a nap instead. Then I get an idea where I'm headed, start, and often change it as I go.
Some examples:
On a circus day, I may just practice my feats of strength and flexibility. Handstands, headstands, backbends, splits, that kind of thing.
On a yoga stretchy day, I'll do some poses that require a lot of balance or hold some deep stretches.
On a HIIT day, I'll look at a clock and start a new exercise at the top of each minute, go for 30-45 seconds, rest a bit, and then when the cock rolls over do something else. Often I'm really making that up as I go. Jump rope, jumping jacks, side jump lunges, burpees, chops, kicks, that kind of thing.
On a basic strength day, I'll just do a couple of big compound total body moves that hit lots of muscles, like pull-ups and deadlifts, then a few beach muscle kind of moves like crunches, or bicep curls. One set, hit every muscle group, don't take too much time or get too fatigued.
On a pleasant "toning" day when I want to do something but don't have much time and can't sweat, I'll grab some light dumbbells and do some tricep kickbacks, shoulder presses, lateral raises, calf raises, leg lifts, that kind of thing.
Lately, I've been alternating upper and lower body endurance kind of workouts. I suspect these are appealing now because I sit so much working at home. So, doing a whole bunch of walking lunges, kettlebell swings, lateral duck walks, and weighted Russian twists until I can't move is...fun? LOL I have a lot of pent up energy to expend. So, I might make a lower body circuit out of exercises like that, and go through it four times without much rest. Then the next day, I'll do similar with all upper body, so maybe pull-ups, push-ups, bent over rows, dips, and hanging knee raises in a circuit, over and over again until my arms don't work. It's weirdly satisfying.
I'll do a light dynamic warm-up before these and stretch a little after.
I had a funny thing happen yesterday. I'd done a crazy upper body and ab circuit. I wanted to end with a plank and told Siri to set a timer for 90 seconds. She said something I didn't quite catch but it sounded like she set an alarm for 11:29am, which would have been right. I'm holding my plank, holding it, holding, still holding. My arms started to tremble, my abs hurt, it just seemed like a really long time. Finally, I collapsed and looked at my phone. She had set an alarm for 11:29am the NEXT DAY!! And nearly four minutes had gone by with me in the plank! So funny... now. I had bad words for Siri at the time.
Wow five years in a row. Amazing! How do you build your own workouts now? I think that is where I want to end up. Like do you write them down? Follow a scheme? Or full body all the time?
She has lots of great beginner workouts. The schedule is divided into Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced levels, so you can follow a workout that suits your ability or energy that day. I really love ZGYM! I did it every day for five years or so. I like making up my own workouts now, but I still drop back in once in awhile because I miss Zuzka.
Bodyweight Beginners and Beginner Strength were two of my favorite series because they're so versatile. You can go really light and easy or you can un-beginner it a bit by doing a more challenging exercise variation, picking up the pace, or using more weight. I like going slow and really focusing on form, which is harder to do with the workouts that are more breathless and breakneck by default.
I've never tried her bodyweight beginners series, but now I will (thanks, @Mottainai ) I generally stay away from her full bodyweight ones because they're SO hard for me. I mean like body crush and those? They're way advanced. But now that you mention it, "beginners" is in the title! I have it marked to give it a go.
I enjoyed the new Bodyweight Beginner workout #27 that was new a few days ago. It was simple and quick enough I actually did the whole thing as listed, and I thought it was a nice whole body workout without being challenging.
I have never followed any of her workout schedules! With my teaching schedule it was pretty impossible and usually I wanted to do something interesting to me and not what Zuzka dictated. I'm still LOL-ing at @skwigg 's "circus ballet" comment. :-D
I kept my subscription for a long time and am resubscribed now. To be honest I very rarely follow the schedules or watch any of the workouts... Other than a few of the Kettlebell and Killer Legs series, I mostly look at the workout and skim the explanation, then end up only doing the moves I like and making up my own thing. But yeah, for the price, I think it’s still worth it for just the inspiration. Way cheaper than any gym!
I find it fun sometimes. All of the old workouts are still there if that's what you're interested in @Hayley. I enjoyed the new Cardio Kickbox and Strength Series. Some of the newest workouts are quite basic, no wall jumping or circus ballet.
I'm at a point now where I don't like doing anybody else's workouts at all though. I like to make it up as I go based on how I'm feeling and what sounds fun. The more I do that, the less I can bring myself to trudge though someone else's routines and schedules.
ZGYM, like everything, really, has its pros and cons. For me, I like the price and availability (my own house) and it's effective. It's also no cost to discontinue or resign. Major bonuses. The downfalls for me are that I like only summer shred, lifted butt and the upper body and abs ones. The choices are overwhelming (unless I keep it to those) and I don't dig her diet mentality, which she largely keeps off the videos but sometimes they sneak in at the end.
Overall, worth 10 bucks a month, to be sure. I also way lower my risk (tendency) to overtrain because it's limited minutes of pushing myself.
I go back and forth about whether or not to join ZGYM again. I quit because I was basically doing the same workouts I had written down in my notes. Some of her newer stuff (at least 1-2 years ago) was getting too fancy for me. I enjoy KB swings, jump squats, and burpees like the rest of them, but I didn't want to start building walls around my house or finding places to put random balls. Ok slight exaggeration :-D Anyway, I'm quitting Orange Theory, which will save me a bundle, and today was the first day I tried one of Z's old Summer Shreds (modified). It was fun - and over with a WHOLE lot faster than OTF!
After commenting on an instagram post I FINALLY got a response to my emails to Zgym customer service. I'm not impressed at all. They claim they sent me previous emails. Lies. I check my spam folder religiously and not once did I receive a Zgym email. Then they asked me if I wanted them to "refund your dollar". As if the amount matters!!! Then they said I only emailed once on Dec 24th and what did I expect because of course they were closed for the holidays. Ya, how about the email I sent on the 14th??????
anyway, needless to say, I'm not impressed and i'm thinking this whole ordeal is just a sign that I need to stay away from Zgym right now.
I don't like the weird peekaboo side panel that's always showing on the right. It makes my OCD eye twitch that it doesn't go away. I looked in a couple of browsers to make sure it wasn't just a Safari thing.
Hi @Tonya I hate it :) But I'll get used to it. It took me far too many minutes to "find" the weekly workout schedule. I think I had to go to "monthly" and find it from there. Is there another way?
Hey, friends! It's been way too long, but life has been a whirlwind. (I hope to update my journal soon.) I HAD to jump in to ask what you all think of Zuzka's brand new site design?
I'm really enjoying ZGYM this time around. Like all workouts I enjoy, I've cancelled and resubscribed many times. This time it's all I'm doing after a very short (<8 mins) warm up and it's a lot less than I've ever done. Even the advanced ones are totally ok for me and less than before. My workouts are fast, varied, and effective. I've also moved my workouts to the evening. My tendency to overdo is totally thwarted with this maneuver. In the morning, I would work out if there was more time available before I needed to get ready for work. At night, I'm DONE when it's done and look forward to the shower and dinner awaiting me, and the tv and computer time following that. The desire to kill myself is GONE after a full day of kids and such.
On weekends, I still do workouts in the mornings, but it's at my leisure and about 2 hours after I wake up. Or I skip altogether. No nighttime workouts on weekends, but I don't experience that endocrine disruption that seems to happen in the mornings for me. It's been N-I-C-E.
@happyme Back when there was only one schedule I would jump into whatever was on it without looking. As soon as there were three schedules, I started comparing the breakdowns. I do get the impression (now) that she's going to keep that same Strength 1 on the schedule for six weeks. I'm bored with it already.
I've been going rogue so much of the time I'm not sure I'll renew my subscription. Lately, I've been enjoying little movement snacks where I just do a pull-up when I walk by the bar, or some walking lunges around the kitchen while waiting for the microwave, or some dumbbell bent over rows while my computer is restarting. I'm glad you warned me @sunshine about the subscription becoming unavailable for the rest of the month if you cancel early. Let me know what you find out.
Wow I love this!!! This is what I would like to do one day. I feel like I’m too much of a beginner to know what exercises to do but maybe after a year or so of ZGym I could get there.
thanks a lot Skwigg
I totally wing it with my workouts. Kind of like intuitive eating, I do intuitive workouts. They're based on how I feel that day, how much time and energy I have, and what I want to work on. Before I left ZGYM, I was spending a lot of time going through Zuzka's workouts to find one that matched my needs each day. The ones on the schedules often didn't.
I was a certified personal trainer for a lot of years. In olden times (early 2000s LOL), I would write my own workouts, make a schedule, periodize them. It was the kind of structure that tended to create dread and resistance. Now, I wake up and think about what I want to do that day, if anything. Sometimes I want to take a nap instead. Then I get an idea where I'm headed, start, and often change it as I go.
Some examples:
On a circus day, I may just practice my feats of strength and flexibility. Handstands, headstands, backbends, splits, that kind of thing.
On a yoga stretchy day, I'll do some poses that require a lot of balance or hold some deep stretches.
On a HIIT day, I'll look at a clock and start a new exercise at the top of each minute, go for 30-45 seconds, rest a bit, and then when the cock rolls over do something else. Often I'm really making that up as I go. Jump rope, jumping jacks, side jump lunges, burpees, chops, kicks, that kind of thing.
On a basic strength day, I'll just do a couple of big compound total body moves that hit lots of muscles, like pull-ups and deadlifts, then a few beach muscle kind of moves like crunches, or bicep curls. One set, hit every muscle group, don't take too much time or get too fatigued.
On a pleasant "toning" day when I want to do something but don't have much time and can't sweat, I'll grab some light dumbbells and do some tricep kickbacks, shoulder presses, lateral raises, calf raises, leg lifts, that kind of thing.
Lately, I've been alternating upper and lower body endurance kind of workouts. I suspect these are appealing now because I sit so much working at home. So, doing a whole bunch of walking lunges, kettlebell swings, lateral duck walks, and weighted Russian twists until I can't move is...fun? LOL I have a lot of pent up energy to expend. So, I might make a lower body circuit out of exercises like that, and go through it four times without much rest. Then the next day, I'll do similar with all upper body, so maybe pull-ups, push-ups, bent over rows, dips, and hanging knee raises in a circuit, over and over again until my arms don't work. It's weirdly satisfying.
I'll do a light dynamic warm-up before these and stretch a little after.
I had a funny thing happen yesterday. I'd done a crazy upper body and ab circuit. I wanted to end with a plank and told Siri to set a timer for 90 seconds. She said something I didn't quite catch but it sounded like she set an alarm for 11:29am, which would have been right. I'm holding my plank, holding it, holding, still holding. My arms started to tremble, my abs hurt, it just seemed like a really long time. Finally, I collapsed and looked at my phone. She had set an alarm for 11:29am the NEXT DAY!! And nearly four minutes had gone by with me in the plank! So funny... now. I had bad words for Siri at the time.
Anyway, home workouts are going well. 👍
Wow five years in a row. Amazing! How do you build your own workouts now? I think that is where I want to end up. Like do you write them down? Follow a scheme? Or full body all the time?
She has lots of great beginner workouts. The schedule is divided into Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced levels, so you can follow a workout that suits your ability or energy that day. I really love ZGYM! I did it every day for five years or so. I like making up my own workouts now, but I still drop back in once in awhile because I miss Zuzka.
Hi everyone, are you still doing ZGym? I have been contemplating checking her workouts out. Wonder if they are still good.
They used to be too hard for me but I saw that she has a beginner option now.
Bodyweight Beginners and Beginner Strength were two of my favorite series because they're so versatile. You can go really light and easy or you can un-beginner it a bit by doing a more challenging exercise variation, picking up the pace, or using more weight. I like going slow and really focusing on form, which is harder to do with the workouts that are more breathless and breakneck by default.
I've never tried her bodyweight beginners series, but now I will (thanks, @Mottainai ) I generally stay away from her full bodyweight ones because they're SO hard for me. I mean like body crush and those? They're way advanced. But now that you mention it, "beginners" is in the title! I have it marked to give it a go.
I enjoyed the new Bodyweight Beginner workout #27 that was new a few days ago. It was simple and quick enough I actually did the whole thing as listed, and I thought it was a nice whole body workout without being challenging.
I have never followed any of her workout schedules! With my teaching schedule it was pretty impossible and usually I wanted to do something interesting to me and not what Zuzka dictated. I'm still LOL-ing at @skwigg 's "circus ballet" comment. :-D
I kept my subscription for a long time and am resubscribed now. To be honest I very rarely follow the schedules or watch any of the workouts... Other than a few of the Kettlebell and Killer Legs series, I mostly look at the workout and skim the explanation, then end up only doing the moves I like and making up my own thing. But yeah, for the price, I think it’s still worth it for just the inspiration. Way cheaper than any gym!
I find it fun sometimes. All of the old workouts are still there if that's what you're interested in @Hayley. I enjoyed the new Cardio Kickbox and Strength Series. Some of the newest workouts are quite basic, no wall jumping or circus ballet.
I'm at a point now where I don't like doing anybody else's workouts at all though. I like to make it up as I go based on how I'm feeling and what sounds fun. The more I do that, the less I can bring myself to trudge though someone else's routines and schedules.
ZGYM, like everything, really, has its pros and cons. For me, I like the price and availability (my own house) and it's effective. It's also no cost to discontinue or resign. Major bonuses. The downfalls for me are that I like only summer shred, lifted butt and the upper body and abs ones. The choices are overwhelming (unless I keep it to those) and I don't dig her diet mentality, which she largely keeps off the videos but sometimes they sneak in at the end.
Overall, worth 10 bucks a month, to be sure. I also way lower my risk (tendency) to overtrain because it's limited minutes of pushing myself.
Maybe not helpful but that's my two cents
I go back and forth about whether or not to join ZGYM again. I quit because I was basically doing the same workouts I had written down in my notes. Some of her newer stuff (at least 1-2 years ago) was getting too fancy for me. I enjoy KB swings, jump squats, and burpees like the rest of them, but I didn't want to start building walls around my house or finding places to put random balls. Ok slight exaggeration :-D Anyway, I'm quitting Orange Theory, which will save me a bundle, and today was the first day I tried one of Z's old Summer Shreds (modified). It was fun - and over with a WHOLE lot faster than OTF!
After commenting on an instagram post I FINALLY got a response to my emails to Zgym customer service. I'm not impressed at all. They claim they sent me previous emails. Lies. I check my spam folder religiously and not once did I receive a Zgym email. Then they asked me if I wanted them to "refund your dollar". As if the amount matters!!! Then they said I only emailed once on Dec 24th and what did I expect because of course they were closed for the holidays. Ya, how about the email I sent on the 14th?????? anyway, needless to say, I'm not impressed and i'm thinking this whole ordeal is just a sign that I need to stay away from Zgym right now.
@Tonya The new site design is a beautiful mess. It looks nice but seems a little too fussy and difficult to navigate. @happyme, you could bookmark this page: https://zuzkalight.com/category/workout-schedules-category/
I don't like the weird peekaboo side panel that's always showing on the right. It makes my OCD eye twitch that it doesn't go away. I looked in a couple of browsers to make sure it wasn't just a Safari thing.
Hi @Tonya I hate it :) But I'll get used to it. It took me far too many minutes to "find" the weekly workout schedule. I think I had to go to "monthly" and find it from there. Is there another way?
Hey, friends! It's been way too long, but life has been a whirlwind. (I hope to update my journal soon.) I HAD to jump in to ask what you all think of Zuzka's brand new site design?
I'm really enjoying ZGYM this time around. Like all workouts I enjoy, I've cancelled and resubscribed many times. This time it's all I'm doing after a very short (<8 mins) warm up and it's a lot less than I've ever done. Even the advanced ones are totally ok for me and less than before. My workouts are fast, varied, and effective. I've also moved my workouts to the evening. My tendency to overdo is totally thwarted with this maneuver. In the morning, I would work out if there was more time available before I needed to get ready for work. At night, I'm DONE when it's done and look forward to the shower and dinner awaiting me, and the tv and computer time following that. The desire to kill myself is GONE after a full day of kids and such.
On weekends, I still do workouts in the mornings, but it's at my leisure and about 2 hours after I wake up. Or I skip altogether. No nighttime workouts on weekends, but I don't experience that endocrine disruption that seems to happen in the mornings for me. It's been N-I-C-E.
No help from the Zgym help desk yet with regards to my subscription.Oh well. I guess I won't be doing Zgym.
@happyme Back when there was only one schedule I would jump into whatever was on it without looking. As soon as there were three schedules, I started comparing the breakdowns. I do get the impression (now) that she's going to keep that same Strength 1 on the schedule for six weeks. I'm bored with it already.
I've been going rogue so much of the time I'm not sure I'll renew my subscription. Lately, I've been enjoying little movement snacks where I just do a pull-up when I walk by the bar, or some walking lunges around the kitchen while waiting for the microwave, or some dumbbell bent over rows while my computer is restarting. I'm glad you warned me @sunshine about the subscription becoming unavailable for the rest of the month if you cancel early. Let me know what you find out.