The Wave Kit Includes:
The first thing I did when I opened it, was hop on and play around. Word of warning: wear shoes! I immediately slipped in my socks and almost took out the coffee table.
This DVD was just to get you used to using The Wave. It was an important one not to be missed, because due to The Wave’s curved design, you have to step carefully on an off as to not twist and ankle or fall. It gives you important pointers on making sure you are using it as effectively and safely as possible.
This is a personal thing, and probably stupid of me to even say, but it kind of bothered me the instructor didn’t introduce herself. I liked her, she was very fluid and concise, but I have no idea who she is.
I didn’t use the mat at first because I thought since I was on carpet I would be fine, but quickly paused the DVD to put it underneath The Wave. Once we got rocking, I started to spin without the mat because there was no traction. Use the mat no matter what surface you are on.
The upper body stuff was a little difficult to do, because my hands kept slipping forward. The plastic is pretty slippery, so I had to keep readjucting mid-set, which interrupted the flow of the rocking. The pushups were really challenging- I felt it more in triceps than normal pushups, and even more than when doing pushups with a BOSU. I was suprised by the diffculty of the planks, especially when rocking, and had to drop to my knees a few times. It was a different feeling than I was used to and can’t be duplicated with anything but The Wave.
This DVD offers an express version if you are short on time.
You need dumbells for this workout, and something called ‘cardio weights’ that I’m not familiar with. They look like they had little pink handles on them.
A word of warning: holy crap, you better be coordinated. The warm up was a big jumble of steps and hops and arm movements that changed every 2 reps. I couldn’t keep up, so I just resorted to stepping up and down to the same tempo as the instructor. The first 10 minutes or so of the routine was with the Wave flipped upside down, so it just acted as a step.
After that, it slowed down a bit and you actually rode the Wave. There were lots of lunges onto and off of the Wave, which were difficult, but doable, lots of rocking back and forth with upper body work and squats, which were pretty killer. There wasn’t as much cardio involved as I thought there would be, but its a great lower body workout.
The pushups were rough, and I was on my knees. You could really feel your core working to keep you from rocking back and forth. I turned my fingers inward a bit which kept my hands from slipping, which was a problem I had originally.
The end was some ab work and stretching. The side crunches lying over the top of The Wave to work the obliques just hurt too much to do. I don’t know if I just have a boney rib cage, or what, but I couldn’t do these- it hurt my sides too bad. Its hard plastic- not too comfy or supportive.
The DVD wasn’t too difficult, but I could definately feel it working, especially in my butt during the squats and my arms and core during the pushups.
I was SORE after the last DVD. Holy cow, my hamstrings and glutes were killing me- it was all the squats and lunges. I waiting a day to try this next DVD to give myself time to heal.
Holy freakin’ crap, who do these people think I am, Britney Spears? The warm up is so difficult I almost turned it off. There was so much stepping and twirling and marching and kicking and pumping I couldn’t keep up. Who are they trying to impress? A warm up is just to get your heart rate up- which can be acheived by marching in place. I didn’t realize I signed up for River Dance. I almost twisted my ankle a few times trying to mimic them, and eventually opted for stepping up and down on the Wave, which guess what? Got my heart rate up just the same, without any broken bones.
There were a lot of different moves in this DVD from the first full length video. There were tons of great lower body moves with really creative lunges and squat variations that you can only do on the Wave.
There were ab moves sitting on to over the Wave when its flipped over (stable position) but my pants where too slippery and I kept slipping off. i was just wearing regular legings, but I kept slipping off the back, and gave up.
this DVD was also more cardio based- not as difficult as the warm up but still so much spinning and kicking and stepping i gave up and marched and kicked in place a few times.
This DVD was a lot more difficult than the last- this is the one i will probably do most often.
The Wave itself: I’m really impressed with this. As a trainer, I’ve never seen anything that offers the unstable surface of a BOSU or stability ball, but only when you exert force onto it- giving you the best of both training worlds: stability training as well as scuplting through force production. As an exerciser, it was downright fun. It was challenging and effective, but really fun. Using the wave was unlike any other peice of equipment I have used. Up until this point, I would have to say the BOSU was my favorite peice of at-home fitness equipment, but The Wave is more fun and challenging than a BOSU, but just as versitile and has an added cardio component (which if you know me, any way to sneak in some cardio under my radar is a big plus in my book.)
Pros:
Drawbacks:
The Verdict: I can say without a doubt, if your weight and injuries permit, you should definately ride The Wave.
Every Gym’s Nightmare, fitness, health, yoga, pilates, strength training, personal trainer, cardiovascular, cardio, exercise, wellness, weight loss, blog, blogging, fitness blog, weightloss blog,