exercise | Bewitching Kitchen

Time flies! Last time I wrote a fitness-related post was in April 2020 (click here). In that post you can also find links to all my previous reviews of exercise systems such as the three series of P90X. Today I share my review of 21 Day Fix, by Autumn Calabrese. I have been using her videos for almost 3 years, and love them! She has the perfect personality to make you challenge yourself, says the right things, mixes the right amount of fun with work. The little quotes spread around this post all came from the her classes, as short messages to focus on and be inspired by.

First let me start with my single criticism of the whole thing. I do not like the underlying message of “change (fix) your body in 3 weeks”. That is simply unreal and a huge turn off for me. However, I decided to ignore this pet peeve and give it a try. So glad I did.

You are supposed to exercise daily – yes, daily – for 21 days straight, following the schedule provided and it goes as shown below (this calendar uses a slightly different version of 21 Day Fix, mine did not have the Barre Legs). Source: Pinterest. When I first got the system, I did the full three weeks with no changes or substitutions of workouts, and after that I just went back to my own routine, which in fact changes a lot depending on what goes on. For instance, I did have a ski accident in March 2023 that affected my workouts quite a bit, I could not do much lower body and walking. You can see what I’ve been doing regularly now in the end of this post.

Basically you do the same exercise each day of the week, no rest, although Both Yoga Fix and Pilates Fix are “easy days”. Could be almost regarded as rest days. Keep in mind to follow the system to a T, you are also supposed to incorporate all the nutritional guidelines, which I fully ignore. I do not measure portions and I don’t count calories, so my review only centers on the exercise component.

Since warm-up is short and breaks are kept to a minimum, the whole thing flows nicely and the 30 minutes go by super quickly. I love that! Now let me go over the different videos.

TOTAL BODY CARDIO

This is the starting video, and let me be honest, it is the hardest. The first exercise is not for sissies, she starts with SURRENDERS. If you are not familiar with fitness lingo, Surrenders are exercises in which you start standing up, kneel on one knee first, then the other side, gets up using the first leg only, then the other one. All that holding weights on your shoulders. Weights are optional, and you can instead help lifting with your hand assisting the movement. So every single exercise has a modified, easier version.

After 60 long seconds of surrendering yourself to discomfort, come side-shuffles, squats, jumping with weights, weighed jogging (pretty tough), knee pulls (challenging also), oblique crunches. Overall a great way to work your whole body with a bit of aerobics also in a few of the moves.

UPPER FIX

One of my favorite routines of the program! Next day I always feel my biceps and triceps have done some work, my favorite move is the one from the picture above, “Transverse Twist”, as it goes into a pretty nice rhythm with the music. You can challenge yourself more if you grab heavier weights, or go easy. No matter what you decide to do, it is a fun routine that targets not only upper body (shoulders, arms, upper back), but also the abdominal area (you will do some floor routines in the end, circle crunches and scissors for instance). I do Upper Fix once a week for sure (more about my personal schedule in the end of this post).

LOWER FIX

Another great routine with heavy focus on legs, just a few exercises with some aerobic component. I normally do this routine on the days I don’t go jogging or for a long walk, so it is not a video I use often. Maybe once every couple of weeks.

PILATES FIX

Pilates is going to feel pretty good compared to what came before and will come next. Some exercises are very challenging for me, for instance the Superman, which I dread with every cell of my body. Maybe it is my scoliosis speaking. But I still try it. Overall, as expected from Pilates, it will target nicely the abdominal, lower back region of your body, and also work a bit on flexibility. The routine starts with the famous 100’s, which wakes up the abs right away… Several exercises in plank position, something I am particularly fond of. I should probably do it more often than once every couple of weeks.

CARDIO FIX

Back into the tough side of life! This is challenging because it is mostly aerobic but often including weights. I sometimes drop the weights just to concentrate better on the rhythm and try to keep up with their pace. If I grab the weights I have to go considerably slower. Skater jumps brings me memories of P90X, and Mountain Climbers are nice and although done in plank position, they make your heart pump fast.

DIRTY 30.

This set is slightly aerobic, but it requires weights so there’s a bit of resistance training. Side lunges, Renegade Rows (love those, from plank position you lift weights one arm at a time from the floor to work the back muscles). Squats are a big part of the series too. It is not extremely challenging but it will make you sweat.

YOGA FIX

Absolutely perfect to finish the seven days of workout! All the usual suspects, Sun Salutations, Crescent Pose, Chair Pose, Warrior 1, Warrior 2, Triangle Pose, all done in a nice slow pace to stretch your body and soothe the muscles.

TEN MINUTE ABS

Ok, I must tell you this is in my opinion worth the price of the full set of DVDs. I used to think that nothing could beat the famous AbRipperX from P90X, but this one did it. Ten minutes of ab exercises, each one performed 20 times, you go the full cycle of 11 moves, then repeat them. I do them so often that I don’t even put the DVD to play, I do them from memory. Love it!

So my thoughts on 21 Day Fix: this system will be great for anyone, starting from any fitness level, as every exercise can be toned down to your goals.

MY PERSONAL FITNESS ROUTINE

My personal routine now is one in which I exercise every single day, except maybe one or two days each month for one reason or another. Every other day I start my morning super early with a treadmill HIIT. I walk fast for 4 minutes and then run at full-speed (7 to 7:30 min per mile pace, that is as fast as I can safely go) for 30 seconds. Repeat that 6 times. It takes me 30 minutes and I am absolutely drenched in sweat when I am done. I usually follow that with a nice walk later in the day to loosen the muscles a bit. Most days I also pick one video to hit other parts of the body. I have so many to choose from, but these are the ones that are part of my rotation. All these systems have been reviewed in the past (I actually started P90X 15 years ago!). All links available in this post.

21 Day Fix: all videos of the system, according to my mood. Ten minute Abs usually twice each week, Upper Fix once.

From P90X original system: Plyometrics, KenpoX (kickboxing), Shoulders & Arms, Legs& Back, Yoga, and Ab RipperX

From P90X III – The Challenge (push-ups and pull-ups non stop), The Incinerator (heavy arm and shoulders workout)

From Jessica Smith – Abs 360, Metabolic Conditioning, several of her walk strong videos.

Systems that I reviewed before but totally abandoned: T25, P90X II

I hope you enjoyed this review, and if you have been wondering about a nice way to exercise at home, think about 21 Day Fix. Order it here. (I am not affiliated and as you probably know by now, I don’t get anything for reviewing or recommending products. I only review things I love).

ONE YEAR AGO: Going Beyond Guacamole

TWO YEARS AGO: A Trio of Superstars

THREE YEARS AGO: Turkey Meatloaf

FOUR YEARS AGO: Prue Leith’s Smoked Salmon and Beetroot Blinis

FIVE YEARS AGO: Mandioca Frita 101

SIX YEARS AGO: White Chocolate Raspberry Dome Cake

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Blueberry Crumble Coffee Cake

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Pickled Red Onions

NINE YEARS AGO: Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake

TEN YEARS AGO: Mini-Chocolate Cheesecake Bites

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Grated Tomato Sauce

TWELVE YEARS AGO: A Taste of Yellow to Honor Barbara

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Gratin of Beefsteak Tomatoes

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Tour de France Final Stage: PARIS

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Snickerdoodles with a Twist

Disclaimer: This is a post exclusively about exercise.
Back to food next week… 😉

As I mentioned before, I’ve been keeping exercise records since January 1998. Each month for the past 15 years I strive to exercise more than 50% of the days. The only way I can keep my exercise routine going is by adding variety to it. P90X was perfect in that sense, so when I heard that Tony Horton was launching the P90X2 (December 2011), I had to try it. Similarly to my experience with the original system, it took me longer than 90 days to wrap it up, but I did it. I wrote a very detailed article about the original program, and hoped to do the same for the X2. However, I found a wonderful review online that saved me all the work. If you are interested, click here. I will instead simply summarize the differences between the two programs.

A common question: is P90X2 harder than P90X? Yes. I would not start with the X2, as right from the get-go it involves exercises that are close to the top level of difficulty in the original program. One example: Yoga-X ends the standing series with a sequence of Warrior III, Half-Moon, and Twisted Half-Moon. You will be standing on one leg for almost 3 minutes, balancing, twisting, breathing hard, wishing Tony Horton had never been born. 😉 Fast forward to P90X2, and you will see the Warrior III and the Half-Moon poses showing up not only in the yoga routine, but in the middle of strength-training and aerobic exercises as well. While in Warrior III or Half-Moon you will be doing bicep curls, triceps kick-backs, abdominal crunches (yes, abdominal crunches while in standing splits), and other weight-bearing moves. The bottom line is, in P90X2, you will see a lot more combined exercises that target many muscle groups simultaneously. They require balance, flexibility, and core strength all at the same time.

Another aspect of P90X2 is a mixture of aerobics and strength training in the same routine. It was a bit shocking to realize that doing 52 minutes of aerobics (original Plyometrics-90X) is not as hard as 40 minutes of a mixture of aerobics with strength-training (the Plyocide-90X2 routine). Somehow the body struggles harder when demanded to constantly change gears. But, as Tony would put it: “it’s good for you” 😉

Surprisingly, two routines of the new system are actually easier. First, yoga. I was afraid of what 90X2 yoga would be like, but it is shorter (you are done in 1 hour instead of 90 minutes), and the exercises are at the same overall level of difficulty of the original series. Second, the abdominal workout from the original series. Ab-RipperX is actually harder (and I think more efficient) than the Ab-RipperX2. In fact, I don’t even bother with it anymore, the original version is my default routine.

Some exercises of X2 are so incredibly hard that I was forced to adapt them to my level. I simply will not do a pull-up and then curl my body up into a ball going over the bar. One should keep in mind that Tony targets a broad audience including extremely fit men, who want to bulk up. They need to be challenged to their limits. I also won’t attempt to do the push-ups balancing my body in four medicine balls as the top photo shows. Tony Horton himself described that exercise as “doing push ups during an earthquake“. Sounds like a ton of fun, but I rather not risk breaking my nose… 😉 When exercises like this come, he always demonstrates variations that do the job on a more
“humane” level. And that’s the road I humbly follow.

Having “graduated” from both programs, I went on with a mix-and-match of the two, picking the routines the way I feel like and working out according to how sore I am. But, after moving to Kansas our life got so frantic that I had to find quicker workouts for some weekdays. I looked for alternatives lasting at most 30 minutes, but still challenging. That’s how I got to Jillian Michaels’ 6-Week/6-Pack, Ripped in 30, and a few others of her many DVDs. I will be reviewing her exercise program in the future. It won’t be pretty, though. Expect some harsh words. I will say one thing upfront: unless you are very careful, you will get injured. And I speak from experience (sigh). Stay tuned!