Tai Chenggggggg!

So this is what arrived in my mail 2 days ago.  My Tai Cheng workout. A tutorial DVD, 13 weeks worth of workouts (DVDs), strength bands, a chart of what workouts to do each day (6 days a week), a foam (not squishy) roll, tape measure and some booklets with information.

I started my workout on Monday night when it was delivered. 

Just so you all know, it is NOT a cardio type of workout, relatively easy.  About 12-15 minutes of warm-up stretching exercises and then a workout that lasts about 13 minutes of learning some of the Tai Chi moves.  None of it is strenuous, though I can already feel some difference in the strength of the muscles in my lower abs (under the bellybutton area). 

The workout is a lot about increasing flexibility, core strength, balance and elongating the muscles.    There is NO impact movement at all, which is really good for me!  And with strengthening the lower abs, soon that will help with some of my back problems. 

So I'm very excited to start building some skill with this.  They show a couple of levels of how to do the movements .... I'm about 2 or 3 levels below their "LOW" level, but the only place to start anything is where you are at when you start.  Because it is not a hard-core cardio ... or even remotely close to it, it is not something that I dread.

I use the foam roller (which is about 2 1/2 feet long and maybe 7 or 8 inches across) in the warm-ups ... at least this week I am using it to roll it under the knees and behind the calf muscles in different ways.  It kind of provides a massage to those areas in the process, which is really GOOD for me, those areas are places that need some work and I cannot easily reach them, so the foam roller is GREAT!

Anyway, just updating on that.  I can truly say I AM enjoying the tapes so far, even looking forward to the next workout tonight!  THAT says a lot in my book!  :)