Can you do IMAX?

K

KayM

Cathlete
If so, I heartily respect you. I can't seem to get through more than the first 1/2 hour.

I guess I'll have to stick with Gin's Intense Moves until I'm ready for IMAX.

Anyone here who has even modified IMAX and gotten all the way through, you deserve some sort of award or certificate of accomplishment! This is the first video in a long, long time that I actually cannot do.
 
I do it once a week, but the answer is no, I have never yet done it w/o mods. Getting better and better at it though.
 
No, only with Modify, Modify, Modify !!!!!!!!!!!! And the last couple of step routines still confuse me ??????

Anna :)
 
I can get through the whole hour but modify (as everyone else has said) many of the moves there are 2 intervals where I do my own thing I don't even try to keep up with Cathe.

Babs
 
Kay,

You can do it! :) If you used a 6" step try it on just the 4" platform and take out all the jumping completely, and as I said before, when in doubt (or out of breath), heel jacks in place/march in place/leg curls in place (which are good for the quads anyway!) while they jump around doing the high imapct, then pick back up on the aerobic portion of the next interval.

Just make it do-able for you, and don't feel like there's pressure to do it all right away. This is the 1 video that will let you "see" improvements as they are achieved. You will actually notice "hey, I did more of those plyo jacks this time!" Or, "I finally did the 2 feet take off instead of hopping up 1 foot at a time!" (a huge deal for me when it happened!) And those little victories will charge you up for the next time. Some weeks you'll improve weekly, others you won't! No big deal!
But don't give up on it! I used Gin's tape to help me with Imax too. As Gin's tape got easier for me, it helped me improve with Imax, so Intense Moves really is a good video to use as "pre Imax training."

But don't give up on yourself! Lower the step height and see if that helps, and do whatever move you have to just to keep moving when it gets too tough, and week by week you WILL notice yourself improving! :)

Donna
Fitness~It's a journey, not a race!
 
Yes, I can do I-Max without lower-intensity modifications, and I agree with the others that if you stick with it, and modify when you need to BUT work toward the day when you can do it without modifying, your cardiovascular AND leg fitness levels will go through the roof.

IMHO, you should do at least one I-Max or other interval workout at least once a week. If you do I-Max at least that often, you'll train up surprisingly quickly.

a-jock
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Dec-23-02 AT 11:13AM (Est)[/font][p]I can do it all as is, except the last interval. I workout in my basement, with only a comforter and a rug underneath me. My knees would die if I tried those jumps, so I have never atempted them. I modify this one. I am dripping in sweat, but I love it!!!!!
Lori S.
 
I do IMAX about once a week or so. The more you do it the "easier" it becomes. Like with anything it takes consistency. Some days I make it through with no modifications and others I can't seem to. Those plyo scissors get me every time!!
I am somewhat fearful of IMAX 2 and hope that by training with #1 I"ll be somewhat prepared!
Keep at it and as Cathe says " Don't give up!" Susan
 
KayM,

I know how you feel. I said the same thing when I first tried it. Definitely try it with a 4" step first and whenever you hit a tricky move, keep rewinding and redo the step until you get it. That's how I got through it. Some of those moves are very difficult, and for anybody who ever got it on the first shot all the way through, God bless them. I had to rewind SEVERAL times on may moves the first time I did it. But I did finish it and you can too. I just got through Cardio Kicks just now too and I'm so proud of myself because I was able to finish it this time. I couldn't before and now I'm really smiling (I'll be grinning ear to ear when I master her step tapes)!

Just remember, you can do it.

Sanchia
 
What really helped me with IMax was doing only - say - 3 intervals at a time, tacked on to another cardio workout. This 1) prepared me for the style of the workout 2) got me up to speed on the moves, and 3) helped to temper the intimidation factor, which I honestly think is a whole lot worse than the actual workout. Okay, this is a super-intense workout. But it is incredibly user-friendly if you look at it in terms of doing all modifications and the break-up-ableness of the cardio. Even on VHS (without DVD chaptering), this workout can be done 2 or three intervals at a time, tacked onto another workout. Each interval is segmented in exactly the same time frame and organized exactly the same (mini-step routine move, done six times, then interval blast, then cooldown) so it is easy to wrap your mind around the concept of the workout, and easy to insert parts of it to learn into your regular workout.
Amazingly I just did this Saturday and was able to do 7 of the 10 intervals without modifications, which is amazing to me! It was the last three I skipped of course...the toughest in my book :)

This is coming from a woman who, on first preview of this video, picture this: Watching screen, jaw on floor, eyes in non-blinking long, long stare. Literally.

Keep working at it, slowly and steadily!
Kathy
 
Yes! It IMAX is a BIG mountain to climb, but it can be conquered!! I do it once a week with no modifications on a 10 inch step and I'm 47 yrs. old! Keep Climbing!!

RobinC
 
Kay, I can do IMAX and you can too! Here's what helps me:
1. Modify during the aerobic phases. When Cathe and crew do a jump kick or a in-out-in repeater, keep them low impact - don't add any jumps or hops. This will give your quads and calves a break for the anaerobic phases.
2. Count with Cathe. This helps me. For interval 1, count every power 7, every power 15. For interval #2, count back from 64. You will get to 48 and think 'no way' but then you'll get to 28 and think, "C'mon Kay - you're over half way there, just keep going!"
3. I find it is more motivating to finish the entire tape with gobs of motifications than it is to do half of the tape intensely. That way, the next time you do it you can say to yourself, "Last time on interval 8 I did 14 power scissors. I'll go for 18 this time." It is so inspiring to set goals like that and make them!
4. Mix it up - do it on 4" with lots of intensity. Do it on 6" with motifications. This will keep the tape fresh.
5. Listen to your body. If your joints are sore, or if your legs hurt, then stop or throw in Step Heat, Step Fit, etc. You won't do it if it isn't fun! Go Kay!
 
Its funny how this workout feels different everytime I do it. The first time I tried it, I made it all the way through to the end, with some minor modifications.

I just did it for the second time again on Saturday, and I was dead by the end of the 7th interval (which is my personal fave!), and skipped the last 3 intervals.

Its a great barometer of how strong and energy filled I am on a particular day.

,....and how much I'm going to sleep after!

hehe
 
Okay Jilly................

I with you on counting each power 7 and power 15, I did/do that too! :)

But if I started those air born jumps at 64 and had to count backwards I don't know about making it to the end? Somehow it's easier to fool myself by counting 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,1 then 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,2 and so forth until I reach 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. :) That way it just sort of creeps up on you! :) Same thing with the plyo jacks! And I did the plyo scissors the same way you did, just do as many as I could, then add 2 or 4 more the next time. They are mur-der! :)

Donna

Fitness~It's a journey, not a race!
 
RE: Countdowns . . .

I too am a "counter" on the intervals; in fact that was one of the first things I started to do after Week #3 in I-Max-Land in the fall 2000, when I could get thru the entire workout without blood shooting from my ears.

However, I find it helpful to count in groups of 8: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, 2-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 etc., knowing how many groups I'll be counting off in each interval. I can't go up to or down from the number of reps I know I'm completing.

I have found that if I-Max is done consistently enough, with a moderate-to-low step (IMHO, the mean intervals are on the floor so I don't worry about a high step height, plus I'm short), you can start to modify UPWARD through the aerobic and recovery intervals as well as extend out the power blast intervals. Your recovery improves so much if you gut your way thru the intervals with no mods that the recovery portion starts to feel like a nap.

A-jock
PhD Candidate in I-Max
Dissertation pending
 
Hi Kay!

I tried to do IMax a couple of months ago and totally hit a wall
by the second interval, I couldn't even figure out what they were doing, never mind doing it myself. I was SO disappointed. But, in the meantime I got Step Heat, Cardio Kicks and MIC. I learned how Cathe does her moves on the step with Step Heat and the step portion of MIC. Well, yesterday after reading everyone's great advice here, I decided that I would just try again - and if I could only do two intervals, I'd pop in MIC step. I really surprised myself and made it through - yes of course I modified a lot. But, I made it and had a great workout!
Kay, if I can do it, you can too. It's just a matter of learning the step style and improving your cardiovascular fitness. It will come in time! Don't give up!

I really want to thank you for posting this question and thank everyone who responded - I can't tell you what an accomplishment doing this tape is to me! What a fantastic Christmas gift!
 
Thanks everyone for your great suggestions!! I can't change my step height unfortunately, it's a cheap knock-off and I'm stuck with 6" on it (been thinking about getting a real club step, but not sure if I have the room).

I feel much more inspired to try again though after reading everyone's posts! I am so glad I'm not the only one who felt like dying after the 2nd interval.

Friday is my "interval" day and I am going to try the gosh-darn thing again and try to modify the heck out of it so I can get the whole way though.

Thanks everybody!!!!
 
In two words: HELL NO.
I'm going to try this within the next week or so. Cathe told me to start with 5 intervals and build from there.

If I take the high impact out I can get that far, otherwise I'll crash and burn by the fifth interval!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top