Workout Rant: I Hate Drills!

M

mmis29

Cathlete
Is anyone else *really* tired of drills and repetitive movements?

Call em HiiTs, drills, Tabatas, Blasts, "Fire Drills", etc, they are all the darn same to me: BORING! And they seem to be the "in" thing, they are all over video now.

I know everyone is different but I personally am sooo over them. "Do this for a minute" X 45 times is just incredibly zzzz to me. Anyone else miss the FUN of combos? I did circuit max yesterday and was just on cloud 9 for the rest of the day. I really miss the fun factor that IMO is really, really hard to get when you're doing repetitive movements and endless drills.

I am really looking forward to the next fitness trend :) Anyone in the fitness biz on here? What's coming down the pike?
 
I like drills

For one, they are easy to do, hardly any learning curve. I teach classes, so it's easy to "borrow" drills from several DVD & put them together. It's the wave of exercise right now, just like Zumba is a current rage. I have such a low boredom threshold that the drills are fine with me. I think that's one reason why I like the Intensity DVD so much - it's kind a mix of drills & combos. I especially like drills that use the step.
 
I enjoy drills too!:)

Just as the OP is "soooo over" drills, I am soooo over having to learn the choreography before I can really get into and enjoy a work out and an awesome sweat!!!:p

I have endless choreographed stepping, kickboxing and other aerobic routines in my collection. Although I do them, I am so thankful that drills have arrived on the scene for when I don't want to have to think about it and I just want to DO IT!:D
 
I also like drills. They're an easy way to get my heart rate up quickly without thinking too much. It's hard for me to do that with combos.

Stebby
 
I love drills. I hate complex choreography. I want to workout hard--not dance. Keep the drills coming! I do like fairly simple combos--like the kind in most kickboxing workouts. They can be as intense as drills!
 
I'm with OP

I have to say I love the choreography of step, and get the dread factor when doing repetition. I tend to start thinking of other things and get distracted and then usually trip or fall on my butt :eek: I find I am easily distracted sometimes :rolleyes:

mmis29, there are still vid's/downloads out there if you like step/choreography. I will dig up the links I have if you want them. Cathe is the best, of course, there is nothing wrong with trying other instructors if the one you really like isn't doing what you prefer. And please, no flames, Cathe is wonderful in my eyes and I will be doing her step workouts for a long time, I'm sure. I'll just update the music with my own if not in an oldie kinda mood :p

Elle
 
Sorry OP I love drills, too! :p Like others said, I love love love the simplicity and easy learning curve. I can really focus on getting my heart rate UP and getting in that delicious anaerobic zone! :D I am so totally in love with Crossfire and To the Max right now exactly because of that! :eek:
 
I love/hate drills and I love/hate combos....it just depends on my mood....with Cathe I have alot of choices...and I'm so grateful.
 
I love drills...by far my favorite!!! I don't enjoy having to learn dance moves, thats one reason I don't like Turbo Fire, to many dance moves. Money down the drain for me with Turbo Fire, I'm looking to sell it on Craiglist and purchase X-Train or a few of Cathe workouts!
 
I also hate drills. Reminds me of gym class. Boring. No more for me. I like to have some fun and I don't consider drills to be fun.
 
Repo said:
I love/hate drills and I love/hate combos....it just depends on my mood....with Cathe I have alot of choices...and I'm so grateful.
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I feel the same! It all depends on my mood :). Sometimes I don't want to "think" I just want to get into a sweaty mess, and sometimes I want my mind to be engaged by more complex choreo. I'm grateful Cathe has a variety of workouts to suit my mood and personality :).

OP, I totally understand where you are coming from though. When you dread a specific workout, you won't do it. That's why all my plank related exercises vids don't get much use :eek:.

Natasha
 
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I agreee with original poster .. I hate drills ALL the time. I think it can be boring.. ..exercise should be fun. I know drills will bring heart rate up so I don't mind them mixed in here and there. But I do miss the old days with medium intesity steady state for 45 minutes and some weight trining at the end for about 20 oor 25 minutes. I think it is best to have the mixed bag to do. But. Yeah it does seem DRILLs are on every dvd now.
 
I'm with the original poster, Drills are dull and I'm getting bored of them too.

I previewed To The Max and I am afraid, it seemed to me, that even Cathe was bored with this one. Not much fun factor at all, she 'aint grinning and I don't imagine I will be either.

Circuit Max: now there's a creative workout! Always one of my faves too. I don't mind inserting blasts, for example, during Step Blast, but at least they are not the main event, they are there to ramp up the heart rate and add intensity to the entire movement patter.

I agree, Intensity also looks like so much "been there, done that," and I think Cathe, at this stge, is repeating herself. I don't want to be buying the same workout over and over again. Drill Max, the drills section of Kick max, Intensity, Crossfire and TTM. A lot of similarity. Not a lot of variety between them.

Sorry. You can love them all you want, but there is another perspective on thee workouts and when I workout, like the op, I need my brain to be engaged too.

Clare
 
maddiesmum said:
I'm with the original poster, Drills are dull and I'm getting bored of them too.

I previewed To The Max and I am afraid, it seemed to me, that even Cathe was bored with this one. Not much fun factor at all, she 'aint grinning and I don't imagine I will be either.

Circuit Max: now there's a creative workout! Always one of my faves too. I don't mind inserting blasts, for example, during Step Blast, but at least they are not the main event, they are there to ramp up the heart rate and add intensity to the entire movement patter.

I agree, Intensity also looks like so much "been there, done that," and I think Cathe, at this stge, is repeating herself. I don't want to be buying the same workout over and over again. Drill Max, the drills section of Kick max, Intensity, Crossfire and TTM. A lot of similarity. Not a lot of variety between them.

Sorry. You can love them all you want, but there is another perspective on thee workouts and when I workout, like the op, I need my brain to be engaged too.

Clare
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You know what, I absolutely love goodies like Step Blast, SJP, Imax2, LowMax, ect. and have been craving more workouts like those. Something about those workouts just put me in a fantastic mood, engaging my body and mind. They feel somewhat "magical", if that even makes any sense.

Oh great, now I HAVE to get Circuit Max :eek::eek:;)
 
Sorry OP, another "drill" lover here. I'm with Fit Mommy, I don't want to have to think, I just want to do!

I used to do a lot of complex choreography back on the early '90s, but once bootcamp-style workouts arrived I've never looked back. I just get such a better, more satisfying workout with drills. For me, drill-type workouts are so much fun, because they make me feel like an athlete, versus an exerciser (same with strength training). I love seeing if I can eek out one more tuck jump this time (and how I hate that move) or if I can jump higher with my air jacks. Will it be a bronze, silver or gold medal performance? That's so fun and motivating to me. OTOH, I respect that others feel differently and are otherwise motivated. What's fun to me might be stultifying to others, so like others have said, thank goodness for the variety Cathe offers!

Oh, I also wanted to say that I don't find Cathe's athletics-based workouts to be similar to one another...no two have the same effect, give me the same type of DOMS, or feel the same to me, although some moves (dreaded tuck jumps!) seem to be in many (drat!). To me, TTM and CF feel totally different from AT and AB, although they are supposed to be inspired by those workouts. And there are some fantastic new moves in TTM. Personally, I find it and CF to be really creative. I absolutely love the frog jumps into a side box jump in TTM (she doesn't call them that, but I keep waiting for Cathe to say "ribbit") and hop scotch in CF. Makes me smile every time. :)

So, to each their own, and I'm sure OP that Cathe has more complex stuff up her sleeve...but hopefully she'll have lots of drill-based workouts, too, so we can both be happy!

Off to do CF. :)
 
I'm also in agreement with the OP. I know they're good for me, but it feels like such a chore. It seems the longer it takes me to learn a complex workout, the more I love it when I finally get it down. It seems almost all instructors have abandoned complex combos or TIFTT workouts. My mind and body both need to be busy and the music needs to be hopping. I love Rythmic Step and all of Amy Bento's older advanced cardio. Amy mentioned on her FB page that she will be filming Advanced Step Challenge 5 this Feb. I hope she returns to her tough stuff.

On the other hand, I do really love STS plyo legs, but I think the ungulating pattern between weights and drills keeps the dread factor at bay.
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone! It's so interesting to learn about everyone else's preferences, and I'm certainly glad Cathe has something in her catalogue for all of us.

The funny thing is, I kind of still stink at picking up complex choreo after all these years! For some reason I click with Cathe and can do *some* Christi and *some* Amy B, but if anyone has any suggestions for advanced level workouts with either NO or some drills (ie. step blast style or mixed in circuit style), pretty please send them my way!

Happy drilling (or not!) ;-)
 
Trixoo said:
Sorry OP, another "drill" lover here. I'm with Fit Mommy, I don't want to have to think, I just want to do!

I used to do a lot of complex choreography back on the early '90s, but once bootcamp-style workouts arrived I've never looked back. I just get such a better, more satisfying workout with drills. For me, drill-type workouts are so much fun, because they make me feel like an athlete, versus an exerciser (same with strength training). I love seeing if I can eek out one more tuck jump this time (and how I hate that move) or if I can jump higher with my air jacks. Will it be a bronze, silver or gold medal performance? That's so fun and motivating to me. OTOH, I respect that others feel differently and are otherwise motivated. What's fun to me might be stultifying to others, so like others have said, thank goodness for the variety Cathe offers!

Oh, I also wanted to say that I don't find Cathe's athletics-based workouts to be similar to one another...no two have the same effect, give me the same type of DOMS, or feel the same to me, although some moves (dreaded tuck jumps!) seem to be in many (drat!). To me, TTM and CF feel totally different from AT and AB, although they are supposed to be inspired by those workouts. And there are some fantastic new moves in TTM. Personally, I find it and CF to be really creative. I absolutely love the frog jumps into a side box jump in TTM (she doesn't call them that, but I keep waiting for Cathe to say "ribbit") and hop scotch in CF. Makes me smile every time. :)

So, to each their own, and I'm sure OP that Cathe has more complex stuff up her sleeve...but hopefully she'll have lots of drill-based workouts, too, so we can both be happy!

Off to do CF. :)
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Ditto Trixoo! I think drills are fun! Not boring at all! Hey--I did Insanity (and still do) and I love the Fit Test--every two weeks I got to see how many many more tuck jumps or push up jacks or suicide jumps I could do. Athletic drills are fun to me--not boring at all.
 
I'm a hater. I much prefer complex choreography. I use all Cathe's workouts but I don't enjoy the repetitive movement workouts as much. I get bored. Having said that, if I do the newer workouts, and I do, I much prefer doing each drill once and not have to repeat it. Cathe must have realized there was a boredom factor in having to repeat the drills, as she wrote in the workout explanations for Xtrain

"We keep the boredom factor down by not repeating any exercise throughout the program."

So I'm looking forward to seeing these new workouts.
 
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