Product Endorsement: iTrain

On the testimonial of fellow Portland blogger Miss Bumptious, I decided to try downloading a workout from iTrain.com on Monday.  I was really impressed.  It sounds dumb, I suppose, to have a trainer talking to you on your iPod while you do your treadmill workout, but it was fantastic.  Grace pushed me along for 40 minutes, told me what settings to have for speed and incline, and sent me up and down hills and through some intervals until she finally let me cool down.  She ran me pretty hard, and I felt like a million bucks.  I promptly downloaded a second 40 minute workout by her, which I did this morning.  It was just as good as the first.  Each workout has instructions for walkers, joggers, and runners, and she tells you what speed to be at for each group.  I'm at the high end of the jogger group, but can't yet imagine getting through a workout at the "runner" speed.  Something to aspire to.  There's music playing in the background, and the 40 minutes zoom by.  I'll probably download a 60 minute workout, too, just to increase my mileage a bit. 

I also tried the strength workout.  Although Nick's not as impressive a trainer as Grace, and wouldn't be appropriate for someone who is new to lifting weights (he doesn't describe form or give you much information about determining the right weight for you), it is surprisingly helpful to have someone counting, and moving you from rest periods back into the sets, and from one exercise to another.  The workout was hard, good, and thorough, and it was great to offload the task of managing what I am doing next to a trainer.

Comments

[Litoralis]

Sounds like a good idea, especially for cardio workouts on machines. I think I'll give it a try.

Maybe you should create a sailing workout version for your college sailors...and blog readers.

[Lynn]

God, I had no idea you could even do this. I will have to start hunting for workouts to stuff my pod!! Great idea.

[Kikileo]

I.CAN.NOT.WAIT! That is sooo up my alley, thanks for the tip!

[Emelie]

iTrain/iTread is the best running workout that I have ever had! It pushes me in ways I didn't think I could accomplish on my own, but 40 min just goes so fast with this! I'm a huge fan and I have only done 3-4 times now, next is the 60 min.