First an apology–I had intended to post about Math on the Level again yesterday, but…well…life happened! 
I will try to get that in with this Friday’s post. Sorry if you were waiting with baited breath! Also, for some reason, their website is still on the blink. I may take some pics of my books so you can at least see what it looks like!
Here is Cathy Duffy’s review of MOTL. I’m not sure I’d use the word “demanding” as she did (she stated that it is a “demanding program for parents to use”). I mean, yes, it takes some time, but quite frankly, even the “easiest” of math programs I’ve used took some time!
Okay, onto the third key to the proven success formula for T-Tapp!
Form can sometimes be tough to focus on. You might think you’re doing pretty good, and then you decide to become a T-Tapp trainer and need to video yourself teaching a class. When you watch the video, you wonder why on earth you ever thought you could be a trainer!!! 
Seriously, we all can improve on form. And even though we know what to do as “veteran” tappers, we can “lose the core” if we’re not keeping an eye on it (whether in a mirror or on a video!).
Isometric contractions can be equally elusive sometimes. We try to make sure we’re pushing through mud, no wimpy noodle arms, no wasted movements. But there are just times we can’t seem to keep it all activated!
But in all honesty, this last key is probably the easiest and yet hardest to implement—
C-O-N-S-I-S-T-E-N-C-Y!!!
It is so easy to let “life” come in and the tyrrany of the urgent to take over. It happens to all of us, but the hard part is to carve that time back out once the crisis is over.
And yet, this is the key that will yield results. Because if your form as top notch and you are activated to the max, but you only do that sporadically, it won’t really do you much good.
We all know the story of the turtle and the hare. Nowhere is this more evident than in T-Tapp! Many women, wanting to get the most out of it they can, start out of the chute all gung-ho! They do a 14 day Total Workout Bootcamp, and then launch into their routine. Maybe at first they get some encouraging results. But then, maybe a month or two into it, some places seem to stall or maybe they seem to notice their belly/thighs/buns/(fill in the blank) are not moving as fast as they’d like. So they look into another workout or “targeting” an area with a move like Diva Derriere or Awesome Legs. Then maybe add a little of this or a little of that. Before you know it, they are doing 30 minutes or more every day and then wonder why inch loss stalls!
I’ll be posting about the dreaded plateau next week, but for now, let me encourage you to start off slowly and surely. Many people skimp on the Instructionals because they want to get to the workout! I mean, who wants to stand there and “hold position” while Teresa talks and talks and talks?!
But what we don’t realize is that “holding position” while Teresa teaches us a lot about form helps to establish neurokinetic connections and that will help with future inch loss–no kidding!
The Instructionals are not just about learning the moves. They help train your muscles to hold the isometric contractions that are so key to T-Tapp.
So what should a newbie (or returning T-Tapper or one who maybe..ahem…was a little too gung-ho to start) do?
Go back to the Instructionals!
I honestly think the MORE Instructional is just top notch! The slower pace really helps you get form. But Instructional 1 and 2 from BWO+ and TWO are both good, too. If you’re currently a T-Tapper and it’s been at least 4 weeks since you’ve done a bootcamp, why not pop the Instructionals in for 4 days? Take 2 days off, and then figure out a routine you can stick with consistently.
If you’re brand spanking new to T-Tapp, stick with Instructional 1 for at least a week if not two (you can take 1 day off per week if you like). You want to get to the point you know exactly what Teresa is going to say next! 
So what is a “doable” workout routine?
There’s a whole post on the forums about full vs. short workouts. A basic rule of thumb is anything over 30 minutes is a full workout. There are exceptions both ways! For example, many of the Tempos are 30 minutes or just under (Tempo Arms, Tempo Lower Body standing or floor, Tempo Torso) as well as LadyBug standing or floor. BUT, those are all advanced level workouts either due to greater muscle activation or the tempo (or both!), so they are considered a full workout and should not be done daily. Hit the Floor Softer (HTFS), although 40 minutes, is still considered a short workout.
Another trap we often fall into (I say “we” because I did just this!) is to add “just a few moves” to your daily workout. For example, a year and a half ago I was doing LadyBug Standing workout every other day (EOD). I decided to do “a few moves” on my “off days”. Donna on the 6 Weeks to a New You Thread pointed out that I had 6 “extra moves” and BWO+ was only 8! I was, in effect, doing a full workouts EOD and then a “short” workout on my “off days”. Now, there are some that do this for a challenge or short period of time, but added to that I was trying a new eating program that was cutting out my snacks…and I crashed! I wasn’t eating enough protein throughout the day, especially for this strenuous of a schedule, so my adrenals said, “Enough!”
It’s always fine to do Primary Back Stretch on off days as well as Organs in Place. But beyond that, really evaluate how much “extra” you are doing. Many of us like to do Hoedowns after meals to help with blood sugar or just burn glucose. But even then we can be overdoing it if we add 3 Hoedowns plus a workout plus two or three “extra” moves….you get the idea!
Keeping this in mind, your routine needs to be something you can realistically sustain considering your time constraints and your stamina/health.
Here are examples of workout routines I have been able to sustain with my busy life as a homeschooling mama of many:
MORE 4-6 days per week
BWO+ alternated with SATI 4-6 days per week
Variations of BWO+ (the BWO+ portion of LadyBug, Tempos as well as Basic Tempo), 4-6 days per week
Total Workout, broken up over 2-3 days, with maybe SATI or HTF thrown in once (not on the same days as TWO portions!)
When I say 4-6 times weekly, that means some weeks it’s 4 days, some 5, and some 6. I had seasons where I could do 6 workouts a week, but they usually didn’t last long. Five workouts a week is a reasonable goal. You can either take weekends completely off or take Sundays off and a day in the middle of the week (maybe Wednesday) where you only do the Terrific Three: PBS, T-Tapp Twist (or at least the stretch and pulses) and a Hoedown.
My ultimate goal is to do 1 full workout, 1 stepping workout, 1 floor workout and 1-2 short workouts a week. Here is an sample, with choices in the parentheses:
M-TWO (Tempos, LadyBug)
T- SATI (SITTM–over 2 days, Broom–just 1 Broom workout after the Warm-Up)
W-PBS, TTT, HD
Th-HTF (HTFS, Critter Crunch Floor, Critter Crunch 2, Tempo Lower Body Floor, LadyBug Floor)
F-BWO+ (variations from LadyBug or Tempos, Basic Tempo, MORE)
S-PBS, TTT, HD (or another short workout)
S-Off
Variations using just the MORE workout would be:
M-MORE (the workout)
T-PBS then MORE Chair
W-MORE
Th-PBS then MORE Broom
F-MORE
S-PBS then MORE Step Away
S-Off
If you’re pretty fit and no real health problems (including no adrenal issues), you may want to do full workouts EOD. If you choose to do that, do not, I repeat: do not start adding in workouts on off days all the time or lots of extra moves. On a full workout day, the only extra moves you should add in are Organs in Place and maybe a Hoedown or two. If you decide to do a challenge adding in a few moves (such as the Torso Trimmer) do it for only ten days and don’t do other “extra moves”. It is better to apply your max to form and isometric contractions than to keep adding in more moves to hopefully target an area!
Remember, too, that a “full workout” can be a combination of shorter workouts, such as:
BWO+ and HTF
BWO+ and SATI
MORE plus the three short workouts Chair, Broom and Step Away
Always, always take at least one day off, unless you’re in a longer bootcamp. That will also be a future post–short vs. long bootcamps!
The bottom line in consistency is finding what works for you. I love to come up with workout routines, and sometimes they work out, sometimes they don’t. It helps during those times to have a “default plan” to fall back on. This is also what I do when I stand before the video cabinet and think, “So many workouts–I don’t know which to do!” 
My default workout is MORE. I can talk myself into MORE pretty easily, so that’s it for me. For someone else it may be BWO+ or SATI. Or just the Terrific Three (PBS, TTT and HD). Some days I tell myself “you only have to do PBS”! But often I find myself doing all of BWO+! If you’re having a day when plies just tire you out thinking about them, lace up your shoes and do BWO+ without them. Yes, you can skip moves! Just always do them in order–don’t do Oil Wells and then come back and do Jazz Twist. The sequence is important! I often will cut reps on some moves that seem to be a monster looming at me–that way I slay the monster but don’t wear myself out on a less-than-optimal day!
So remember, there are three keys to the proven formula for success in T-Tapp:
1. Proper Form (to your best ability at this time)
2. Isometric Conraction (your max)
3. Consistency
All three are important legs of the program. But taking away that third one leaves the other two utterly worthless if your quest is to lose inches and gain health.
Here’s to more consistency!
Happy Tappin’!
If you don’t know all the T-Tapp acronyms, here is a thread listing them all.
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