New to T-Tapp and don’t know where to start?
My personal favorite place to start is with MORE! (Click on the images to take you to the workouts)
But don’t think that MORE is just for those with “more birthday candles, more health issues”–it is also for those who want to focus “more” on form!
The slower pace and fewer reps and the fabulous instructional make MORE a top notch workout for any fitness level! MORE has comprised nearly half of my workouts over the past 5 years!
MORE has a 40 minute Instructional, a 20 minute straight through workout, three shorter workouts (Chair is 10 minutes, Broom is 7 minutes, Step Away is 9 minutes) plus tips for getting out of a chair, walking up stairs or getting up from a floor for those with knee issues.
I jokingly say that MORE takes you “from training wheels to a racing bike”! And trainers call it “a clinic in a box” due to its slower pace and focus on form!
If you decide to go with MORE, I suggest doing the Instructional for 4-7 days, take 2 days off, then choose a workout schedule that suits your time frame as well as health status. If you’re fit or don’t have major health issues (and this includes adrenal fatigue), you can safely do MORE daily. I prefer to take one day fully off except for Primary Back Stretch, and also having a “light day” in the middle of the week is nice, too, where you can either do one of the shorter workouts or just do Primary Back Stretch, T-Tapp Twist and a Hoedown.
If you’re adrenal or health challenged, I suggest an every other day (EOD) schedule. Severe health/adrenal issues should take 2 days off in between workouts. You need to focus on T-Tapp as your rehab program! The body will come–but it must heal inside first!
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Another “newer” favorite of mine is Healthy Hormones Menopause Management. But again–don’t feel like if you aren’t in menopause this isn’t for you! Do you have hormones? Yes? Then you can benefit greatly from HHMM!
Healthy Hormones was developed specifically for those with thyroid and adrenal issues, with special attention to those hormonal changes that come with perimenopause and menopause. But I know of an 18 year old girl with PCOS and a 23 year old who had to take a day off work each month who, when they started doing HHMM saw great results! The 23 year old no longer has to take a day off work!
This workout was originally featured in Mary Shomon’s book, The Menopause Thyroid Solution. Teresa tweaked it and added some moves to create the Healthy Hormones Menopause Management dvd. I feel amazing when I do this workout! I only do about half at a time. It has a wonderful instructional and the moves are chaptered both in the Instructional and the workout, making it easy to split if you need to. I have hypothyroid as well as adrenal issues–I’m healing but still need to watch it. HHMM makes me feel wonderful!
Or you can order it in a set with a seminar (chock full of info–as only Teresa can do!) This seminar was previously only available through PBS and was part of the PBS special “Healthy Hormones Documentary”.
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Maybe you think you’d like to tackle something more challenging? Pretty fit or no major health issues?
Then Basic Workout Plus (BWO+) or Total Workout (TWO) are for you!
A faster pace, but still with excellent Instructionals, you can do the first 15 minutes of Total, which is BWO+, or the 55 minute workout. I have actually split TWO over three days for the past 2 years. I just couldn’t get it in otherwise–both due to my schedule and my stamina! But that way I still got the all-over body toning TWO offers! You can still get results–even in 15-20 minutes a day! 80% of my workouts over the past 5 years have been “shorter” ones, 20 minutes or less!
Starting out with BWO+ or TWO, do the Instructionals–you don’t have to do them back-to-back. I suggest focusing on Instructional 1 for a week, followed by BWO+ for another week or two (BWO+ is safe to do daily, but, like MORE, it’s important to have a day off and maybe a light day, too), then focusing on Instructional 2 for a week, followed by TWO every other day.
You could also alternate Instructionals for a week or two (Instructional 1 one day, Instructional 2 the next), then go to TWO every other day, or if you’re going to split it up, treat it like the BWO+ schedule.
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If you enjoy walking workouts or want to really up the cardio, Step Away the Inches (SATI) is a great one! I started with TWO and SATI, and you really would never need to buy anything else! But we all like variety, right?! 🙂
SATI has an instructional where she explains her method of walking, then she gets going with a 25 minute workout that will leave you sweating, but energized!
And if you want a little more cardio, there is Step It to the Max! SITTM is a 50 minute workout (half hour walking with warm-up and cool down stretching adding another 20). More upper body movements and a killer step-lift sequence that will increase core cardio! Here is a great combo deal where you can get both walking workout dvds!
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What about P.E. for the kids? Teresa has developed a wonderful series of moves called TappCore. There are 8 moves and one 8 minute walking segment that you can do either all at once, or split the moves up and do 2-3 a day! I have my own younger children do 3 moves of their choice a day. That way when the weather is not cooperative and they can’t get outside to stay active, they can still get some key moves in that will help with heart and health!
(And psssst! Mom! You can do some of these moves, too, to get something in on a busy day or target problem areas!)
There’s also TappCore 2–one of my favorites! The kids who won the Hoedown Showdown get to be stars with Teresa in this 12 minute seated workout! Similar to MORE Chair with a bit more cardio and fun new moves–plus you can’t be grumpy long watching the kids with Teresa!
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Be sure to check out the monthly specials! Since the new webstore launched this isn’t quite as easy–yet! Some kinks are still being worked out! But you can click HERE to go to the T-Tapp store, then type in “monthly specials” in the search box on the upper right side of the page and it will take you to the current month’s specials. Sometimes it’s free shipping, others it’s 20% off, and still others include other workouts for the original price–all really good deals!
The third Tuesday of every month is Deep Discount Tuesday–we never know what it will be until it’s here, but if you sign up for my newsletter I can give you a heads up as soon as I know what it is!
Another resource to check out getting started is the–well, Get Started page at T-Tapp! 🙂
If you have specific questions, click on Talk to Trisch, and I’d be happy to help!
Happy shopping! 😉
These are some wonderful tips! Thank you; I’ll put them into practice.
Thank you!
~Trisch
This is a great introduction to and summary of the workouts! Should be Very Helpful for Newbies!
Hi Trisch! I am SO glad to have found your website! I contacted you in October regarding a training session while I was briefly in the states…. Quick question: I am recovering from a pretty bad case of tendonitis in my shoulder, what workout is best for me? I have the BWO+ and SATI ( thoughninhave never used that one). Thanks for putting this site together.
Thank you, Shellee!
Here is a thread on the forums with adjustments for rotator cuff issues for the shoulder, so I would think this would help with tendonitis, too.
http://forum.t-tapp.com/showthread.php?57458-Rotator-Cuff-issues&p=612727#post612727
I wouldn’t push it too much and even cut everything back to 4 repetitions. MORE is the best workout for those kinds of issues, but if you don’t have a way to get it in the near future, applying the above tips should help. I’d also hold the squat in plies, because it’s just too easy to lose upper body alignment going up and down, and that is not good for the shoulders, either!
Ribs up is also good for equalizing the muscles around the shoulder, so set yourself some “checkpoints” during the day to remind yourself! 😉
Oh, and since you will be omitting the over the head parts of Plies, you can do Butterflies instead (on the Try Before You Buy video clips). Depending on your shoulder issue, you can have your palms forward, thumbs to ceiling vs. thumbs back. But still keep everything controlled–no momentum! Use those lats!
HTH!
~Trisch
I found you from the GAPS yahoo group. I’m 39 and the mother of 7 kids. I’m just getting back into T-tapp after breaking for almost 2 years. I’ve been doing the bwo+ and oip/half frogs as my main workout. Aiming for 3x per week. I like the idea of splitting up TWO over a week. Assuming you do bwo+ one day, then always start with pbs, where do you split up the second half of TWO?
Also, I’ve just come off GAPS and have gained a few pounds–all in
the middle. Will some variation of TWO or BWO+ help me lose inches in the middle? I’m not sure how much is grains in my diet
again and how much is that I’m almost 40. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Hi Tabitha! Glad you stopped by!
I split TWO over three days–
Day 1: BWO+
Day 2: PBS, then Lunges through Runner’s Stretch
Day 3: PBS, then Arms to end
Each segment is about 15-20 minutes that way–very doable!
Keeping the ribs up helps with the tummy–think of a string pulling your head nice and tall towards the ceiling, elongating your spine. That is what you should be doing when Teresa says “shoulders back” or “ribs up”. Doing that away from the workout, too, is really good! I like to “sneak it in” while driving!
Let me know if I can further help you!
Thanks so much for the input. I’m sure I’ll have more questions later, but this is a great starting point for me. I really can’t manage the long workout right now, but 15-20 min plus oip/hf is really just right.
Thanks again, Tabitha
I *still* can’t manage the long workout! 😉
Feel free to kick out as often as you need to–I find resetting form after a kickout really helps!
Happy Tappin’!
Hi Trisch,
I am 35 years old and pregnant (16 weeks with baby #6) and just starting T-tapp. I am 5’7 and about 219 lbs and I really am worried about gaining a lot of weight with this pregnancy. Of course the baby’s health comes first! 🙂 so I am not going to do anything silly. But I have been having some weird blood sugar issues (sudden severe fatigue after carbs etc) that make me worry about gestational diabetes (will talk to the midwife about this next time) so I want to be careful. I am wondering what to expect with pregnancy and t-tapp. Has anyone been known to loose inches while pregnant? I will keep it up even for the other health benefits of course, even if the answer is no, but is my body going to stubbornly hold on to my flabby arms etc? I tried to look on the forums for other people’s experience but I wasn’t finding much. Most people start this post- partum, I guess. I feel like if I knew ahead of time I might be less disappointed… LOL
Thanks, Arete
Hi, Arete!
First of all, about blood sugar. I’m not a dietician or anything like that, but I know from experience that having some protein to balance the carbs really, really helped me! My 6th dd was 11 lbs. 4 oz. and they were concerned it was gestational diabetes, but the tests done before she was born came back negative. I did drink a LOT of grape juice the last month or so due to getting bronchitis! (Milk congested me and OJ just tore my throat up!) So I was a bit more careful during my pregnancy with dd#7, and my midwife told me to be sure to have some cheese or peanut butter with a cracker, always making sure to have protein along with my carbs.
Yes, I’ve read of ladies losing inches or at least toning up in other parts of their body while pregnant, as well as less hip pain, better labors, better recovery post-partum. So although you might not lose much during, your body might spring back better afterward! 🙂
Be sure you skip the Organs in Place move. As your belly grows you may have to make some modifications on a few moves, but just always remember that staying in the muscle is more important than how “far” you can go. And cutting reps and/or kicking out a lot is entirely acceptable!
I would focus on getting plenty of water, plenty of protein and plenty of veggies during your pregnancy, and see if that helps some on the nutritional front (just from my own experience). Then as far as T-Tapp goes, do what you can. Even if “all” you get in is a few moves–that is still better than giving up!
Do you have the MORE workout? Or SunRay TappCore 2? SunRay is a seated workout that is great for when you’re not up to par for a standing workout. And MORE has a chair workout, too. But you can modify Basic Workout Plus if that’s what you have.
HUGS to you and congratulations on your sweet little one growing in your womb! Such a precious time and I miss it!
also, 🙂 I don’t seem to “get” the T-Tapp Twist movement. I know I am supposed to be careful about not pushing out the opposite hip as I bend – is there other form advice you can give me? where I am supposed to feel this?
thanks,
Arete
You should feel it mostly across your tummy and obliques (the tummy muscles that help you turn side to side). Depending on where Baby is lying, your body type (how much rib-to-hip room you have) and how far along you are, you might not feel that as much!
Really push out the opposite knee from the side you are twisting towards to isolate the lower body and keep the hips from moving much. Twist just to your point of position–it might not be very far! Try this move in a chair–the chair will force your hips to be stationary, and you won’t be able to twist as far, but you will probably feel it a bit more!
And remember to keep the hands low enough (between the collarbone and mid-chest) to keep lats engaged.
HTH!