Total Gym Addicts, Jenny’s Story

My name is Jenny Nelson, and I am a 36-year-old wife and mom living in the Arizona desert. I’d like to say my fitness journey began early on in life, but that’s not the case. In fact, in my adolescent years, and into my 20s, health and fitness was not even on my radar. In 2007 I was pregnant with my first (and only) child, and I gained a little over 70 pounds. In 2008 I gave birth to my daughter, and I expected the weight was just going to just fall off. That didn’t happen. I was a stay at home mom, who became more sedentary, and who’s nutrition choices were awful, so the weight stuck around. In 2012 I decided that it was finally time to turn my life around, lose the weight and get healthy. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired!

Initially I joined a large gym, but that didn’t work out for me for multiple reasons. Being a stay at home mom to a small child meant “me” time was limited. I struggled to even make it to the gym. When I could go, I felt overwhelmed and uncomfortable exercising in front of so many other people. I just couldn’t stick with it.

I remembered a piece of exercise equipment my mom had when I was younger, the Total Gym. I decided to buy one for myself and see if it could help me reach my goals. Well, with enough consistency (I was able to work out when it best fit my schedule) and hard work (I was comfortable enough to “give it my all” at home) …it did! I used my Total Gym faithfully, combined with a couple other things, and over time I not only lost the weight I had gained during pregnancy, but I got in better shape than I was in before having my daughter! I would be a liar if I said I haven’t also tried many other tools in my fitness journey, but they have almost all ended up falling to the side except my Total Gym. It is the one piece of equipment I have continued to use all these years. Why? Because it’s the one tool that I have found most effective for reaching whatever goal I have. Initially that was weight loss. After the weight loss, my goal eventually shifted to sculpting muscle, and Total Gym is successfully helping with that too. On my schedule, all from the comfort of my own home!

Thanks for reading my story. For those interested in my personal favorite Total Gym workouts, I highly suggest Rosalie Brown’s “Cardio Free” workout on YouTube as well as her “Cable Core” workout on Total Gym TV. Also, a workout I created (below). I hope you enjoy it!

Jenny’s Workout

• Plie Jump Squats
• Pull Ups (first round narrow grip, second wide, third underhand)
• Glute Bridge to Hamstring Curl using the squat stand or Pilates stand
• Single Arm Chest Sweep (side sitting on board)
• Single Leg Squat Jumps
• Back Rows
• Chest Press
• Hamstring Curls (on board using pull up attachment or wing bar for feet)
• Bicep Curls
• Lying Overhead Tricep Extensions
• Cable Overhead Shoulder press

12 reps each move. By 12th rep, you should be struggling to finish but not struggling so much you’ve lost proper form.
Repeat 3 times through. In between moves, while “resting” do something to keep heart rate from completely dropping. I jog in place on my Cellerciser (mini trampoline).

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Workout developed by a Total Gym user, not a fitness professional.