Working Out & Praying... Like Chocolate and Peanut Butter (ok... not quite, but almost!)

Steven got me the best Christmas present ever. Well, National Catholic Register actually gets most of the credit because they put out that really awesome holiday gift guide on facebook (did you see it? I wanted SO many things!). One of the things I saw on there was The Catholic Workout. I was immediately intrigued and put it on my wish list. He got it for me and I have done it probably 5-6 times so far. We are planning to do it every other night, with walking on the 'off' night (as opposed to our previous routine which was walking every night but no weights or anything). I. LOVE. IT. Seriously. I was kind of iffy about the whole idea, honestly, but thought it looked pretty cool and figured I wanted to at least try it. I wasn't really sure how you could blend a workout with the rosary, but Michael Carrera did just that! Oh, and can I also say that he is really awesome? Because Steven accidentally had it sent to an address he hasn't lived at in like 4 years. After he went to the door (no answer) and to the post office (they didn't have it), he emailed Michael who sent it out again without charging him a second time. Now that is customer service to the extreme!

But back to the video. It is so well done! It takes 32 minutes from warm up to cool down and you do the rosary interspersed with the workout. While you are praying the Hail Marys, you aren't doing the workout. It gives you the chance to really focus on what you're saying. I know I can sometimes day dream when I say the Hail Mary because I know it by heart, but he has religious and nature images on the screen during that time, which really works beautifully with the prayers. He asks you to meditate on certain scenes of Jesus' crucifixion throughout the actual exercise portion, and they are really very powerful. You have to focus hard to put yourself in that mindset, but when you do it helps the exercise feel less like exercise. The first exercise is my favorite because I feel like it "goes" with the meditation the most, and almost makes me feel like I'm right there in it.

Maybe the concept of praying while you work out is not new to you, but it was totally new to me. I've got to say, I really like it! Generally when I do workout videos, I am dreading starting it, don't enjoy doing it, and I'm so relieved when it's over. That is, if I even make it all the way through. I just really don't like them! They seem to drag on forever. But this one has really sped by and I would have done it for even longer if it was more than 30 minutes. That says a lot coming from me. I feel like I've had a good workout, but also feel really refreshed and renewed, too. It just feels good to the soul to pray the rosary, and I've long let laziness get the better of any plans to do it. I love that I can make exercise AND praying a routine and all at the same time. The exercise portion makes the praying portion feel more purposeful, which I didn't expect would happen. There is also a book that comes along with it, which I haven't read yet because I'm in the middle of a really intense book for a review, but I can't wait to read eventually!

With PCOS, I really need to be doing cardio and weights. Well yeah, everyone does, but I really need to do both and not one or the other, so this has been the perfect addition not just to my prayer life, but also to my exercise routine for my health. For what it's worth, I was not asked to review this nor given any free product for reviewing it. I just like it that much!