Beginner Shred Days 5-6

Day 5

Oh boy! Talk about muscle fatigue! It was much warmer in the house today, so it made the workout seem even harder...blah. Kept up with the 5# weights again, still using the 2# for the anterior raise during the chair squats. I managed to do 15! push-ups today, for BOTH sets! I was so proud of myself. I'm sure I'll be feeling that tomorrow! Still taking breaks between exercises, I'm hoping come Monday after two days of rest I will be able to get through it with only one break. It's my goal anyway, hopefully I can achieve that! I won't move to level two until I can get through with only one break. I'm not going to be too strict with the whole ten days per level, because I don't care to make it through all three levels in 30 workouts, I want to be fit and proud of myself for conquering each level. So...one more day this week, thank goodness, because my body wants a break!!
Today, after exercising I was working on a birthday present for my older brother. I was tracing a picture with small lines and my arms were soooo tired from the exercise I was having difficulties keeping my lines smooth and straight. Needless to say I had a take a couple of breaks to rest my arms because my muscles were so tired!

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Day 6

I'm still working on my brother's birthday gift so today I decided to work on it before my workout since I was using an exacto knife to cut out the small pieces. I could still feel it in my arms though, but it went much easier than yesterday! I'll be posting a picture of my project after it's finished if you're curious what I've been working on! :)
Hot again today in the house (not outside for sure...only 20 degrees out there!). I could tell today that my body needs a rest day tomorrow. I am completing all of the exercises as I have been, but I'm just tired and my muscles aren't feeling like they're getting enough time to rest between days. I'm taking Sat and Sun off and will judge next week how I'm managing. I might end up doing Mon-Wed, rest Thurs, then do Fri-Sat, rest Sunday. That way my muscles have a little time to repair themselves and I get he most out of each exercise. Today my goal for push-ups was 16 the first set and 15 the second set. I almost made it, I got the 16 for the first set, but only 14 the second set. I'm still happy though! Especially considering at the beginning of the week I only did a total of 10 for both sets! Thinking about that makes me feel great! Two of my least favorite exercises happen to be at the very end of the DVD...the triceps dips and the squirms. Grrrrr! I dread both of those, but instead of just giving up on them because I dislike them, I'm trying really hard to focus on what I'm doing and do it as best I can so that some day maybe I won't dread them so much. Haha...kinda doubt that, but that's what I keep telling myself. Two rest days and then I'm back at it. Ahhh....rest!

Beginner Shred Day 4

Day 4

Remind me again why I was looking forward to doing this today?! Haha...I'm so worn out! I was much hotter today and that made everything seem harder and I sweated like a pig in the middle of July. (Boy that's an ugly picture!) That or the fact I used the 5# weights for all of the exercises except that anterior raise, still using the 2's for that one, but on both sets now. Ugh, my muscles are soooooo shaky right now! I did 12 push ups each round! My goal was 12 for set one and 10 for set two, but after taking a short breather I was able to get the last two in for the second set. I will add, I feel like I'm getting stronger, even if it's just mentally I'm okay with that. However I am continuing to do all of the LE exercises and ab work at the "advanced" level, minus the planks and push ups which I'm doing on my knees. And I'm using the 5# weights for most exercises so, I'm either getting stronger or I am mentally in it better and challenging myself like I haven't done before. Which ever it is, I'm feeling great! I am still needing to pause the DVD a couple of times each day. It's been at different points in the exercises, and I always try to pause it between sets so that I'm not in the middle of an exercise. For the most part I pause it for drinks and because my heart rate feels too high. Not looking forward to tomorrow's workout at the moment due to my muscle fatigue! Haha...

Beginner Shred Days 2-3

Day 2

Wasn't feeling well for Fri and the weekend, so I took it easy. I did notice some muscle burn on Fri, it felt good and it was nice to know at I had used those muscles. :)
 I feel like I did better today, even with my stomach feeling a little weird. Got really warm and sweated today too, maybe because I was working harder, it's also warmer out too. I made it through the warmup and the first round of strength training ex before needing a break. I was using 3 pound weights and doing the advanced versions of the LE ex. I need to rest before the cardio interval and after it, because I didn't want the second set of strength exercises to not be good form just because I was out of breath. My heart rate felt really high as well. For the second round of exercises I'm still struggling with the push ups including my form. I have trouble knowing where my hands should be. I don't quite understand that yet. I did get 6 the first set and about 4-5 the second set. The ab exercises I was able to do the regular version of bicycle crunches and the squirms the whole time both sets! I also added the crunch during the overhead and leg lift thing. Forget what it's called. Overall felt much better about myself this time around. :) my arms feel a bit like jello now. Can't wait to see how they feel tomorrow. Haha. Really hoping to do this ex video again tomorrow. My goal is 5x/week and add in some walking, esp when the weather starts getting warmer, which is soon I hope! :)

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Day 3

I felt much stronger today doing some of the exercises! I managed to make it through the first set of cardio before needing a rest break...but then needed 3-4 breaks after that. I did 10 push-ups the first round and 10 push-ups the second round! I was so proud of myself. I finally figured out where my hands go too, which helped. I wasn't sure I could do the first ten, but was very proud, and then for the second round I told myself I needed to do at least five and so when I got to five and felt okay I thought why not see how far I could go! I probably could have eked out one more, but they were moving on to the next ex. I used the five pound weights more today including for the triceps kick backs, and was able to use the two pounders for the chair squat with anterior raises. (I paid attention to day to see what she called those arm raises.) Again I was able to do all the LE exercises at the advanced level as well as the ab work on the last part of the DVD. I'm still only doing the plank on my knees though, that's really tough for me, esp when I'm doing the advanced bicycle crunches and those stinkin' squirms. I hate the squirms, they're painful, but at the same time I love them because I can tell those muscles really need the work! Proud of myself for doing this 2 days in a row. After the first set of exercises are done I feel like the time really flies. Looking forward to tomorrow!

Jillian Michael's Beginner Shred Level 1 Day 1

*All opinions are my own, I am not being reimbursed for my review/time, etc. I paid for the DVD. Always check with your healthcare provider before beginning any new exercise plan, etc, etc. I am not responsible for any injuries you may obtain from completing this exercise program.*

To preface this for you, about two and a half years ago I was going to the gym 5 days a week for cardio doing walk/run intervals and then got tired of that and found the 30 day shred which I managed to do 5 days a week for....28 days before I started having some nasty elbow pain. So I took a couple days off and tried again, only to have the same elbow pain along with both knees starting to hurt (round 3 is a lot of plyo exercises, thinking jumping/high impact). So I stopped exercising. Bah! Why did I let myself stop completely?! Anyhow....fast forward a year and I was doing a lot of outdoor walking and the occasional exercise DVD. Nothing too tough. Then I started having jumper's knee problems and walking was painful. Skipping a lot of details I've eliminated achy joints/knees by changing my diet (a whole other topic - ask if you want info). I knew I wouldn't be able to get back into the 30 day shred right away without feeling like a failure, so I was researching what I could do, something that would motivate me to stick to it so I could get back to the Shred (which I love by the way). So I came across this Beginner Shred on Amazon which I hadn't seen or even heard about. I was excited! Apparently it came out in September 2014. There were a few reviews on Amazon, but nothing compared to the amount that the 30 day Shred has. I purchased it at Target, they had it for a higher price, but when I showed them the Amazon price they price matched and gave me my 5% discount because of my red card. :) So there you have it! Now I'm logging daily and hoping that if I put it out there I will hopefully feel the pressure to complete it. Even if no one reads my blog! Haha! Maybe I'll inspire one person. *shrugs* doing it for myself anyway!
And in case anyone is wondering, no I didn't measure myself and I'm not focusing on my weight (Remember, muscle weighs more than fat, but takes up less volume). I am focusing on becoming more fit, gaining some muscle tone, and living a healthier live style. Now I am hoping that along with that comes a drop in inches and weight, but that's not my focus this time around. That said, my BMI is on the upper end of the "normal" range for my height and I'm usually right around the middle of the range when I feel my best.

This DVD has been recommended for the older population as well as someone returning to exercise or just having a baby, etc. However I will note that there are a lot of squats and lunges in the first level and about half of the level one exercises are completed on the floor.  If you're obese or older and out of shape I would recommend starting with a walking program - Leslie Sansone has some great ones that you can try for free on Youtube before purchasing. This is a great beginners weight/strength training, not so much a great beginners exercise - start with something a little easier like the walking before you start this - that's my recommendation anyway!

So here goes! (The days are going to be a little off because I had a couple of days in before logging them here. I'll probably end up doing 2 days at a time.)

Day 1 of Level 1

For some reason I thought this was going to be easy. LOL not so much. Had to take a couple rest breaks and water breaks. Great set of exercises and it's easier than the 30 day shred but still tough workout. Thankfully it wasn't as much cardio and I felt like I could handle it better than the 30 day shred where I got winded in the warm up. I started out with a set of 3 pound weights but for the shoulder presses (what she calls anterior raises during the chair squats) I had to change to 2 pounds so that I could maintain my good form. For one of the exercises I ended up using 5 pound weights because it didn't seem like a challenge enough. For most of the leg exercises I was able to do the advanced version but my arms are so weak that I was having trouble sticking to them. I also had to do all modified push-ups which was no surprise but I was definitely not able to keep up with their pace and I think I ended up doing 4 push-ups the first set and then like three or so the next time.  For the plank (she calls ab hold) I did that on my knees the whole time because I could really feel it in my abs and I wasn't going to even try to do it on my toes but I can see the future being able to do that. Seems like a very doable DVD that I can keep up with and hopefully not have to pause it so much the next time. I look forward to sticking with this for 30 days and then hopefully moving onto the 30 day shred and not feeling like a complete failure starting at the warm-up!!