I have kept a week long journal of my progress but I am not going to type this out until I have my computer back. For now, a brief summary...
I started on level 1 and did not find the abs or card hard at all....probably because I had been running three times a week and, after training my abs for hurdles in high school, I find ab workouts are not particularly challenging...even all these years later...the strength training, however, had me shouting at the television!
I kept up with level 1 and after about five days I was able to actually do the push ups without difficult, so by day 7, I decided to move onto level 2. Wow....it was so hard! I was only able to follow the modified moves, and even then I had to take frequent breaks. Yikes...it is seriously hardcore.
I haven't lost any inches, but I have noticed my arms looking more toned already. Bear in mind I was doing the workout daily and making sure I had proper form. I was also was doing the high intensity for cardio, abs and most of the strength. The only modification I made was to the pushup.
Anyway, I am not sure if I will do two more weeks because Keith gave me a 9 week fitness program for the Wii and I want to try that out. However, I work out when the kids are asleep and it may be easier to do the shred for now and then do the wii once we get a tv put in in the basement (I can do the shred in the basement now because it is just a DVD on the computer). So keep posted on what I decide...I may do both because I can do the wii on the days I have just Layla because she finds my workouts amusing to watch. Who knows...if people really want to see how the shred pans out over 30 days I will keep it up
Once my computer is working i will input my daily log of the shred. Till then....
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Ok, so I am on my old ibook in order to write up my daily journal of my first week on the 30 day shred:
I have my measurements too but I am scared to post them! haha
Here is my daily log for the first week:
Day 1
- Found cardio easy
- Strength training was rough - I find myself yelling at Jillian a lot!
- Can't do a full set of push ups...those are HARD!
- Abdominal exercises relatively easy as well
- -Bad diet day - eating chocolate all day long because we decorated our Christmas tree today. Hopefully the new Weight Watchers program will help get me back on track
Day 2
- Sore today before working out but it didn't really hinder my workout.
- Even worse diet day!
Day 3
- I didn't sleep well last night because Layla was up a lot. I slept in spurts from 12am - 4am. I was really dying to skip the workout today but I pushed through it.
- After working out I found I was sore in my lower back but otherwise feeling good.
- Workout is feeling easier already!!! I could actually do the push ups!
Day 4
- Despite sleeping and eating well - I found the workout very challenging today. Not sure if it is because I worked out for 4 straight days, but it was a challenge, even doing the cardio today
Day 5
- Similar to Day 4, I had a really hard time working out - not sure why Level 1 is killing me so badly lately.
Day 6
- Despite feeling sluggish during the workout, I am finding that the strength training is getting easier and I am not feeling challenged - going to bump it up to Level 2 tomorrow...I am scared!
Day 7
- Level 2 today!
- KILL ME NOW....it is SO hard. I tried to follow the beginner modifications but I couldn't finish every set.
- The squats worked my thighs so badly that I found them too tender to do the cardio - going to not work myself as hard on the squats - there is no need to do a complete squat right off the bat if it is hindering the rest of my workout!
- Notice my arms are more toned. My legs also feel tighter. The abdominals....well....lets just say 2 kids haven't been kind to them. I can see the obliques behind the loose skin but it will take time to get them where they should be. I should also note that I had a diastasis of the abdominal muscles with Layla's pregnancy and it is still there - perhaps an inch of separation between my muscles. It was much worse (about 2 inches of separation), but I had read that doing abdominal exercises with a diastasis is actually a bad idea - so I did put these exercises off as long as I could.
Here, I will admit I took 2 days off. Sorry! I know that is bad but I took the first day off because Layla fell off the change table and I was too worried about her all day to really concentrate on working out. I took the next day off, just because I was feeling lazy - Keith also gave me my Wii workout that day so I ditched the rest of the 30 day shred.
After talking to Keith, I realized I have to finish what I started so today I was back on the Shred and did my second day of Level 2:
Day 8
- Mad at myself for taking 2 days off - I would be on Day 10 by now if I hadn't done that!!!
- I decided before I began that I would follow the modified exercises until I found those easy and then do them "normal".
- Despite finding myself doing a full squat, yet again, I found it much easier when I didn't push it, and allowed myself to do the modification for some exercises (note: I didn't modify them all - mostly just the moves that involved plank position).
- I wasn't too sore afterwards but I do have a bad knot in my left shoulder blade that led to a migraine after working out.
- I don't know that I will master Level 2 in the 30 days, so I doubt I will ever make it to Level 3!
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