Monday, May 31, 2010

The Shred

A year ago, my good friend introduced me to Jillian Michaels' DVD, The 30-Day Shred



My friend's Facebook statuses reflected how effective the workout was, and I was convinced to try it.  The DVD has 3 levels, each one successively more difficult than the last. Each level has 3 circuits, each composed of strength, cardio, and ab moves.  The great thing is that each level is a quick 22 minutes (not including warm-up or cool-down), so it's a snap in a busy schedule.

I never did 30 consecutive days of the Shred, nor did I ever do level 3 more than once.   Most stupid of me was my decision to do level 3 the day before flying to the US, which meant sitting for nearly 24 hours straight on a train, in planes, and then in a car, after one of the most brutal workouts of my life.  Not conducive to avoiding sore muscles, that's for sure.

Months later I heard one of Jillian's old radio shows via Podcast, where she answered a listener's question about doing the Shred.  She told the listener that she should do the first level of the Shred until she could do it with 100% ease, and then move on to the second level, etc.  It didn't mean that one should do it for 30 days straight, nor that it should be a structured 10 days for each level.  And if the caller could still only do level 1 at the end of 30 days, then that was fine too.  Whew!  Those were some relieving words to hear. 

Still, I have not accomplished doing the Shred within 30 days.  This is also stupid, because even doing a few days' worth will show results!  This time, I'm serious.

So I joined one of the Jillian Michaels pages on sparkpeople.com, a free site for weight loss and fitness junkies.  The outpouring of support and commiseration in agony (plank jacks!) are a great source of fuel to keep doing the Shred for 30 days.  Plus, another member posted the bikini pictures of herself, before and after Shredding, and the after pic deserves a huge round of applause.  WOW, if it can do that to/for her.....

I started this go-round on May 17, but had ended up doing only 7 levels in 14 days.  Those other days were filled with running, tennis, and long walking trips to the mall, so they were not without decent calorie burning. So today I doubled up, levels 1 and 2.  Without too much cursing at the TV (I hate you, military press and v-flies!)!  I am determined to do 30 levels in 30 days with this go-round.  How else will I know what its true effects will be? 

You may be aware (from the effective PR machine Jillian has, and oh how I wish I could be a part of it) that the 30-Day Shred is not her most recent DVD.  Yoga Meltdown is. I even pre-ordered it in February and happily paid for overseas shipping.  My first time trying it, however, made me realize that I needed to work those plank muscles big-time before it could be at all effective.  That is why I am back to the 30-Day Shred, to pump up the arms before planking it out in yoga. 


I look forward to seeing and talking about the results of being Shredded.  Until then, there is Jillian's new show, Losing It, which will premiere tomorrow.  Really can't wait to check that out, and compare it to the old You Are What You Eat shows that featured diet coaches Gillian McKeith from the UK and Lene Hansson from Denmark.  How will America's Toughest Trainer compare to the nutrition-focused Gillian and Lene? 

No comments:

Post a Comment