The November Shred Thread: all Jillian Michaels devotees welcome!

Well done Elpheba. Must be very hard with two demanding little ones and your DH away a lot.

30DS L1D7 done! With very little fitness lost, thank goodness.

DH will now be away for work for most of this week, so we'll see if I'm able to keep this up...

So DH rises from the dead and, despite anticipating DS2 hitting the four month sleep regression, DS1's sleep goes Completely. To. Shit. Will not let DH do bedtimes, which is what enables me to Shred. If I have to do bedtime I don't get to start until 8:30 at the very earliest which is just too late for me, given the number of times I will then have to be up in the night.

Currently working on getting it sorted - did a joint bedtime with DH tonight, with me gradually finding excuses to leave the room for longer and longer periods while DH read to him and got him to sleep.

So annoyed as I really felt I was making significant gains. I will get back to it. Just no idea when

Ginger - great, glad that helped!

Well, my DD had a day off school today, so the alarm wasn't set and I stayed asleep till the bin-men came at 7:30, then I had a lie-in rather than exercising. (Did have a bit of a walk, but at dog sniff&wee pace). She's got monday off as well, not sure if I'll be lazy then too.

Delicious, most people find L1 of Ri30 reasonably easy after shred L3 but it does get progressively harder. I'd definitely recommend getting more weights as you get stronger. I use my 3kg pair a lot, and also have a 10lb pair (~4.5 kg) which are good for bicep curls - and now nicked DH's 8kgs for deadlifts. But there are some moves where the small ones are still appropriate (and the superman with extension which I think is in one of the ripped levels they're too much). So building up a range of weights is good. I wish JM would allow a moment for weight-swapping between moves though, that's another reason why I have to hit pause quite often.

Delicious I have 1.5kg, 2kg and 3kg that I brought reticently when I started getting bored with just with the lightest. Using heavier weights does up the challenge in a good way once you reach a certain level of fitness and strength.

Finished the Shred a couple of days ago, so started Ripped in 30 today...found week 1 quite easy, but perhaps I am not using heavy enough weights? I'd like to know what she means by 'heavy' and 'light' weights. My dumbells are 2kg each, do I need to invest in another set?

my bed refused to let me go this morning so i did not do it! But I did do an hour cycle yesterday - including an evil hill - and a ridiculous frog march from the garage where I had to drop the car off back up the much-loved hill to pick up my child on time... frankly I deserve a rest!

Thank you Errol for cardio suggestions! Used a few this morning. L2 D4 completed and legs feeling much better :)

I find the plank cardio fine. Although I'm doing the modified "Anita" ones for now.

You can up the intensity of punching by adding weights. Other arm-based ones (from her other DVDs) include standing in running position and then pumping your arms really hard, or (no idea how to describe this) stand with your arms bent in front of your chest and then roll them round each other really fast.

Do you find that the cardio in plank position (eg plank jacks, mountain climbers) are ok or not - I'd guess they might be as the weight is on the hands rather than the feet primarily.

oh, just remembered another one, 'military march' - basically goose-stepping with straight legs as high as they'll go and exaggerated arm swings.

30DS L2 D3 done. I've had to really modify or sustitute any jumping moves due to knee/shin pain.

If anyone has any suggestions for cardio substitutes for jumping jacks, jump rope etc please share them. At the moment vigorous marching on the spot and the punching moves from level 1 are my go-to moves. But a bit of variety would be good!

I am really hoping to get back to it tonight. DH has finally emerged (it was a cluster headache rather than a migraine which lasts considerably longer) so can do stories with DS1 while I Shred. I hope. Four nights of putting a baby and a toddler to bed solo, then seeing to all of their night wakings by myself has left me a little flattened, to say the least.

D4 L1 30DS done. Yay. First time in ages I have managed four mornings in a row.

I might have to cycle to work and come home late today and it is super foggy here at night at the mo ... Don't like the idea at all.

Hope the cold doesn't drag on too long, squeaky. But a few days off isn't always a bad thing, esp if you've got niggles.

Have done nothing as full of cold and out of breath doing the stairs! I went to my dance class last week and coped so well as felt fitter

On a positive note right shoulder niggle is improving with the rest, may progress to 2lb weight

30DS L2 D7 done :)

oh, and ITA on not wanting to be a frail old lady. Apart from the bone health, I'm sure that this stuff must improve balance ... I don't fancy the 'I've fallen and I can't get up' scenario at all.

KB&T L1 D3 done. Imogen, sorry I've only just caught up with the thread so only just saw your question - when I've done NMTZ I've done the whole thing. The other dvds all take me longer than they're supposed to because of my penchant for pausing to regain breath (under the guise of making it HIIT), so because NMTZ has less cardio (IIRC) I don't have to pause so much so it doesn't take significantly longer.

Cardio kickbox done. Quite enjoyed that. Fast paced and ... Kicky.

Yes there is the osteoporosis factor to consider too. Also I think I your muscles are supposed to protect your bones in old age from those tragic breaks that can otherwise occur from minor knocks. Alright, alright, I'm in again imogen. But come my 85th birthday, it'll be fags, and booze and cackling all the way.

D2L1 30DS done. Plan to do cardio tomorrow as someone up thread suggested that was a good way to approach it all. I think I need the fat burning that cardio gives.

Elpha that sounds tough. Hang in there and rejoin when things settle.

imogen happy to have made it back. Always fear during a break that that'll be it for me - flabby and cackling away into the exercise-free sunset. However, as I said it does the edge off the gnash and for that alone I remain grateful.