May Jillian be with us - it's the new Shred thread!

[ImogenQuy]

For all those doing any of Jillian Michaels' exercise programmes, welcome - the old thread is here if you want to check back.

Marking place for tomorrow which will be week 6 of Body Rev for me - nearly half way through!

Errol - I only use 1kg weights for the anterior raises, 2kg for everything else. Don't think it helps that my quads are still tight by the time I get to the side lunges so keeping good form is a struggle, hence the lower weights. Is getting better though. On the positive side I can struggle up to 8 big girl push-ups for the opening set, 4 on the second set. Perhaps I should add some sets of anterior raises without lunges to the end of the workout but use the 2kg weights for those?

Umbongo - day 5 and no rest break, am thoroughly impressed. How many days L1 are you planning before you go on to L2?

Pippistrelle - well done on the second day of L2. It sounds like there is lots of fun in store for us.

MsRaspberry - is written down now so you can't chicken out!

Thanks granny. But judging by how I feel this morning, I could be on L2 for a while! So, I'll see you when you get to it.

Unusual aches: between my shoulder blades, and my ankles. I think I'll be shredding later rather than sooner today - I need time for everything to stretch and feel comfortable again.

Body Rev Phase 2 week 6 workout 5 (last time - on to workouts 7 and 8 next week, eek). Another morning when I really struggled to get out of bed, but felt superstitiously I had to - I've got an assessment centre for a job I really want this afternoon and didn't want to start the day feeling inadequate. I may cop out of tomorrow, though: I'll probably stay up most of the night to watch the election results come in.

Welcome Muddymits and Pippistrelle!

MsRaspberry, let us know how you get on - I'm wondering whether it's worth keeping the one-week Shred till the far-off day when I might have time to do it, so it would be good to have a review.

Off to vote on the way to take DS to school - fortunately his school isn't a polling station.

Well done to everyone. I had aches for a while and I think I pulled some muscles in my back and side at the beginning as discomfort last for a few weeks.

I did NMTZ last evening. I have always tracked it on MFP as 40 circuit training. I brought a heart rate monitor the other day (along with a new sports bra as the other is now too big) and used that for my last session. It was only 7 calories off, so at least I know that I have been tracking it correctly.

I will do 30DS L3 tonight and see how many calories I use during that workout.

Hey, can I join? Started L1 D1 yesterday, and couldn't complete it
I've recently started the couch to 5k, but it's proved that I still have no stamina!!!
I'm not overweight, but would like to lose 7pds, and tone up LOADS!

Agreed that level two and level three of the Shred are not much different in difficulty. I found level two harder.

Welcom, needabiscuit. Just do what you can, and you will improve quite rapidly. If you need a breather during the cardio, just hit pause and then carry on.

granny - of your Big Girl Pushups - I still can't do them!

Needabiscuit - I spent ages on Level 1. Just regarded it as a workout in itself, and interspersed it with other exercise. I hadn't done it for a while (but carried on with other exercise) then came back to it, and suddenly it was all do-able. Not easy - I still feel like it works you, and a lot harder than some other workouts, but all definitely do-able. But I imagine that as you're not overweight, you will see progress a lot faster than I did.

Thanks Errol for pointing me here... God only knows how long I'd have been waffling away to myself on the April thread without noticing. :)

I did love having a good few hours nattering about Jillian in real life with my friend. It's funny: she hates fast feet and surrenders, two moves I like because they're easy. And she likes the plyometric floor stuff, and chair pose with tricep kickbacks from NMTZ. She wants my midriff and I want her limbs. Between us we'd be a fitness machine!

Tbh though she is stronger ( does kettlebell stuff at the gym) and I think I might have a crack at that. Sadly, Jillian's kettlebell DVD was roundly panned, so will have to look elsewhere I suppose... any recommendations?

I use the Kettlercise Just for Women DVD. It doesn't have polished production values but I like its straightforward and no-nonsense approach. It consists of two discs - one that's full body and lasts about 50 minutes (excluding warm up), and the other disc has a shorter express version and a separate abs section. The moves are all achievable right from the first attempt although it took me a while to build up to doing them all for the full minute. And it does get results, and fast. I think it's why I had no trouble with the anterior raises on Level 1 of the 30DS.

Thank you, Pippi! I'll order that. Which size kettlebell should you start with? Been Jillianing with 3kg dumbbells for a whIle, so not totally unfit, but realise kettlebells are a different, um, kettle of fish.

Just did 6wk6pk. Think I'll do BFBM soon as have to stay in waiting for the DHL man or woman today. I do love holidaying at home. :)

I started with a 5kg weight, and still use it for some exercises. Otherwise, a 7.5 kg is plenty heavy for me.

pippi - can you do that DVD using a dumbell (held by one end) or do you really need kettlebells? I quite fancy trying but not sure I want to invest in lumps of iron if it doesn't suit me.

Hm... just been looking at the product description on amazon, and it seems to focus on ' Lose Weight, Tone your Hips, Bum & Thighs & have Flat Abs' - and while those are all good things, what I really want is something that builds upper body and core strength.

You couldn't really use a dumbbell type weight because of the way you have to swing it around. It's done more for my arms and shoulders than anything else, I think: I have dips! (Or ' definition', as the technically minded might prefer. )

There seems to be a vol I and vol II now (each with 2 disks) just to complicate it further! I shall ponder some more. thanks!

Ok, so I tried again today lasted a bit longer!! Haha
I do have a kettlebell, should I do a workout with that too? It's a very light one
Am I doing the right DVD for me as well?
What do you guys eat? And how soon do you work out after eating? I'm having yogurt with mixed seeds, and a banana, about 45 mins before I crack on!

That's a lot of questions, sorz

NeedABiscuit - I think we all find our own favourite DVDs, but I'd say that if shred L1 is challenging then stick with that till you can get through before trying anything else. Though I think there is a new 'Beginners Shred' out not too long ago, I think someone mentioned using it but I've not heard any feedback, I don't know if it's much different.

As to eating - again we're all different. I do 5:2 , so on the '2' days I'll do my workout in the morning after a couple of cups of tea with milk and then have a healthy but small dinner in the evening (and lots of other low-cal drinks in the day). On other days, I always exercise in the morning, again after just a couple of teas and sometimes a coffee, and nowadays don't usually eat till lunchtime. If I was going to have breakfast then yogurt (greek or onken set) with some almonds, seeds and fruit (usually berries of some sort, sometimes a pear) is what I'd go for, it's a good combination.

D5L1 30DS, followed by a 1.6 mile run. It's a FD for me today, and I won't eat until I get back from evening class at around 10.00 p.m., so have had 50 cals of protein shake to tide me over.

Can't honestly sayI'm finding it easier yet - although I think now that I'm getting the hang of the technique I'm putting more effort in.

Have a very busy day tomorrow ending with Friday wine, so only chance to shred will be first thing in the morning. And I am definitely NOT a morning person!!

NeedABuscuit the main thing is that you have started - just need to keep going now (says she sternly looking in the mirror).

Needa, you're doing great. I was like you amd struggled at first. I had to build up my fitness from zero the first time. I stuck with Shred Level 1 till I felt comfortable with it; in my case, a couple of months. That's a bit extreme, though!

Pippi, that sounds lovely. My kettlebelling friend has beautiful arms. Damn it, I'll order that DVD tonight.

I ended up doing 6wk6p, NMTZ and a couple of circuits of BFBM today. Gonna sleep well and miss all the election fun tonight, I think!

I hope you like it, mildly. I'm going to feel really guilty if you don't!

BFBM today.
Welcome Pippi are you 45 or 55hz?!

Definitely 45 - the commoner sort... (actually, the name isn't really much to do with bats. More a sort of nickname, hence the double p. Deliberate rather than just being bad at spelling. Although I may also be bad at spelling.)

Day 3 at L2 of the 30DS. I managed some slight improvement in the plank based things, so quite happy with that.

Something cropped up worldwide so instead of my planned NMTZ I did some sets of free weights throughout the day (one of the benefits of working from home!). Several short sets of chest press with 8kgs, military press and bicep curls with 6kgs and then I surprised myself by being able to do a few bent over rows with 10kgs! Plus a few deep squats and sit-ups. I should have done some planks but forgot.

Body Rev Phase 2 week 6 workout 6 done. Not great, but that's not altogether surprising as I've been awake most of the night. On to workouts 7 and 8 next week.

Errol, I'm a bit in awe of the weights you can manage!