No ripping, tearing or shreding, it's Jessica Smith!

[KikiMadeMeDoIt]

Welcome to the Jessica Smith fitness thread, which came about after conversations about a more gentle way to get fit.

Jessica is a fitness instructor who has had her own problems with starting exercise, but thankfully she did get started and kept going. I found her videos when I was desperate to exercise but didn't have a clue how to start, so I feel a special affection for her.

Jessica has videos on her YouTube channel for everyone - she has sections for beginners, pre-natal mothers and those who want to sweat like crazy for 50 minutes, it's all there.

I thought we could share favourite videos here, encourage each other, or join in with our own Peanuts (well, you'll just have to watch!).

To get us started, here's one of my favourites

You’re up to a Jessica a day now 😀 You’ll be doing the 50 minute ones soon if you’re not careful. Well done, you’re not picking the easy ones.

Make sure you carry on mixing them up, I think it’s a good idea to work different body parts day to day - it really helps to keep injuries down. If you’re feeling stiff tomorrow, have a look at the videos with ‘stretch’ in the title, they can really help to sort out any stiffness.

I cant wait to get started again 🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️

Thanks for that one must, it's been on my saved vids so I'll give it a go this week.

I often do the 12 min arm workout but did the 6 min one the other night and really enjoyed the variation

Also did this 20 min cardio blast last week when the rain called off my run. I modified it a lot because I'm avoiding jumping jacks (knees) but it was great.

It cracks me up because she kept saying 'even if you only do this workout today'. Good lord Jessica, doing only that workout is good going for me

Sorry you're feeling rubbish Kiki. This weather certainly isn't helping, it's freezing here today.

You're quite right. Tomorrow (if I fit something in) I'm going to do something more stretchy! I like to maintain the momentum now I'm doing something daily, but without mutilating myself...!

I like the sound of the yoga/pilates blast but I wonder if it's a bit hardcore again. I also saw a barre one (which I've never ever tried).

@ItsNice I couldn't believe how cold the wind was this morning when I dropped the kids at school.

Thanks for those vids. I'm also avoiding jumping jacks after my knees started hurting with the Shred. I just did arms today in the video I followed, but I also found a Youtube vid where it was suggested you could substitute by doing JJs on an exercise ball which I may try if you think that's a good Jessica option.

I've been offput by shorter vids, just with the mentality that I 'must exercise as long and as hard as I can'. But that way probably lies injury/madness!!

Thanks ItsNice I'm a big ball of crossness. Exercise is so important for my brain, I feel my mood dip when I don't do it. And my hip is starting to hurt - I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and not moving is not good (especially as I sit in very twisted positions - DH untwisted me yesterday because I looked just too weird). Are you getting any exercise done? I need my vicarious exercise

MustBe Have a go at the barre. You might not like it, but give it a go. I love it and now go to a class to do it. It makes you me feel super graceful and the stiffness and soreness arrive with a grace all of their own. I completely get the length of video thing; I can spend ages finding the longest video, when I could have done two shorter ones, but there's something about setting off a 45 minute video.

And jumping jacks - my opinion is that they should always be missed/avoided/substituted. I honestly think that plyometrics are not for home exercising - even professional sportspeople use them with caution. There's always something else that can take the place of a plyometric move .

@kiki

Yes, the minute she started up on them I was like "no way"! They look like such a simple move, particularly when Jillian states that 400lb people do it, that then you feel a bit of a failure avoiding them!

Interesting I might have to give this a go. I have fibromyalgia and a dodgy leg which means anything too high impact is out (as is exercising outside the house where someone might see me fall over)

Any reccomendations for something particularly gentle to start with?

MustBe I can imagine a horrified face "Not my Jessica!"

I just had a quick double check and looked at a research paper on stress on joints during vertical jumping "The knee experienced mean peak loadings of 2.4-4.6 × body weight at the patellofemoral joint, 6.9-9.0 × body weight at the tibiofemoral joint" - so we're looking at up to 3,600 lbs of load on a knee joint for this 400 lb person. Their knees must be made out of pretty strong stuff.

Impact on the bones and joints is absolutely vital (and can even reverse mild arthritis), but it needs to be done carefully.

Hi Munchy How long do you think you could exercise for? Could you manage 15 minutes of gentle exercise?

@Kiki Oh my goodness! When I watched the Biggest Loser, they were always vomiting/being strapped up/falling over too....

MustBe Really? I have to watch this thing.

When I did my PT course I was in a very mixed group, we came from all sorts of backgrounds, but not one of us wanted to hurt people. I don't want to make people throw up, I want to make them confident and happy and I'm sure that can be done without the vomiting stage.

I'm telling you: every first day on 'the ranch', you'd have one of them fly off the back of the treadmill, one vomiting in a bucket in the corner, whilst Jillian and Bob scream at them.

Obviously they get results ultimately, but it must be such a shock to the system.

I'm pretty sure if I start vomiting, I've gone too far!

MustBe I had a look. It's madness! I watched some ABC segments where they had ex-winners on - they'd all put the weight back on. Then I found a Biggest Loser UK and had a watch. WTF? They told unfit, morbidly obese people to run 5k. You don't need to have a qualification to guess how that one's going to work out. Oh, and there's some vile fat shaming at the start.

This isn't fitness or health, it's a gameshow for money. It's horrible. It's pointing and laughing at people and I'd put money on most of them not being fit today.

Yes! There's no vomiting in Jessica (has anyone else seen A League of Their Own?)

I reckon I could do 15mins without too much trouble. Maybe a bit more on a good day but prob best to start off realistic 😂

Right. I've chosen this one as it's perfect for someone just starting. It runs at 19 minutes, but there's a lot of explaining of form that you can just watch the first couple of times or you could just do one round of each exercise.

Give this one a go and let us know how you get on. Good luck

Kiki yes I am! It's ridiculous, I've gone from never exercising in my life to doing it 4/5 times a week. I do clubbercise once a week and then running followed by a Jessica the other nights.

I'm feeling like it's impacting everywhere apart from my stomach though, which is exactly where I wanted it to! I'm slim but with a pot belly

itsnice that’s really very cool indeed 😎 How long have you been exercising like this?

I can't see a link kiki. Not sure if it's just mn on my iPad

I'd say 6-8 weeks? 3 weeks of shred then the rest 1 x class weekly then a vaguely daily 2.5k run with about 15 min Jessica strength.

@ItsNice see this is my main issue, the tummy! Although I think mine is probably fat, it also seems to be a lot of loose skin from my last pregnancy. I can feel lots of muscle underneath... Honestly!!

Munchy Trying from the laptop.

Itsnice That's long enough to see some changes, but not long enough to get everything sorted. You've got a really good routine going there, hang on and it'll come right. Do you want to talk about your diet?

BetterFeet As above, but you've only been doing it for a really short time.

Is Jessica gentler on your knees than Jillian? I loved her, but she's ruined my knees.

Hi Lemon Yes, very much so. If you have a look up thread I’ve posted links to her workouts for sore knees and a knee strengthening one. I’m sorry you got hurt, are you okay to start exercising?

Thanks Kiki! Hmmm, my diet. Used to be not fantastic. Nothing majorly terrible, but not as healthy as it could be. I've been eating better since I've started exercising but actually the last 1-2 weeks have really put more into it, so I don't snack anymore, and I'm really being conscious about what I choose to eat at mealtimes. Not a diet, because I don't want to, but just trying to make good choices. So perhaps I need to give that a few more weeks before I see any possible changes?

Like must I think a lot of it is my second pregnancy. I'm petite (gut aside ) but my second baby was 10lb 😬. My skin was terribly stretched, to the point it got infected.

@Kiki - the UK version was also beset by 'scandal' when the female trainer was caught telling her team to not drink for 24 hours before weigh in or something, in a bid for them to win the weigh in.

You're right; it portrays itself as a show to help people lose weight and 'educate America', yet humiliates the contestants. And of course they're going to put it all back on in the real world, without the controls of the show.

On exercise regime, I've been doing Pilates just once a week for a couple of years (not enough to 'do' anything really but great for my flexibility. Since December, I've been doing the MuTu online programme at the request of my physio to fix my diastasis recti (now corrected) and help with alignment, together with other exercises to sort a problematic tendon.

This is a daily core routine with 'intensives' 3 or 4 days per week. These intensives aren't anything like a cardio or strength workout I've seen on Jessica or Jillian. They basically continue the core work at a higher rate, to cement the moves you've now got down. So whereas I've been seeing a difference, it's not as quick a change as I'd like for the time I'm putting in IYSWIM? Hence (now I have physio sign off) wanting to accelerate the toning. The frustrating thing is that I've lost two cup sizes (and looking quite bony around my chest now) but the tummy and bum are slow to respond...

Diet - errr. It's not bad, but I do love a piece of chocolate of an evening. I've been trying to do 16:8 in the week (I realised I was doing it without trying to, so thought I'd continue just to see how it went). I'd rather get to the stage of exercising well and being able to eat what I like?