2013 NEW YEAR JILLIAN MICHAELS FANS!

[threestepsforward]

New thread for the Julian Monkeys!!

Here's to a new year Shedded and Shredded, Ripped, with Killer Buns and Thighs, a 6 Pack, a Revolutionised Body and No More Trouble Zones

Any practitioners of Insanity, Turbofire and all other such insane DVDs come and join us too if you like

Couldn't work out why my bum was feeling sore this morning - then I remembered that I did the first day of Level 2 of the Shred yesterday (was pleased 'cos I used my slightly heavier weights - 1.3kg - for everything, with the Circuit 2 routines supplemented with the 1kg weights). Today I did the aerobics exercises at a slightly lower intensity as I saw the GP yesterday and he told me to cut back on my exercise while I take antibiotics for a chest infection (I've been crackly coughing for over 5 weeks now)

On week 3 day 2 of BR. It is killing my back, but thankfully only when I am exercising. I thought the weights were too heavy, but today I tried lighter weights and it made no difference to my lower back.

Hope everyone is having a not too painful day.

After a week off and a lot of flab added from nowhere! I am desperately playing catch up and doing one round of L1 6W6P followed by L3 Shred. It means getting up 15 minutes early and having to rush a bit in the morning but I want results and I want them NOW!

Has anyone bought Body Revolution? How does it compare and is it worth the money?

Keep it up all! Only managed a 3.5 mile run on Sunday( but went swimming with dd as well and did 10 lengths- better than nothing! Also fix my Pilates. Yesterday just did 40 mins on cross trained as was giving blood. Yesterday and today my back has been very, very sore. Nothing planned except some stretching as a consequence. I would love to do some strength/JM stuff tomorrow but will see how it goes.

take it easy notyummy...

Worldgone hello! Good to see you again. Gingercat is the person you need for Body Revolution. I think CHST may have done it too?

Peggy and Gingercat hope your backs are okay. Blimey we seem like the walking wounded here at the moment don't we

Gingercat I read on my search for stretching exercises that you should avoid using heavy weights above your head if you have lower back niggles (so moves like surrenders I guess). I wasn't sure what they classed as heavy though.

I managed a L2 killer today, hurrah! I moved my weights down to 2.5 to help my back and did my back stretching exercises afterwards so hopefully they will help.

Anyone with lower back niggles, I'm going to post the stretches I've cobbled together off the web in case they help anyone...

Have a good evening all

LOWER BACK STRETCHES:

1. Stand up straight and put arms and hands behind you as if putting hands in back pockets. Look up and extend (arch) your back.

1. Cobra pose (yoga pose, a la Jillian warm-down)

1. Cat to cow stretch (both yoga poses)

1. Lie flat on ground with arms outstretched, head facing down. Lift each arm slowly up and down, repeat 5 times. Repeat 5 times with each leg. Now do opposite leg and arm at same time, repeat 5 times for each pairing.

1. Same idea as above but start on hands and knees. Slowly straighten and lift arm up and down. Repeat 5 times. Ditto for legs.

1. Child's pose (yoga)

I've been doing these after the workout and on non JM days and I've sure they helped a bit...

Hello all. May I join you in the land of the injured? I set off on a run in the beautiful sunshine but had to stop after 3.5 miles and hobble home with a horribly twingeing left ankle and right knee . I have been thinking for a while that I may have to give up on running as the L ankle has been suffering, but this is the first time the knee has gone too - not from any particular moment, but just the general pounding, and presumably my running gait not being very good. GAAAAH.

Well done for getting back onto it (and with a vengeance! ) world. And thanks for the stretch tips 3steps, they sound nice; even though I haven't got a bad back will give them a try! And well done everyone else and hope all the injuries and illnesses improve soon!

Thanks for those stretches threesteps. Am currently at doctors to get stronger pain killers. This last couple of days the ibuprofen are not cutting it, and pins and needles/numbness all the way down to my toes. Boo.

Oh crap notyummy that's not good . Hope u get sorted out.

Oh no Jacksterbear, and Prettybird with your chest infection

I now have visions of us all dragging ourselves around groaning like zombies off Shaun of the Dead

Jacksterbear could your knee be due to unconsciously compensating for your weaker ankle? Perhaps putting more stress on the opposite leg (knee) without realising? What about trainers? Are they wearing down a bit?

Notyummy hope the doc can give you some pain relief that hits the spot. I so feel for you. I've had low back pain on and off for years, but it's always been pretty low-level pain, so I can only imagine what you must be going through right now :(

Sending all those on the injury bench healing vibes

worldgonecrazy I quite like body revolution, but I am only on week 3, so cannot tellbhow challenging it is. The first month is very gentle. But every part of my body hurts. CHST knows more.

threesteps Thanks for the stretches. Whenever you all mention 20 minutes of stretches I always wonder what exercises you mean.

notyummy Hope you will manage to alleviate the pain.

Gingercat if you google Pilates 10 minute Solutions, she has a really good 10 minute stretch section at the end.
Much more thorough then JM (sorry Jillian!) and it covers the whole body. I feel great after it and used to do it religiously after a JM workout, but let it fall by the wayside when I felt like I couldn't spare the extra 10 mins, silly really!

You'd probably pick it up cheap on amazon or ebay :)

3steps your compensating theory makes sense, esp as the ankle pain started at around 2.5 miles and the knee at around 3. Now really annoyed as they are both still really tender. And peggyo I def know what y mean re feeling twitchy on no-exercise days! And no I never thought I would be addicted either! But am already stressing over the thought of an enforced rest for the next couple of days!

I too am sending lots of healing vibes to everyone - we really are in the wars at the moment, aren't we. Prettybird, take it easy; notyummy, hope you manage to get the pain under control; and threesteps, hope your back continues to co-operate! I would tell you all, in the words of Jillian, that 'pain is just fear leaving the body', but I honestly have no idea what she means when she says that

Jackster, how old are your running shoes? And have you had your gait analysed? About a year ago I suddenly started to get hip soreness about 2 miles into my runs and eventually decided to replace my ancient shoes. I went to a running shop where they analysed my gait and gave me shoes with a bit more arch support, and the hip problems disappeared pretty much straight away!

worldgonecrazy I thought about BR last night. It is a 12-week program. Your weekly routine is workout a, workout b, cardio a, workout a, workout b, cardio a, and rest day. The workouts change every fortnight and cardio every month. All workouts are around 30 minutes. The format is similar to Insanity and Turbofire, as in class- based.

threesteps Thanks for the suggestion. I will look it up. There is a lot of weight above your head in BR, so that explains it.

Hi, im a JM (and exercise if the truth be known) newbie and would love some advice.
I am on Day 3 level 1 of the 30 day shred and as yet i have no muscle stiffness, i was expecting to be bedridden after the first day, am i doing something wrong?
the amazon reviews led me to believe i would be a jelly wreck but i feel great after, just a little shaky in the legs for a short while.
Im using 2.5lb weights and doing a combo of the easy and harder mods.
Also can i ask how effective the 6 wk 6 pack is in getting to grips will a post cs belly, can i add that my last cs was nearly 4 yrs ago and i still have a one inch gap between my rectus abdominals.
After 3 cs, should i be starting with yoga/pilates to close the gap or will the 6w6p be a better option for me.
Thanks all.......off to get shredded now....

Thanks all - I have requested BR for my birthday. Three days of one round of 6W6P and Level 3 shred and I can already see results, still flabby but there is form beneath the flab! Now I know how those celebs get their baby weight shifted - they hire a personal trainer and work bloody hard for a week. It's amazing how quickly the body changes.

tracedw if you're finding it too easy, use bigger weights, do ALL the advanced moves, and move up to Level 2 slightly earlier.

I find the first round of 6W6P very effective but I have no experience of CS so don't know how much it will help. I don't like Level 2 of 6W6P - it doesn't seem to actually work my abdominals very much.

A big part of getting the shape back is burning off the fat, so you may want to look at Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism, and alternate that with the Shred.

Get well soon, all!

great results, world!

tracedw I have had 2 cs, and also still have a gap between my abs that I don't think will ever close. My tummy is fairly flat, though (although only when I pull in my muscles! ). IMO for post-cs tummy flattening you need to focus on lower abs, so any exercise which involves pulling the legs up ( eg reverse crunches, scissor legs while lying on back) are good - plenty of those kind of thjngs in shred, ripped, NMTZ etc. personally I would say 6w6p focuses more on the upper abs, although it's brilliant as a cardio workout (level 2). Pilates tummy exercises are also great.

Oh and peggyo got my trainers only last summer so sure they can't already be worn out! And had my running gait analysed too, in the shop when I bought them: they said it was fine, although tbh I was feeling so self conscious and awkward (1st time on a treadmill, and with a camera trained on my bottom ) that I don't think I was doing my natural running style, iykwim. May go back there and ask them what they think.

Hello all!

Welcome to the thread Trace and well done on starting Shredding :) Second the advice to up the weights and possibly move up to L2 sooner than you planned if you're finding it quite easy. Stick with us for motivation!

Jacksterbear and horror at having camera trained on derriere while trying to run in front of an audience!!! I'm camera phobic at the best of times (especially videos) and that would have had me hyperventilating!!

Back not great today, I still have that twisted feeling, damn! Going to stick to one day off and one day on and will do the 10 min pilates stretches and my back stretches today. A mountain of work has landed on me today so perhaps it's a good thing I'm not wondering how I'll fit in a Killer session...

Have a good rest of day everyone

Hi all,

I've been reading all your posts and feel sorry for those of you who are injured. I hope you can get back into it soon. I know I'd be tearing my hair out.

Not much to report here, just now on L3 of Killer and enjoying it after getting used to 'frog hops'. Added NMTZ after Killer this morning and really felt it in my triceps. I must keep at these arms.

Ooh and I found some hard lumps just below my rib cage which turned out to be some of those ab muscles. Extraordinary! I love having a poke about!

Sending you all waves of Jillian motivation in jumping jack form!

Holy crap missT did u really do a Killer-NMTZ double bill?! That's impressive! I like feeling muscles I didn't realise I had too... the other day I felt some right in my sides (transverse abs?) that I was quite impressed with!

Knee still not good today... keeps jarring when walking and when standing up/sitting down, and walking down stairs is killing me .

Hi all
Have just done L1 Killer Buns for the second time and really pleased because a) I sweated a lot, b) I got some of the moves I couldn't quite do the first time, and c) I'm looking forward to doing it again but with weights this time. Really like the last circuit with the kicking routine and the warrior pose.

Feel so much better today having done a workout, had rested for 2 days (well, rode each day but rested in terms of no Jillian) and had really missed it! So although it is hard on these miserable cold evenings (& when subject to the killer combo of toothache, period pain and a cold) it is definitely worth taking the 30mins or so for a workout.

Hope all you injured bods start to recover soon.