Shred me up!
I’ve been into running lately, but my running schedule is dependent on two things.
First, my jogging stroller’s operating condition. The only real variable is the inflation level of the tires. On Wednesday I pumped my tires, but my pump had some kind of malfunction between the second and third tire. While I tried not to let this stop me, and went with the front tire and one rear tire inflated, the truth is that this was a tedious workout because the stroller listed leftward. The. Whole. Time. I corrected for this by occasionally switching sides of the street so that sometimes the tilt of the sidewalkcountered the list of the wheels. (I have to switch sides of the street at intervals to keep my knees and ankles happy anyway.) But it was a big challenge and distraction that I hope to avoid.
Second, Ben’s availability. If the stroller is out of commission, as it was on Thursday due to bike pump malfunction, then the other option is for Ben to be home with Sami so that I can go out and run solo, sans-stroller. I actually prefer this, but Ben’s work schedule gets more hectic as the September primary and then the November general elections approach. So I can’t always depend on Ben’s availability unless we plan well, and in advance.
On Thursday Ben had an onslaught of work, and so he couldn’t come home according to our plan. I couldn’t get the bike pump to give me any love, and I was about to be really bummed. I was ready to throw the whole workout day and just slump into self pity for the evening.
After Sami went to bed, I pulled out my last scrap of willpower and said, f*ckit, if I can’t go running I’ll do a workout video. It’s better than nothing, right?
Well, it was better than better than nothing. I did Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred
The workout is a series of three circuits, each containing 3 minutes of strength, two minutes of cardio and one minute of abs. There’s a warmup and cooldown. And it’s the most effective 22 minutes I’ve probably ever spent working out.
I did this video on the intro level. I presumed I’d have to do it twice, or do the first and second levels, to get a good workout, but I was wrong. I sweat buckets and feel like I did get a significantly effective workout. The next day I was sore in pleasant and productive ways (not like the hip abductor experiment of 7/19.)
I think I have a lot left to gain even from Level 1 of this video, not to mention the rest of it.
I highly recommend it to anyone, whether fitness buffs in a time crunch or a beginner looking for an all around comprehensive introductory workout. 20 minutes is such an easy committment for health and fitness!
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Good to know; I’ve never bought a workout DVD, but I’ll try this one. The air’s been so bad up here with the fires, the only workouts you can really do are indoors on bad smoke days. Hey, I saw you called, you need anything or was that a pocket dial?
Bummer about the bad tires on the jogging stroller!
I appreciate the review of the video – I too tend to think “eh” of workout dvds…
lovely to see you this weekend.
Muah!
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