One of the biggest challenges I've had this year is exercising more. I'm getting better at eating healthy, but I've been working on exercising more. But I've never been good at exercising. Recently, I bought my first exercise DVDs. The first one I'm trying, Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred, is meant to be a quick, intense workout that you do every day for 30 days. The advertising says you can lose up to 20 pounds in 30 days. I figured it was worth a try. And I'm glad I did. I learned some pretty important lessons.
Let me set the stage for you: I'm in my apartment, watching this dvd and working out along with it. Like I mentioned, it's intended to be a workout that you do every day for 30 days. There are 3 levels, and each level workout is a little more intense than the others.
Day 1: I put in the DVD, and completed the workout. It was hard. It kicked my butt (actually literally, because one of the cardio exercises was butt kicks). My arms felt like jello for awhile afterwards. And I was sore, but in a good way.
Day 2: The next morning, when I woke up, everything was sore. And everything hurt. I expected that, because soreness can take awhile to hit. But it was the good type of sore, the sore of muscles that are just starting to get used to moving that way. So I put in the DVD for day 2. I got 5 minutes in before I had to stop. I was doing push ups, and started feeling a pull on my chest that was very different than the good type of soreness. And then I fell trying to do a push up. I picked myself up, and kept going, but it still hurt, and I fell again. I got through a couple more exercises, but I started feeling bad. So I had to stop. Everything was so sore, and hurting so bad, that I thought I might hurt myself if I kept going. I turned off the tv, and went for a brisk power walk/run instead.
And that brings me to the point of my post today. Exercising is important. And you have to push yourself to get results. It's hard, and it's tough, and you'll feel like you're going to die or pass out some of the time. But. You need to be able to recognize how hard is too hard. Because if you're not careful, you could majorly hurt yourself. No one likes getting hurt. It can be expensive, with Doctor's bills, and, depending on how serious the injury is, you could be unable to do any sort of exercise for a good long time. So learn what type of soreness is good, and which is your body saying 'OW OW STOP!' Also, make sure you're doing exercises correctly. Doing an exercise incorrectly can cause major damage, especially if you keep doing it wrong over a period of time.
Since having to take the day off, I've completed the DVD workout 3 more times. I'm not sore anymore. It's still tough to do, and it'll take me some time to feel comfortable enough to try the next level up. I'm going to keep going to get to 30 days (though, due to some time between days, I considered today's work out day 3.) Twenty-seven days. Twenty-seven 20 minute work outs. That's my challenge to myself. Let's see if I really do lose up to 20 pounds, like it says that I could. I'll be sure to keep you posted!
Until next time,
Punk Rock Pikachu.
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