Hello again everyone!
Well, when I last updated, I had been doing the 30 day shred workout. I wanted to update you all about my progress. I got through about 7 days on it, and then decided it just wasn't working for me. It wasn't what I wanted for a workout routine for myself, and, quite frankly, I just wasn't the biggest fan of listening to Jillian Michaels over and over. I even tried a different work out video of hers, to see if that would help. Nope. It didn't work for me either. So today, I thought I'd talk to you guys a bit about finding a workout that works for you, and, some of the things I enjoy in my exercise routine.
As previously mentioned, Jillian Michaels videos just didn't work for me. In fact, I don't think I'm a big fan of work out dvds in general. I find them good for getting ideas of exercises to try, but, I don't know, I just don't like work out dvds. But that's just me. If they work for you, do as many as you want.
Here's what didn't work for me, specifically, about the 30 day shred video: A few of the exercises were just not well suited to me. For example: push-ups. They're a great exercise. I just lack the upper body strength, at the moment, to do a push up. Or, at least, I can do a few. But not nearly as many as the video requires. Further, most of the cardio she was doing in that video involved bouncing up and down, such a jumping jacks, or jumping rope. This was problematic for me for two reasons: first, by the time I got to day 6, instead of it getting easier, it was getting harder in some ways. Yes, my endurance was a little bit better, but, my knee and my ankle were not liking the jumping up and down. Second, I'm a female, and females have breasts. I happen to be particularly "well-endowed," and that makes lots of jumping kind of obnoxious, even when I'm wearing my sports bra. So that just doesn't work for me.
The other problem I have in general is the repetitiveness of workout dvds. I don't particularly enjoy doing the same routine every single day. It's kind of boring to me. I like doing different things. Or, even when I am doing the same thing, there can be some variety. Lately, I've been getting a pretty good amount of cardio by playing Dance Dance Revolution for the PS2. And I have no problem doing that for multiple days, because it's not the same. I can do different songs, different difficulties, and, I even have about 4 or 5 different DDR games I can play. Or going for a run, even when I take the same route, it's not quite the exact same every time.
Strength exercises, though, are a whole other story. There's very few ways to make that not repetitive. But, at least, when I'm doing them in my own apartment, I can have the tv or background noise on in general, so I'm not hearing the same person talking over and over.
But Punk Rock Pikachu, how is this relevant to me figuring out a workout routine? Well, I'm getting there. Here's my advice for you: Figure out what you want out of your exercise routine. Are you looking for straight up cardio, or do you want a mixture of cardio and other strength exercises? If you're trying for weight loss, I highly recommend doing both strength and cardio exercises. Strength exercises help you build muscle and tone your body. You'll end up being more trim, but, perhaps a little bit heavier, since muscle does weigh more than fat. Once you've figured out what type of routine you want, experiment with different exercise options. Go for a run, or go for a swim, or any other type of cardio you might want to try. Try a workout dvd or other workout video, if you want to. Find a gym, and see what options they have there for you. You need to try multiple things to get a good sense of what does and doesn't work for you. You can look up all kinds of things on the internet.
I do want to let you know, though, that if you are going to be doing strength training, you have to figure out a wide variety of exercises to do. Muscles get used to doing the same routine over and over, so, you need to switch things up a bit every so often just so muscle memory doesn't kick in. Personally, I have about 10-15 different exercises that I feel comfortable doing, and I alternate which ones I do. And, I also alternate the order in which I do them.
And, last but not least, don't forget to warm up before exercising. A good warm up will help loosen up your body and prevent you from hurting yourself. And that's always important.
What about you guys? What types of exercise do you like doing? Be sure to let me know in the comments!
Until next time,
Punk Rock Pikachu
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