“Ripped in 30” by Jillian Michaels: Starting Week 2

You would think that by now I would be just about finished with the whole program, but no. I would not call it a failure but, yes, I have been majorly slacking off. Knowing that, I decided that it was time to kick my own butt, and hard.

Week 2 definitely did that for me.

The exercises are harder, of course, but they also require more coordination than I have ever had. I watched Week 1 video only once before doing it, and I managed to get to the end not messing anything up, and least not too greatly. This was different. There are so many little things to remember! I think it will take me a few days to even get the modified versions right.

I recognized some of the abs exercises from “Six Week Six Pack” (one of her other videos). I wish she would have included more because I like them.

That’s all for now, because I am not letting myself start rambling about how damn hard that felt. It’s my fault that I have beens slacking off. It’s my fault that I am so out of shape. And I am the one who is going to fix that.

 

 

My Love-Hate Relationship with Running

What does running mean to you?

For me, it is a way to escape the world. Let go of all the problems. Focus. Running has brought me so many perfect moments that I can only remember with a big smile on my face… Running is my thing.

Don’t get me wrong, I have never been a serious runner. My speed, my distance, my whatever – they are not good. I am sweating and panting, and my heart is beating like crazy when I am on the run. However, it is nothing compared to the satisfaction I receive when I finish the run strong. When I manage to get to my little goal.

I fell in love with running for real this summer. I was seriously overweight. Ok, I am still a bit overweight but that is not my point here. I could only jog for five minutes – and even that was crazily, impossibly hard for me. I wanted to cry because I was so bad at it. Well, I did cry. And then I started moving forward. 7 minutes, 10 minutes. 15 was something very big for me. At the end of the summer, I could run more than 30. But the most important thing is – I wanted to. I wanted to put on my old scruffy sneakers and go.

I always ran in the sunset. The road was completely different from the city. No asphalt. Just pine trees all around me, and an occasional fox running over the road. It was perfect. Now I wish I was back there, moving my feet forward, and pushing, pushing hard. That is one of my happy places.

Well, of course it is not all lovely. Running is hellishly hard for me. Sometimes I still want to cry when I run, most definitely because I have fallen back on running, and I don’t have my perfect scenery anymore because it is winter and I am back to the city. More often than not I want to hit or kick the treadmill hard. But it does not matter.

As crazy each training session is, as bad as I want to stop sometimes, I don’t quit. I move forward, enjoying each and every minute of the torture. I think about my summer runs and smile. I love it and I hate it, and there is nothing I can do about it.

I wish all of you guys to find your passion, whether it is running or something else. Want to tell me about it? I will be glad to hear. Happy running. guys!

“Ripped in 30” by Jillian Michaels – Update

First thing is first – Week 1 is still killing me.

The difference? Her warm-up is actually starting to seem like a warm-up for a change, not a part of the workout made only torture me some more. The cool-down is not a torturous stretching extension of the workout but rather something I look forward to. Squat and press is becoming one of my favourite (read: easiest) moves, and so are the push-ups. Knowing the fact that they used to be my most dreaded exercises of all, it’s a lot. I can push through the cardio part of the workout with less stops. My punches are starting to look much cooler.

In short? I am getting better at this thing. A tiny bit better, but better. I do not dare to move to the next level yet but I will. I will.

Just another thing – I have not been doing this daily. Far from it. This busy girl right here has been a bit lazy (workout-wise). Not proud of that but… It happens.

You will hear screams of joy when I finally get to Week 2. I can’t even the imagine the ones your ears will have to endure after I finish the whole thing.

And how are you doing with the workout? Have you noticed improvement?

“Ripped in 30” by Jillian Michaels – Day 3

The rare moment when you see yourself working out and actually feel that you want to do it. For a brief flash, I actually yearned to be back on that mat, sweating it out with dumbbells in my hands.

When the workout started, I instantly remembered why exactly I had named it “the torture one can only get in hell” but for that one moment, a few seconds… It was an awesome feeling, believe me, and a weird one, too.

What I realized today? If something feels easy and really likeable in that workout, I am not doing something right. Either my arms are not straight enough or my back is rounded – something is wrong. The strength training circuit 2 seemed really easy until I looked more carefully at the way Shelly’s arms and back was moving. Tip for all of you guys: watch the video carefully beforehand and follow along as precisely as you can, paying particular attention to your form. That is going to get you the best results, and, of course, make you feel like you are dying. That’s just how it works.

Tomorrow is my cardio day – I will hit the gym in the afternoon and tell you about it afterwards!

“Ripped in 30” by Jillian Michaels – Day 2

Hello, day 2. Hello, a-pain-in-the-ass workout.

Yeah, I mean it literally, too. My ass hurts. My hands and back are somewhere in the middle between “uncomfortable” and “pain”. My motivation is somewhere between “zero” and “mildly excited”. Still. I did it.

Let’s make something clear here. I cannot do that workout without stopping. At the start of the workout, Jillian tells us to keep some water nearby. Well, I do, and when I just can’t take it anymore, I stop the video, grab my water bottle, wipe away the sweat with a paper towel and get back to the torture she calls a “workout”. My goal: finish her Week 1 in 2 weeks, and be able to do it without stopping by the end of that second week.

I will not get into the details of me sweating like crazy. One swear word did escape my lips. Many more were circling inside my head.

But hell, I did it. I am pretty damn proud of myself. Saying this after the second day?  Yes. That is me. I have what to be proud of because that workout is hell.

How is it going for you? Are you proud of yourself for doing this?

“Ripped in 30” by Jillian Michaels – Day 1

Oh, crap.

Yes, I just started my blog post with “Oh, crap”. That’s because that was the exact same thing I was telling myself all the way through that workout. Crap, crap, crap, crap!

Now I truly, sincerely regret all those days, weeks, months I decided to skip my workout and grab a snack instead. A rather unhealthy snack which has gotten me to the place where I am now. Even if I was able to muscle through the strenght training parts of the circuits, cardio is killing me, and the whole 3-2-1 system together is something I… love? I hate it, and somehow, I love it, too.

I realize that at the end of the week (or two weeks, it depends on the level of my insanity) I will have to do a “favourite moves” post, where I will also tell you about one that I cannot stand. Wait for it! I am going to stick with this thing… I am.

Jillian Michaels rocks. If it wasn’t for her pep-talk and funny comments, I would stop and not move for the rest fof the evening. But hell, I did it. And I am going to do it again.

How did you feel after your first day of “Ripped in 30”? Was it easy for you? Leave a comment and tell me all about it!

Let’s do it: Jillian Michaels “Ripped in 30”

Tomorrow I am starting the Jillian Michael’s workout program “Ripped in 30”. That is going to be more than a bit of a challenge for me. I am scared silly, believe me. Am I ready? Can I do it? Can I stick with it?

To give you a bit of information about me, here are my stats:

Height: 5 feet 6 inches

Weight: 171 lbs, or so my lovely electronic scale says.

Fitness level: Let’s not talk about it right now, ok? You will hear a lot about it in the upcoming weeks.That is, you will hear me yelling at myself for letting this cake-and-a-couch thing go too far, I can bet on it.

I am not the most terribly overweight person in the whole world, not even close. I am crazily thankful for my body shape, too – even if those pounds start adding up, my waist does not look that bad. But come on! I need to get healthier. I want to be able to run those 1.6 km in 7-something minutes and do those 70 full crunches, as my school’s program requires me to do (I have been ditching those PE lesson a bit too often…). I want to fit into those white jeans of mine. I want to feel good about my body every single day, not only on random “confidence” days (yeah, I get those, and I have no idea where that comes from).

I love Jillian Michael’s videos – her personality is awesome, her pep-talk – absolutely great. I did the “30 Day Shred” a few times. Now I want to do this. People say that it is really, truly damn hard. Well, I will soon see for myself. I am the one who wants the results fast, so I will have to pay for it. Let’s see how it goes (I will try very hard not to die)!

Anyhow, I am going to be doing the JM program 4 times a week. 2 days a week will be my hard cardio days (more about that later) and on Saturdays I will combine JM with some relatively light cardio. Fridays will be my rest days. How does that sound?

Have you tried this program? How about results? Please leave a comment and tell me about that, and if you have blogged about this, make sure to leave a link, too – I would love to read it!

One, two, three… Let’s do it!