Walk + Shred Workout

It was an awesome day yesterday for a walk: clear, bright and warm. We met with Stroller Strides for our walk on the Bob Jones Trail. About 3 miles in all, a parade of sorts: Strollers and carriers, babies and toddlers. FitSis and my nephew joined us for the walk and then she and the boys and I scooted over to Honeymoon Cafe for a quick and early lunch. We both had walked the boys in our Ergos and ended up pushing empty strollers along the way, so we were hungry. It was a good reminder that I need to start keeping snacks for myself in my car again. 

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Later, after getting FitBoy down for his nap, I popped in the Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred DVD, which I've been wanting to check out. My impression of her from The Biggest Loser is that she's a bit extreme, both in the exercises she assigns and her motivational style. Nonetheless, I was curious what some of my clients (and about 900 Amazon reviewers) loved about her DVD. 

The Level 1 workout was reasonable. Not easy, but not too hard. My only hang-up was that she doesn't offer an alternative to the jumping jacks, saying that 400-pound people can do them, and so should you. Only thing is, most of us have some lateral (side-to-side) knee joint instability or weakness, so a lower-impact alternative is reasonable to offer. Other than that, it's a solid full-body workout and plenty of high-quality compound movements.

The workout kicked my butt, in a good way. It was right on target with what I've been doing. I don't recommend, however, doing the workout 30 days in a row, as it is intended. I think 3-4 days/week is reasonable...and feasible. I think FitDad and I are going to do it together during the boy's nap tomorrow.

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Today we took it easy and spent some time with family. FitSis and my mom made some homemade soft pretzels today while I rested with FitBoy and caught up on some TV shows. Perfect!