Ripped in 30 - Week 1 Thoughts

(Note: feel free to skip reading these posts, I do it more for myself as a workout journal and as a way to sustain my motivation)

Coming off of a pretty intense week finishing up 30 Day Shred and doing Week 1 of Ripped in 30 has been rather strange. It's clear that Jillian's goal of Week 1 is to

1. Increase cardio endurance,
2. Begin to tone key muscle groups (core, legs, arms), and
3. introduce plyometric (jump) training
In that order.

But I ...

1. Have pretty good endurance at this point, at least for week 1
2. Have already toned these key muscle groups, so this is really just maintenance , and
3. am (suprisingly!) good at plyometrics, at least the basic moves.

So, each time I finish the first circuit (of three) and I feel bored and not very sweaty, and I think, "Maybe I should move on to Week 2 earlier??" But then, by the middle of Circuit 3, when I dripping sweat, I realize that taking a week to focus on cardio, and try and build up some endurance so that I can get through the month reasonably pain free. So, I only have 3 more workouts to go (two of which will be the same day), and am trying to get into a mindset of "this is easy because I'm now in good shape, I should enjoy my 'break!'" Plus, it didn't hurt that when Curtis did the workout with me on Saturday, he was laying on the carpet exhausted at the end, and I felt pretty good, that must say something, right?!

Pain: The good thing is, Week 1 isn't hard on my knees, so they're recovering from 30 Day Shred (My knees got really achy from that video, probably because of poor lunge form, which is improving...). The bad thing was that my lower hamstrings hurt so bad the first three days that I could barely walk down stairs...which was probably a lurking reason why I didn't do the video yesterday. But, it should be fine tomorrow and I can continue on :-).

You may remember that I hurt my foot 1 month before the wedding almost two years ago. That pain never went away completely, and varies depending on the shoes I'm wearing and the activity. Thankfully, these videos don't seem to be making it worse, which is a blessing and has really helped keep me on track. I know it sounds like I should see a doctor about it, but it's so mild and I'm so used to it now, that I'm not convinced there is much a doctor can do.

Eating: 5 days out of 7, on average, I eat quite well. Hopefully, rest, grocery shopping, and the end of the NCAA basketball tournament will help prevent further junk food dinners, and we certainly went out with a bang tonight with Pizza, bread sticks and cinnamon sticks =).