# Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred



## user79 (Jun 8, 2010)

I just started with this but am not sure of the weights - how heavy are the weights supposed to be? What would you recommend for a beginner? I downloaded this from the Internet so there's no instructions with it...


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## purrtykitty (Jun 8, 2010)

It'll depend on how strong your arms are.  I've been using 5lb weights, and I still have to rest my arms on the squat-and-press sequence (my least favorite move) in workout one.  I did start with little 2lb ones, but those were too light for me.

I suppose the weights should be heavy enough to tire your muscles, but not so heavy that you can't complete most of the moves.


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## sheaspearl83 (Jun 8, 2010)

3 or 5 lbs; 3 is probably a good beginner


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## dmcgeo (Jun 8, 2010)

I'd recommend 3-5lbs. I'm kinda addicted to workout videos and Jillian is one of my favorite instructors. For some reason I never got hooked on Shred but it is still a great video! Good luck and enjoy!


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## elegant-one (Jun 8, 2010)

I'm not doing the shred. But, I started out on the 2 lb and now I've moved up to the 3 lb. and I have the 4 lb on stand by. I use the wraps as they seem easier for me. - ankle wrap weights too!


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## nunu (Jun 8, 2010)

I got this DVD a few weeks ago, it didn't come with instructions about the hand weights and i ended up buying the 0.5kg ones. 

*Karin,* that's my least favorite move as well!


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## Nicala (Jun 8, 2010)

I'd say 3 or 5 lbs. 5 can be *slightly* heavy, not really though. 1 lb is definitely too light. So maybe start at 3 and move up to 5?


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## user79 (Jun 9, 2010)

Thanks everyone!


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## Lissa (Jun 9, 2010)

I just ordered this yesterday. Can't wait to try it.


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## User38 (Jun 9, 2010)

I was on a total physical rebuilding with a personal trainer and I was started off with 2 lb. weights for 3 weeks, 20 reps each arm -- I am now on 3 lbs. same process.  You start low and build up -- when you get to 5 you should look like PopEye!


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## winwin (Jun 10, 2010)

I am doing the 30 day shred for the 3rd time. 

I started off using 3lb weights. It felt like I got hit with a truck! Mind you I started the 30 day shred after not exercising one bit for more than 8 years! After the initial shock and pain I got really into the routine and did it again. 

The second time shredding I used 5lb weights. This increase in weight might seem minimal but it was pretty tough to get through. You can actually feel the little bit of extra weight.

Right now I'm on my 3rd and probably final time of doing the 30 day shred. I have moved to 8lb weights. I can definitely still feel the burn. I'm pretty proud of myself. Though I don't see any loss in weight. I have lost roughly 3-4 inches all around and have toned up some.

The next beast I'm determined to tackle is the P90x.


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## rosegasm (Jun 14, 2010)

i did the 30 day along with miss winwin right there 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 and i was at 5 lbs the entire time. i didnt see any dramatic results (1. i was pretty active as is, 2. i didnt eat very well).

i started the p90x and i saw crazy results in the first week. but i only got thorugh maybe 2-3 weeks of it before i got annoyed from being sore all the time.

currently restarting that journey and hoping to finish. =)

day 5 and counting!


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## coachkitten (Jun 15, 2010)

I am currently through day 5 of the 30 day shred.  I am determined to stick with it for 30 days instead of just the here and there that I was doing before.

I really want to try p90x but I am afraid that I am not in shape enough to do it.


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## rosegasm (Jun 15, 2010)

rooting for everyone!!!


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## rosegasm (Jun 15, 2010)

@coach, i went on the master cleanse and i lost a LOT of muscle. it left me incredibly weak, and i nearly fell over from being nudged. i decided to restart my fitness by doing the shred and i moved little by little from there. i used the shred as a transition to get to the p90x. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 hope it's some slight motivation. keep going!!! you can do it!


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## COBI (Jun 15, 2010)

I prefer heavy weight with fewer reps, so I use 10-20 pounds depending on the move.  I certainly don't do as many reps as the video, but for me, it keeps me more focused and I see and feel results more quickly by lifting for strength versus endurance.  

Periodically, I make myself switch to pure endurance (low weights, high reps) for no other reason than to change my routine and keep my body "guessing" versus plateauing.


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## Shimmer (Jun 15, 2010)

3 to 5 lbs? o.0
Whoa. 
That's incredibly light. 
I'd honestly recommend a program with moderate to heavy weights (it's physically IMPOSSIBLE to look like she-hulk without supplementation) and interval training along with a paleo diet.


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## COBI (Jun 16, 2010)

Other things to consider with resistance-based workouts:
- Enhance the intensity (and difficulty) by FOCUSING on the muscles being worked in both directions. Slow down so that you are CONTROLLING the movement with the muscle versus cheating the movement with momentum.
- Keep in mind the concepts of fatigue and failure. By the end of the reps, you should be seriously at the point of thinking/knowing "I could not do one more (with good form) if I had, too", i.e. fatigue. Failure is the point where you literally can not do one more. Many consider the point where it gets difficult to be "fatigue", but that's often the point where the next few are going to really engage that muscle. Don't stop because it gets harder, that's just cheating yourself; stop before failure, you don't want to be dropping weights or injuring yourself because of bad form. Learn to recognize the difference.
- If at the end of the "prescribed" reps you could keep going, then you would likely benefit from increasing your weight.

Here's what I tell people that I train:
"I can only coach you; I can NOT do the work for you. You need to be honest about what you want from the workout. If you want to phone it in and not push out of your comfort zone, then you are going to be in the same position six weeks, six months, a year from now. It's your workout, make it matter."

I had two participants in a group resistance class who came to me and said "it's not as difficult as it used to be...." to which I responded "I have been suggesting to you for weeks to increase your weights and challenge yourself. Will you trust me and increase your weight by 2 stacks (based on the Kinesis system we use)?"

They did and after the 25 minute tabata-based class (five four-minute rounds of 20/10 circuits), they were spent! Literally on the floor panting and recovering. These are fairly fit people who were simply not challenging themselves.

Unless we make an active choice to challenge our own levels, it is very easy to slip into a mode of thinking we're working hard when we are not. 

If you are finishing your workout and then skipping around right off, then you left some potential progress on the table during your workout.

With the new Turbo Fire workout (from Turbo Jam's Chalene Johnson) which is based on High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), she mentioned in a video somewhere (can't put my hands on it): "You should not do the HIIT workouts (from TF) every day. If you can do it every day, then you are not doing it right." (paraphrased)

Quality workouts beat quantity every time. Unless you are training for something specific (or a specific managed weight loss program), it is rare to need to workout for 60+ minutes every day. 

I see people spend 90-120 minutes+ a day at the gym 5-7 days a week, and if they asked, they could improve their results in less than half the time, but somewhere along the line people have learned the misperception that more equals better and harder.

As another example, I had a "regular" from the free weight room that joined me during a personal workout: tabata-based kettlebell workout with me. This includes five 4-minute rounds of work. Each round is comprised of eight 20 second cycles of intense activities with 10 seconds of rest between. That's right: you can do anything for 20 seconds, right? Anyway, this heavy weight lifter who was only using a kettlebell that was 5 pounds heavier than mine barely made it through 3 rounds (that's 12 minutes plus a minute of rest between rounds.) 

It's not about what we are doing; whether we're challenging ourselves is more important and there's only one person that knows the true answer to that: you.

Sorry for going on and on, these are just some of my thoughts from years of instructing and training.


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## Simply Elegant (Jun 16, 2010)

20 pounds for me.


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## CajunFille' (Jun 17, 2010)

I'm one of those girls who hasn't worked out in forever (5 yrs.) I thought that chasing around my 2 small children would keep me in shape. Wrong! I have lost a lot of muscle tone in my legs and stomach that I used to have. I believe the fact that I had two c-sections plays a part in the belly thing some what, but I think if I exercised it would be much better. When I was in my early 20's I had nice abs and I want that back! Do you ladies think that this video would work for me? I'm really not interested in losing a lot of weight. I'm 116 lbs and 5'6 so, that's pretty good, I think. It's just I have "the bad areas". If you don't think this is the video for me, do you recommend a different one? I'm kinda clueless about this stuff.


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## Shimmer (Jun 17, 2010)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *CajunFille'* 

 
_I'm one of those girls who hasn't worked out in forever (5 yrs.) I thought that chasing around my 2 small children would keep me in shape. Wrong! I have lost a lot of muscle tone in my legs and stomach that I used to have. I believe the fact that I had two c-sections plays a part in the belly thing some what, but I think if I exercised it would be much better. When I was in my early 20's I had nice abs and I want that back! Do you ladies think that this video would work for me? I'm really not interested in losing a lot of weight. I'm 116 lbs and 5'6 so, that's pretty good, I think. It's just I have "the bad areas". If you don't think this is the video for me, do you recommend a different one? I'm kinda clueless about this stuff. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			



_

 
squats
lunges
deadlifts
walking lunges holding a weight plate overhead (10 lbs to start)
they'll work your legs and your trunk. A correct squat works the midsection at a fairly unforgiving level.

Overhead squats
front squats
thrusters
kettlebell swings
push press
press
this will work your "core".  If you're lean, it'll strengthen it all quite nicely.


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## CajunFille' (Jun 18, 2010)

Shimmer- How many reps of each move should I start with?


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## Shimmer (Jun 18, 2010)

Y'know, not knowing your physical status, I wouldn't be comfortable making that recommendation.
I suggest though, checking out crossfit.com for video instructions on doing each move safely, and if you're able to do that, maybe 15 to 20 of three of each.  That's just a suggestion though, as crossfit programming is more intense than that. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




edit: I have to throw the caveat that I'm a crossfit affiliate and that our programming is done with these moves in mind. The intensity and methodology isn't for everyone, and every  mindset is different.  But...empirically, CrossFit works.


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## CajunFille' (Jun 19, 2010)

Thank you. I'm going to check it out now.


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## JULIA (Jun 24, 2010)

I thought the 30 day-shred was absolutely terrible.

She has you working the same muscle group day after day = a big no-no. Plus, a lot of her cardio movements are super high-impact. I didn't even break a sweat from doing this.


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## COBI (Jun 24, 2010)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *JULIA* 

 
_I thought the 30 day-shred was absolutely terrible.

She has you working the same muscle group day after day = a big no-no. Plus, a lot of her cardio movements are super high-impact. I didn't even break a sweat from doing this._

 
Depends on what you are doing.  If you aren't actually stressing the muscles to the point of needing to recover, then you can easily do them daily without issue.

Exercising major muscle groups every day, in and of itself, is not necessarily a no-no.  If it was then we'd have to spend every other day in bed.  Even in talking about "really" working out the major muscles to the point of ideally requiring recovery time, it's not necessarily a no-no.  Think of hard laborers: they often stress their muscles every day during a work week.

In general terms, recovery is ideal, but people work muscles without recovery on a fairly regular basis in many different situation.

Exercise is a funny thing because for every "right/wrong" way to things there is a situation where the exact opposite is true.  For example, there are *proper* weightlifting techniques that the general gym-goer would point out as "wrong" according to what they were told; but serious weightlifting is very different than the basic that the typical gym-goer would do and what the average gym-goer will have picked up somewhere as "right" and "wrong" is very different for a lifter.

Another right/wrong example  I encounter often is the idea of what is "correct" for a squat.  In my kettlebell trainings, there are many positions where we drop into a very low (less than 90 degree angle in the knees) where I have to re-educate participants because they've "learned" that this technique is "wrong".  It's not wrong, but I would accept that it's advanced and so it's easier to say it's "wrong" so people won't try it without good form or proper strength developed to maintain good form.  Also, in kettlebells, there is a lot of whole body movement where the legs are used to assist a lift, for example; and often participants have been trained to "isolate" which is not "wrong" but it is a different technique that is used for different kinds of training.  But they have been trained that assisting with other major muscles is "wrong" so again re-education must ensue.

The biggest key is listening to your own body and learning to distinguish what it is saying to you.


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## Nicala (Jun 25, 2010)

Really? I sweat buckets!


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## Shimmer (Jun 25, 2010)

Ugh. Teaching people the proper way to squat. *bangs head*


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## CajunFille' (Jun 25, 2010)

Shimmer, looks like lots of people need to learn how to do a proper squat. I was searching on YT for some direction and even some of the instructors on there were getting blasted from other instructors on their technique. Hmmm, wish I lived closer to you.


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## Shimmer (Jun 25, 2010)

You'll find that people are either terrified of breaking parallel or they're all about ass to grass. 
I'm an ass to grass person, as I believe in full range of motion.


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## InspiredBlue (Jun 25, 2010)

Why do I suddenly feel like I'm on JP and not Specktra. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 As always in this type of discussions, I am going to throw in the suggestion that anyone curious about weight training reads _The New Rules of Lifting for Women_. It does a good job of explaining some of those things that one might have learned as "right" that may not be so right after all.


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## BeautyPsycho (Jun 26, 2010)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *Shimmer* 

 
_3 to 5 lbs? o.0
Whoa. 
That's incredibly light. _

 
It is light, but you don't drop them for almost 20 min. so it really becomes hard, especially for beginers.


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## Shimmer (Jun 26, 2010)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *BeautyPsycho* 

 
_It is light, but you don't drop them for almost 20 min. so it really becomes hard, especially for beginers._

 
That's...retarded.


Let me edit  this to clarify:
I find this type of workout 100% functionally useless.  While the dietary discipline is impressive, the 'workout' itself doesn't build any type of strength whatsoever and certainly does little to improve or protect bone mass or stave off decrepitude.

Find something heavy.
Pick it up in the most natural, least painful way possible.
Put it down.
Repeat.

It's that damn simple.


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## hickle (Jun 26, 2010)

Ladies, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but 2-3 lb weights aren't going to do anything for you!  You need to have enough weight so that it is challenging for you.  You should barely be able to do your last rep, but not so much weight that you lose your form.  It depends on what exercise you're doing, but, I honestly can't think of anything where you would need less than 5 lbs.  

I don't know what the routine is but try challenging yourselves!  That's the only way you're going to get fitter.


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## Shimmer (Jun 26, 2010)

I'm ok with a slight loss of form as long as 85 to 90% of  the workout is done with proper form and high intensity.


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## COBI (Jun 26, 2010)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *Shimmer* 

 
_I'm ok with a slight loss of form as long as 85 to 90% of the workout is done with proper form and high intensity._

 
Exactly.  I try not to overcorrect people or they may become demotivated.  As long as their form is not unsafe, I usually try to improve one part of their form at a time.  There are some aspects of form that will naturally improve as strength increases without any need for me to coach them into it.


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## Lebellabeauty (Jul 6, 2010)

I've been using 5 lb weights but I can't do all the reps at once with them. They definitely work my arms but sometimes can be too much so 3 lbs would probably be better.


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## naturallyfab (Jul 13, 2010)

lol my friends and I all do this work out!  I use 5 pound weights for most of it, but I'm feeling like I may need to up the resistance a little.


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## Chupla (Oct 14, 2010)

Jullian kicks my butt with this video =*(


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## LMD84 (Nov 13, 2010)

so i'm bumping this thread. i have this dvd however i'm struggling with the weights too - as in nothing seems heavy enough for me! the problem is that because of my work i am used to lifing anything up to 50lbs with ease pretty much every day.  So what weights should i be looking at getting?  because 3 and 5lb weights really don't feel heavy at all to me


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## coachkitten (Nov 14, 2010)

LMD84 said:


> so i'm bumping this thread. i have this dvd however i'm struggling with the weights too - as in nothing seems heavy enough for me! the problem is that because of my work i am used to lifing anything up to 50lbs with ease pretty much every day.  So what weights should i be looking at getting?  because 3 and 5lb weights really don't feel heavy at all to me



 	 My suggestion would be to use 15 lbs weights.  I think that you will feel a big difference with those.


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## LMD84 (Nov 16, 2010)

LMD84 said:


> My suggestion would be to use 15 lbs weights.  I think that you will feel a big difference with those.


	i shall try that then. i learnt many years ago that i will never have small arms! my arms are more muscley than my hubbys for goodness sakes!


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