Shredheads

Preparing yourself for the workouts ahead

These last few days have been tough - with family visiting, treats galore, and the old lady business making an appearance - I feel as though I'm just treading water and not necessarily making any progress.

But even though my "Aunt" is here to stay for a bit, my in-laws are gone (and so are the treats), and I'm ready to tackle my fitness goals for the new year.

I've also realized that I need to make sure that I've got my ducks in a row so that I'm not dealing with numerous obstacles. Here's a few things that might help ensure that you get your workouts done even before you get started.

Schedule your workouts

Even if you're just doing the 30 Day Shred (and by "only" I mean that it's just 20 minutes - making it a bit easier to fit into a schedule), write or type out your plan for the week. I've been making the mistake of flying by the seat of my pants. It hasn't helped that my kids are off school and my sitter is away. But I find that when I plan out my week of workouts, I have a much easier time getting them done.

Get ready the night before

It can be a big pain in the butt to do things the night before, but I've learned that before I get in bed, I lay out my work out clothes and make sure that I have my playlist ready. That's been a huge problem for me because I now dread going to run on the treadmill because I don't have a playlist set up. You'll save yourself a ton of time if you have everything ready in advance.

Plan your meals

This has also been a huge issue since the holidays have been here. I've been making multiple small trips to the store and not planning my meals. Tonight I'm sitting down and planning my meals for the rest of the week. Even if it's just dinner and then ensuring you've got healthy choices for breakfast and lunch, you're still giving yourself a better chance of making good dietary choices.

How are you planning for your own workout success?

The 30 Day Shred 2010 - Adaptations

We've written about adaptations before, but it's always good to remind people that they're okay as long as you're still challenging yourself!  There are two basic ways to adapt the 30 Day Shred; you can make it easier/lower impact, or make it harder/more interesting.

Making Shred Easier/Lower Impact

You can obviously lower the weights or follow Anita to make the 30 Day Shred easier, but if you find that it's still too much, try looking at how I modify Shred to make it easier on my knees...

Making the 30 Day Shred Easier on the Knees - Level One 

Making the 30 Day Shred Easier on the Knees - Level Two

Making the 30 Day Shred Easier on the Knees - Level Three

You should also listen to your body.  We want No Injuries, Please.

Making Shred Harder/Keeping it Fresh

Adding weight is the most obvious way to make Shred harder.  Kristen talks about her experience adding weight in 30 Day Shred - Adding Weight.

If you have been doing Shred for a while and are either bored with the moves or if it's too easy, check out Keeping the 30 Day Shred Fresh.

You can also do more than one level, which isn't as time consuming as it sounds.  You can skip the cooldown of the first level and the warmup of the second, so it really just adds about 18 minutes to the workout.  But what an 18 minutes it is!

Give us your ideas or questions about adapting the 30 Day Shred.  We'd love to hear them!

-Bill