Monday 4 May 2015

May: Ripped In 30


Fun Rating: ★★★☆☆    Difficulty Rating: ★★★☆☆     Results Rating: ★★★☆☆


   I'm sticking with my run-through of Jillian Michaels DVDs this month, and I'm using her Ripped In 30 DVD. It's similar to the 30 Day Shred, meaning it's a daily workout to last a full month, made up with her 3-2-1 method of 3 minutes of strength followed by 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs, so it really targets everything. There are 4 levels rather than 3, the idea being that you change levels every week rather than every 10 days, and knowing what I do now about the body's ability to adapt to the stresses put on it, I'm really excited about this workout.
   The body adapts to a workout in 4-6 weeks depending on how frequently you do it. This is why I've been using two workouts/DVDs every month since October, because it means it takes twice as long for my body to adjust to a workout, and also staves off boredom quite well, and by the end of the month my body has just started to adapt to them both - assuming I used only two workouts through the month. If a DVD consists of different workouts or levels this can stave off boredom and adaption for much longer still.
   So, by changing levels every week, your body has no chance to adapt at all. Every day will remain a challenge for a full month and that massively boosts results, and it also gives you a good opportunity to learn new moves and how to target different areas of your body should you start going to the gym and be without instruction.

   The workouts are only 20 minutes long so I'll be doing additional cardio beforehand. It takes an average of 20 minutes of activity before you start burning fat, before that point you're fuelled by the carbs you ate beforehand - breakfast, for example - so turning to cardio from some of my old dance DVDs will help. They'll give me a decent warm-up, at any rate, and even if the routines aren't always intense enough to push me over the carb-fat boundary, I'll still get more out of Ripped In 30 because of it, and that's important.


   I've got some lovely new shoes from USA Pro this month. I loved the Aurora Borealis design they had on a pair of leggings, but I find that full-length legs tend to pull down while I'm exercising and I need to pull them back up, so I usually go for capris. Unfortunately, the Aurora Borealis design wasn't available on capris, but when I found a pair of trainers with the gorgeous Northern Lights on them, I snatched them up immediately!
   I'm also using Real Nutrition Co's new Lean Protein shake. I'm late to the game here because it's been out for a while, but I used to use RNC's Muscle Shakes Lite and I loved it. They discontinued it a while ago to replace it with a new product, which is Lean Protein - their Muscle Shakes Lite combined with their diet shake, so it's got the meal replacement properties of the diet shake such as vitamins and minerals, but also has the high protein, active carbs and thicker texture of the Muscle shakes. I've been using PHD Woman for the past few months and they've quickly become one of my top trusted brands, especially since they're formulated for women rather than unisex, but Real Nutrition Co has undeniably better quality products and a far larger range, so I'm excited to use their Lean Protein shake, at last!

   So this month is a simple set-up. Ripped In 30 came out about 2 years after the 30 Day Shred so I'm expecting it to be harder, and given that you change levels after 7-8 days, I'm looking forward to sweating and struggling!
   As always, I'll update in 2 weeks!



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