Heart Rate Monitor Training

Benefits of Heart Rate Monitor Training

A lot of people think that heart rate training is too hard and only used by elite athletes but I am here to show you that is not the case. It’s actually really easy and a wonderful tool for weight loss and building general fitness.  It’s important to measure the intensity of your workout.  I am still learning all about my newest Polar heart rate monitor but here are some reasons why you should pay attention to heart rate monitor training.

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30 Day Shred: Day 1 Level 1

Overall first impression of the 30 Day Shred workout video was good.  I liked today’s workout and by the time it was over I was a sweaty mess!  Of course that’s a good thing.  I look forward to seeing what the next 29 days bring!

30 Day Shred
Day 1-Level 1

July 1st, 2009

28 minutes
247 calories burned
Max Heart Rate: 87%/162
Average Heart Rate: 73%/136

This was my first day doing the 30 Day Shred.  Of course I started with level 1 and as of right now, I plan on doing level 1 for 10 days. I was really nervous about doing any type of lunges throughout this workout because my knees are so bad but I was able to modify some of the moves by following Anita in the video and just did my best.  During the workout, my shins hurt like crazy doing the butt kicks so that was the only thing that annoyed me.  So far I have no knee pain or any other pain so that’s a plus.  The three 6 minute circuits were great but were challenging because I was up then down on the mat, rinse and repeat plenty of times.

I used 4lb hand weights but I might switch to lighter ones every other day but we’ll see.  I used a mat even though I’m doing the workout on carpet and you don’t want to forget to have a water bottle and towel too.  I’m using a heart rate monitor so I can keep track of how many calories I burn and so I can keep a log of my max and average heart rate as well.

I love one of Jillian’s quotes in the video, “If you want results they’re not coming for free”

There are quite a bit of jumping jacks in this first level and Jillian cuts you no slack because as she says she has 400 lb people that can do them so there is no modifying, no excuses.  I love jumping jacks! Just make sure to breathe and you’ll do fine.

I weighed in and took my measurements today so here are the stats for that.  Yep, I’m putting it all out there. Yikes!  I’m not happy that I have gained back weight and inches over the past few years but I’m bound and determined to meet my goals so no looking back.

Weight= 224

Chest= 45 inches
Waist= 45.5 inches
Hips= 48.5 inches
Thighs= Left- 27.5 Right- 27.5
Biceps= Left- 14 Right- 14

(hopefully I measured correctly!)

I will re-measure again at the end of the 30 days but you can keep up with any weight loss at my Weekly Weigh In’s.  And here you can read my overview of Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred.

Make it a great day,