Level 3 of 30 Day Shred is intense!!
Jillian gets down and dirty right away, starting out with a more intense warm up, then heading straight into plank moves for strength. In fact, a lot of the strength training in this level involve planks. And, this time around, some of the cardio involves weights. It's a challenge, but feels good. And yes, I broke a sweat early on and kept on sweating the whole way through. But it was manageable. Partly because I built up stamina in Levels 1 & 2, and partly because I was keeping a steady, focused pace - particularly during the cardio intervals.
The other day I learned that, when you are doing a cardio workout, you do not want to get to the point of panting. You should be able to hold a conversation while you're working out. Sounds crazy right? We tend to think in terms of "no pain, no gain" but truth is, if you're working beyond a certain capacity, you stop burning fat and start burning sugar - not what you need for weight loss.
Here's the basic breakdown of how it works:
AEROBIC
Aerobic exercise requires oxygen. While you're breathing steadily, your lungs fill with air, filters out the oxygen, deposits the oxygen in the blood and then sends it straight to your heart. Your heart then pumps the oxygen back out, sending it to the rest of your body - including your muscles.
Your muscles use fat and carbohydrates as fuel to function. But too much of anything is a bad thing. So when you have excess fat built up (i.e., are overweight) and need to burn it off, you can turn to aerobic exercise because, as the heart pumps oxygen into your muscles, the oxygen will actually aid in burning off fat and carbohydrates - so you're burning off fuel and losing weight.
Thing is, fat is dense and requires lots of oxygen to burn it off. But, the more you do aerobic exercises (e.g., cardio), the better your body becomes at using oxygen to burn fat...So that's why they say you should be able to hold a conversation...It's not so much that you should be blabbing during a workout, but that you should be keeping a steady pace and breathing evenly so that your muscles get as much oxygen as possible to generate fat-burning energy. And you should be able to sustain aerobic activity for more than a few minutes.
ANAEROBIC
On the flip side, anaerobic exercise requires no oxygen. It is more intense so you will start to pant and get out of breath - which is why anaerobic exercises are pretty short and/or are done in sets. With this type of exercise, your muscles do not need loads of oxygen to complete the task.
Because anaerobic exercises are so intense, your system basically cannot produce the large amounts of oxygen your body is begging for. So, instead of using oxygen, your muscles turn to sugar (i.e., glucose, fructose, sucrose) and start burning that to function. That is why you don't burn fat through anaerobic exercise (e.g., strength training) - not enough oxygen.
And, in case you were wondering, the reason anaerobic exercises don't last very long is because burning sugar causes a byproduct, lactic acid, to build up in your system. The more lactic acid in your system, the more fatigued your muscles will be, so they won't be able to perform as long.
Ok, so that was a WHOLE lot of information - lol. But here's the thing -- you need both aerobic (cardio) and anaerobic (strength) exercise to be truly fit.
Doing aerobics will:
1. burn excess fat (key to weight loss)
2. tone up body all over
3. strengthen cardiovascular system (good for overall health)
4. boost your mood
Doing anaerobics will:
1. strengthen muscles (good for revving your metabolism which is also key for weight loss)
2. strengthen bones
3. lower blood sugar levels
4. increase overall strength and stamina
All this being said, I've completely reinforced my theory on why I haven't lost as much weight as I thought I would have by now...Jillian primarily uses anaerobic exercises in 30 Day Shred - strength training. I need to add aerobic cardio to burn fat. So I'm gonna start running tomorrow.
Oh, and by the way, I've lost 5lbs so far. Not bad for 5 weeks. Haven't measured myself in a bit, but my clothes are much looser on me than before. And a few people have even noticed that I've lost weight. That's always a nice feeling...It's one thing when you can feel a difference in your own body, but another when other people start to see it too. :)
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