too ambitious? Advice, pls

Funshinerika

Right now I do a lot of walking, some dance central 2 , and zumba twice a week. Yesterday I started 30 day shred and plan on doing that on alternate days. I was reading about the couch to 5k and am really interested in it but am afraid that I'm going to put too much on myself at once. I was thinking that I could just do the couch to 5k program on the 30-day-shred off-days. OR should I just wait until I'm done with the 30 day shred and then start the couch to 5k? I know rest time is important for your muscles/body... thoughts anyone?

microwoman999

I say if you can fit it in go for it but remember to take rest when you need it. If it seems like too much than do one or the other. Good Luck in whatever you do!

P.S. I never really took breaks any specific day and when I was going hard core for 6 months I worked out every day!

BobbyClerici

Right now I do a lot of walking, some dance central 2 , and zumba twice a week. Yesterday I started 30 day shred and plan on doing that on alternate days. I was reading about the couch to 5k and am really interested in it but am afraid that I'm going to put too much on myself at once. I was thinking that I could just do the couch to 5k program on the 30-day-shred off-days. OR should I just wait until I'm done with the 30 day shred and then start the couch to 5k? I know rest time is important for your muscles/body... thoughts anyone?

I am the same way.
Anything worth doing is worth OVER-doing - lol

If it were me, I'd take each program in bites pre-supposing these programs could be stacked in a progressive chronology.
Do the easy one first, then move up to the next level of intensity. And so on.

CaptainGordo

Alternating days? Sure. Just be careful not to do C25K on consecutive days.

There is a C25K group here, with tips and support: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/30-couch-to-5k-running-program-c25k

jbrautigam24

Have you always exercised regularly? Or is this a relatively new thing for you? I would focus on one program or the other. I know it's exciting starting a new exercise plan, and you have big dreams of leading an active and healthy lifestyle for the rest of your life-but more often than not, this leads to failure. Most legitimate exercise plans call for "celebrating the little victories". They do this because it's important to focus on short-term goals, while never losing sight of the long-term goal. You also don't want to overwhelm yourself mentally or cause bodily injury as a result of overexertion. I'm not a physician or anything, I'm speaking purely from personal experience and I find that I am able to stick with a program when I dedicate 100% of myself to it and limit distractions.

fiberartist219

I would wait until after the 30 days to get the C25k program if it were me.

I started doing Turbo Jam, and I love it. I am thinking about getting ChaLEAN extreme to do too, and just doing TJ on my off days, but honestly, I've only been regularly exercising for about two weeks now and I don't want to over-complicate this and I especially don't want to exhaust myself, because I know from past experience that exhaustion makes me give up for long periods of time.

firefly171717

I would be careful not to push to hard, its great to work out but it really stinks when you work out to much. A few weeks ago that happened to me and I couldn't get myself to really try in my workouts :-(. But if you can handle it and u believe that you can do it then do it!!!! That is really awesome.

engineman312

The best work out plan it's the one you can stick too.

Doing 30DS and C25k on alternating days sounds like a great plan to me. Just remember that running is over of those things that might not get you sore until the next day, so maybe for the first week or so of running, don't do any zumba or dance central.

And rest is very important. One day a week, don't do anything more strenuous then yoga. I also take that day as a calorie spike day, and usually eat like, +1000 calories.

Funshinerika

Thanks for the support! About a year or so ago I was exercising regularly at the gym with cardio and weight training but then the price went up. So, I stopped going and have been doing zumba since. When I joined MFP I began adding more walking and the dance central.
Soooo.... I'm going to give it a try on alternate days and see how this week goes. Since I teach, I have the luxury of two weeks off of work - the perfect time to try this out. So, I agree, no zumba or dance central this week. I will listen to my body and if it's not something I can stick to then I will just focus on one at a time. Thanks a bunch!