Doing the 30 Day Shred, looking for replacements for jumping

kelsiehoagland

For anyone unfamiliar, Jillian likes to do a lot of jumping jacks, jump rope, butt kicks, high knees, etc. I was doing okay at the beginning, but I have a hard time with the jumping because of some past foot surgeries, joint problems, and a spinal fusion (you use your back SO much more for jumping than you think haha), all of which are because I have muscular dystrophy.

So, during the last couple of days, I have been substituting with just punches (squatting down, punching hard across the front of my chest). Today I used 2 lbs weights while I punched. Is there anything more effective that won't hurt my knees, back, feet, and ankles so much? Are these punches going to be effective?

Thanks

AprilRN10

You can do modified jumping jacks or just jog in place. The whole point is to keep your HR up.

Carfoodel

I have knee problems and when the jacks are hurting, I do exactly what has been suggested, I jog in place and swing my arms. and yes squatting down doing weights with punches is about the same on the HRM, so its all good.

The knee twist one is the one that hurts quite a bit when my knee and foot are tender. The other substitute I do instead of the double jump ropes is I a kind of single foot jump rope and kick my foot forward when I change feet - that stops the impact but keeps the heart rate up.

The main thing about the shred is the consistency of doing it every day.

alyssa92982

yes, squatting down and acting like your running a race with feet planted is great cardio, i did this with 5 lb dumbbells and my heart rate was high and sweat pouring. punches with weights also