Are you supposed to do the 30 day shred everyday?

shannonS108

I am thinking of doing the 30 day shred.

I've been doing a lot of research on strength training these past few days, and most sources say I should have at least 48 hours of rest between strength training sessions to allow muscles to recover.

It sounds like many people do the 30 day shred everday. I know it involves chest flies, lunges, push ups, squats, and crunches. My muscles tend to get sore when I do those types of excercises. Will I still get good results if I do the 30 day shred every other day and just cardio on the alternate days?

fiberartist219

I've been doing it for the last two days.

Day one kicked my butt. It didn't seem too bad while I did it, but the next day I was hurting. It took a lot to motivate me to workout on day two. I did it anyway, and it wasn't so bad.

I think a lot of strength training material tells you to include rest days because they are also telling you to lift heavy. With 30DS I'm not really lifting heavy. I'm lifting little hand weights a whole bunch of times. Jillian calls it strength training, but it feels more like endurance training. My weights are 5lbs each and it felt like I lifted them a whole bunch of times rather than lifting a heavy weight for fewer reps.

Honestly, I am doing well with the 30DS so far because it's simple. I do it for 20 minutes and then it's over... and I do the same thing everyday. If I take too many rest days, I'll just stop doing it all together. It's nice for me to build some a habit.

Today will be day 3, and I'm not nearly as sore as I was yesterday, so I think my muscles are recovering ok.

NareenaTheGypsy

I did 30DS in Sept last year (that sounds so weird to say, last year!). Anyway, I did it with no rest days. From I wasn't working out at all.. to 30 consecutive days. Level 1 is "easy" and gets harder with each level. Of course for someone who hadn't worked out in literally years and was over 100 lbs overweight, "easy" just isn't easy!
Honestly 20 minutes a day of a workout isn't too much to do daily. If you were doing an hour of solid heart pumping cardio and weight lifting maybe a rest day every few days or once a week would be advisable. This program is meant more as a beginner sort of get yourself used to working out regularly type thing though. I don't think it's wise to take breaks in this one.
When you get to Day 3, your muscles ache and you're tight and achey usually.. but the next day it begins to fade. And then... you start Level 2. Planks are the bane of every 30DS'r I've met. They're not really so bad, but they're feared. Once you have conquered the plank positions in L2, you learn that they were nothing by the time you get to L3 .
Good luck.. and if you need a buddy for the month, I'm doing 30DS all month in Jan again. Send me a message and tell me you're a fellow 30DS'r

danifo0811

I agree about the breaks being more for heavy lifting.

I've just started level 2. I did level 1 10 times over 2.5 weeks. I saw on here Jillian said 5-6 times a week was the plan. I intended on it most days but Christmas, sick kids etc brought in some rest days.

I prefer to exercise most days because when I have breaks I slack off more.

niknokd

When I did 30DS I alternated every day with running. 30DS one day, running the next, and repeat just because I wanted to rest my muscles a little. So it ended up being about 45 days to complete it

bogden78

My last day is today, I started 12/3 and did it also with no rest days.

shannonS108

Thanks for the tips everyone! If I decide to try it, I think I will aim for everyday. If it turns out to be too much, I'll switch to every other day with cardio on the off days.

Some more questions for those that have tried it:
1. How easy is it to maintain the results long-term after you complete the 30 day shred?
2. I am assuming I will need to continue to workout, but will the workouts need to be similar to the intensity of 30 day shred to maintain?

bogden78

Can't answer your maintenance question yet, as I just finished today. I did pick up RI30 and plan to start that one next.

zoukeira

I did 30DS at the end of last year and did it 6 days a week, I found the rest day really helpful.