First off, if you are a fan of “The Biggest Loser,” you’ll instantly recognize the instructor for 30 Day Shred. Jillian Michaels created the program, and even though it has been around for a few years, its solid exercises and easy-to-follow format have made it a perennial favorite of Beachbody clients. The 30 Day Shred calendar is fundamental, but I’ll break it down for you.
That should be pretty apparent by the “30 day” in the title.
What is slightly different, however, is that the program is designed for individuals to go through at their paces. Unlike other workouts that adhere to a strict schedule (I’m looking at you P90X and Insanity), the 30 Day Shred calendar can be spread out over longer than 30 days.
However, you obviously will not get the same results if you spread it out over 40 days.
There are three levels in the 30 Day Shred calendar, with level one being the simplest and progressing to level 3 as the most challenging. Again, it is designed for people to advance as needed. Ideally, you would do ten days at each level.
But if you find level one to be too easy, you can advance to level two and do more days there. Conversely, if you are struggling with level one, you can stay there until you feel comfortable to move to level two.
With a sliding scale like this, it becomes easy to customize your workout plan to your abilities. Now, it goes without saying that if you spend a majority of the 30 days at level one, you probably won’t see the same results as someone who progressed in a more balanced fashion. You can always continue to the next 30 days and work your way through.
Remember, this is about your journey, not how you compare to other people.
Three different total body workouts rely heavily on circuit training. Each workout is roughly 30 minutes long, consisting of three sequences with three routines in each sequence. They also follow a similar pattern regardless of what level you are doing.
A sequence starts with a warm-up, progresses to strength-training, and on to cardio and abs. Then you will proceed to the second and third sequences before a cool down.
These will be standard, although they will increase in difficulty and intensity as you progress from level to level (for example, you will not be doing sumo squat jumps during level one!)
Again, the idea is to get exercising, not to rush through. If you are struggling with level one, stay there until you can do it with ease; the same goes for the other levels.
The 30 Day Shred calendar is flexible and meant to encourage exercise. Go at your own pace and surprise yourself with your abilities!