My new workout buddy

To get things going back in the exercise groove, I bought a few Jillian Michaels workouts on DVD to do on my easy run days.  I have a few strength routines I have done over the past year, but they are kind of monotonous now, and I need someone yelling at me to keep going and give it my all.  Otherwise, I get bored and cut things short.

I started out pretty well with the Yoga Meltdown DVD.  That was fantastic.  I have been doing yoga for the past 2 years, but I liked the twist she put on things, and I felt like a champion when I finished the workout.  I was sweaty and tired, and then next day just a tiny bit sore.  Not sore where it hurt to move, but sore in the good way where you know you pushed yourself hard.

I decided to try 6 Week Six-Pack DVD on Wednesday.  It was a crazy workout, and my heart rate was through the roof for the entire time.  It was great.  Even for such an un-coordinated person it was pretty easy to follow, and I loved Jillian telling me to keep going.

However, I had forgotten about my unique ability to use the wrong muscles to accomplish basic movements.  I have been diagnosed by two physical therapists, my doctor and a trainer as the most unusual person they have ever seen.  I get things done, but my brain tells all the wrong muscles to move, and I make things harder than they should be, or work entirely different muscles than I should.  I even use the wrong muscles to breathe.  No wonder I sucked at every sport as a kid.  It's a wonder I can even walk.

Well, the whole time I was doing the Abs DVD, Jillian would say something about how "Your abs should be burning right now!"  And I would yell, "NO.  I don't feel anything in my abs at all!  What kind of workout is this?"  Still, lots of plank positions and such, so I knew something had to be happening in my abs, and at least my arms should be sore the next day.  But no.

When I woke up yesterday, I realized what kind of workout it was.  I had somehow torn up every muscle in my butt and inner thighs.  I can barely walk.  I have no idea how I did this.  How did an ab workout entirely leave my abs alone, and make my butt and legs so sore that I am walking like a 95-year-old lady?  The answer is simple.  I am Jill.

There is no way I can run tomorrow with how sore my butt and legs are from my "abs" workout, so I am going to try out Jillian's Killer Buns and Thighs DVD tomorrow to see if I might be able to get an abs workout after all.  The way my body works, it might just work.