30-Day Squat Challenge - Week 1 Review

Disclaimer:  all opinions and actions are mine...not endorsed or approved by any medical or fitness professional.  Consult a professional if you are unsure...you should always do that before you start a new fitness regime.

So, it has been a week since I started the 30-Day Squat Challenge...need a refresher?

 

Here is also a breakdown of participants (as of last week), please help encourage them on


Bonnie (Empress of Pounds)
Dani (TDKchick Staying Skinny)
Miss Ashley (Picking Up The Pieces)
Amy (Diary of a Fat Girl)
Teri
Shelly
Brian
Jennifer
Julie
Sharri
Chris

The challenge started out the day after we returned from Niagara.  It was just what I needed.  Brian joined me and together, we held hands and squatted.  (Cheesy yes, but not very often do we exercise together)  I ran into problems at Day 2.  I am just 4 weeks out of surgery and on Day 2, the largest of my incision sites was giving me grief.  It was very red, sore, itchy and once again, oozing a bit.  Brian told me that perhaps we should take a night off from the squats to see if there was any improvement.  He reasoned (correctly) that the squats are putting a fair bit of force on my lower half.  So, I took day 3 off and then followed that up with my rest day on Day 4.  There was no difference with my navel, so I jumped back in for Day 5. 

There had been a bit of debate as to whether you could/should break the squats up into sets.  I felt that doing them in sets would defeat the purpose of challenging yourself.  Being unsure of how I would make out, I jumped right in for all 50.  It was surprisingly easy.  The next night wasn't much different.  That doesn't mean it didn't get my heart rate up or make my legs feel a bit rubbery, what I mean was that come the last squat...I wasn't forcing myself upright.  I felt it just above my knees each day afterwards.

Since Day 5, I have continued on with the plan.  I am a bit out of breath, but so far, my legs don't hurt like I expected.  It could be that I am not squatting low enough or using proper form, I don't know really.  But the fact of the matter is, I am doing them and it's something.  Beats sitting on the couch and it doesn't take long to complete.  Only a couple minutes, so it can be done during a commercial break.

I will continue to do them in one set until the day comes that I cannot get my legs underneath me and hoist this frame up.

See you in review next week....HAPPY SQUATTING!