As I write this I am gasping for air. I decided to start on
the Jillian Michaels 30 Shred and I am kicking myself in my fat ass. I
typically hit the gym about 3-4 times a week focusing on cardio and strength
training. Due to my hectic work schedule I decided to try something at home.
Everyone in the exercise world had spoken quite highly of this workout series
and I being the ever curious adventurer decided to try it for myself. I have
tried P90x and Insanity so I halfway thought I knew what to expect. Wrong wrong
wrong wrong.
After moving back home and being subjected to my mother’s delicious home cooked food I noticed a definite increase in my weight. I am comfortable with myself at any size, but knew things could get quickly out of hand when there is baked chicken and from scratch cakes involved. After an exhausting day I knew I needed to get my muscles moving after having neglected my gym visits so I decided to try the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred Level 1. I watched a few minutes beforehand to get an idea and thought it seemed rather lax. How was this supposed to get me shredded and ripped in 30 days. It reminded me of the warm ups I had done in karate several years prior which I never thought of as the intense part of the workout. I guess when you have someone swinging their foot at your face jumping jacks and hip rotations seem tame, but meanwhile back at the ranch I was not initially impressed.
Once I finally put down the pita chips and hummus I was
eating and actually started the workout my world view changed. I now know why
the caged bird sings and it is because of this DVD. I can do two hours in the
gym easily and feel great; I’m guessing because it is a self guided workout.
This is designed to get as many muscles moving as possible while pushing you to
your limit. It combines cardio with
weights, and strength training to get you as lean and strong as quickly as
possible.
First of all I haven’t done a jumping jack in years. Once my
bras had more D’s on them than Chief Keef’s report card I gave up on the idea
of flying through the air. Then there are the push ups. G.I. Jane I am not. My
hour long elliptical sessions have nothing on what I experienced with this.
Rather than counting off reps Jillian leads you through 30 second circuits of
each exercise. You quickly realize 30 seconds is actually equivalent to an
eternity. A child has been born, the stock market has dropped, Keri Hilson has
washed another car in the time span it has taken you to suffer through squats.
Jillan encourages you not to stop for more than five seconds during each cycle
which proved to be impossible. Me and my three pound weights eventually laid on
the floor. Her voice is so commanding that I could practically feel her looming
over me as I gasped for air. By the end muscles I didn’t know existed felt like
jello, but I knew that I had actually received a rewarding workout.
I would definitely recommend this to any ambitious girls
seeking an intense workout. I know that I won’t be doing this everyday just
yet, but I do feel a difference in my endurance as I progress each day. It’s a
great workout of you can’t make it to the gym or are looking for something more
intense than just a run of the mill cycling class. The videos are available
free on YouTube in addition to her yoga and fat burning workout.
I do the 30 day shred too! But I don't necessarily intend to do it in 30 days. I'm only on level one and I stick with it three times a week. My goal is to build enough courage to move to level two by by next year. I kind of like these kind of work outs because they push me to get it over with in 20 minutes. My motto is if I worked out and only sweated a little, then I didn't work hard enough. The 30 day shred is definitely hard but by day four or five, you actually build strength and stamina to get through.
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