The One Where JM Works for Me

You know Jillian Michaels?

Yeah? 

Well, I'm pretty sure she's my bff. 

Ok, not really. 

But I do feel like I know her. 

Which may be kinda creepy, but you're just going to have to deal with it. 

Between being a HUGE Biggest Loser fan (no pun intended), 

exercising with her almost every day this winter, 

reading (slash "skimming") her books, 

seeing articles about her in magazines, 

or watching interviews with her on Ellen, 

I'm certain we're friends.

Only we're not.

Ok, not that we've got that cleared up.

The one thing I am certain of is her workout dvds totally rock. 

I started out with Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism.

Holy crap, I thought I was going to die.

Which is, apparently, exactly what she wants you to feel like.

She's says as much during the workout. 

Thanks, Jill, love you too. 

This is the most intense cardio workout I had ever experienced. 

And I run 3 miles regularly. 

Yeah, intense stuff.

I then branched out and purchased the No More Trouble Zones--

because who doesn't want to get rid of their "trouble zones"?

Wait, what's that? You don't have any trouble zones?

Ok, then. We're not friends anymore. 

This workout is focused more on toning then on burning fat with high powered workouts.

I was still out of breath. sweaty. 

My pulse was racing, but in a different way than with BFBM. 

This one makes muscles burn.

Muscles you didn't know you had. 

Yeah, she finds them. 

After I felt like I had those two dvds down pat, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about over this 30 Day Shred business. 

I thought to myself, 

"Self, if you can handle two different 45 minute workouts with JM then this set of three 20 minute workouts will be a piece. of. cake."

Hah!

Not so much. 

What's that you say?

Pride comes before a fall?  Hush, you. 

But in all seriousness, the 30 Day Shred is ridiculous.

Somehow she comes up with a hundred and eleven new moves that weren't already used in NMTZ and BFBM.

I loved that these workouts accomplished the same results the previous dvds. 

These save some serious time and kick some serious booty. 

But let me tell you, after doing the 30 Day Shred I could handle

No More Trouble Zones and

Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism 

with ease. 

I think it's because the 20 minute workouts are THAT much more concentrated. 

Sweet. 

Alright, so I owned the JM complete collection.  

But then she had to go and come out with Yoga Meltdown. 

This came out days after I fell in love with yoga.

I did some research and discovered this workout is not about peace and relaxation and focus like traditional yoga.

This is, in true Jillian style, a complex workout focused on toning AND burning calories.

You know what that means, right?

That equals intense muscle-focused poses held for 15 seconds

preceeded by repetitions of the movements to keep the heartrate pumping.

There are some pretty hardcore poses in this workout.

I would recommend starting with a more traditional yoga workout to get used to the practice first. 

So whether or not we're friends, Jillian Michaels workouts totally works for me.