FYF Review: To Shred or Not to Shred

Not excited about going to the gym?

Don’t worry. I’ve got ya covered. You can hang out in your living room instead.

I own a slew of workout DVDs that are go-tos for non-gym-mood days and for days where access to the gym is impossible. I use our local university’s gym and they constantly have activities there which draw crowds that make workouts unbearable. I once jogged around the track to warm up and was hit on by a college athlete from Georgia. Confused, I assured him that I was almost 30 and that he wasn’t possibly interested and promptly beelined towards my car to go home and spend some quality time with Jillian.

If you’ve heard the rumors about Jillian Michaels … they’re all true. She is lean and mean. I’ve also worked out with Bob Harper, and I maintain that Bob‘s workouts range from much harder to damn near impossible.

However, if you’re new to working out at home, my recommendation for your first (and potentially only) workout DVD is Jillian Michaels’s 30 Day Shred.

Why? Several reasons.

1. There are 3 levels and within each level she gives you the easier version of a move, the harder version of the move and the extreme version of a move — so it’s very easy to modify for your fitness level.
2. The shred is ONLY 25 MINUTES, including stretching. And you feel like you’ve hit the gym for an hour when you’re done. Talk about a time saver!
3. You need minimal equipment. In addition to your regular gear (shoes / clothes) you’ll just need a mat or a towel and a set of 3-5 lb. hand weights.
4. Jillian is motivational throughout the DVD. She reminds you to think about why you’re doing this, to think about the fat melting off your body, and that whatever you’re doing is great as long as your heartrate is up and you’re working hard.
5. You need a small amount of space for each workout. My boyfriend and I have done this a million times in our teeny tiny living room. I’m tiny. He is not. We are both able to do the all levels of the DVD with no modifications due to lack of space.
6. The DVD is $10. And, as I mentioned, you get 3 levels and within the 3 levels there are also 3 different levels … so that’s like 9 different workouts for $10.
7. It’s a boredom buster. I break out this DVD when I’m in a rut because I know it’s fast, and that I won’t be doing any of the moves for more than 30 seconds at a time.
8. It hits every muscle in your body. The shred is a great cross-training tool. I used to head home and do it or Jillian’s strength training DVD over lunch on my off days when I trained for my last half marathon. I attribute my stellar race time and the fact I didn’t get injured while training to cross training with Jillian.

Sold yet? I hope so. I can’t tell you how much I love this DVD. It’s the best $10 investment I’ve ever made. I have all of Jillian’s workouts and a good amount of Bob’s workouts and I have used The 30 Day Shred more times than any of the other workout DVDs combined.

If you need more motivation, here are some 30 Day Shred before and after photos.

Feature image source. 

Let's get this straight: It's CA-lee, not CALE-ee? Correct. Moving on. When Calee's not banging her head to Amon Amarth whilst knitting her boyfriend a cap, she's likely listening to Ke$ha, and composing a tweet about being hardcore and going to the gym, but not until she's done baking that gluten-free chocolate cake from the recipe she found on Pinterest.

Calee

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Tagged as: $10, 30 day shred, bob harper, circuit training, cross training, dvd, jillian michaels, workout at home