Unfortunately, where I live, I haven't been able to find a gym nearby that doesn't require me to sign a contact for two years. Two years is a long time to commit, and who knows if we'll be living in the same apartment next year. The apartment building I live in has a gym with plenty of weights, but when it comes to cardio all it offers is a stairmaster (which is awesome), an elliptical that squeaks and the worst exercise bike in existence. I go for runs outside, but I miss the structure of the boot camp classes I used to attend at my old gym.
I was reading a fitness blog the other day (I can't remember which one unfortunately), and the writer mentioned that she tried Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and was noticing results. I was curious about it since it has over a hundred 5 star reviews on amazon, and since it was only $10 at Chapters I picked it up.
The DVD offers three different levels of difficulty. All three levels are split into 5 sections: a 2 minute warm up, 3 6 minute circuits, and a 2 minute cool down. Each circuit consists of 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abs. There are NO breaks in this workout.
I started off by trying level 1. Level 1 is a decent challenge. I was feeling good throughout the entire workout, and at the end I was covered in sweat. It's a great starting level, especially if some of the strength training moves are new to you. I highly recommend wearing sneakers for this workout. I started barefoot and had to pause the dvd quickly to throw on some shoes.
Since I was feeling pretty good afterwards, I decided to try level 2. Level 2 is much more challenging compared to level 1. There is one move that I couldn't do. Holding hand weights, you have your palms facing outwards. Then you squat down and do a V-lift with the weights. I don't know why I couldn't do it, but my arms just aren't strong enough. In any case, there is a significant difference between the levels. Needless to say, I didn't try level 3 yet, but I plan to tomorrow.
When I first bought this dvd I was skeptical about the 20 minute workouts. However, after 20 minutes you will feel like you worked out for an hour. I think if you did one of these levels every day, you would notice a significant difference in your body. I don't know if I can do it every day right now (since my parents are visiting for the weekend), but I can definitely fit in 20 minutes before or after work.
I will post updates if I notice a huge difference in my body throughout the month. If you're looking for a cheap workout dvd that won't take up an hour or more of your time, this one is worth the pick up.
