I’ve been doing Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred workouts 1-3 times a week for a year now. How the hell did that happen? The same DVD for a year? And can my baby be a toddler already? Yes. And yes.
Anyhew. In addition to the random run outside, I cycle through the three levels of Jillian’s workouts, and I can do almost all of the advanced moves without taking the easy way out. I don’t sweat buckets and I don’t curse at Jillian anymore. I’m staying fit, but I’m not losing weight. (Could be due to all that eating, ya know?)
Enter: boredom. Clearly, it’s been high time to shake the routine up a bit for a while.
Many, many moons ago, the folks at Acacia sent me a handful of DVDs to try when they discovered I’m a big fan of yoga goddess Shiva Rea, whom they also represent. [NOTE: I was not paid by Acacia for this review although I did receive a free DVD to consider and write about if I wished to do so.]
Turns out it’s not only Shiva Rea’s DVDs that have the most excellent option of workout customization; Acacia specializes in this cool function, which allows the user to create a “workout matrix” from any DVD and choose some or all of the workout sections in any order s/he wishes. I LOVE this.
So when I’m sick and tired of Jillian yelling and threatning me, I now turn to the charming Brit, Vivian Zaki and her Weight Loss Cardio Kick workout. She’s much more polite than Jillian, but just as motivating. You can do this, yes?
I have gone through the entire 50 minute workout twice, and have also created my own matrix two or three times for a 30 minute workout consisting of the aerobic-focused OR strength-focused 20-minute component sandwiched between warmup and cooldown. Again, the flexibility of this is great when I’m crunched for time. Plus, it keeps boredom away.
Don’t be afraid of kickboxing if you’ve never tried it. I’ve never taken a kickboxing class, but I was a devotee of a certain Billy Blanks workout for several years (until the tape player literally ate the tape and I cried for weeks). Violet has two gals accompanying her during this workout, and one of them performs very low kicks, etc. in case you are new to the sport. The first few times I used the DVD I followed this woman during several of the more advanced moves.
You’ll also need light hand weights for some of the moves, but because I only own 5lb weights, I can’t really use them for some of the fast-paced stuff. It’s okay; the workout still does its job and I’m good and sweaty at the end. On the whole, this DVD is more aerobic than weight-based, which is a nice switch-up from Shred. There aren’t any pushups or exhausting shoulder moves. It keeps you moving with quick, light motions instead.
To sum it up, this workout isn’t as soul-crushing and punishing as Jillian Michaels, but I think it does the job in its own way. I feel energized and happy afterwards. And isn’t that the point?
