Opinions on Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred

mer1441

Hi all,

I have started this DVD and I am 3 days in. However, I just want to ask anyone who has done it their opinion on the workouts and whether they had success or not? If not, do you recommend anything else? I was considering Insanity - opinions?

I am just looking to lower my body fat percentage (sitting at approx. 24% right now) and gain muscle.

Many thanks!

mayas135

I really like it because it's short but very challenging, you wake up sore the next day. Can't do it anymore though because I live in a flat

jefamer2017

I liked 30 day shred but I love Insanity. 30 day shred doesn't feel challenging enough for me. I didn't lose much weight or gain much strength with Jillian

MegaMooseEsq

I have never had luck with this kind of workout personally - when I tried JM in the past, it ended up being too much, too fast and I gave up after a few days. Plus, the promises of thirty days just isn’t realistic - fitness isn’t a one-and-done deal, it’s a lifestyle change. That said, if you enjoy it and stick with it, and make sure that you are eating fewer calories than you’re using, you will lose weight just fine. You likely won’t see much muscle growth on a program like this, though - to build muscle you really need to be doing a more structured progressive weights program, and it’s difficult (though not impossible) to gain muscle unless you are eating more calories than you’d want to be to lose fat.

As for what worked for me, starting off small and building up was really it, and finding exercise that I enjoyed and was challenging, but not so challenging that I didn’t want to do it. For me, that was walking more at first, then jogging, then bodyweight exercises, and now weight lifting. Maybe that’s Jillian for you, maybe not. My only advice is not to give up if it doesn’t work - keep trying new things and stay active!

Dani9585

It was too much for me. I would start and then give up, start, then give up. It was a cycle. I would do the program again, but not how it's intended to be done. I would do it every other day, or use it to fill in between lift days.

saragd012

I absolutely love JM workouts as a quick workout when I am short on time or just dont want to leave the house. It is challenging if you are just starting out, so try not to get discouraged if you cannot keep up. It took my wife a couple of weeks before she could get through the entire workout but she stayed with it and now also does P90X and T-25 with me for our evening workouts. I dropped a good deal of weight on my first full round following her 30 Shred and also the 30 day Ripped, I found it challenging but attainable.

LeslieB042812

I haven't tried JM, but have done Insanity and am chiming in since you asked about that too. I loved Insanity at first and definitely felt it in my muscles (and my husband did too). We had demonstrable fitness gains and felt we were pushing ourselves. HOWEVER, after a while, we just could not stand the videos anymore. If you're following the workout regimen, you watch the same workout over and over again (in the cycle) and we couldn't handle the repetitiveness of the same comments and sighs and whatever from the people in the video. If you're okay with that, though, then I would highly recommend it.

Emmalovestorun

mer1441 wrote: »

Hi all,

I have started this DVD and I am 3 days in. However, I just want to ask anyone who has done it their opinion on the workouts and whether they had success or not? If not, do you recommend anything else? I was considering Insanity - opinions?

I am just looking to lower my body fat percentage (sitting at approx. 24% right now) and gain muscle.

Many thanks!

I love beachbody 21 day fix too, I do them both

Everyonelies

I have done the 30 Day Shred and I really do like it!! I go to the gym because I cannot get motivated to work out at home, but when I did do it (many years ago) I did notice a difference. I also like Tae-Bo...yes, it's an oldie but a goodie! AND I also did the Butt Bible...for those who want a little extra help in the glute department

Kida181

Does it challenge you? Do you like it? If yes, then I'd say it's good.

I've started 30DS a few times but never made it through the first week because doing the same workout so many days in a row bored me. Insanity was a good fix for that.

dulinh

I do both! I don't follow either 'plan.' I started back in November only doing Insanity, usually four days on followed by a rest day. I choose my favorite videos and rotate them. I was dropping weight at a good rate so I slowed the pace to two days of Insanity followed by a total rest day. I felt like I had energy on my rest day so started doing 30DS level one just to tone up. Doing just one level was too easy, especially after doing Insanity for the last couple of months. Since level one felt too easy by itself I added in another level (so two levels in a single workout skipping the stretching in the middle). Doing two levels feels like a good workout for me. I'm not overly sore the next day and I'm looking more tone and seeing some definition so I'm glad I've added it into my Insanity routine to spice it up a little and get better results.

knempress

30 DS is MUCH easier than Insanity, not to mention much shorter. If you're finding 30DS challenging, I would recommend completing that one first.

b1229

Loved 30 day shred didn't lose a lot of weight but lost a lot of inches and more toned. I have just started her Body Shred which is more intense 50 days long but only 30 mins which I love.

TheChesireCat

I'm finding it a fantastic way of returning to fitness after a serious break and I'm doing stuff I've never been able to do before. The music is bad and i find Jillian more than a little annoying.

I found it really hard and took 10 days on level 1 before I could do everything comfortably. I haven't counted the number of days on level 2 but I reckon I'm on 20 with a few rest days thrown in and I think I've got another week before I'll be anywhere near moving on. But that's because of the focus on planking variations in level 2 and I've always found planking hard. I've been so pleased with the increase in strength. I have definitely gained muscle and improved my cardio

Much of the same exercises are in the less mills body attack stuff. When I'm back on form I'll probably go back to the less mills app, it's definitely more fun and the trainers are amusing

mer1441

Thank you all for the replies - really helpful & informative!

I have decided to carry on with the 30DS as I am enjoying it and feel like I am benefitting from it - however, I may add in an extra workout/ swap and change between insanity and 30DS as I don't always find it challenging (this might change when I get to level 2)!!