Are Jillian Michaels DVDs enough??

mjinspired

Hello!
I'm 5"8' and 120lbs. I'm trying to gain muscle and lose the extra belly flab I gained during pregnancy. (I know I'm considered under weight, but I have a serious gut and I'm trying to lose it. My calorie intake is 2220, so I'm not under eating). I've been doing Jillian's 30 day shred, Level 2 for the past week along with the 6 week abs 2 times a week and I was just wondering if that is enough to get me toned and lose the belly fat? I notice a lot of people on here talking about weight lifting and how they get great results that way. I'm just wondering if I need to add more to my workout routine. Thanks for any help you can give. I'm new to working out and I'm learning a lot from you all and appreciate your help!

staceypunk

I think you should be done with 30DS. That is geared more towards dropping pounds. You should try out Jillian's No More Trouble Zones (amazon, $7). It's 55 minutes with warm up and cool down and is circuit training using only a 3 pound dumb bell but you will feel it! I think it's probably safe to increase the weights as well.
If you are financially able to, then I would recommend Jillian's Body Revolution (like $130 but for 12 DVD's). This is a 3 month program that gets progressively harder every 2 week period. Each DVD is only 35 minutes with cool down and I burned between 250-350 per session. She shows you how to make each exercise more difficult, be it by increasing weights or changing your body position to make it harder. I loved this DVD set because it was fun and I never really memorized any of the workouts.
I have about 5 Jillian DVD'd and BR, and BR is by far my favorite of the bunch. Good Luck!

newcs

She has some good exercises but I find that I can get a better workout in less time on my own. I use mostly bodyweight and some free weight (dumbbell) exercises and can get my workout done in just about 20min with much more results than I was getting on 30 Day Shred. I found 30DS to be mostly cardio despite the supposed strength sections.

I'd recommend checking out You Are Your Own Gym (a book) or Nerd Fitness (website). The book is like a bodyweight exercises bible and if you pick 4 you can do them in circuits for a ridiculous full body workout in 20ish minutes. He shows you how to do the non-bodyweight ones with household items (but you could also use dumbbells if you have them). Nerd Fitness is an awesome resource and he has several free workouts posted. He advocates workouts that don't require a gym or much (or any) equipment. He even has a hotel one so you can workout when you travel. I've been using his program to work up to doing a pull up and I'm having some great progress.

Look into compound exercises. A couple of those will get you a lot further, faster, with less hassle than JM and her exercises that have a tendency to target one area at a time.

Here's an idea of my current workout: 8-10 pushups, 10 hanging knee raises, 10 lunges/squats/lower body move, 30-45sec of ab work (currently 50 reps of Russian Twists with a 4kg medicine ball). Repeat 4x. Done in 20min and completely worn out. I've got a lot of definition in my back, arms, legs and my mid section is getting there (I was told to focus on obliques to get a flatter mid section once you lose the fat).

Catlady87

She has some good exercises but I find that I can get a better workout in less time on my own. I use mostly bodyweight and some free weight (dumbbell) exercises and can get my workout done in just about 20min with much more results than I was getting on 30 Day Shred. I found 30DS to be mostly cardio despite the supposed strength sections.

I'd recommend checking out You Are Your Own Gym (a book) or Nerd Fitness (website). The book is like a bodyweight exercises bible and if you pick 4 you can do them in circuits for a ridiculous full body workout in 20ish minutes. He shows you how to do the non-bodyweight ones with household items (but you could also use dumbbells if you have them). Nerd Fitness is an awesome resource and he has several free workouts posted. He advocates workouts that don't require a gym or much (or any) equipment. He even has a hotel one so you can workout when you travel. I've been using his program to work up to doing a pull up and I'm having some great progress.

Look into compound exercises. A couple of those will get you a lot further, faster, with less hassle than JM and her exercises that have a tendency to target one area at a time.

Here's an idea of my current workout: 8-10 pushups, 10 hanging knee raises, 10 lunges/squats/lower body move, 30-45sec of ab work (currently 50 reps of Russian Twists with a 4kg medicine ball). Repeat 4x. Done in 20min and completely worn out. I've got a lot of definition in my back, arms, legs and my mid section is getting there (I was told to focus on obliques to get a flatter mid section once you lose the fat).

This is great advice!! I may get that book too. Cheers!