Shall I stick with Jillian Michales or switch?

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JAT74
JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm coming to the end of week 7 of Jillian Michaels Body Revolution which I'm really enjoying so far and like the fact the workouts change every 2 weeks but I haven't seen the results I'd hoped to so far so not sure what to do.

I still have another 5 weeks to go and I've been adding in extra cardio some days too either on the gym machines or walking but since I started her program I've only really lost 3lbs in weight and I'd put most of that down to changes in my diet. I've lost maybe half an inch from my upper arms and half an inch from my waist plus an inch from my hips but after 7 weeks I was hoping for more.

I think the main problem is that even though I'm using heavier weights than recommended, I'm not using weights I know I can lift in the gym because there are so many reps in the sets she does, although I do like the body weight exercises and can feel myself getting stronger.

My question is shall I stop doing my JM workout now and switch to following the Insanity schedule which I definitely plan to do anyway and also add in a 3 x weekly weights routine in the gym? If so, based on a 30-40 minute gym session 3 x week can anyone suggest what I should do in terms of body parts/sets and rest periods. I pretty much know what exercises I can do for each body part and have lots of books on weight training to help with this but I want something which is going to be effective and maximise the time I have.

I don't like giving up on something before the end but on the other hand I don't want to waste another 5 weeks doing this if it's not changing my body enough.

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  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    Bump
  • VictoriaWorksOut
    VictoriaWorksOut Posts: 195 Member
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    Switching between workouts is good because you exercise different muscles. As long as you are working out as many times per week as you have planned, you are on a track.
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
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    Sounds like you're ready to starting lifting heavy things! I love Jillian workouts and doing them helped me realize that I love working out and feeling strong, but I kind of hit the same wall that you did. I got the book New Rules of Lifting for Women and started that this week. It gives you a 6 month plan with exactly what workouts to do 3X per week and it takes about 30 minutes at the most. Is this one of the weightlifting books you have? I know there are some other great books out there that people talk about a lot here, like stronglifts, but I haven't read any other ones.

    I did one workout on Monday then took a little hiatus because my great-gram is sick so I've been visiting her with all my free time, but during and after my workout on Monday I felt awesome! There's something to be said for challenging yourself with weights versus cardio. It's still important to me to keep up my endurance so I will still do some cardio or Jillian DVDs in between lifting days.

    Congrats on your success so far! Personally, the hardest part is definitely the diet so good for you for keeping your diet together. If my diet isn't very good, my workouts are completely pointless. I always try to keep in mind that what I choose to eat is fuel for my next workout, so choose wisely.
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    I haven't got that book but I'm going to get it in the next few days because I've heard a lot of people say good things about it. If not I'll re-read my other books and come up with something.

    I have done weights in the gym before on and off for many years but it was never that structured and I always found that I lost motivation or got bored but I think if I do it alongside a cardio program I enjoy like Insanity I'm more likely to stick with it. Plus this time I've sorted out my eating and am eating a lot more protein and lower carbs on the whole so I'm on track to get much better results and hopefully once I start seeing changes in my body that will be enough to keep me motivated.

    I don't want to overdo it but I think that 30 minutes weights 3 times a week plus Insanity isn't really too much.
  • hellsprincess91
    hellsprincess91 Posts: 4 Member
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    Try P90X....it's the best work out I have ever done and the workouts change every day...even doing the yoga one for 30min makes me so sore the next day!
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    Thanks for the tip, I've actually got P90X but time is an issue as I don't have more than 40-45 minutes available to work out at any one time so it's not really possible for me to do it.

    I also noticed that with the JM program I'm doing I'm using weights which are not that heavy (although still heavier than they are lifting on the DVD) because there are too many reps and I think P90X would be the same anyway. I want to lift heavier weights in a gym based routine and keep the HIIT and cardio training separate because I think I will get better results.

    I can do Insanity all the way through starting next week hopefully and in 2 months when I finish it won't be too unbearably hot here so I can then switch to doing swimming for my cardio in May when it starts to get really hot. If I do weight training separately for 30-40 minutes per day maximum I can easily fit that in 2 evenings per week plus one day over the weekend without running out of time.

    I'll probably do Insanity most days mid-morning or just before lunch so I'll be able to fuel my cardio workouts by eating breakfast too so nutritionally it should work out well too.

    Any idea of the average burn for Insanity workouts?

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