Around 9 months ago, I quit going to the gym. I loved the gym, but the one at work is now trying to accommodate something like 800 members with 7 cardio machines. So, I would head to the gym after work and have to wait almost an hour to get on a machine. Now, if you’re like me, you have your work out time scheduled. If it doesn’t get done within that scheduled time then it doesn’t get done, so waiting that long was messing with my routine and leaving me VERY frustrated.

That’s when I started adding more and more workout DVDS to my routine. I’ve tried a lot, and if I haven’t tried it, then it’s on my list to try. If you know me at all, you know that Jillian Michaels is one of my fitness heroes. I’ve heard her talk about interval training before and that if you wanted to burn the most amount of calories in the least amount of time, this is the way to go. So, imagine my delight this morning when my very own copy of her 30 Day Shred came into my possession. I couldn’t wait to get home to try it out.

The program offers 3 levels. Level 1 being the easiest, and level 3 being the hardest. If you’re just starting out, or if you’re really trying to follow the program, then I suggest starting at level 1. Since I’m only looking for a new work out to mix up my routine, and consider myself pretty fit, I decided to try level 3 first. Each level is very similar, though. One level is 20 minutes long and broken into 3 segments(she calls them circuits). You do 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio work, and 1 minute of ab work in each segment. I’ve done most of these exercises on other DVDs. So, they weren’t new to me, but I still found them challenging. Plus, I like how quick the pace is. You’re so busy jumping from exercise to exercise, you don’t really have time to think about how much you really hate that exercise. Ok, well you may still think about how much you hate that exercise, but soon the 20 minutes are up and you have a serious sweat going. There were a couple of things I didn‘t care for though. Being familiar with the P90X and Turbo Jam work outs, I’ve grown very accustomed to seeing how much time is left in your work out moving across the screen. That’s a nice feature that this work out lacks. Also, it was only 20 minutes. I admit it, I’m a little crazy. Unless I get 45 minutes to an hour of work out in, it’s hard for me to feel like I accomplished something. But it looks like reading online, that it does burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time. (I'd like to test that with a heart rate monitor.) And Jillian has said that she designed this program for people on the go.

So, I’ll probably use this work out on days that life happens and I may not get a longer work out in. Because let’s face it, life happens. There are days when you just don’t have the time to get a super long work out in. Or you just don’t feel like working out. But seriously, this is JUST 20 minutes. That’s all. I mean, you can do anything for 20 minutes. Seriously, can’t you fit 20 minutes into your day to do something that is going to make you feel great in the long run? Sure you can! :o)