Jillian Michaels Lift & Shred

What is it:Pure lifting. It reminded me of what my coworker says she does at the gym with her trainer (she can't believe I lose weight like 4x faster with Jillian Michaels)—it's just more traditional strength training. This is a great way to shake things up and take care of those days when you just aren't feeling as up for the bouncing and twisting around so common in the other workouts. Plus, no plank. Total win there. Some of Jillian's workouts feel like they're 80% plank moves ;)Who's it for:1. The Cardio-tastic: If you do a lot of straight cardio (runners, cyclists, etc.) and need some strength training, this is perfect for you.2. The Shredder: If you don't care about cardio and just want to hit the strength training, rock this with your 20- and 50-lb. hand weights.3. The Partier: Drank a bit too much last night or ate a bit too much today but still want a workout? Afraid (with good reason) you'll throw up if you do normal Jillian? Hit this instead.4. Everyone!: This is a great way to just shake things up or make some rapid strength-focused progress, as a supplement to your normal Jillian routine.Equipment:At least 3 pairs of hand weights. Optional: if you have kettle bells, there are moves designed for kettle bells (that take hand weights in the videos); they're easy to spot and Jillian sometimes even mentions it. Mat if you have a hard floor.Use Heavier Weights:Be sure to have heavier hand weights. I tend to use heavier weights for all of Jillian's workouts (I have 10's and 12's that I use a lot, and also 15's), but here they were really necessary. This wouldn't be much of a workout if you didn't challenge yourself on weight. But with the right hand weights, this is a great way to shred!Cons:• The white studio is mesmerizingly boring (and blinding on the wrong TV color settings), which at least for me hurts the frequency at which I can use this video. (In fact, I didn't get through a full one of these workouts for a YEAR because I hated the studio so much.)• Pushing yourself becomes very important in a straight-forward workout like this; this is NOT for people who want to be pulled through a workout by the sheer difficulty of the moves• Chance of injury may actually increase with some of these moves, because as Jillian mentions at a few points, it's easy to hold your back or shoulders in the wrong way when handling heavier weights. Listen to your body! If your back, shoulders, or knees are straining, go with lighter weights for now to avoid injury.• You may need to buy some heavier hand weightsUPDATE: I've started using this workout about twice a week, usually after another Jillian Michael's workout (usually something from her Bodyshred, Body Revolution, or Killer Series). It's been 3 weeks. I'm crazy shredded all of a sudden—rock solid arms and legs. It's amazing how the combination of this and her other workouts really amps up the effectiveness of both. I wouldn't recommend this by itself unless you just need to add strength to your routine, but as a combo—HOLY ****!BACK WARNING: Do be careful if you have a weak back or it's *ahem* carrying extra front-weight. If you start to feel your back straining, use lighter weights as your back catches up with your arms.

This might be my favorite Jillian Michaels' workout.I love lifting weights, and I have a great home gym. I have struggled to find great weight-based workouts for my weight days. There are good ones out there, but not a lot of great ones. Many workouts contain a lot of compound movements like a lunge to a curl. Well, I can lunge with a much heavier weight than I can curl. I always feel like I am not working hard enough. (Jillian does address this) This is WEIGHTS.Jillian works mostly as a trainer focusing on form and such during this workout. She might participate a bit, but she really wants you to focus on form, especially in Workout #1. Once you have good form in workout #1, she does recommend you can alternate or move on to workout #2. Workout #2 does have compound movements, but they are more total body, so you can still lift heavy.One of my favorite things about this DVD is that truly, anyone can still do it. The movements are simple and effective. There are not many modifications, HOWEVER, if you are just getting started, you can easily use only your bodyweight or much lighter weights. This workout is truly designed to progress and lift heavier as you go.I highly recommend these workouts. These will be in a regular rotation with my weights DVD's. Both workouts are just over 30 minutes and focus on all muscles for a total body workout.

I recently quit my job which required a lot of lifting, and was worried I'd get weak again (not that I was ever super strong, but still). I'm a huge fan of JM's past videos, the 30DS helped me lose my baby weight 10 years ago, and since then I've been buying and trying all things JM. This is for sure one of my favorites. I do cardio every evening, so I was stoked to find a workout program that didn't focus on that, but just straightforward weights and lifting.Level 1 was a great ease into this disc. I started with 5lbs and 8lbs, and by the end of 10 or so days of doing level 1 I had bought some 10lbs to use. The increase in weights definitely let me challenge myself on my last days of level 1.Level 2 definitely ramps it up. I think I'm on my 6th day of doing it (I do the work outs 4x a week as recommended) and it's still challenging for me. I don't see myself going up in weights for a month or so because some of the moves are a bit more complex. I have crappy knees, so I was worried about some of the jumping moves, but luckily my knees seem to be responding well to them, probably because it's minimal and only for a short time.Each level is about 30 minutes, which is standard for a lot of JM stuff. They go by quickly, and I don't find myself panting or feeling like I'm going to die. So that's always a plus.It's definitely useful to have 3 sets of weights, which is what they use in the levels. I don't think it says that on the DVD case which is annoying, but you want at least 2 different weights, 3 being optimal.Level 1 doesn't have a lot of modifiers, in most cases it will just be to change the weights you're using. Level 2 does have modifiers.There isn't a lot of specific ab work on this. Which I'm okay with. You're using your core for a lot of the moves but if somebody is wanting to really work on abs, you may need to YT some 10 minutes ab videos or something to do after this video.