Jillian Michaels Hard Body

About me: I LOVE at-home workouts. I own a LOT. I guess I would have to say that I am at the high intermediate to advanced level. Even though I have a lot of DVDs, I generally have always avoided Jillian Michaels because, well, I don't need to be yelled at in order to work out. I enjoy working out and even when I don't, I make myself do it AND make myself enjoy it because it's great for me and makes me feel good (and LOOK good, of course!). I brush my teeth, I wear makeup, I work out. It's just a personal responsibility for me. I don't need a drill sergeant to keep me in line. I keep myself in line.That being said...I finally realized that I never try her and broke down just for the variety of trying a new instructor. I must say, I'm glad I did! I really enjoy this workout! It's not crazy, drag-out tough, but it's challenging, effective, and, at 45 minutes, just right time-wise. I'm not sure if all of her DVDs are like this, but I really enjoyed Jillian leading this workout. Instead of being yelled at and insulted, which is what I expected, I found her funny and energetic. She IS tough with a loud voice and a big personality, but I found it more of a refreshing, gruff teasing method than an army officer barking at me. She made me laugh with her interactions with the 4 other women in the DVD and also was encouraging and positive. Cool!As expected from a fitness superstar like her, the DVD's production is top notch. The lighting, the fab workout clothing on her and her 4 backup workout gals, the set, all very nice. The music was great, I really enjoyed working out to it. And speaking of, yes, there are some unnecessary shots of the DJ. (He's cute though! :-) ) However, the shots are pretty brief, and the only times I noticed was when he was shown in between exercises. During the exercises, I was too busy sweating/balancing/staring at the ceiling b/c I was on my back, often not even looking at the TV. It didn't really bother me, and hey, he did a great job! Love the beats!There are 2 45-minute workouts on the DVD, a Level 1 workout and a supposedly more advanced Level 2 one. As of the date of this review, I've only done the Level 1. I will be doing this one for a couple months and then, when I do Level 2, I'll update my review. Level 1 is nice! One thing that I like about "Hard Body" that is different from most of my other DVDs is a lack of rigid, 8-count, choreographed reps. I like that sort of structure, obviously. But it was nice to just jump into moves and just start doing it, no counting, just going at your own pace until she tells you to stop.As far as the exercises themselves, they were a blend of strength moves interspersed with cardio moves. The workout definitely had my heart rate up the whole time. In fact, with exception of upper body, I felt like I get more of a cardio benefit with a little bit of toning. I felt this in my lower body a good bit, my abs a little bit but my upper body was really feeling it, with mostly 5 lb. and sometimes 3 lb. weights. My upper body was the only part of my body that I felt was thoroughly fatigued by the end of this workout. I actually work my lower body and abs a tiny bit more afterwards and THEN I feel like I've thorougly worked everything.The moves are fun and effective, and are generally done at a good pace. The girls try to stay synchronized in their moves while Jillian often walks around giving pointers on form and beginner/advanced variations. However, I found it better to adjust the speed of a move based upon my personal preference. While some moves I found really well-paced and a challenge for me to keep up with, other moves I felt were too slow for me personally. I found that speeding up some moves made them much more intense. Some of my favorite moves are Suicides (you know, that warmup that basketball players often do when they run to one side of the court, touch the ground and then run to the other side), weighted burpees, the pivot-lunge-punch with weight, the squat and pivot up with arms out and parallel to the ground (with weights). The hardest move, for me, is that dreaded walking push-up with a hop up and hop side to side and then back down again. Whew! I still cannot do every rep! Still working on that! KILLS my upper body, and even my legs feel that hopping!So all in all, I really enjoy this workout! I'm very glad I gave JM a try, and I will definitely keep her in mind when getting new workout DVDs in the future!UPDATE 03/19/14: So I finally tired of the Level 1 workout and moved on to Level 2...and wow! It's definitely harder! And it's not like just a step up harder, it's more like 5 times harder!! Wow! Whereas with Level 1, I had fun but needed more at the end, with Level 2 I am crawling for the finish line, yelling, "Finally!" This workout worked me all over, and fried my lower body in particular, which I loved. I mean, my butt and thighs were burnt out. I also got a good upper body workout with this. The only part of my body that felt a little lightly worked were my abs, so I still add a few minutes of ab work after this workout. But this workout is solid. Most of these moves are so much more difficult to execute than they appear to be when you're sitting on your couch previewing it! :-) Some of my favorite moves include: the plyo squat with the front arm row with weights (Jillian reeeally lets you hang out here in this move the 2nd time you do it...I was cursing at her to let me stop!); the wall-to-wall plyo squat with one weight where you start squatted down facing one wall, then leap into a squat facing the other wall and then back (whew...the burn!); the "pass-the-weight" move where you're on your stomach and pass a weight from in front of you, behind your back...WHILE keeping your arms and legs raised up in a Superman pose...shockingly tough!; the two goddess squat exercises; the kettlebell swing while jumping into a deep squat forward and back; and my personal favorite, the plyo lunge while lifting your weight-holding arms out into a fly, palms down (I encounter a lot of plyo lunges in my workouts...it's a great, effective move but I thought I'd bounce right through this one...could not BELIEVE how much tougher this was than it looked!). Some moves I modified because they were either too tough (I just can't do more than one of that outside knee to outside elbow/"grasshopper" pushup...I try, but I usually do one cycle and then just hold a plank while I move my knees and legs...SO impossible!) or because they're unneccesarily complicated (the one-armed mountain climber just requires too much mental concentration to adhere to, and I'm a coordinated person!...I just do a regular, two-armed mountain climber...STILL tough because by the time I get to this point, I'm already sweating and panting).Solid, challenging workout!

I will preface by noting that I have only done Workout 1 so far.As someone who recently completed Ripped in 30, I truly enjoy this DVD. If I could give 4 1/2 stars, I would. Two reasons why I didn't give it 5 stars:A) The cool down is like two or three stretches. I really enjoyed the cool down on Ripped in 30, and if that DVD warranted several minutes worth of cool down, this one certainly did as well. My back is killing me right now, and I think a longer cool down would've helped.B) As other reviewers have said, the production quality seems a little off (colors, angles, etc...), but for me, it was only a bit distracting at the beginning. Once the workout got started, it didn't bother me anymore because I was too focused on the exercises to care/notice.The workout in itself gets 5 stars. I have to admit, I was hesitant at first. The first two moves in workout 1, there isn't a set amount of reps - Jillian just says "Do as many as you can in 30 seconds," and, as someone who loves having a set number of reps and loves having structure in workout DVDs, I was worried that the whole workout was going to be 'Welp, just do as many as you feel like doing...' However, as the DVD progressed, Jillian began to have the backup girls do a certain amount of reps for each move, so luckily it was just that 1st circuit that was kind of a free-for-all.I, for one, enjoy Jillian's personality and 'preachiness'. I know that it turns a lot of people off, and I get why. But when I started her DVDs, I was very unhappy with my body, had very low self-esteem, and was unmotivated to do any kind of physical exercise. She really gave me perspective on the role I was playing in my own self-pity party and kicked my a** into gear. I am very much inspired because of her. However, for those who were turned off my her intensity in Ripped in 30, I'm here to say that, though still Jillian, she is certainly more encouraging and soft-spoken in Hard Body and less of the up-in-your-face-screaming-at-you-to-push-yourself that you saw in Ripped.This workout is very challenging. I imagine the second one isn't any easier. Because I think it is important to give your muscles a break and not stress the same muscles everyday, I have decided to switch up this workout and do Hard Body Day 1, Killer Abs Day 2, and a workout from Ripped in 30 Day 3 then start from the beginning again. I look forward to this Summer to show off the results ! ;)P.S. I have always struggled with Cardio that is high-impact due to 'exercised-induced asthma' as the docs call it, however I found the cardio moves in Ripped to be more challenging than the ones in Hard Body (possibly since the cardio moves in Ripped run 2 minutes long vs. one cardio move here and there in HB), so if you struggle with cardio as well, I think you'll find the cardio moves to be relatively attainable. (However, beware of the strength moves in the DVD. I'm hurting right now...)EDIT: I just completed workout 1 of Killer Abs, and if you have done this DVD before, then the layout is the same as Hard Body (minus the DJ). I'm pretty sure its the same gym as in both DVDs.

Lamentablemente no me sirve, me mandan los discos con región 1, aquí en México debería comercializar la región 4, no lo puedo reproducir

Hard bodyはジリアンシリーズの中でアメリカ本国における売上ランキングは低いようです。内容は1回の動きに2〜3の動きを合わせたコンボが多用されています。また跳ねる動きも続くため難度は高いです。特徴として前衛的な動きが随所にあります。見た目変わった動きで派手ですが、流れがつかみにくくテンポが悪い印象を受けました。45分が長く感じられました。言い換えれば上級者向けと言えるかもしれません。この辺は好みが分かれる処だと思います。

To all you Jillian Michaels lovers out there, hurry up and add this DVD to your collection! I'm still on level 1 (going into week 2) and seeing great results. It's a little different than her other DVD's (live DJ during the workouts, 6 circuits instead of 3). I've lost 30 lbs doing Jillian's other DVD's (Ripped in 30, 30 Day Shred, Killer Buns and Thighs, Kickbox FastFix, Xtreme Shed & Shred...) and wanted to lose an additional 10-15 lbs...this is it for me! I'm loving it!To you newbies, if you're thinking of trying out workout DVD's, shopping around with all the different trainers and types of DVD's can get scary and confusing. PLEASE take my word, get Jillian's workout DVD's. I promise you, you will lose the weight (as long as you stick to it and do what she says). It's simple, there's a reason you see her face on almost every cover of health magazines...the woman knows what she's doing!!! Combined with her new book Slim for Life, you'll be all set!!! Trust me on this :o)PS. Did you hear Jillian's coming to Canada in April and May!!! Can't wait to see her in TO!

As I did the level 1 workout, I wondered if level 2 would kill me. I've only done level 1 at time of writing this review, and while doing it, keeping an eye on my HR and rate of calorie burn, plus the flow of the workout, I kept saying 'this is the perfect workout'. I've been on this crazy fitness wagon since the days of the 20 minute workout and early Kathy Smith, so I know what I'm talking about! There are new 'talent' in this one, insanely fit women who could eat the workout for breakfast. But they really do push it out the door to show you they're working.Jillian keeps getting better and better. Go get this latest one from her.And if you can get her Body Revolution 'as seen on TV' set, go for it too(I got a new set on amazon.com). Even the starting dvd's can be upped for intensity with your own addition of more reps or higher weights to get things done.

This workout is tough. I own a lot of Jillian's workout videos and have used them regularly for about 2 years and Hard Body scares me every time I put it on. That's not to say I don't enjoy it - she does a good job of keeping this fun and fast enough that you can power through, but level 2...even now I often have to stop the DVD to catch my breathe between circuits. The music and DJ are pretty cheesy, but the women she's with are a good mix of personalities - if you want tough, serious, bubbly, there's someone there to keep you focused. I hope she does another full body disc like this soon..even if that does make me nervous!