Hello Jillian Michaels, nice to meet you; I think.

Before I came down to Mexico, I grabbed a few workout DVDs to use for my workouts while I’m away from my gym.  A friend of mine recommended Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred, so I ran to Target and bought it before I left.  Jillian Michaels is the hard-core trainer from TV's The Biggest Loser.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve never watched The Biggest Loser reality show.   I hear about it from time to time but have literally never watched it, so I had no idea what to expect.

Verdict?   I love it; but I love it for lazy reasons.   The DVD has three 20-minute workouts.   Only 20 minutes!     I keep telling myself I can easily find 20 minutes to workout every day.    The idea of only 20-minutes helps me motivate more than my other two one-hour videos (which I’ve only done once since I’ve been here.) 

There are three workout levels (1, 2, 3).   Each workout has a 1-minute warm up; three 6-minutes circuits of 3-minutes of strength, 2-minutes of cardio, and 1-minute of abs; ending with a 1-minute cool down.  All three levels are a great workout and move quickly.   For a good, quick workout I highly recommend this video.

As far as Jillian, she scares me a little.   I don’t like her tough, masculine energy.  Call me judgmental, but I do tend to judge people based on whether I would enjoy having a drink with them.   I don’t think I would enjoy having a cocktail with Jillian.   I feel like she would show up on a motorcycle and she’d probably give me a hard time about the calories in my cocktail (buzz kill).   

The other two videos that I brought along are 60-minutes, but that now seems so long after the 20-minute workouts.  I do recommend them nonetheless if you are looking for some good, portable workout videos.  

Cindy Crawford - Next Challenge Workout

I used to have this on a VCR tape and would work out to it in college.  Yes, it is a little 90s (Cyndi actually wears a leotard in some of the shots).   After my husband threw our VCR away I upgraded to the DVD.  Despite it being made more than 15 years ago, it is still a tough workout that makes me sore every time.   She combines cardio conditioning with muscle endurance moves; with and without light weights.  Who doesn’t love Cindy?   She is one person I would love to have a cocktail with; I have a feeling we would have more than one.

 

The Tracy Anderson Method Mat Workout

I ran out and bought this DVD last year after seeing Gwyneth Paltrow’s rocking, toned body.   Tracy is her trainer and this is her toning DVD.   The purpose of this video is to “re-engineer your muscular structure, wake up your accessory muscles, and pull in your larger muscles.”   After doing this video for a couple weeks last year, I certainly felt more toned.  As for Tracy, she seems a little shy and serious but also like a hard worker with a heart of gold.   I could certainly have a glass of Champagne with her.  (You can fine out more about her here and buy her DVD; http://tracyandersonmethod.com/)

Let me know if you have any workout videos you recommend or swear by.    Meanwhile, I’m going to try to balance out all three of these videos during the remainder of my last 4 weeks in Mexico.    I need to do some cross training before I get home and start getting into shape for two triathlons this summer.  Yep, you heard me correctly.  I plan to sign up for two triathlons this year and since my first tri last year was a little leisurely, I plan to work on my time and actually get competitive this year.