Phat Fitness,
As promised, here is my review of Jillian Michael's Banish Fat/Boost Metabolism:
I just did this one today for the first time. I liked it, it definitely had my heart pounding, but not all of the circuits were tough (in my opinion). There is a 5 minute warm up, seven "6 minute" cardio circuits, and a 5 minute cool down. It's just Jillian with two women behind her (none do the modified version of any move for you to follow, but Jillian does show you motifications.) The music stays the same throughout and the moves are very basic. There's nothing fancy or any choreography you need to think about. I found her kickboxing circuits to be too easy. I guess it's because I am used to Cathe. The moves were too slow for me, but easily modifyable (is that a word??). I just did the moves faster and that worked for me! Some of her circuits invovled plyometrics and THAT gets my heart rate up big time! Basically, Jillian does 3-4 moves for a minute (give or take) and then repeats them within each cycle. Each cycle moves right into the next, so there's not much downtime. If you need to catch your breath, you have to hit pause! Her personality is not so rough. Although I didn't hear much of what she was saying because I was focused on breathing! Overall, it was a good sweat fast, but not a consistent one since some of the circuits were easier than others. I'd love to know how many calories I actually burned, I know another poster mentioned she burned over 500. I liked it and can't wait to try "No More Trouble Zones!" Here is the breakdown of the circuits:
Circuit ONE (Kickbox):
Squat w/side lunge (to the right)
Alternating jabs in squat position
Squat w/side lunge (to the left)
jab, cross, hook, upper (she did these too slow, so I made them faster!)
Alternating front kicks
NOW REPEAT ENTIRE CIRCUIT
Circuit TWO:
Squat thrusts (she calls them "burpees"?)
Plie jumps
jab, cross, jab cross, hop (leap in the air)
180 jump turns (killer plyo move!!)
single leg hops (side to side)
NOW REPEAT ENTIRE CIRCUIT
Circuit THREE:
Butt kicks (jogging in place)
high knee runs
jumping jacks
standing oblique crunches (bring elbow to hip while lifting leg up)
NOW REPEAT ENTIRE CIRCUIT
Circuit FOUR (on the floor):
Mountain climbers
supermans (lay on stomach and lift arms & legs)
pike crunches
oblique twists
walking push-ups
REPEAT ENTIRE CIRCUIT
Circuit FIVE (kickbox):
Swing kicks
Upper cuts
Alternating back kicks
jab/cross combo
knee smashers
REPEAT ENTIRE CIRCUIT
Circuit SIX:
jump squats
cross country skaters (like being on an elliptical)
scissor kicks
ice skaters (side to side)
standing mountain climbers (high knee runs while punching arms up and down)
REPEAT ENTIRE CIRCUIT
Circuit SEVEN:
Moguls (?-this is what Jillian calls them) (oblique twist jumps)
Standing pikes (while standing you basically fold your body in half to work the abs -fingertips meet the toes)
Side knee smashers
Jump roap
REPEAT ENTIRE CIRCUIT
Hope this helps!
