DVD Review: No More Trouble Zones

Damn you Jillian Michaels.  Damn you and your circuit training.  I hate you.  But I love you. 

I have spent a lot of time lately being more focused on cardio, and forgetting all about strength training.  I had this mentality for a little bit that I should only do workouts for pregnant women (other than walking).  That was not the smartest thought I had.  I found that a lot of the pregnancy workouts were just not enough for me.  Even though I can’t work as hard as I used to, I still want to break a decent sweat.  Scratch  that…I need to break a decent sweat.  Plus, there just wasn’t enough strength training for me and what I’m used to.

My reason for wanting to be focused on strength training again isn’t just so my muscles look good (though pregnancy has kind of wreaked havoc on my whole body), but I want to be strong.  In a few months I’ll be carrying around a several pound baby, in a heavy baby carrier, along with all of the other things I’m going to have to carry.  I thought it was important to do whatever I can to build I’m my strength now!  I have always focused on heavier weights and lighter reps, but have strayed away from heavy weights lately, in the interests of safety

I wanted something that was a total body workout that I could do a few times a week, rather than focusing on a few body parts at a time (love my Core Fusion)!  I did some research and decided that No More Trouble Zones seemed like my best bet.  Since getting it, I’ve been doing it 3 times a week for the last 2 weeks, and I wanted to share my thoughts with all of you!

This workout is broken into a warm up, 7 circuits and a cool down.  Each circuit focuses on a few body parts and has 4-5 compound exercises.  You go through each circuit twice before moving on to the next one.  I found I had to do a lot of modifying to make the moves more comfortable for me.  For example, when I do lunges now, I can only do lunges, not arm moves with them.  I just tend to lose my balance.  So for the moves that incorporate lunges, I do just the lunges.  There are other circuits that are very core focused, doing moves I just can’t do, so I use that time to do the arm exercises I missed out on!

Circuit #1-Shoulders & Legs: Squat with Shoulder Press, Backward Lunge with Side Shoulder Raise (just a lunge for me!),  Chair Squat with Front Shoulder Raise, Front Shoulder Pressouts(I hate you pressouts!)

Circuit #2-Chest & Abs: Chest Press with a Crunch, Chest Fly with Double Leg Raise, Bicycle Crunches, Squirms, Push Up (I use a stability ball for the first 4 and do regular crunches instead of bicycles)

Circuit #3-Biceps & Butt: Deadlift with Hammer Curl, Static Squat with Concentration Curl, Front Lunge with Wide Grip Curl, Side Lunge with Biceps Curl (I wish there were more deadlifts in the whole workout)

Circuit #4-Thighs & Triceps: Chair Pose with Tricep Kickbacks, Sumo Squat with Overhead Triceps Press, Surrender, Forward Lunge with Triceps Pushback (to me, this is one of the easiest circuits, but that could be because I don’t do the surrenders, I do the arm move for that and do calf raises)

Circuit #5-Core: Double Crunches, Twisting Plank, Plank with Toe Taps, Windshield Wipers (I do planks, but I use this time to catch up on arm moves I missed when doing lunges)

Circuit #6-Upper Body & Core: Plank with Back Rows, Superman, Scissor Kicks, Pelvic Thrusts (I do other moves for the 2nd and 3rd, usually focusing on my legs and more bicep curls)

Circuit #7-Lower Body & Core: Side Plank, Side Lying Leg Raise, Inner Thigh Raise, Donkey Kicks, Fire Hydrant with Kick (just when you think you’re done, she kills you!)

Overall, this was a rough workout, but it was a WORKOUT!  I love that I was sweating throughout and in the end I always feel totally spent, despite my modifications.  Maybe because I usually stick with 3 lb. weights, but I do a lot of the moves with 5 lbs?  Who knows?  Either way, I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of definition comes from this workout, and what (if anything) this does for my strength.  I love that I am getting a full body workout in less than an hour, and all of my muscles feel totally worked.

What I don’t like is that some of the moves aren’t even.  Meaning, for the lunges you work one leg, then the other in both circuits.  Some times you’ll do 15 lunges on one leg and 12 on the other.  That’s just something that kind of drives me crazy.  I really like for things to be totally even!  I just make them even, and rewind if I have to.  Plus, it just bothers me that for almost every move Jillian says “Ready, OK” or something along those lines.  Picky, aren’t I?

I will also say that there are some moves I just won’t try.  Obviously this workout isn’t for pregnant women, so I do what I need to do.  Hopefully in a few months, once I’m back in fighting shape, I’ll be doing this whole workout from start to finish, without a single modification!

Have you tried out any of Jillian Michaels workouts?  What do you think of Jillian Michaels?