Focus On: BODYSHRED

Hi friends! How’s the day going?? Nana is here (!) so we’re loving having her around. P has been snuggling like crazy, and Liv is always happy to have another friend to play dollies and read with her. Later today, I’m putting together a new workout for ya for the holiday season, and am heading out on another trip to the post office to ship the remaining lotus tanks! If you haven’t received yours yet, it is on the way. <3

For today’s Focus On post, I thought we could talk about BODYSHRED, a fun and INTENSE total body workout. 

This past summer while I was at IDEA, I had the chance to take this class from the creator and master herself: Jillian Michaels. 

Before bodyshred

Jillian at idea

While I’ve heard a lot about BODYSHRED, it was my first experience with the workout. It’s a full-body calorie scorcher, and the intervals make it go by extremely fast.

Showcase room

What is it?

BODYSHRED is an high-intensity endurance based 30-minute workout. It’s high intensity because you’re working at your full capacity the entire time, and emphasizes endurance because you don’t stop moving until the 30-minute block is over. The “SHRED” part of the acronym stands for Synergistic, High Intensity, Resistance, Endurance and Dynamics. According to the website, the workout consists of Jillian’s 3-2-1 formula: 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abs. When we did the workout, I didn’t really pay attention to how the moves were set up; we switched exercises every 30 seconds, and while it was definitely a mix of strength, cardio and abs, I’m not sure if it was 3-2-1 exactly. I was too focused on Jillian’s awesomeness and what I needed to do next.

Sadly, I didn’t get to stay for the entire workout -I missed the last 10 minutes because we started a bit late and I needed to move my car from the metered spot from where I’d parked. Fail- but the 20 minutes was just enough to give me a taste of the style and workout. I can’t wait to try it again!

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(Source)

What to expect:

To SWEAT. I love this style of training because you are moving quickly from various types of movements with no rest in between. By doing so, the heart rate remains elevated (= higher calorie burn), you get in a great sweaty workout, and the time goes by quickly.

To work to your personal max. Because there isn’t a set amount of reps during each 30-minute block, you do as many as you can. I prefer this because it enables participants to work at their own pace.

Pros:

-Scalable. I loved that Jillian demonstrated all of the exercises before we began, and also gave progressions and regressions if you needed to modify. There were also modifiers on stage, so you were never at a loss for options if you needed to take it down a notch or wanted to power it up!

-The timer! This is GENIUS. She had a little beep in the music at the 20-second mark of the interval so she could demonstrate what was coming up next. You were meant to keep working and watch, so when the timer beeped again you could go straight into the next exercise and know what to do. I’m totally going to use this method in my own classes -I love the Class Tamer and Tabata Pro apps- which would enable me to do the same thing. It’s great to know what’s next without having to wait around for more instructions.

-It’s short! 3 cheers for 30-minute workouts, because if you work hard, that’s really all you need (if you make a point to remain active during the day). I feel like this is very attainable, especially since sometimes the hour-long classes can hinder busy potential participants.

-The balance of the exercises. I love that the core and strength work could be used as a small “recovery” in between the intense cardio drills. I felt like all of the exercises we did were functional -and there were some new ones in there!- and safe.

-It’s always changing. They use 250+ exercises so you’ll never get the same workout. This is an excellent way to keep the body guessing and prevent plateaus. 

Bodyshred at idea

Cons:

-It is an intense workout, but you can take it down as much as you need to, so I’m not sure if I would call this a “con.” If you don’t love calisthenics and interval training, it may not be your cup of tea.

-It’s not available everywhere. Here in San Diego, we have a lot of amazing fitness classes, and I haven’t heard about BODYSHRED offerings. Here is a list of the locations.

Have you taken a BODYSHRED class before or tried any of the DVDs?

What’s your current workout love that makes you work the hardest?

xoxo

Gina

More Focus On posts:

Zumba

Sparkcycle

BodyPump

Orange Theory Fitness

CORE40

Barre workouts

Turbofire

Flywheel

Shockwave

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8 Comments

  1. Julia @ Lord Still Loves Me on November 17, 2015 at 3:14 pm

    I’d be incredibly intimidated to work out with Jillian Michael’s! Occasionally, I do one of her workout videos, and even though I know precisely the comment she is going to say, it still gets to me! She is one crazy strong lady, and I love her story too. I’d be in awe of her if I ever met her.

  2. Megan @ Skinny Fitalicious on November 17, 2015 at 5:23 pm

    I took BodyShred with Jillian in Miami at Sweat USA and it was incredible! She even touched my quad when correcting my form. She really kicks your booty!

  3. Kayla on November 17, 2015 at 7:39 pm

    I used to love taking SHRED at Crunch in NYC back when I was a member. Such a great, efficient workout and perfect for people that don’t have a ton of time!

  4. Maggie @ Maggie Gets Real on November 17, 2015 at 8:37 pm

    Whoooo boy, I think I’d be too intimidated to try this one! I’ve done JM’s home videos and have mixed feelings…love the 3/2/1 template (thanks for the reminder to bring that back for my next workout haha), but my joints don’t always love the impact of her cardio moves.

    And to be honest, some (ok, most) of her coaching drives me absolutely nuts.

    I AM taking my first ever bodypump class this weekend, though! One of the instructors at the gym where I used to work has been bugging me to come to a class forEVer…So stoked about finally trying it.

    • Julia on November 19, 2015 at 6:59 am

      I’m interested in what you said about the impact on your joints. I love to do cardio/HIIT (I hate it actually, but the time frame suits my 3 kid life) and I worry about my joints too. Specifically right ankle and my right knee which always start feeling tight when I work out regularly. What do you do in workouts to scale impact? I’ll check out your site – thanks Maggie!

  5. Elizabeth B on November 18, 2015 at 7:57 am

    I love Jillian Michaels! I have her 30 day SHRED DVD and LOVE it! I don’t do it all the time b/c I like to get out of the house for my workouts but when I am short on time, it’s perfect! And b/c I don’t do it a lot I am always really sore the next day!

  6. Julia on November 19, 2015 at 7:09 am

    Gina! Amazing job writing posts right after having a baby. I’m super interested in this post bc I’ve been doing Jillian’s 30 day shred on youtube – the old freebie BeFit ones. I love the model and that I can do it at home. I do find my self still dragging to get motivated some mornings and definitely have not done 30 days straight. I think it’s very cool that you’ve had a chance to witness the magic live, as it were. Thanks for always being uplifting about fitness too. Blessings to your family!

    • Fitnessista on November 19, 2015 at 9:15 am

      thank you! (i wrote this one a few months ago though haha)
      i hope you love the workout if you give it a try!
      xoxo

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