Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 [DVD]

This DVD is set up in the same way as Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. It uses her 3-2-1 method of 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs, and each workout lasts 25 minutes. There's also a brilliant meal plan online - to lose weight you should eat less and move more, but you have to be careful not to eat too little. If you're not exercising, you need to consume about 1,200 calories a day. Any less and your body will start to suffer. If you're exercising, you need more because your body needs to refuel and repair itself, especially after workouts like these.Jillian Michaels' workouts are vigorous, and while they may only last 20-30 minutes, she packs in so much that you get a lot of out it. But just how much you get out of it depends on how hard you work and how you eat. Her meal plan has been put together to give the right balance of carbs, protein, fats and so on for your body to refuel and repair while still allowing you to lose weight without going hungry. As she says, "you have to eat your way through exercise."The DVD is broken into four different workouts, whereas the 30 Day Shred is broken into 3. The idea is that you move on to a different section every week. It takes your body about 4-6 weeks to adjust enough to any single routine that it stops being effective, so even if you used each different routine for two weeks rather than one, using the DVD for 60 days rather than 30, you would still get so, so much out of it. But by moving on to a different routine every week you increase the difficulty steadily and consistantly for the most effective results. Your body gets no chance at all to get used to any of the moves, so they remain a challenge, and that means your body has to work a lot harder to complete each set of each move, which increases calorie-burn and, in turn, improves results as well as delivering them faster.The difficulty between each level isn't drastic, but each week builds on the previous routine. For example, in week 1 you learn plank, in week 2 you learn a plank variation, and in week 3 more variations. You will even see the plank in cardio moves. In short, you may revisit moves, but you will never perform them the same way. Your body is continuously kept guessing and being challenged, but every move is doable.If you used the 30 Day Shred and are looking for the next level, this is it. It's harder than the Shred, but not so much so that it's a massive jump. Week 1 of Ripped In 30 is like Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred. You're walked through clearly and concisely and constantly offered advice on what not to do, how to maintain form and avoid injury.There are two back-up exercisers, one is designated the advanced modifier, and the other the beginner's modifier. So, if you're struggling with a move, rather than compromise on form and effectiveness in order to slog through to the end of the set, there is a modification to make it easier but still effective so that you can complete your set and be proud of doing so. And, if the standard version is too easy, there's a modification to make it harder. You may well find yourself switching between the three options (easier, standard, advanced) for each move. There are some that are so easy for me that I will do them as advanced, and others in that same week that I can only just complete at beginner. You simply push yourself as hard as you can, but don't feel shame if you have to turn some of the moves down to easier settings.The same goes with weights. I may be able to do a single-legged squat with a corkscrew bicep curl (yup, week 3) with 4kg weights, but I have to use 2kg to do a stork stance with a reverse fly (week 3 again), even if I have both feet on the ground.And if you're wondering what weight is best to use for what, as it's always best to have a selection, use this simple rule: a weight should be light enough that you can maintain form and complete a set, but also heavy enough that you struggle to maintain that form on the final 2-3 reps. You should be struggling at the end of each set and be grateful to put your arms down at the end. And like I said above, you'll find you'll be using different weights for different moves because some muscles are simply stronger and sturdier than others.Ideally you'll want between 1.5kg to 2.5kg.In short, this DVD is as brilliant as the 30 Day Shred, taking you to the next level and keeping your body challenged. It's more than worth the money.

UPDATE 17/05/11: This is JM's best yet. I am now toned all over, my stomach is FLAT and defined in a way that even 6 week 6 pack did not achieve. This is undoubtedly due to all the plank work across the 4 workouts. I haven't followed the eating plan and have just eaten normally (gastro weekends away; parties; dinners out, melting middle chocolate puds), but still shrunk more than I thought possible. It's 2 weeks away from my holiday now and I am slipping into size 8 shorts and not too worried about being seen in a bikini. Result! The 30 days being up, I am now combining this with No More Trouble Zones or 6 week 6 pack (I do RI30 5 days a week, 3 of those days I follow on with one of the other workouts too). This seems to have given me even better results, especially on the stomach. A strange tip: I found that resting for 2 days gave better results compared to resting for 1 day. Not arguing with that. My fave workout was Week 4, especially the very last sit-up exercises. Good luck to anyone who tries this - stick with it, you will see and feel a massive change!Anyone who has 30DS NEEDS this DVD as THIS is 30DS maxed out and refined. As the previous reviewer Sharnie has said, the idea behind this workout system from JM is that you complete workouts 1 through to 4 throughout consecutive weeks, going on to the next level each week. It is recommended that you complete the workouts at least 5 times a week (though one rest day per week is encouraged).Anyone who has 30DS or BFBM will recognise the 3-2-1 strength-cardio-abs system, which really helps you to focus on giving your all through 30 second bursts of each move. While none of the exercises are repeated outside of each workout, anyone who has JM's other offerings will recognise most of the exercises across the 4 workouts. Although this DVD is closest in format and ethos to 30DS, the cardio moves were more akin to BFBM (a definite plus for me!).In terms of difficulty, there is no doubt that this is harder than 30DS although I would say that for anyone who has managed a week or two of 30DS, then RI30 Level 1 should be achievable. There are beginners and advanced modifications throughout all of the workouts, so it's easy to take it up or down a notch depending upon how difficult/easy you find each exercise. In a fit of madness, I tried each workout back to back (yes, I had to rest between each workout and I have not exercised at all today!). Again, I agree with the previous reviewer that there appears to be less of a step up from Level 3 to Level 4 as compared to, say, Level 1 to Level 2. That said, each of these workouts is a serious sweat-inducer and I was well worked out with Level 1, never mind Level 4.My favourites from this workout have to be the Bridge and Spider Plank with Press-Up which I am determined to master (you might recognise the latter from 6 week 6 pack). There is a lot of plank work across this series of workouts.JM is great in this DVD and she looks amazing, a real inspiration. I noticed a few reviewers on amazon.com saying that they found her style on this DVD annoying, but I found her more likeable than ever here. There is the usual cajoling and bullying, but that's all a bit tongue in cheek. She is a real motivator and it is obvious that she really wants those who have bought the DVD to put 110% into the workouts; after all, as she says herself, she makes big promises about the effectivness of the workouts, but we actually have to perform the exercises.I downloaded the meal plan out of interest more than anything else - the DVD menu tells you how to do that (it's through JM's website). Now obviously the plan is written for a USA based customer, so there are products mentioned that are not available over here, but that said the majority of recipes seem easy enough to prepare and it should not be difficult to find similar products over here. Basically, the meal plan amounts to approximately 1400 calories per day and looks fairly balanced and sensible. I noticed that some customers had requested that JM include more options for vegetarians; apparently, she is going to update the meal plan soon to reflect those requests. I would imagine that following the meal plan in conjunction with the workouts could not fail to bring results; not just weight loss, but also improved tone. There's only one way to find out - so I will update in 4 weeks.In the meantime, don't even think about it, get the DVD, get sweating and get ripped (as JM would say). You will love it!