Review: Jillian Michaels' Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism

This video has taken me forever to review!

As you know, I have done a lot of Jillian Michaels videos (6 Week 6 Pack, 30 Day Shred, No More Trouble Zones, Ripped in 30, Yoga Meltdown) because I don't belong to a gym and work out at home.  Besides her being so well-known, her videos are inexpensive on Amazon and widely available in stores, so I keep seeing them and wanting them.

What I mostly like about this one is that it requires no equipment.  I mean, you are definitely better off with a mat, but no weights, bands, kettlebells, or anything else is required.  Nobody is using them, either, so it's not like "oh, you don't need this, but you kind of should have this."

The workout claims to be 40-minutes, which I will tell you right now is NOT true.  With a tight morning schedule like mine, this really matters.  In fact, I rarely have time to do this workout on weekdays due to it being more like 55 minutes (warm-up + cool-down), and I often skip either warm-up or cool-down in the process.

Jillian does six circuits, which consists of 5-6 moves that are repeated twice.  I feel like this is one circuit too many, but others can see it as "bang for your buck."  A couple of circuits have a kickboxing theme, while one is calisthenics, one core, etc.  I think the second circuit is the toughest, as it involves jumping and squatting a lot in succession.  If I were more creative, I could skip over a circuit to make this fit within a more reasonable time window, and I'd probably choose the second kickboxing one, because I felt it was a little light in intensity (though probably because it is a recovery one).

I burned over 300 calories doing this workout, which is not bad for 45-50-ish minutes,so it's definitely worth trying out.  A lot of Jillian's other workouts are more strength-focused, and this is definitely more cardio-focused, which is a great supplement.  It's not as high-impact as Insanity or Focus T25, though it still involves some plyometric moves.  Also, I found Jillian to be the least banter-y (annoying?/chatty?) in this video than some of the others.

I know Jillian has a handful of newer videos, but I have to run through my many other videos to financially justify getting more.  My disc player is definitely getting its own workout, though!

If you're curious, I believe you can try Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism online here (update: resource has disappeared into cyberspace...)