Exercise DVD Review: Killer Buns and Thighs (Jillian Michaels)

This is a review of Killer Buns and Thighs, a new-ish Jillian Michaels exercise DVD.

Level 1 - Lets get the time thing out of the way first: this is advertised as being about thirty minutes long; the workout itself is 37 minutes long by my clock, and the whole first level, including intro and stretching, is a full 40. Truth in advertising? Not so much.

Now, the workout is excellent. I was feeling the promised burn by the end of the first circuit, and not just because I'd been roller-skating earlier. This first level is a nice mix of the familiar (squats and lunges) and the innovative. I really liked some of the yoga and martial-arts inspired moves, including going from a very low lunge up into Warrior 3, and a combo move that involved front kick, side kick, and back kick from karate, with a squat in between each kick. The plie squat with heel raises? Ouch. The static chair pose on one leg? Ouch, ouch, ouch.

Level 2 - I can barely begin to express the terrible, terrible, terrible things Jillian managed to think up for this level. It seems like everything in here is either isometric or plyometric or both. Let me just list a few of the terrible, terrible, terrible things:

-one-legged burpies. ONE-LEGGED BURPIES, people. This means you're squatting down on one leg, jumping back into plank on one leg, jumping back up into a squat on one leg, and jumping up into the air on. one. leg. Owwwww.
-reverse squats. You start in "goddess squat" (name from yoga), which means you're down as far as you can go, flat-footed, bottom just above the ground. Then you go up into a normal squart, i.e., your thighs are parallel to the ground. Then back down. And start over. Ow, ow, ow.
-star jumps. I just . . . so you start in a squat with your feet right next to each other, all curled up. Then you jump up, arms and legs wide, as if you were in the second half of a jumping jack, except you're way up off the ground, in mid-air. Then you gather yourself back into the starting position before you hit the ground. It's like a very extreme version of a jumping jack.

And on and on it goes. Let me say this: you certainly get your money's worth on this level.

Level 3 - Not so bad. A few repeats from her "Ripped in 30" DVD. Definitely some pain, but I liked this level - especially the one-legged deadlifts. That hurt good.


Conclusion? Great DVD. When Jillian puts her mind to it, she makes the best exercise DVDs out there.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell