Customer Reviews

Jillian Michaels: 6 Week Six-Pack

5 star:		(210)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

While I loved her most recent workouts (Yoga Meltdown and Shred it with Weights), they were very different in terms of her traditional style. 6 Week Six-Pack reminds me exactly why I started doing her workouts in the first place. It is very reminiscent of 30-Day Shred and Banish Fat Boost Metabolism, with a mix of traditional exercises and some I've never seen before. She blends weight training and cardio exercises, all of which focus on the abs in this case. She explains why crunches alone don't work--you must blast off the fat over your abs with cardio in order for them to show. You never stop moving in this DVD, and you'll start to sweat quickly. It's only about 35 minutes, so it's definitely easy to fit in regardless of your daily schedule. If you want a quick but hardcore way to get ripped, this is it!

At 26 years old and nearly six feet tall, I should be a shapely Amazon of a gal, but I'm not. A lack of portion control on my part and a full time job reviewing video games has lead to a physique that's not only unflattering, but unhealthy.

Over the course of months of exercise using Jillian's DVDs, I lost weight DRAMATICALLY. (To give you an idea, I went from a size 28 down to a size 16. Keep in mind I'm six foot tall here.) There was no magic, no bull, just hard work, encouragement, and inspiration. The thing about Jillian is that while she's earned and deserves her reputation for being a tough trainer, she's not an unpleasant one. There's just something about her I respond well to; she's firm but fair during her workouts, and her enthusiasm for what she's doing is infectious.

Unfortunately, late last year, in addition to getting complacent, my husband and I were also hammered by weeks where nothing seemed to go right and we had to deal with one calamity after another... a burst water main, our car breaking down (repeatedly), the declining health of a family member... it just went on and on, and long story short, I fell into depression and packed nearly all the weight back on. (I was back to a size 22.) To say I was embarrassed was an understatement; I felt ashamed of myself, that I had let not only myself but my husband down, and instead of getting back on ye olde proverbial horse, I just made things worse.

Four weeks ago I had enough. For four weeks solid, I have done an hour of exercise every day (30 Day Shred and 6 Week Six Pack) and I've already lost over twenty pounds. That was the worst part; getting back on the scale for the first time in months and seeing how far I'd let myself go. The work is hard, but I feel better than I have in years... more alert, more cheerful, more energetic. I haven't put myself on a strict diet other than the "Don't Eat Like a Lunatic" diet; controlled portions and food I prepare myself from scratch with a lot of vegetables and grains.

My goal has never been to fit into a size two. I just want to get healthier, feel better about myself, and get strong, so that if I ever need to, I dunno... wrestle a bear into submission or something I'll be ready. (Oh, you laugh now, but you can never predict when a bear will need wrasslin'.) I have no doubt that if I keep it up with Jillian, I'll get back to the way I was before (and then some) eventually. Her workouts make me feel good and good about myself; I don't have to force myself to do them anymore, and every time I step on the scale and see how the numbers are going down, it's like a little present to myself. If you have the dedication, and if you respond well to being challenged and pushed by someone who isn't going to coddle you, then you should definitely give Jillian's workouts a try.

The thing to remember is all trainers are not equal for every person. While I will personally tell you that for me, I found Jillian to be extremely likable and motivational, you might wind up disagreeing. Don't get discouraged. Keep your head up, your body moving, and remember that there's always another well-toned fish in the sea waiting for you.

I sat down & watched this workout to get familiar with it before I actually attempted it. I got tired just WATCHING! Jillian is amazing, as always! This workout is her best, and hardest, to date.

I did it for the first time yesterday...and I am SORE today! I'm in better shape than the average woman my age (45). This winter, I'm doing 2-a-day training sessions: working out with Jillian's various DVDs @ 4am before work, then running either at lunchtime on the treadmill in the gym at work or after I get home in the evening around my neighborhood. I also do a long run on the weekend. I've run 20+ races in the past 3 years, including 7 half marathons and 1 full marathon. I'm not an elite runner, by any means; I'm more of a middle-of-the-pack runner, but my point is that I work out all the time, I'm in really good shape, but this workout KICKED MY BUTT! I had to do the 'beginner version' of a lot of the exercises, though the girl doing the beginner modifications wasn't using a handweight. I did.

Oh, and don't be fooled just because it's called '6 week 6-pack.' You won't be laying on the floor doing crunches the whole time. As always, Jillian keeps it aerobic, working multiple muscle groups simultaneously. Your biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest, and back are going to feel the burn too because a lot of the exercises are done in plank, or some variation of plank.

I HIGHLY recommend this workout! Absolutely LOVE it! Yes, I'm sore from doing it yesterday...and yes, I'm doing it again tomorrow!

If you're a fan of Jillian's style, you will NOT be disappointed!

I am 49 years old and have had 5 children. I have JM's 30 Day Shred, which I love. I needed something to help more with the abs and so I couldn't wait to get this DVD. It is all I needed and more! I love the fact that there is cardio built in as I usually do 10 minutes of jump rope when doing weight training. This one kicks butt and though I'm only on Level 1, I will progress to Level 2 shortly as I really enjoy the burn! This is a winner, will be cycling this with the 30 Day Shred and some other faves! I've lost 8 pounds since August using these videos and the trick is to do them every other day with some kind of sustained cardio (30 to 40 minutes). I usually jump rope or dance. Last but not least, DIET is key to losing! You have to truly cut out the sugar and breads.. all the carbs that bloat you, and eat more protein. Eat 5 small meals a day, balanced with protein and veggies and fruit. I have kept my calories to between 1100 and 1200 and try hard to eat only at meal/snack times and not in between (no BLT's.. bites, tastes, licks!).. I promise if you stick to a 1200 calorie balanced WHOLE FOOD diet and exercise using Jillian's DVD's at least 3-5 times a week, you WILL lose weight fast! I was skeptical, but not anymore. At almost 50 years old, I thought it would be near impossible to lose weight, inches and get in shape in less than 4 months, but I've done it! Good luck to everyone! This is an awesome DVD!

First, before anyone takes offense, I'm a Jillian fan. I absolutely love No More Trouble Zones and Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism. I cannot say enough about those 2 workouts. I wanted a workout that was strictly abs to supplement on the days I do outdoor cardio. I have pretty strong abs and am sick enough to actually like working them. So of course I bought Jillian's ab workout!

Except it's not really an ab workout. Sure there's ab work, but it's pretty fast paced cardio. I didn't need or want that. I wanted to go nuts on my abs a few days a week. I get that you have to do cardio to burn the fat off in order to see the ab muscles, but I take care of that with other work outs.

People have mentioned before that in some of Jillian's workouts, she goes so fast that it's easy to get injured. I consider myself intermediate-just touching into advanced, so I wasn't worried about that. Well, I was wrong (maybe I'm not as close to advanced as I thought). I can handle burpees, but with the fast paced ones, that wierd spider thing, wild warm ups, and all the other oddities in this workout, before I knew it, I had strained a calf muscle. Now that plain hurts! Not to mention, thanks to this unnecessary injury, my cardio and lower body work had to be severely modified for 3 weeks. That meant a half inch gain to my waistline. =-O Fortunately, NMTZ & BFBM took care of that once I was able to really get into it again.

I gave it 3 stars, because I think it could be a good workout if you weren't really doing cardio, or if you just want it as part of a larger rotation. That's not what I was looking for.

Jillian rules! This program will, if you follow it faithfully along with eating well, make a significant difference in your core. It did for me.

Until I bought this program, in preparation for an Hawai'i trip, I had never seen her on TV. Of course, she's everywhere in the stores, and reviewing her various products they seem in general very good quality.

Here, she provides two levels, ~35 minutes each if you include her brief warm-up and thankful cool down. Do each level for 3 weeks. She has one of her partners, during the program, do more advanced work and one easier, so you can vary the intensity- and also, you can add weights as you improve. As she states, "you can always do more".

Your results depend on 2 things: 1)your starting point; I'm not overweight, don't need general weight loss exept that middle age gut thing, and I need some cardio; and 2) your commitment! Commitment includes a consistent good, eating plan or forget the whole thing. Make sure your OK healthwise to start an aggressive program, get plenty of sleep, plenty of H20 hydration, and listen to your body- don't injure yourself- progress as your able, but keep moving! Take it day by day. Boy, I sound like Jillian!

The first week was intense. I realized how out of shape I really was. She uses a lot of cardio- Burpees(I hate Burpees- they're major cardio!), mountain climbing(Basically running in place from a plank or push-up position) etc., and she uses a lot of plank positions and not straight crunches. As she says, her program is "not about the crunch", it's about building strength.

Each week, I improved. Mostly, it was an issue of getting my endurance up. I started adding light weights, doing the more difficult positions and feeling terrific instead of "Im dying here!" Especially after the day's program. In 6 weeks, my waist looked good with mild definition, a layer of flab gone, standing/sitting straighter, my energy majorly increased, my sleep better, thinking better. Success!

I will say if you stick with any good program and meal plan, you'll have results, but I like Jillian's attitude and persona. She pushes you and does it with fun. She also offers a free 30 day use of her website; however, you do have to enter your credit card info even if you plan to bail out before the charges start. For those who really need weight loss help, it might be the way to go.

Now for the cons: some reviewers complained of neck stiffness. That can happen with any exercising, but especially with abs. I didn't have any problems and might recommend gently stretching the neck beforehand and supporting it gently, if need be, during some of the moves(as she shows in one of the beginning sets). Definitely don't pull on it, and if you have any neck problems beforehand- talk to your doctor. I did get some shoulder stiffness because there are so many plank positions, and I had to modify the side plank exercise because it bugs my over 40 shoulders.

I did this program 3-4 days a week, and for the remaining 2-3 days(total of 6 days working out) I did my own program: doing 20 minutes of supersetting light weights to hit the whole body, moving fast for cardio; gentle stretching everyday for 10-15 minutes(even at work during lunch hour); Sunday was a full day of rest or a nice walk in the neighborhood/park.

It's mostly a mind thing- commit with specifics to it, and you'll reap rewards, and Jillian and this DVD can definitely help. I'm impressed; she does a great job!

I admit it, I'm a Jillian fan. I'm not in love with every single thing she produces, but this DVD is honestly one of my favorites. Perhaps my very favorite Jillian DVD.

This is a tough core workout, done Jillian-style at an almost-cardio pace. It's one of the ones that will make you swear at her the first time you do it, which I consider to be a good thing! I'm in good shape and work out 6-7 days a week for at least an hour a day, and I was sore after this one. The variety of exercises is excellent and kept my interest throughout both levels. The format is a little different from most other Jillian workouts. Instead of a series of circuits with several moves apiece, as you normally see with Jillian, you'll do all the moves in the workout one after another and then repeat the entire thing for the second circuit. Some people may not like this departure from her normal format, but I found it a welcome change from what I expected.

My only issue with this DVD is that I feel the title is misleading. I really wonder whether Jillian makes up the titles to these things or whether a marketing team does it. Either way, the title indicates that this workout will give you a six pack in six weeks, yet Jillian gives no instruction (unless there's more talk in a section I've skipped - if so, sorry Jillian!) on how to achieve that result. Look, most of us can't get a six pack in six weeks - that's just the truth, so if Jillian is going to make these promises about delivering results in a certain amount of time (30-day shred, Ripped in 30, etc), she needs to help us out a little. How many days a week does she suggest we do this workout? How much cardio does she suggest we do in addition to this workout? What about diet? None of this is discussed, and while most of us know the basics of how to lose fat and get fit, a workout that makes any kind of claim of delivering specific results in a specific timeframe should include some specific directions in addition to the workout. If you do this workout every day for six weeks, but you eat nothing but cheeseburgers, you're still going to be fat and you won't have a visible six pack. I know you can pay to join her website, but the DVD should not be a trick to get people to pay for website membership - there should be some standalone advice. Just my two cents.

This is one of Jillian's toughest in my opinion. I like the set up of it and how you do the entire workout twice rather than splitting in into 3 circuits. All of the moves I really felt in my abs and especially obliques. This one is no joke! I loved it.

I was SO sore the next day and I do a lot of interval training & Jillian's workouts. Tough, but worth it!

I am quite the Jillian Michaels fan. I have all of her books and fitness DVD's. I must say that this is the best one yet. A little over a year ago, I gave birth to my second child and needed to lose the extra 50 pounds that I gained during the pregnancy. With Jillian's DVD's, I lost the weight and have remained active and in shape with her additional releases. I really wanted to have defined arms and her DVD's certainly delivered. When I started, I could hardly do two jumping jacks. Over time, her Level 1 became pretty easy for me (even on those newly released). The 6 Week Six-Pack Level 1 pretty much knocked me down on the ground. After the first day of working out with this DVD, I slept extremely well and noticed an increase in my appetite (I could definitely tell that something was happening to my body). If I start to get comfortable with any move on this DVD, she is right there offering a step up to whip me back into shape. I LOVE IT!!! :)

AMAZING!!! I'm in the last week of the 6 weeks program and I can see a huge difference in my abs!!! I actually, can spot the 6 packs in my abs!! I still have a little belly fat to lose, but I'm working on it, and I can definetely see the difference from the beggining to this last week. I have never had a 6 pack before and I'm very excited about it! It's a great dvd workout. Just watch out no to get injured: stay on your own pace, and, as you get used to it, speed it up. It's really, really incredible! I'm so happy with my new abs!!!