Jillian Michaels Yoga Inferno Workout 1: Review!

If you know me, you know that I love Jillian Michaels. She's basically a goddess, and I adore her workouts because they are so incredibly effective and are pretty much all about half an hour long, which is perfect as I know myself and so many others are so pressed for time. And I mean, let's be honest- don't we all want to relax in our free time? These short but intense workouts are amazing because they are minimally time-consuming, but maximum fat-burning.

Also, if you cannot afford a gym membership or aren't comfortable working out in a gym, a DVD at home is the perfect thing to do! All you need is a yoga mat and some hand weights, and you're set!

Yoga Inferno is a DVD set with two half-hour intense yoga-inspired workouts. Now, when I say "yoga inspired" I mean that this is not your traditional vinyasa-flow yoga. It adds in cardio, as well as traditional aerobic movements to give you the optimum calorie burn.

Let's talk about workout 1!

Jillian jumps right into this workout with sun swings, chair poses, standing crunches... this workout really challenges range of motion, which is great for a yoga inspired practice. The first time I did this workout, I was a little overwhelmed by the fact that the warm up is so rapid-moving, but don't let that discourage you! Once the workout really starts moving, it goes very quickly.

On the other hand, I love that Jillian jumps right into it here, because one thing that occasionally frustrates me with traditional yoga is the amount of time spent in relaxation poses. To me that is just a waste of time. If I am going to do a workout, I want to do something that I know is going to burn a lot of calories (otherwise, why do it?!).
If you are someone who loves the relaxing parts of yoga, I apologize for dissing it. I do love yoga, but I just don't always feel like those elements of it are time well-spent.

Jillian is always good about offering modifications of all the moves, so if you're a beginner, you can do the slightly easier version. She also tends to offer a "badass" version of some of the moves, so if you're already a well-conditioned athlete, you can challenge yourself even more. This is also great because I have certain days where I am really feeling it, and others when I am not- therefore, I can alter the workout a little bit depending on how tired or how strong I am feeling.

This workout, like most yoga, requires a lot of upper body strength- chaturanga push ups, downward dog, planks, side planks, etc.. It is a lot, and my biggest issue with these things is I have not yet discovered the mystery of avoiding pain in my hands from putting so much weight on them. One other issue I have is that my palms get sweaty, which makes it difficult to remain balanced. I occasionally find myself having to get out of a pose just to wipe my hands on my clothes. If you happen to have the answer to this mystery, please let me know what it is.

I have gotten a better at these things though, and I know you will too.

Despite the struggles, I love this workout because the cardio intervals are super short (about 30 seconds each, and there are only maybe 4 in the workout), and a lot of balance work. I find balance poses (like Warrior 3) so amazing because my whole body is engaged, I can feel my muscles working, yet all I'm doing is standing in this position (precarious though it may be).

Overall, this is one of my favorite Jillian workouts. Once I get through it, I always feel super strong and proud of myself. Plus, the inspirational words Jillian shares at the end (she is so good at encouraging!!) always lift me up.

If you are a beginner who wants to try this workout, I would recommend trying something a little less intense before doing this- maybe do yoga a few times a week for a couple weeks, while mixing in some more traditional workouts for conditioning.
My suggestion would be to mix in Jillian's 30 Day Shred or Ripped in 30 with some youtube yoga (Yoga with Adriene is great for beginners).

Buy Yoga Inferno!