Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown – Review
When I heard Jillian Michaels was coming out with Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown I was pretty excited. While I'd been hoping for more of a sequel to the 30 Day Shred, I was curious to see what Jillian would do with yoga.
The first thing I noticed was that there weren't 10 minutes of ads for other DVDs. Hallelujah! I started with Level 1 (30 minutes), and after introducing her backup dancers Jillian began the warmup.
From the first move it's obvious that this isn't standard yoga, and that Jillian isn't a yoga instructor. In fact, anyone who's really into yoga may cringe when they first see this workout. She pushes through the moves quickly, turning what are normally slow moves into fast ones. Although she uses standard yoga terms, there's no touchy-feely atmosphere. Honestly, it took me by surprise and for part of the warmup I felt off balance – both physically and mentally.
But once I got into the groove and began to understand where she was going, I really liked it. In a way it's sort of misleading calling this "yoga" because it's so different from most yoga DVDs. She started with yoga moves but made them her own, in the process turning it into something a lot more interesting than most yoga I've done.
Jillian did a good job picking moves that yoga-newbies can do. There's nothing in Level 1 that I couldn't do some form of – except for the pushups, which are insanely difficult if you do them properly, even modified – and everything can be made as easy or as difficult as you need. She did a better job than many of the DVDs I've used when explaining the moves, and usually gave verbal cues when transitioning between moves. That's especially helpful when you're doing down dog and can't see the TV.
My big disappointment was in the lack of cardio (I haven't tried Level 2 yet, but it's only 20 minutes long). I suppose that's going to happen with any type of yoga, but still I was hoping for Jillian to incorporate at least a little bit. Overall the workout was nowhere near as intense as any of her previous dvds and, despite the DVD's claim that you could "lose up to 5 pounds a week," I think some supplemental cardio will be required. But for me it's a welcome addition to my workout library.
Overall verdict: I ended up enjoying this DVD – it's like yoga for people who don't do yoga. The routine in Level 1 is a good blend of strength and stretching, but essentially no cardio. The moves are well suited for beginners, but Jillian shows how they can be made more challenging. This will be an excellent addition to my cross training days while I'm running, however if you're familiar with yoga and already have yoga DVDs you enjoy (or if you're a yoga purist), you may not enjoy Jillian's style.
[Although the amazon link above is an affiliate link, meaning if you purchase something through it we get a little money, this was not a sponsored post. I bought the DVD with my wife's own hard earned money].
-Bill
Edited to add: The Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown dvd is on sale at our affiliate Amazon.com for 40% off!
Thanks so much for your review! I’m definitely going to try it out soon. I’ve never done yoga so I won’t be “offended” by Jillian’s take on it. I love to do the 30 Day Shred along with running, so this will just offer something new and change things up a bit. Y’all have a blast at the Tiarathon!
I felt the same way – not a bad video but not what I am used to from her. No hearts were gargled to say the least, but I did feel good after finishing level 1. I will give level 2 a try – but right now it’s in the “I can do this workout during my lunch hour at the office without coming back looking like a hot mess” or the “I only ran a 5k today so i can cool down with 30 minutes of Jillian’s yoga” I give it a meh, but it’s not so bad I won’t figure out how to add it into my routine once and a while.
“it’s like yoga for people who don’t do yoga.” Yes, exactly!
I loved it. There’s a yoga show on Oxygen called Inhale that I used to do religiously once upon a time. It was my first experience with yoga, so I was bored with slower “real” yoga DVDs. Jillian’s DVD reminded me of Inhale in that it’s not the new-agey traditional yoga we’re used to. And I’m definitely sore this morning after doing it yesterday. As others mentioned, I think this will be my “stretch” after short runs.
Excellent, can’t wait to give it a try! And good luck to you guys this weekend!!
Ha, I was especially wondering how the yoga would work, what with Jillian mentioning her lack of flexibility several times throughout the Shred DVD! It’s a pity- I’d be much more likely to buy a pilates video from her than a yoga video.
i tried the version that was on- demand last night and was very surprised and happy with it. I don’t know if it is Level 1 or 2 but it was very challenging to me. I was definitely sweating by the end and enjoyed it. Definitely not your standard yoga class but a fun faster version
Thanks Bill, I may get this—I dislike a lot of the more “touchy feeling” yoga DVD’s anyway, so this might be right for me! And, since I haven’t done a damned thing in months, it’d be a good way to ease back into things. . .
Am glad you mentioned that the push-ups are insanely difficult! I’ve done Level 1 a couple of times now, and was dismayed to see that even the girl doing the modified version (sorry, haven’t remembered her name yet
was getting her nose to the ground.
I agree with you on pretty much all points. I didn’t have particularly high hopes as far as cardio was concerned, so I am very impressed with this dvd. As you said, it won’t be replacing the Shred, or my runs, but it is great to do on a “rest” day as strength training.
This is my reward for finishing the 30 Day Shred (Thursday will be my first day of Yoga Meltdown). I’m so psyched to start!!! (My friend has my Yoga Meltdown in hiding and will not give it to me until Wednesday when I hit Day 30 because I know I’ll cheat and do it ahead of time.)
Cheat? lol, that is so funny. I love Jillian and really like Shred. I guess I’ll try this one.
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