30 Day Shred
Jillian Michaels is a GENIUS and her weight loss DVDs are specially designed to burn fat fast by using HIIT workouts - High Intensity Interval Training - this means short intervals of intense exercise for 20 minutes. She uses a 3-2-1 system, this is three 6 minute circuits consisting of 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of ab workouts.
So, does it work? I can clarify that this one does work if you stick to it! This means 30 days of discipline, 1 workout every single day (there are 3 levels so I recommend 10 days at each level). I actually only made it to day 14 as I developed tonsillitis and literally could not move for 2 weeks. But I saw a difference from day 5, yeah, that's right DAY 5. You feel so much stronger and much more capable by day 5, the first few days in each level are TOUGH, but you just have to push through it and think of the future, think of day 10, 20 even 30 when you've finished your stages and it'll all be worth it.
To see results from only 20 minutes of exercise a day means there are absolutely no rests! None at all, you will not see results if you're pausing the DVD every 6 minutes (yes, I know you do it). Do whatever you can, it's 20 minutes of your day, do you know what percentage that is? It's less that 2% of your day and to see results like this - it's definitely worth it!
So, short answer, THIS DOES WORK, but it takes your own discipline and hard work, obviously, if you need a break you can take it, but your results won't be as good as if you didn't (though you will still see some), just try for 20 minutes a day for 30 days and see where you are then.
28 Day Teatox
So these have taken off a bit recently, with several companies offering the same thing. The tea isn't miraculously going to make you stronger and lose weight alone (despite what my mother thinks). This tea boosts your metabolism, helping you digest food more easily so that you store less fat. It also decreases bloating (something which people begin to notice at day 4), I myself suffer from bloating and it always got me down but this tea really helped me! It also increases your energy - thus why people see such results in their bodies. Increased energy makes you push yourself harder in your workouts or even have a workout on a day that you normally wouldn't. This tea motivates you to climb 12 flights of stairs instead of take the elevators. Another benefit to a teatox - it clears your skin up! This was really unexpected but many people have seen their skin improve significantly.
The downside to this tea is that, as it works to flush toxins out of your body, it flushes toxins out of your body! Expect a not very happy stomach in the first couple of days, and a possible increase in the number of blemishes you have for the first week. But as the old saying goes - 'Some things get worse before they get better'.
30 Day Challenges
As with the above, these do work, but there is no point relying solely on these quick fix challenges to achieve fitness. You will not see abs if you do 30 days of sit ups, no other exercise and eat crap all day, I'm sorry but it's just not going to work. The most improvement I saw from these challenges was the 30 day squat challenge, and I don't have to tell you about the results of this one. However, not all of these challenges give visible results, but they do make you a lot stronger! Practice makes perfect, I had a lot more bicep and tricep strength after the push-up challenge and I was all-over physically fitter after the plank challenge!
Overview
As I've said, these challenges do work, but you cannot rely on them alone to make you physically fitter and to give you visible muscles. The best way to use these challenges is to get yourself into a healthy mindset a couple of weeks before, try to eat as healthily as you can and still go to the gym! I can't stress this enough, if you've seen results without leading a healthy lifestyle, then good for you, but for most people, the results will wear off within a few weeks of completing these challenges.
Remember, just because you've completed the squat challenge, doesn't mean you never have to do squats again. You still have to carry on with certain exercises to maintain your results.
I hope this helped some of you who are thinking of starting a challenge!
CJ x
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