Turbo Jam: Cardio Party Remix & Jillian s Cardio Kickbox

[Guest guest]

Tonight I completed two virgin 30 minute workouts.First and foremost I wanted to party with Chalene, and popped in Turbo Jam's Cardio Party Remix. I was initially surprised to see that it was only 30 minutes long, but what a dynamite 30 minutes it was! The combinations were much the same as ones we do in Turbo Kick from Rounds 24 and 25, but tweaked just slightly to be even better, in my opinion. The music on this particular cardio party is the best of them all, and I really like the feature with the music "pumped up". I'm familiar enough with the combinations that I could predict most of the moves with the exception of the turbos (yes - plural, there are 2 turbos in this one!). This is my favorite of the cardio parties, and the finesse is one of my top five favorites. You start with the jenga step, then march for 2, quick 1,2,3, with two front kicks, back kick, then two knee, crescent kicks. My only

critique of this workout is that there weren't many kicks, only a few in the finale and maybe a brief kick someplace else. Overall, a VERY fun way to spend 30 minutes working out! My mood was instantly lifted afterwards because the music was good and the choreography matched the music. And Chalene, of course... is Chalene! She infuses Turbo Jam with that special "somethin' somethin'".I was still needing more cardio though and went with Jillian 's Cardio Kickbox. I wasn't going to buy this one until I saw it cheap at Ross. I'm glad I did! It is just about as polar opposite from Turbo Jam as you can get, and I was delighted to have an opportunity to work my body differently.Someone else reviewed this a few days ago and I agree, it is the most drill like cardio kickboxing workout I've ever seen or done. Jillian leads you through a series of bootcamp drills that don't necessarily go with music. It's more

like a P.E. class where you do one quick set of drills after another, then repeat them all. Examples are:30 jumpropes20 squats side to side10 roundhouse on one leg10 on the other leg30 jumping jacks20 quick jab crosses in a low horse stancethen repeating all of the above several times. There are no breaks, so this really is an intense workout. Some might find this kind of workout boring, but truly there's no time to be bored if you're giving it your all and working hard.I put on my boxing gloves and did most of this workout on my freestanding bag and was dripping sweat by the end. The workout lasts around 30 minutes.Jillian has a lovely, strong, healthy looking body and she is very pretty. I don't watch t.v. and have never seen The Biggest Loser, so this was my first encounter with her.I would LOVE to have a body like Jillian's! She says in the prelude that she was

difficult growing up and I can see that, as she sort of talks like the stoners did in high school. I feel badly for her because this "stoner talk" makes her come across as not being that bright, though I imagine in reality that she is very bright and I hate to see such strong, confident woman short change herself. At the end of the workout Jillian gives a short motivational pep talk which adds a nice touch. This would be a good workout for the morning when complicated choreography might not register just yet. I will definitely keep this one and do it again and look forward to trying the other two of hers I picked up.