Fitness guru Jillian Michaels’ creative take on dumbbells will transform your body, giving you the strong, streamlined muscles you’ve been repping for. Guaranteed.
Fitness guru Jillian Michaels’ creative take on dumbbells will transform your body, giving you the strong, streamlined muscles you’ve been repping for. Guaranteed.
FIT FASHION.
Industry sleeveless hoodie (industryclothing.com). AGoldE x A$AP Ferg jeans (revolve.com). The Frye Company boots (thefryecompany.com).
Jillian abides by this muscle-making motto: “Get in, hit it hard, and get out.” Do her 20-minute power workout and you’ve found the sweet spot.
FIT FASHION
American Apparel tank (americanapparel.net). Pam & Gela track pants (pamandgela.com).
What do you do after you’ve whipped half of America into shape (or at least sounded the wake-up call for it to get off the couch)? If you’re Jillian Michaels, you certainly don’t downshift. In fact, she has stayed in boss mode, never really leaving prime time television since she wrapped up The Biggest Loser two years ago.
Recently, she turned the cameras on herself for the E! docuseries Just Jillian. It may be her gutsiest move yet. “I wanted to honestly portray the comedy of errors that occurs as we all embrace the struggle to juggle work, family, personal time and more,” she says. “I want people to watch it and have their own issues reflected, their feelings validated.”
What’s clear is that Jillian is at the top of her game. Throughout what she calls the “tremendous evolution” of the modern fitness industry, which she has arguably had a hand in shifting this past decade, she has remained the same supremely chiselled advocate of picking up some weights, and not the wimpy kind. (She has long preached the need for women to lift, and has always preferred free weights to machines.) “I’ve watched the trend go from being all about the low-intensity fat-burning zone to crazy for HIIT. People are also moving away from machines and towards body-weight and free-weight training,” she says. “Strong, not skinny, is now sexy, and long workouts are a thing of the past.”
For her part, she likes to play alchemist when it comes to designing routines for both everyday exercisers (witness the many hours of workouts she has created for the On Demand channel Fit Fusion) and herself. “The best teacher is ultimately the best student,” says Jillian, whose typical workout week is a combination of classes (cycling at Flywheel, free-running – a sort of acrobatic dash through obstacle courses – at Tempest Freerunning Academy, and yoga at Yoga Works, all near her home in Los Angeles) and training with other trainers, whether it’s calisthenics or big lifts. Of course, there’s a method to the mix she chooses. After all, you can’t maintain a Jillian Michaels level of sculptitude without a game plan.
“I train in different modalities so that each muscle is targeted twice a week, with two days of rest in between. So if I do a workout that’s focused mostly on ‘push’ muscles [triceps and those in the chest and front of the shoulders] like yoga, I don’t train those muscles again for two days and instead focus on ‘pull’ muscles [traps, biceps and those in the back],” she says. “I also do HIIT in almost every workout to improve my VO2 max and keep my metabolism cranking.”
But then there are times when she just needs to toss the “big boy” weights around. “Whenever I’ve had a rough day, I like to pour my frustrations into my workouts,” she says. “Being a strong woman in a man’s world can make one want to knock a few people out, and this has always been the healthy outlet for the release of that aggression.”
On those occasions, only seriously old-school tools, such as those you see on these pages, will do for a session that can include slamming sledgehammers, flipping tractor tyres, climbing ropes, and doing cleans with gritty kettlebells and gravity-defying moves on gymnastic rings. “After a workout like that, I feel so zen and focused, and ready to take on the world again from a calmer, cooler, more confident place.”
Look intimidating? It shouldn’t be, Jillian says. Power workouts can make you stronger, faster and more agile. And since you’re reading this magazine, you’re probably one of a growing number of women who have come to realise that weightlifting will not make you bigger. “On the contrary, it will help you amp up your metabolism, shed fat, and maintain lean muscle mass and strong bone density,” she says.
OK, so you probably don’t have a tractor tyre or a sledgehammer lying around your house – or even around your gym. Not a problem. Jillian has created a way to duplicate the benefits of this kind of big-equipment training with one easy-to-use item you probably already have at home (and definitely at the gym): the dumbbell. But instead of using it like a one-trick pony for steady lifts, you’ll be doing explosive, powerful reps of dynamic exercises like chops, swings, and modified slams and tosses. “Dynamic resistance training like this is an extremely metabolic workout that challenges the body with nearly every modality of fitness,” she says. “Because it’s explosive and requires tremendous power, it torches calories and conditions muscle.”
If it sounds a little intense, that’s because it’s supposed to be. “You’ll definitely feel as if you got your ass kicked during and after this workout,” she says. You’ll get breathless, and your muscles will just about catch fire.
But the good news is that the routine is compact – about 20 minutes and you’re done with both your cardio and strength for the day – efficient and effective. And if you can muscle through the discomfort, you can expect to see tremendous results. “After six weeks of this, you’ll be tighter and leaner, and notice significant improvements in your power, speed, strength and stability.”
Did you expect anything less? Now it’s time to see what magic that set of dumbbells can really do.
FIT FASHION.
Solow crop top (carbon38.com). Monrow sweatpants (bandier.com).
Think beyond a target number of reps, says Jillian. Make each workout about racking up a personal best, building the amount of reps you do over time.
FIT FASHION
Michi sports bra (michiny.com). NSF cargo pants (intermixonline.com).
YOUR WORKOUT.
Warm up with 5 minutes of dynamic stretches. Then do the moves in order for the time indicated, moving as quickly and powerfully as you can with proper form. Repeat the circuit 2 more times. Do this workout 3 days a week on alternate days for 6 weeks.
YOU’LL NEED.
A set of 3kg to 7kg dumbbells.
1 SPLIT-LUNGE JERK.
Works shoulders, abs, butt, quads.
Stand with feet hip-width apart holding a weight in each hand, with hands by shoulders, palms facing each other and elbows bent down to start. Bend knees slightly, shifting hips back [A], then powerfully jump with left leg forward and right leg back into a lunge, with both legs bent 90 degrees as you push the weights straight overhead (biceps should be in line with ears) [B]. Step right foot forward to be in line with your left foot, and lower weights to return to start. Repeat quickly for 30 seconds.
2 SUMO HIGH-PULL.
Works shoulders, back, abs, butt, inner thighs.
Stand with feet wider than hip-width apart, with toes turned out, holding a weight in each hand, with palms facing each other, arms long, and weights between thighs. Keeping chest lifted, squat until weights hover just above floor to start [A]. Powerfully come to standing, pulling weights up to and outside chest, bending elbows out to sides [B]. Lower to start. Repeat quickly for 30 seconds.
3 APE SNATCH.
Works shoulders, back, abs, butt, quads.
Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a weight in each hand, with palms facing thighs to start. Keeping chest lifted, squat until weights hover just above floor [A]. Powerfully come to standing, rising onto balls of feet as you pull weights to chest height, bending elbows out to sides [B]. Without pausing, rotate forearms upwards as you drop back into the deep squat, then stand to press weights overhead, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and with palms facing forward [C]. Pause, then return to start. Repeat quickly for 30 seconds.
4 HALO SLASH.
Works shoulders, back, triceps, abs, obliques, butt, quads.
Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a single dumbbell with both hands at one end at chest height, elbows bent, to start. Rotate weight towards left [A] and around back of head. When weight is directly beside right ear, squat, forcefully drawing weight down your midline towards the floor [B]. Return to start. Switch sides and repeat. Continue, quickly alternating sides, for 30 seconds.
Power moves – a combo of strength and speed – burn big calories.
5 LOW LATERAL CHOP.
Works shoulders, abs, obliques, butt, quads.
Stand with feet wider than hip-width, holding a single dumbbell with both hands at one end at chest height, elbows bent, to start. Squat, pivot on right foot to rotate left and extend arms out to left at shoulder height [shown]. Remaining low throughout, pivot on left foot as you rotate towards right, powerfully drawing weight across body and out to right. Continue, quickly alternating sides, for 30 seconds.
6 PLYOTRACTION.
Works shoulders, lower back, abs, butt, hamstrings.
Stand with feet wider than hip-width apart, holding one weight in right hand, with palm on front of left shoulder, elbow bent, to start [A]. Bend knees slightly, and hinge from waist to lower torso until it’s parallel to the floor as you swing right arm down. Pull slightly bent elbows out to sides at shoulder height [B]. Swing arm and stand to return to start. Repeat for 30 seconds. Switch sides and repeat for the second round.
7 SPEED-SKATER PENDULUM.
Works shoulders, chest, abs, obliques, butt, quads, hamstrings.
Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding one weight in right hand, with arms by sides. Jump right foot to the left, bending left leg and crossing it behind your right foot to land in a deep lunge, with right knee bent 90 degrees and on ball of left foot, weight outside right leg, to start [A]. Immediately jump left foot to left as you draw the weight across body in an arc, passing it to left hand at the midpoint [B]. Bend right leg and cross it behind left to land in a deep lunge, with left leg bent and on ball of right foot, weight outside left leg [C]. Switch sides and repeat. Continue, quickly alternating sides for 30 seconds.
8 LONG-JUMP SWING.
Works shoulders, abs, butt, quads, hamstrings, calves.
Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding one weight at end in right hand, arms by sides. Squat, drawing weight behind you [A]. Immediately jump as far forward as you can, swinging weight forward and up to shoulder height to pass weight to left hand [B], then land in a deep squat, swinging weight down and back to the left side of body. Continue, quickly alternating sides for 30 seconds.
FIT FASHION
L’urv sports bra (carbon38.com). Koral leggings (koral.com). Asics sneakers (asicsamerica.com).
