Jillian Michaels Kicked My…Entire Body

I headed down to Atlantic City, N.J., on Saturday to attend Sweat AC, a new 3-day fitness festival just a couple of hours south of NYC. With an expo showcasing fitness and health products, opportunities to work out with celeb trainers (like Jillian Michaels!) and time for roundtable interviews with the likes of Jillian and Joy Bauer, you better believe I dragged the whole fam to the Jersey Shore.

We all know how Jenn had the opportunity to work out one-on-one with Bob Harper. Well, while my workout wasn’t as up close and personal, I was still in a class taught by Jillian Michaels. THE Jillian! And boy, she did not disappoint. After taking her boot camp class, I kept thinking that it is no wonder that The Biggest Loser contestants shed hundreds of pounds. She will kick your rear in gear.

Don’t let her smile fool you. She will make you suffer.

So, the workout started with a bang and continued with a BOOM. There were high knees, jumping lunges, push-ups, squat thrusts, burpees, mountain climbers, jumping rope, jumping squats, donkey kicks. You name the boot camp move and Jillian pulled it out in this workout. I am not even kidding when I say that I’m glad I was media and had the excuse to take a break to go snap a picture or two.

She’s not afraid to drop an F-bomb to make you push yourself.

Beyond the aforementioned moves, Jillian was a big fan of the plank on Saturday. MY GOODNESS DID WE PLANK. Planks, side planks, planks with twist and turns. By the time she pulled out ONE-ARMED mountain climbers, I was spent. My arms were shaking. It is a testament to how challenging the class was when I was RELIEVED when we went back to the faux jump rope and jumping jacks at the end.

You can see the sweat dripping from my forehead.

When the group started to noticeably (and understandably!) slow down toward the end of the workout, Jillian had her ways to keep us fired up. She made it clear that she didn’t come all the way from the West Coast for us to take breaks. Not afraid to drop a curse word or five to get you moving, she’s slightly terrifying. In the best way. And I wouldn’t expect anything less! Here’s a short video so you can get a feel for her encouragement.

Today, I’m hit with the second-day post-workout soreness. My lower body is sore but not doing so bad. But my upper body and core have been beaten with the soreness stick. Every muscle from the waste up is hurting. I almost had to call in reinforcements to get my bra off last night. I feel kinda bad for making fun of my hubby’s soreness now. Workout karma, I suppose!

When’s the last time you discovered muscles you didn’t know you had? Anyone else had the pleasure of working out with Jillian? —Erin