Jillian Michaels' Six Week Six Pack - Level 1

Jillian Michaels Six Week Six Pack - Level 1

Here’s the rundown for Level 1 of Six Week Sick Pack. This is a six week program where you do Level 1 for three weeks and then Level 2 for three weeks. Like every Jillian workout, there are two girls who do the advanced version and the modified. Basheerah is the advanced and Matty is the modifier. In this workout, Basheerah has a weight and Matty doesn’t. Get ready because Jillian is a mean woman and you have been warned. 

After a quick warmup that consists of military march, squats with x’s, lunges, and rotations, you begin the first circuit. In this workout, you do one long circuit that’s about 15 minutes long, and then repeat the circuit again, going quicker. You go up and down from doing mat work to standing ab work in this workout. You begin with knee thrusts and then backwards lunges with back extensions. You move on to burpees, and then squat rotation, where you squat down and then twist so you touch your right elbow to left knee and vice versa. After that is side lunges with a side bend. I had to drop the weight for that one. 

Next you hit the mat and extend your right leg out straight and your right arm straight, and then crunch up. After that she has you roll over and your do supermans with a lat pull. Raise up into plank position and do plank jacks. Next you do the same arm and leg crunch on the opposite side. Then she has you doing double leg stretch, which she says is a pilates move. That one was tough and I learned my core wasn’t as strong as I thought it was! Afterwards, Jillian has you doing side crunches, and then diagonal getups. Next comes extended walking plank, which I really liked, and then repeat side plank and the diagonal getups on the other side.

And next comes the last five moves that make me want to cry. Okay, not really. Well. Who knows! Even Jillian admits it’s cruel but for our own goods! It’s side plank with knee twists and spider planks with alternating legs. Both moves I imagine are what the people who are stuck in hell are doing. ;) Then comes mountain climbers, and you repeat side plank and knee twists on the other side. Finish up the circuit with bridge kicks. 

That’s it! Now you just get to repeat it, and faster! ;) 

I really liked this workout, but I will be honest. When you do the circuit over faster, some of the moves seem less safe. My back actually hurt consistently while doing this workout. I’m not sure if it’s because I may have been doing the moves wrong (I don’t think so though), using too heavy of a dumb bell (I was using 8’s), or if I was just trying to go too fast and keep up with Jillian. Once I remembered that I didn’t *have* to keep up with Jillian, it helped ease my back some, but that kind of killed my ego, and for that, I’m thinking that may be why Level 1 of Six Week Six Pack isn’t my favorite. It could also be the fact that I still really hate ab work. ;). Nothing will ever change! 

While I didn’t take measurements or really track my weight, I did notice significant changes when I looked in the mirror. Definitely was starting to get definition by the end of the three weeks, which was super exciting! Before this, I really wasn’t doing a lot of ab work, so this was really encouraging to see. As always, Jillian delivers!