The Biggest Loser: Last Chance Workout [DVD]

So there are 3 levels of workouts--weeks 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6 (it's built as a 6-week weight loss program for those who are starting at beginner fitness levels). Thinking I was already a badass in tiptop shape, I immediately jumped to weeks 5-6 in the hopes that I would find a real butt-kicker of a workout. When the program started, I was DELIGHTED to see my girl-crush Jillian surrounded by some of my favorites from BL Season 8, including Sione, Alan, Liz, Amanda, Danny, Daniel, and Tara from Season 7 as an added bonus. We began with a 5 minute warm-up, which sufficiently got my blood pumping and my early-morning yawns to subside (I did this before work this morning). After the warm-up, we began a 25 minute workout that included 5 different circuits of cardio and strength training, alternating between the two (aside here: I just read an article in a fitness journal about how effective interval training of strength and cardio is for calorie burning and muscle toning--how you get your maximum workout by doing strength moves with weights and then in between, you do a minute or so of cardio...which is exactly what this workout is so I was thrilled!). What was instantly refreshing to me was that none of the participants knew the workout in advance, so they seemed as clueless as I was as a first-timer to this workout (another aside: I really dislike workout videos where everyone knows what's going on except for me, and then the first couple of times doing the DVD, I feel like a total idiot; but no one knew what was going on here, so it was really nice to have other clueless people with me). I was getting through the circuits just fine, sweating a bit, heart rate pumping, thinking to myself, "this really isn't so bad!'" and just as I uttered those words in my head, BAM! Jillian had us on the ground doing mountain climbers, plank-jacks, and I think even some pushups...and I felt like I was going to die! Fortunately, it was the last circuit in the 25 minute program so I toughed it out; but I do have to say that towards the end of the last circuit, I really did have to use the BL contestants as a motivator thinking, "If those fatsos can do it, what excuse do I have?!" (not that all of them were fatsos, mind you, but I tend to get a bit snarky when I'm being forced to do plank jacks and all I want to do is give up...no offense, BL contestants--I love you all! You're an inspiration!). As soon as I thought I just couldn't do any more, the 25 minute circuit was over and Jillian was congratulating me on a job well done. Note: the 5 minute warm up and 25 minute workout are absolutely fine as a stand-alone workout--if you only have 30 minutes to spare, it'll give you a good run for your money...strength training, cardio, lots of core work...totally fine workout on its own. HOWEVER, if you REALLY want your "Last Chance Workout", you let the DVD keep playing and then you find... A 15 minute upper body workout that is great for sculpting and toning your back, arms, and shoulders. It, too, was pretty smooth sailing in the beginning; but just as I thought, "this really isn't so bad!", BAM! My shoulders were on fire and felt like my arms were going to fall off. It was awesome! I was using 5 pound weights, but you could easily lower or increase the weights based on your fitness level. If it's too easy, then increase the weights a couple of pounds and I guarantee that you'll get a great upper body workout. After I thought my shoulders were going to fall off, it was time to hit the deck and do plank rows and plank flies which again caused me to shout out "If Danny can do it, so can I", because I really didn't know how I was going to finish them. They were brutal (in a good way though)! And now that I think about it, I can't remember if these plank rows and flies were in the upper body portion or the lower body portion...I think they were upper body...I can't remember now. All I know is that they were super hard and made my core feel like it was on fire! It was great! Note: you probably wouldn't want to do JUST this upper body workout as it's only 15 minutes and doesn't really have any cardio in it, but if you're looking for something to tone your upper body AFTER you do something else (like go for a run or a walk at the park), then you could absolutely do just this circuit and get a good upper body tone. Once the upper body workout was finished, it was on to a 10 minute lower body workout, which mainly consisted of squats and lunges with weights (and a tiny bit of cardio). Again, I used my 5 pound weights and got a very nice lower body workout. I may increase my weights next time to 8 pounds just to get an even better workout, as I could have handled it on some of the squats and lunges; regardless though, it, too, was a great workout that wouldn't necessarily be adequate as a stand-alone but could easily be a "tack on" to other cardio you're doing. Note: looking back, you could easily use the upper body and lower body circuits as a "tack on" to a run or walk at the park to get great toning into your workout. Together they would only take 25 minutes, but should be a nice addition to whatever cardio you're doing (if you prefer to mix up your cardio but still get in some strength training). After the lower body workout, we moved to a 5 minute cool down, which I have to say I was very glad to do. By the end of the workout, I was sufficiently sweaty, with several aching muscles and a nicely elevated heart rate. 55 minutes total but with the circuits and moving through the different programs, it went by very quickly and didn't seem like 55 minutes at all. Pros: (Lots of pros!) Doesn't take up much space at all--was able to do it in my bedroom in front of my bed with plenty of room to move; easy for any sized house or apartment All you need is a set of hand weights--you can use a yoga mat if you want, but the only time you get on the ground is to do plank work and pushups so you don't even really need a mat Moves quickly and doesn't seem like 55 minutes at all! Great combo of cardio, strength training, core work, and toning Past contestants are very motivating and nice friendly faces Cons: (Not many cons at all) Jillian doesn't do the best job of explaining the moves before the contestants do them, so sometimes you're lost the first move or two--problem will correct itself with repeated uses Background music is sucky but it always is Overall review: Great workout, nice addition to anyone's fitness DVD collection--even for those who are already fit!

I completed this entire DVD yesterday and I feel it today! Did I sweat?? Yes!! The workout is really tough and although there are beginner modifications, I would rate this DVD for an intermediate and up exerciser. Here's what I liked: 1. I liked the ability to pick just one workout or complete the entire DVD. The workout starts with a Warm-up--the cover says 5 minutes, but I timed it with my HRM and it ended up being closer to 7 minutes. The next section "The Last Chance Workout" consisted of 5 (five), 30 second circuits. The circuits switched between cardio and upper/lower body strentgh training moves. Even though the strentgh training moves we slower, my heartrate still stayed in the aerobic zone the entire time. The cardio moves were high and low impact--they included jumping jacks, jump rope, squats, kickboxing, etc. The strength moves included the regular upper/lower body moves with lots of push-ups and planks and variations of both thrown in for good measure...I found them to be the most difficult. This section timed out for me at 26 minutes while the cover says 25 minutes The Upper/Lower Body sections (10 minutes each) were again the regular strength moves (lunges, squats, bicep,shoulder, triceps) with variations thrown in..all over a very good hard workout. I wasn't really happy about not being able to program the DVD like the other Biggest Loser DVD's in the past. Usually, I can pick one or more sections, add them together and then have a specific perosnal workout. This DVD allows the user to pick one/all or a preprogrammed workout. I also wasn't very happy with some of Julian's language. I am very far from a prude, but to me, calling a client "my bitch" is just unprofessional. Other than the couple of negatives, this DVD is worth every single cent and if you have an MP3 player on your computer, you will even receive a free CD to download...it's a fun workout music --about 125-128 beats per minute. Enough to get your heart pumping.

This review is based on the entire hour long workout (which is how I intend to always use this DVD). Ok, I'm just gonna get straight to the point; this DVD is all you need!! I am a huge fan of Jillian (either ya love her or ya don't), and I own most of her DVDs. To me, this felt like her Banish Fat Boost Metabolism DVD & No More Trouble Zones DVD combined in one workout (strength plus cardio in one workout). I wore my lovely Polar FT4 heart rate monitor while doing this workout & apparently I burned 450 calories (I'm 5'3 & I weigh 130)!! Unbelievably, I only burned 368 calories the last time I did Banish Fat (probably due to the low heart rate during the abs session); and I only burned 220 calories while doing No More Trouble Zones. So, not only did I get a great workout with cardio & strength combined, but the caloric burn was AMAZING!! The fact that this workout contains cardio & strength all in one is so great because I don't have to alternate days! What a time saver!! I honestly didn't think this workout would be challenging because I consider myself at a pretty good fitness level already, but I should've known that Jillian wouldn't disappoint me!! If you only plan on working out at home sometimes, you should get this DVD because it has it all. Again, I would recommend doing the entire workout (if you can) for a great burn, but the entire 6 week program also looks like it's well broken down into suitable workouts for an effective weight loss program. Oh, and just because Jillian doesn't incorporate isolated ab toning sessions, that doesn't mean your core will be neglected. Plenty of plank exercises! This DVD was worth every penny!

delivered on time with Prime. Plays great.

Great book, fast delivery and well packaged.

I'm a huge fan of Jillian Micheals so I was expecting to like this, but not as much as I did. Iconsider myself a pretty fit exerciser and not having seen the series (the biggest loser) I wasn't sure how hard they would really work the contestants - all I can say is huge respect!!!! The workout gets you working from start to finish and the combination of cardio and weights (30 seconds alternating) is perfect - all body areas are covered including the core even though there is no specific abs section. The body areas are broken down into sections with a few exercises for each intersperced with high intensity cardio (with beginner modifications so even a total novice to exercise will cope well) This truly is a DVD where you work as hard as you want to push yourself - by increasing the weights and really going for it in the cardio sections you can have a seriously good workout!!!! I found seeing the contestants doing the workout a great motivator for 2 reasons - firstly its great to see real people with real weight issues prove that you don't have to be a perfect muscle bound size 8 to work out hard and because if they can do it I sure as hell aren't going to wimp out before the end!!!! Recommend this for anyone - perfect motivation for both the total novice and the fittie!

I am a bit of a fitness dvd addict, and have quite a large collection. This is my latest favourite! Jillian alternates 30 second cardio intervals with 30 second toning intervals with no rest in between, and I sweat absolute buckets the entire workout. The short intervals also keep your interest, and prevents the boredom I experience with some other dvd's such as Nell McAndrew which I find monotonous. I have recently started using a heart rate monitor, and I easily burn over 600 calories completing this dvd. Also if you are into the biggest loser, it's quite fun to watch the former contestants taking part, and they have 2 of them working at a lower intensity to follow if you are a beginner.

This dvd is a proper sweatfest. There is the ususal warm up at the beginning and cool down at the end. In between there is a 25 minutes pretty hard going circuit training session with fast moving toning movements combined with hard core cardio moves such as plank jacks. You also get two 10 minute toning section, one for the upper body and one for the lower body. They are also pretty hard. Jillian Michaels is the instructor and she is a no nonsense work your butt off trainer. The team behind her are normal people, some are pretty overweight and it is encouraging to see that they can keep up with this workout. Some of them actually put me to shame and this made me try to work even harder. However please beware. Jillian does not do the workout herself and only instructs. And some of the people actually doing the workouts do not use proper form. So you have to be careful that you do no injure yourself. Their timing is also off and they are not in sink all of the time. All in all this is a pretty good workout and I am pretty sure that you will shed lots of weight if you keep at it. However there is absolutely no ab work on this dvd. So you will have to combine this dvd with something else if you also want to work your abs. You will only need a mat and some handweights for this workout.