Got 25 minutes? Spend it ‘shredding’.

Most of us excuse ourselves from having a regular exercise regimen because of our busy schedule. But if you really want to establish a workable routine that will fit into your daily activities, then a short exercise video would be the easiest solution. Let’s look at a particular video – Jillian Michaels – 30 Day Shred.

There are so many short exercise videos out there, specifically because trainers already know you’re busy and they want to give you no excuse not to work out. There’s that important question, though, of how effective a short exercise video can be.

The Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels leads the workout in this video. It features workouts that are around 25 minutes long. It surely sounds like a short time but when you do it for the first few times, especially if you haven’t been working out for a long period of time, you’ll surely feel like you did an hour and a half’s worth of exercise.

• The effectiveness of this workout comes from the intensity, not the amount of time you spend doing it.
• You will have no chance of resting in between the routines. It is designed to move you to the next routine right after a previous one.
• Jillian stresses in the video that it’s better to really work your body in a shorter amount of time than spend hours faking it at the gym.

There are three parts to a work out. Every part is made of 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio and one minute abdominal exercises. The workouts involve movements that require larger muscles and more muscles at the same time. This adds to the intensity and fat burn.

Jillian Michaels – 30 Day Shred DVD is designed to take you through 30 days of workouts with progressing intensity.

Jillian Michaels provides really great motivation. For most of the exercises, there are equivalent beginner moves so that you can still perform them if you’re a beginner. The difference for beginner moves is that there is a shorter range of motion. The workouts are doable but they are definitely not easy, enough to challenge you and shred your fats day by day.

After this short workout, you will definitely feel that you spent 25 minutes of your day wisely. In that short amount of time, which is easy to squeeze into your morning routine before going to the office or your evening routine after coming home from work, you will have worked your muscles enough to shred those pounds and shape your body into a healthy new form.

It’s inevitable that you will one day have to travel, whether on business or on a family holiday, but that doesn’t mean you should leave your fitness goals behind. Travel can be a great time to explore new places to workout. At the very least, you’ll experience something different in your fitness training.
If you’re staying at a hotel, chances are it has a fitness center where you can do your fitness workout routine. Most hotels now have top-of-the-line equipment and may even offer free sessions with a personal trainer or free exercise classes. Some hotels may have a pools; swimming is an excellent aerobic exercise so do not miss out on this opportunity.
If you’re staying at a motel with no gym, you can go to the nearest park for your fitness workout. Make sure you always bring a pair of running shoes. We’re lucky that we live in a time when running shoes are barely heavier than the socks we wear so there should be no problems there.
If you take your fitness plan seriously, then you should always pack a couple of pieces of fitness training equipment in your luggage.

One light and effective exercise tool would be a jumping rope. It balls up tightly and weighs next to nothing.

You can also get in some nice weight training by bringing resistance bands. They may not do exactly as well as real weights but they’ll give you a good enough fitness workout for the meantime. (Note- please read our review on Bodylastics travel items)

If you have a laptop, make sure you have your fitness workout videos in there. You can hook it up to the speakers on your hotel TV, or just being a fitness video with you and pop it in the room’s DVD player. For floor exercises, you can use the towels or sheets as your mat, but be sure to ask for replacements after (wink).
If you really can’t bring anything, or if you forget, you still have something you can use for your fitness workout: your own body.

• You can do traditional fitness training by running in place, doing jumping jacks, doing push-ups, crunches, squats, lunges and yoga. (Note to reader; if you are interested in yoga, please read our yoga series)

If you’re on a business trip, it’s best to do your planned fitness workouts in the morning. Pack your own sports bars, bring your vitamins and always keep yourself properly hydrated.
Now, say you’re going on a family vacation, it doesn’t mean you need to leave your fitness goals behind. You can still sneak in a workout or two by hiking, biking, boating or simply playing with Frisbees, or touch football. Play is also a form of fitness training you know.

• On the road, one big no-no is disregarding your fitness plan by not eating right. Remember that your diet is directly related to your fitness goals. Of course you should always try the local delicacy but do try avoiding the all-you-can-eat buffets.

With these tips, you won’t have any worries – or excuses – about your fitness goals and not getting your fitness workout done.