Well, hello, there! Today I am going to chat a bit about Beachbody's newest program, Core de Force. The program was released at the end of November and I started it in the second week of December. Since I am coming to the end of the program, I thought there would no better time than now to share my opinions of it with you! So, here we go!
The Basics:
Joel and Jericho (more on them later) are the instructors in this program and they work together to lead most of the workouts. The program is labeled as "MMA inspired" and a core-shredding workout. There are kicks, knees, punches, and defensive moves, all of which work your core. There is a modifier in all of the workouts and, let me tell you, she kills these workouts. The program is 30 days long, requires no equipment, and includes 7 full-length workouts. There are also some additional workouts, including two core workouts and a relief workout which is designed to be done before bed to relax at the end of the day. Workouts are every day of the week with one day being an active recovery day. The length of the workouts varies from 27-47 minutes. Each workout (except for active recovery) is set up in the same way: 3-minute rounds followed by a 30 second break. Depending on the workout, the rounds look a little different, but for the most part they follow a pattern. The first 60 seconds is a combination (knees, punches, kicks, etc.), then 30 seconds of a spike (a more intense cardio move, typically), and then you repeat both the combo and the spike. Then you move on to the next combo. The workouts have 6, 9, and 12 rounds (yikes!), depending on the length. The base kit comes with the aforementioned workouts, the calendar, workout and nutrition guide, anddddd, I think that's it.
There are also 3 deluxe workouts that can be purchased separately, 2 of which employ the use the agility ladder. These workouts are a little different as they feature just one trainer (2 led by Joel, 1 by Jericho). The agility ladder workouts are beasts, especially the one that is 47 minutes. I mean, like, kill me now.
Beachbody labels this workout "intermediate" but oh, no, no. I think whoever is labeling these workouts must live at the gym because they have no clue what these terms mean to normal people. A lot of these moves are tough. I am worn out after a lot of them. I struggle to get through many of them, especially the strength moves. Not to mention the fact that I think you need to have some knowledge or experience with kicking and punching to be successful with this workout right from the start. You hit the ground running and some of these moves are complex and complicated. I might label this intermediate, only if you had prior experience with kickboxing-type moves.
The Trainers:
Joel Freeman and Jericho McMatthews are two instructors who have been featured in Beachbody on Demand workouts. I personally had never heard of them before this program, and I follow Beachbody pretty closely. Not having done workouts led by them previously, I wasn't sure how this program was going to go. I'm almost at the end of the program and I'm still not sure how I feel about them. I definitely like Jericho more than Joel, but neither one of them are instructors that make me want to do more of their workouts. I don't know, I really do think a lot of it has to do with the fact that in most of the workouts, they instruct together. I don't care for that approach. They do a good job of it, seamlessly moving from one lead to the next and not letting their egos overshadow one another (like Autumn and Sagi in The Master's Challenge--yikes!), I just don't care for that style of teaching. I like to follow one lead instructor, but that's just me. Personality-wise, Jericho is upbeat and encouraging, but definitely not as much so as Autumn or Chalene. Joel is okay, but some of the things he says come across as cocky and I just don't like that, either. It may not be intentional, but letting us know that you can do the hard version of something or that you're going to do all of the moves on your toes instead of modifying doesn't impress me (or Shania Twain) much. One thing that I can say about both of these instructors is that they are very good at cueing, always show you the move ahead of time, and obviously have an incredible knowledge of what they are doing. Their technique (especially Jericho's) is definitely something to work for.
The Results:
The question that everyone wants to know the answer to after finishing a program is, "Did you see results?" Well, there is the thing that I am going to say about just about every program under the sun: if you follow the meal plan, if you follow the workout calendar, if you actually do the workout and put effort into, you WILL see results. If you're not, something is wrong here, people. Now, yes, certain programs will give you different kinds of results, but you should always seem some results from a program if you do it with fidelity and consistency.
It is difficult to say whether or not I personally saw results from this program. I did this following Focus T25 which gave me great definition in my abs and increased by cardio endurance and strength. Since I already had that definition, I was trying to keep it with Core de Force, and that was done. However, I had a vacation during the program and, even though I was consistent with the workouts, the meal plan went flying out the window of the airplane on the way to Mexico. So, no, I did not follow the program to a T and I did not see the results that I could have seen had I stuck to it for the full 30 days. Core de Force is specifically designed to shred your core, and the majority of the moves involved rotation of the core in some way. Again, if you are doing this workout consistently and putting out full effort, you should see results in your midsection. I may try this program again just to see if I can specifically focus on gaining more core definition. I do feel like my technique was constantly being improved with each workout in this program I do.
My Two Cents:
Oh, you know I have to let you know what I think about the program. What would be the point, if not, right?? Okay, so I was actually very excited about this workout coming out. The first workouts I did that weren't my mom's were Tae-bo and then TurboJam, two workouts that utilize a lot of the moves in this program. I was excited to have a kickbox, MMA-inpsired (although I don't know if I would call it that) workout in my rotation. It felt really good to get back into kicking and punching. Those kinds of moves make me feel strong, like I could knock someone out. I love that feeling and the intensity that you can put behind those moves.
I asked a friend of mine who had not done any type of kickboxing or MMA
workouts in the past to try out one of the workouts. She said it was
fun, she was dripping with sweat, but she felt like a "flailing octopus"
because she didn't know the moves.
This is a good program. It is fun, it going by quickly with the set up of the 3 minute rounds, and it definitely got me sweaty and I felt "worked out" by the end. Some of the combos got repetitive, which you probably wouldn't notice too much unless you did those particular workouts back to back (like MMA Plyo and Shred). I enjoyed a lot of the combinations and felt powerful doing them.
Some pros: no equipment needed, the moves focus on working the core, the pace of the workout is quick since there are 3 minute rounds, and there are some unique, delicious recipes in the nutrition guide.
Some cons: some of the workouts are long, the combos can be frustrating if you don't know the moves, and you can get injured with improper technique. This last part is super important. Many of these moves can really damage the knees, back, and elbows if you don't do them right. You have to constantly move your feet and twist your core, while making sure not to overextend your limbs. You do have the option of really slowing down the moves, getting the technique right, and then speeding up and adding intensity as you learn the moves. Also, some rounds switch sides (like the ones with kicks) but some don't. That means you're doing combos mostly in your dominant stance. A simple way to solve this problem is just to do the combo on the other side the second time.
The last two "issues" that I have with the workout are just things that bother me, but they may be something you don' t even notice. One is that, as with other instructors, they say the same phrases over and over. The two that really bothered me were "switch on your core" and "some of the best fighters in the world switch their stance." Ughhhhhh. Enough already. We get it. We're going to be prized street fighters at the end of this round because we switched our stance. Stop saying it. Two is that I find it very hard to believe that every single person in the cast, plus Joel and Jericho, have the same dominant stance. It's just not possible. Minor, but irritating (I'm sure just to me).
I don't know that I would recommend this workout to someone who is just starting out, but it is a good program. For me, this just wasn't one of those programs that I could see myself going back to time and again. That doesn't mean it's not for you! If you enjoy these types of
workouts, are looking for a program that requires no equipment, and are
able to invest almost an hour (sometimes more than an hour) each day to
working out, this may be the program for you.
There are also two additional workouts that can be subbed in for others in this program that are exclusively for Beachbody on Demand. If you want to try out this program, now is the time to do it, because, for a limited time, you can sign up for an all-access pass which gives you a year's subscription to Beachbody on Demand and access to ALL of their programs in the library. Also, you get access to any programs that release in the future for as long as you keep the subscription. Typically Core de Force is an additional charge, but with the 12-month plan, it is included! If you're like more information about this promotion, about Core de Force, or about any other Beachbody programs or products, you know where to find me!
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