General program overview:
This is a 60-day program brought to you by Beachbody. It features two trainers, Sagi Kalev (Body Beast) and Autumn Calabrese (21 Day Fix, 21 Day Fix Extreme, Country Heat [August release]). This program primarily focuses on strength-training and building muscle. I believe Beachbody classifies this program as intermediate, but I take their recommendations with a grain of salt. I would say, depending on how heavy you go with weights, you could make this workout pretty easy or extremely difficult.
The program comes with 12 workouts, 6 instructed by Autumn and 6 instructed by Sagi. Also included are two ab workouts, one by each instructor. Before I started the program I thought they were going to teach all of the workouts together, but they do not, which I am glad for (more on that later). Each workout is between 25 and 45 minutes long, with most workouts being about 30 minutes (ab workouts are about 11 minutes each). In addition to the workouts, you receive a calendar which tells you what workout to do each day. This program has you working out 6 days a week with a rest day on Thursday, but you could change that depending on what day you start the program. The calendar also gives you the option of completing a 30-day Chisel program or a 30-day Hammer program. There is a nutrition plan included, which follows the containers system that was first introduced in Autumn's 21 Day Fix program. If you are unfamiliar with this system, you can find information about it in the program and nutrition guide that is included. The guide also has a few recipes but not many (I recommend Autumn's Fixate cookbook, which I will review as well). Lastly, the workout comes with a quick-start guide to help you get the best results in the fastest amount of time.
Required Equipment:
There is a lot of equipment that is required for this program. I am fortunate enough to have collected the needed equipment over the years, but if you are just starting out, you may not have everything that you need. You can make some substitutions, which I will also list.
- dumbbells: In order to get the most out of this program, it is suggested that you have a variety of dumbbells to work with. Of course, depending on your ability level, your range will vary. I would suggest that, at minimum, you need a set of light, medium, and heavy weights. To give you a reference point, I would consider 7-8 light, 12-15 medium, and 18-20 heavy. There were times where I had to lift heavier than that, but starting out, I think that is a good range.
- bench (or stability ball): A bench is used for many moves in most of the workouts. You could use a stability ball, but if you can balance doing some of those moves, you have got a super strong core! I would be rolling all over the place. If you don't have a bench, you could use a chair (I have seen others post that they have done this) but I wouldn't necessarily recommend that unless it is very sturdy. You not only use the bench for presses and lifts, but also for jumping moves.
- chin-up bar (with assist) or band with door attachment: I started the program with the bands because I didn't have a chin-up bar (nor could I do a chin-up with the bar if I had one). The bands were challenging and I think that they are a good starting point. We did end up getting a chin-up bar and it is tough! I still go back to the bands because I cannot do 30 seconds of chin-ups on the bar, even with the assist.
- resistance band (or towel): This band is used very little throughout the program, so technically, I think you could do without it. It is used in a (I think) one move in all of the program, but it is also used in Sagi's warm-up. He suggests that you can use a towel instead.
My personal opinions ('pros' and 'cons') and review:
Okay, this is a section where I'm going to get into some of my opinions but I am going to try to stay relatively objective. However, what I think is a 'pro' you may consider a 'con' and vice versa. These are going to be different for everyone, so just keep that in mind when making your decision about what program to do.
Pros:
- Workouts are relatively short compared to others you can do of the same nature
- Ability to challenge yourself by adding heavier weight
- Variety of workouts that come with the program
- Option to buy Deluxe workouts (could be a 'con' because you have to spend more money, but I enjoyed these--more info about them below)
- 60-days in length
- Simple nutrition plan
- Knowledgeable instructors
- Requires a decent amount of equipment
- Minimal cardio workouts (for me this is a con, for others it may be a pro!)
Before I started this workout I was excited and nervous. I had done both of Autumn's previous workouts and enjoyed them and I really like her as a trainer. I hadn't done a workout of Sagi's, I just knew that he was the trainer in Body Beast and, I'm not going to lie, I was scared. I thought he was going to be tough, in-your-face, and be really intense when it came to lifting weights. He does have some huge muscles, but I actually liked him a lot! His workouts were definitely weight-focused (as opposed to cardio) but I liked them and didn't dread them at all. He was encouraging and not scary at all! I ended up enjoying both of them separately. There was one workout that is a bonus if you order through teambeachbody.com called The Master's Cardio where they team up and work together (they also do two workouts together in the Deluxe workouts). Oh my goodness, I could not do an entire program if they did every workout together! They were constantly joking and saying silly things and almost competing to see who could be goofier. I did not like their chemistry at all together and definitely think they need to stick to leading their own workouts and not co-teach ever again! Haha, but that is just my opinion, of course!
I liked how much I was able to push myself throughout this program. I was able to up my weights just about every time I repeated a workout. Some I liked better than others (I will get to reviews of the individual workouts, I promise!) but I didn't hate any of them. I wish there had been more cardio, but that's just because I love my cardio workouts! However, I felt like I got a great workout everyday and was always dripping in sweat when I was finished! I also got great results. I feel like my muscle definition in my arms, abs, and legs improved and my strength definitely improved!
As I stated previously, there is an option to buy the deluxe workouts. This is a set of 4 additional workouts (well, two full routines and two add-ons). To complete these workouts, it is recommended that you have a medicine ball (8 pounds) or a single dumbbell. There is an option on the calendar to add these workouts in during the second month, which I did. I liked the continued variety they added and really liked the addition of the medicine ball. The two add-on workouts are approximately 15 minutes each and work the glutes and legs. I don't know why, but I never looked forward to doing Leg Hammer but once I got started, it was fine and I loved the feeling I got when I was finished! If you are able to, I would suggest buying the deluxe DVDs for more variety and a lower-body challenge, but they are certainly not necessary. You will get a great workout with the workouts included in the program.
Lastly, I will talk about the nutrition plan. As I mentioned before, the plan included was first introduced in Autumn's program 21 Day Fix. It uses color-coded containers to control portion size. Depending on your weight, activity level, and goals, you get a certain number of containers (aka calories) that you eat each day. I do not use this nutrition plan because I already have a handle on clean eating and meal planning. BUT, I do think that these containers can be very helpful to someone who may be new to clean eating, needs help with portion control, or just wants to understand more about how food is fuel for our body and why we eat the different foods that we eat. Food lists and a few recipes are included in the nutrition guide that comes with the program. It is my goal to also begin posting recipes and meals that I make to the blog as well so you can get more ideas! I followed clean eating to a 'T' for the entire 60 days, which I definitely know helped me get the results that I did.
So, that's the program in a nutshell. As I said, I plan on doing reviews for each individual workout, but as I am not doing the program anymore (I have moved on to Chalean Extreme--another strength-training workout!) that will take some time. In the meantime, if you have any questions about the workouts, the program, Beachbody, nutrition, anything health and fitness related please do not hesitate to ask me! And if you are interested in purchasing The Master's Hammer and Chisel or any of Beachbody's other programs, please feel free to use the following link:
beachbodycoach.com/fitteachkate
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