Have you been watching #the20s on #beachbodyondemand the last few months? Who do YOU want to be Beachbody's next super trainer??
This will be a longer post, but here's my thoughts on the workouts and trainers:
I'll feel this tomorrow!! Today did all 3 beginner workouts from the 20s on BOD so I could make an educated vote. I was so busy all week- I wish I would have prioritized these so I could have also done the 3 advanced ones. I didn't realize there was only a few day window to vote.
I just did all 3 beginner routines. I was most excited for Erica's because I've been wanting to try barre. But I felt it was all counting and no explanation or personality really. Some moves made me feel a burn, but I felt rushed in keeping up because the moves weren't demonstrated first like the other 2 did. She didn't get much airtime this season. I almost wish Derrick was in the finals instead of her but I do remember he was bad at counts.
I loved Joe's. I like his personality and was funny but also his take on low impact but also cardio. I felt a bit too much flirting with Shallamar but he interacted with both of them great and made me laugh. I had FUN doing it and listening to him. I'd never done most of those moves but he explained well and used his other people a lot. I enjoyed hearing a bit of his fitness backstory with the multiple knee surgeries and why he works out this way.
I liked Megan's and was the most out of breath from hers. Some was from rushing from move to move. I didn't like that I needed equipment. I used my couch and pretended there were lines. Needing to buy equipment is a big barrier to people for trying a program, especially those who don't have a lot of space to workout in. It took me half the time to figure out the overall plan of the workout, lol. Her moves were nice, I had to modify many because my shoulder is strained right now. Her personality was good but lacked that extra special thing Joe had. I feel her story and inspiring her dad and family to change their lives is very cool and it was definitely played up with a lot of camera time this season. For a beginner program, hers was the hardest for me.
I might watch the others tonight but if I had to vote based on workouts alone, I'd vote Joe. Although his elevator pitch was atrocious and it drove me crazy that he mis-said 22 Minute Hard Corps as 22 Hard Corps. Megan I think won more of the challenges, and Ericka was a quiet front runner in the rankings all season long.
What do you think? If you haven't been watching, who would you vote for just based on this quick review?
Here is my 30 day Country Heat transformation!! I found myself really enjoying the dances (especially those on disc 2) despite not being very coordinated or really a country music listener. Every day the 30 minutes flew by with constant movement and fun songs.
I love Autumn's training and teaching style and really loved the move breakdowns. This was a walk-through speed without the music so you weren't trying to figure out the moves DURING the workout itself.
I did not miss a workout OR a Shakeology, and was more mindful of my portions, waited a while before wanting 2nds or dessert (and almost all of the time ended up not being hungry enough after waiting), and really felt some changes in my core/waist.
I have gained weight this year due to removing my Mirena in the spring (sorry if that's TMI for you, but I'm being honest) and have struggled seeing that number on the scale increase EVEN THOUGH I know that it's just a number. Doing this low impact cardio workout gave me the results I was hoping for.
This picture may "only" show a 2 pound weight loss but to me it feels like a lot more. I feel shrunken, not starved. Does that even make sense?? lol. I feel so much leaner in my entire torso, and even see more muscle tone in my legs. To achieve that without using weights or killing my hips, knees, and back is amazing.
The picture here also shows more than my stats. It shows a 30 day commitment: to myself, and to my challengers. I don't invite people to my accountability groups to sell them something and leave them to fend for themselves. This stuff changed my LIFE- why wouldn't I want to share my experience with others?! I am there every single day, doing the same things that I ask my challengers to. We've formed a support system and are there for each other every single day.
ANYONE can benefit from improving their nutrition, and the tools in this program make these changes with no guesswork or confusion. I believe this fitness program is the MOST ACCESSIBLE to anyone, regardless of injury or current fitness level. What do YOU have to lose by giving it a try? If this looks fun to you, please reach out to me.
I wanted to share with you some
of my thoughts on Country Heat so far. I missed Monday so today is only my
second day of it, but I did my second
routine today and my skin is glowing and I am dripping and just as sweaty as I
got in 22 Minute Hard Corps. So I'm really surprised- honestly I bought the
program because everyone else in my room at Summit bought it too, and I said,
“okay everyone else is doing it, I guess I'll do it too.” That's kind of how I
felt last year when I bought Cize, which was more of a hip-hop dancing program.
I ended up loving Cize, by the way, and I can already tell that I’ll love this
program, too.
I'm not watching the clock at all during the workout. I
am out of breath when I’m doing it; I don't know how Autumn does the program
and talks the whole time! You don't need a home gym for this, there's no
equipment, there's a girl who doesn't even do the jumping so there's no impact
or anything. I’ve just been using my living room floor: if you can take 2 steps
to the right and 2 steps to the left, forward, and back: that's all the space
you need! I'm really pleasantly surprised! It's fun and it is more of the fun,
upbeat country songs that have been on the radio lately. It's not line dancing
at all; it is cardio.
They're all really simple moves and I think honestly my
favorite part so far is the move breakdown. It's like a 20-minute separate
track where she goes through each move at walking speed, so for me that's
really helpful. I even had to replay a couple, because if you're trying to
learn them as the music is going you're gonna mess up. So I really love the
move breakdown a lot.
There are some moves that I have not gotten the hang out
quite yet since this is only my first or second day doing some of them, and
it's kind of nice that once you do that round of them you're done and you're
onto another move. I've got a few other people doing Country Teat with me in my
group and so far I think that they love it too. The fact that it comes with
Shakeology and the portion control containers just makes it well rounded and
you know that you're getting your nutrition taken care of. I think you're
easily burning 200 calories in each workout at just half an hour.
If you want to join in or learn more information about
Country Heat (or any other program for that matter), please comment below,
email me, or reach out to me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/boeknowscleanliving
Here's a view of me dancing while Addie plays in the living room behind me.
I totally bombed at P90X3 in the spring and I thought Tony Horton wasn't for me. Then I discovered 22 Minute Hard Corps and I love it! I've got 3 weeks left and I know I can finish strong. 💪
If a program isn't working for you, let me help you troubleshoot! If it isn't fun for you, you won't want to do it or do it hard. Let me help you find something that makes fitness FUN for you- maybe it's Country Heat?
What is Country Heat, you ask? Message me to find out the details and how you can win money in September just for doing your workouts!
You might think that because I do extreme workout programs that I do not struggle with my fitness. You couldn't be more wrong.
It's BECAUSE I struggle that I do these hard programs. I want to push myself to improve and taking the easy way out won't get me there. I go past my comfort zone daily because I WILL see improvements over time.
Today was the first time I did this particular routine. Weights, jumping, and speed- I couldn't do it all. I put the weights down, even in a resistance workout, so that I could keep up in form and speed. Maybe next time I'll keep the weights and forget the speed.
But by the end of my 8-week program, you better believe I'll be getting the weights, jumping, AND
speed! 👊
If you need help finding the right balance to your fitness, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. I will meet you where you are, match your speed, and celebrate your improvements with you.
My newest accountability group started its "prep week" today, you can hop in now ASAP or I'll get you on the list for my group starting after Labor Day. Are you ready?
I'm on a live EXCLUSIVE team call with Autumn Calabrese right now (with our CEO coming later) and hearing the details about the newest workout program Country Heat and I am getting really excited about its release next week!!
💥 30 minutes a day 💥 30 day program 💥 no weights 💥 no impact 💥 modifier 💥 portion control 💥 cardio dancing set to country music (NOT twangy like dancing)
Results from the test groups had people losing 60 lbs in 90 days- that's 20 pounds a month WITHOUT TOUCHING A WEIGHT!!😮
Interested yet??! Let me know if you want to be the FIRST to get in on this release!!
My last blog entry was about my
Cize transformation but I wanted to give a little more background information
on what Cize is about as a program. Shaun T is famous for creating programs
like Insanity and T25, but his background is also in choreography and dance.
His first program through Beachbody was actually Hip Hop Abs. I tried one of
those workouts earlier this year when it was released as part of the member
library for Beachbody On Demand and couldn’t even get through a 20-minute
routine. I have NO coordination and NO dance background. I LOVE music though,
so I’ve always struggled with wanting to dance but not knowing how or not
feeling confident enough to just let loose, be goofy, and have fun.
When I first heard about Cize I
was intrigued but didn’t think that it was for me because it was a dancing program.
Beachbody gave a sample workout on Beachbody On Demand before the entire
program was released and I had fun doing it, but still didn’t think I would buy
the program. It wasn’t until the program was released and I saw how much FUN
everyone was having that I decided to buy it myself. Most workouts can be fun,
or we do them because we know how good we feel for exercising, but Cize is so
different. You are HAVING FUN the WHOLE TIME dancing and not even realizing
that time is passing, you are sweating, and the calories are getting torched.
Shaun builds each routine step by
step and breaks everything down into simple movements that you already do every
day. He says “you move everyday, I’m just putting it to a rhythm.” And he is so
right. When you get a move or short sequence done, you add to it and before you
know it you are ready to “Cize it up” at the end to a complete dance routine. A
really awesome feature of the workouts is that once the routine is over, it
goes to a screen where you can pick from the cooldown, 8 count abs routine, or
“Cize it up” again. Some of the routines are so great that I kept doing the
routine over and over again.
The entire program has 6 routines
on 3 discs, plus a short (but effective!) ab workout. They range from 30-50
minutes and features the following songs:
1."Hands in the
Air" by Timbaland. (It introduces you to the first 8 moves you'll be using
for the whole program.)
2."Treasure" by Bruno Mars
3."Lose
My Breath" by Destiny's Child (I loved this routine and would do the “Cize
it up” chapter over and over again.)
4."Problem"
by Ariana Grande
5."Pass
That Dutch" by Missy Elliot
6."Chandelier"
by Sia. (This was the last routine in the whole program and really took the
emotion and moves to another level where you really were feeling it.)
You can choose from a beginner calendar that takes 6 weeks
(1 routine a week) or an advanced calendar for 4 weeks. I felt like a beginner
but did the advanced calendar instead because I did not think doing 1 routine
for an entire week would hold my interest. Overall I had a great time doing the
program. It is completely based on your effort, so beginners to experts can
have fun and get their heart rate up at the same time.
Wow….all of
this information and I just realized I didn’t touch on the 2nd half
of the program: the nutrition!! I LOVE the nutrition guide for Cize. It is
based off the color-coded portion control containers from the 21 Day Fix, but
you can still use the nutrition guide even if you don’t have the containers.
The “Eat Up!” guide gives you a food directory so you can eat WHAT you want,
but it just shows you HOW MUCH you need. The best part of the book is the meal
builder. It gives examples of simple, staple meals, and all the ways you can
customize and mix it up. There are pages like eggs every day, oatmeal bowl,
yogurt parfait, Shakeology bar, salad bowl, wrap it up, simply grilled, Asian
stir fry, healthy pasta, and snacks on the go. For the wrap it up meal you have
steps to follow for each category/container of food: pick your wrap, pick your
protein, add your veggies, add an “extra”, add dressing, and (optional) add
flavor. You’d think a wrap was easy to make, or maybe so easy you get stuck and
don’t know how to make it interesting. My family doesn’t really eat from
recipes of stuff but we do basics like every Thursday we have a big salad for
our meal. So on Thursdays we go to the salad bowl page and can make a different
one each time.
The Cize
kit also comes with a get started guide, a weekend survival guide, and (if you
order through a coach like me!) a free bonus workout called “Hold Your Own”
that gives you some moves you can use when you’re out no matter what song is
playing.
You can see my whole YouTube playlist of Cize routine progressions here:
bit.ly/kboecizevids
As I'm doing #throwbackthursday throughout my fitness journey inspired by Beachbody, I have come to the late fall/early winter of 2014 and my first taste of Shaun T. I am not a huge fan of cardio because I always flash back to times as a kid being overheated or feeling like my heart was going to beat out of my chest or about to pass out from overexertion. Granted, during those times I was not in shape, but those memories still affect me today. I was looking for something new and was really intrigued by T25 being only 25 minutes a day and 5 days a week. Something being 10 weeks long was a big change for me because PiYo was 8 weeks and the 21 Day Fix is obviously 21 days long.
I started T25 in late October and finished at the end of December. I continued using the 21 Day Fix meal plan with the portion control containers but did allow more leeway for fun holiday indulgences. I HATE feeling deprived...that makes me want *whatever it is* even more! Plus I am learning to focus on the scale less and less so I knew it wouldn't be the end of the world if I gained a pound or 2 over the holidays. But WOW Shaun T makes you WORK in those 25 minutes and I was a sweaty, smelly mess after pretty much every workout. The calorie counts on my Garmin Vivofit were really high for being only 25 minutes. That's what cardio will do for ya: burn calories!
T25 comes in 2 rounds: 5 weeks of Alpha (your foundation) and the 5 weeks of Beta (when the moves get harder and some weights/resistance band are incorporated into the workouts). There is also 4 weeks of Gamma *sold separately* that focuses on strength. I am actually redoing T25 and adding Gamma to it now in July 2015 so I will add a post about Gamma when I finish it. Alpha, being the foundation, is a great introduction to fitness. There is a modifier to make the moves low impact because there is a LOT of jumping and even my knees needed a few weeks to get over their creakiness when doing the moves. I love how Shaun builds up to a difficult move through a progression. He doesn't have you start out doing a high knee run: first you march, then slow jog, then fast. Every move is taught in a progression. My daughter Addison learned the word "focus" during my time doing T25. The workout is actually called Focus:T25 and many times a workout you will hear Shaun telling you what the focus for a particular move is, or to keep focused, etc. So this workout has been dubbed "the focus workout" by Addison.
I know the difference between 25 and 30 minutes is not that much, but in a heart-pumping workout....5 minutes is a huge difference! I loved that I could get in a super sweaty workout in less than half an hour and still have time for holiday preparations. Since I had only done shorter calendars before, the workouts got a little stale after 5 weeks. Especially because you do each workout 1-2 times a week. There are 5 workouts in each phase, but Friday is a double day so you'll do a workout twice in one week. I ended up mostly doing 1 workout Friday and the other workout Saturday and taking Sunday off. Personally, having 2 days without a workout starts me on the slippery slope of then skipping again Monday...and having to get back on the wagon.
The biggest difference I saw in myself after 10 weeks of T25 was my core. It was like every move in the workouts secretly activated my core. I maintained my weight, which isn't bad considering I did this during the holidays and did let myself indulge a bit. I lost 1.5" total, with a tiny bit coming from my thighs, hips, and waist. My picture, I think, shows the best transformation. I think my core strength changed the most, and my endurance for cardio did too. So I may not have become a Shaun T groupie, but I did love this workout and if you need a kick butt workout (almost all of the workouts require no equipment) in less than half an hour, this is the one for you!
Have you heard about CIZE? It is the newest Beachbody workout from Shaun T, the creator of T25 and Insanity. Cize is being called "the end of exercize". It's being released at Summit in Nashville in mid July 2015...so possibly 1 in more week!
Now, you need to know one little piece of info. It's a dance program. I know. I know. You CAN'T dance. Guess what...neither can I! I'm serious. Shaun T will TEACH you how to dance step by step and you will definitely have fun doing it. And the best part is that you are doing this at HOME so no one's going to see you do it but you! PHEW! Cize is a 4 week program and you'll be burning fat and calories while you are mastering everyday moves Shaun T has turned into choreography routines.
I had the opportunity to sample a complete workout from this program from Beachbody On Demand and I had fun! Don't judge, but here's my video trying out Cize.
What do you think? If it looks like fun, click here to be added to my mailing list to be the first to know when Cize is released in July! http://www.cizetbb.com/?referringRepId=352740
