Happy Friday guys! How happy are you that we have made it thus far?? Hopefully you are reading this while eating a yummy Chic-fil-a nugget and thinking about all of the fun things you have to do this weekend. Haha! Speaking of Chic-fil-a…it is because of all the Chic-fil-a us #TCDbabes eat that we sort of have to balance out our lives with a little fitness regiment. Im a firm believer that sweat never hurt anyone. I think the biggest reasons why people don’t workout is because they aren’t entirely sure where to start, they may or may not want to do it alone, and they need some direction. I am sure there are more out there, but I feel like these are the biggest. In addition, one of the biggest questions I get asked about is my workout regimen, so I thought I would start sharing some of the fitness programs I’ve tried in hopes of helping you guys find something that works for you.
The first one I want to share and the one that I have had the most success with is Kayla Itsines BBG. Kayla is an Australian based fitness coach that has developed an amazing program that WILL KICK YOUR BUTT. I did her program for a total of 42 weeks and saw pretty amazing results, so I thought I would start with that because isn’t results all we are looking for?
So, let’s break it down.
The workouts are HIIT style workouts, with HIIT standing for High Intensity Interval Training. This means that they aren’t going to be hours, but for the time being, you are going to die haha. She has her program set up with three of these covering arms, abs, and legs, complimented with four days of LISS or Low Intensity Steady State. These are your basic cardio – running, walking, hiking, yoga, cycling, etc. It seems like a lot, and it is, but when you first start your main goal is to really just complete the HIIT sessions and then slowly begin to incorporate the others.
The program is best utilized on her app which is free to download, but costs $20/month for the actual program. The great thing though about the app (which is what I highly recommend because she does have ebooks as well), is that it has nutrition resources, all of the workouts, a timer incorporated, and her other programs. All of this is $20/month which I think to most of us is really just chump-change.
Once on the app, if you are new, I recommend starting in the pre-training. The app will automatically begin you in Week 1, but I personally think it is a little much. I always recommend the pre-training to everyone because the workout styles are so intense.
The biggest complain I hear about this program is that it is in fact too hard, so start at the very very beginning. Then, as you begin, take your time. You can pause the app throughout the intervals (four 7 minute intervals alternating between two sets of exercises with a 30 second rest in between). I took breaks all the time and modified a lot of things. For example, if she uses weights, start with weights and if it gets too, hard, drop the weights and finish without. The goal is to push yourself, not kill yourself.
Another facet I love about this program is the community. Kayla has created a beautiful fitness community. There are meet-ups all across the country and thats because everyone wants to be held accountable. Not to mention the fact that knowing you aren’t the only one suffering through is always reassuring.
I personally loved this program. I had started and stopped multiple times, but then really got after it with a friend and it was one of the best things I have ever done. After a while, it does get redundant, which is why I have moved onto something different. But the program does show results and I think that is huge.
I also love that the movements aren’t complicated and can be modified very easily. This makes it accessible for everyone.
One year difference
If you have more questions let me know! I would be happy to answer them!
#deathbykayla is a real thing….just FYI
xxoo,
Melissa
