I had put off trying this program for the longest time. I don't really know why, maybe because I just loved Tony Horton and Shaun T so much and their style of workouts. I will say that Tony and Shaun tend to push me a little harder than Sagi. Sagi definitely knows how to lift weights though, and that is what I really enjoyed about this program. I used to love going to the gym and lifting weights but I have now learned I was doing it all wrong. I had a general idea if I wanted to work certain areas that I should do certain lifts but the science of dynamic set training that Sagi brings with this program is just great.
This program is laid out into 3 phases and a total of 90 days. There are two different approaches you can take, you can follow the Lean Beast calendar or the HUGE Beast calendar. I followed the Huge Beast calendar since my goal was to put on some weight. Laura is currently doing the Lean Beast, you can look for her review in a little bit. There are 3 phases that you go through with either calendar; Build, Bulk, and Beast Phases. You will start "building" a base of strength in the first phase. Followed by the "bulking" phase where you change up your lifts and if you are looking to gain weight, you add more calories to your eating plan. The goal here is you will add muscle but you will also add some fat. Then in the final phase, you trim the fat and keep the muscle.
Overall Review
This is a great program for pretty much anybody. Whether you are a guy looking to gain some serious mass, to a 70 year old grandma. Lifting weights is so important for everyone, as a way to at least maintain muscle mass. The intensity of this workout can easily be scaled up or down depending on your current strength level. You will get stronger and you will gain muscle mass during this program. If you combine your lifting with a strict nutrition plan and controlled calorie intake you will be able "bulk" up. For me personally I didn't start putting on weight until I was consuming 4,000 calories per day. Prior to that I was eating around 3,000-3,200 and was gaining minimal weight. So for anyone (women mainly) that are scared of "bulking" you don't have to worry, because you really need to a crazy abundance of calories on top of the right hormonal situation going on (lots of testosterone) to add serious mass. I'll let Laura give more perspective on this topic when she reviews it. If your goal is fat loss, get stronger and to tone or gain muscle this would be a great program to do that. You likely won't be ready to run a marathon after you are done, since the cardio component is a just a smaller piece of this program. It is enough to keep you in decent cardio shape and burn fat.
One concern is the amount of equipment that you might need to do this program. A great way around that especially if you are a gym regular you can stream this workout from a phone or tablet and do it at the gym and use all of their equipment. You would just need to become a Team Beachbody Club Member for that. My Results
My goals going in was to add 10 pounds and go from 160 to 170 pounds. I definitely underestimated my metabolism and fell short of that goal. Over the first 6 weeks of the program I put on around 4 pounds total. That is when I bumped my calories up to 4,000 per day and went from 164 to 169 in the final 3 weeks of the Bulk Phase. Had I been eating like that the entire time I would have maybe hit my goal. I will say that I did have some insecurities when that scale crept up north of 170 a couple times when I weighed in at night. I hadn't seen it that high since I first started my weight loss journey. I was a little nervous about leaning out and getting it back down.
I did take some supplements while I was doing this program which I think definitely helped. First one was Shakeology. When I was consuming 4,000 calories a day I would usually have 2 shakes per day, each one around 700 calories. It would have been next to impossible for me to eat that many calories if some of the calories didn't come from a shake. So that was huge, plus it kept my nutrition on point. I also used a l-glutamine supplement that aids in muscle growth but also in intestinal health. When you eat 200+ grams of protein per day your digestive system needs all the help it can get. So this helped along with the digestive enzymes and probiotics in Shakeology. I also had some leftover creatine from a previous workout that I used on occasion. It tends to give me a headache so I use it sparingly and about half the dosage recommended. Looking back to, I now realize how hard it is to gain muscle and 10 pounds in 90 days maybe wasn't the most realistic goal. My final totals were, I gained 5 total pounds, I lost one pound of fat and gained 6 pounds of lean mass. Overall I'm pretty happy with my results from a measurement standpoint and visual standpoint. I think the thing that I see the biggest difference in is my back.
If you are interested in this program you can head over to our Body Beast Page to watch a short demo of the workout. Feel free to hit me up with any questions that you might have too.
I think it was about 8 years ago when someone that I know approached me and asked me if I would be interested in joining them in their network marketing business. I shot her down so fast, "You mean one of those pyramid schemes, sorry not for me." As soon as she mentioned it every part of me just revolted with the idea that I would be "tricked" into a business like that. There is no way it could be a legitimate business and definitely no way I could make money unless I wanted to trick people too.
Why did I get so defensive? I would say for a few reasons. I had an idea in my head of what this type of business was all about. You solicit all of your friends and family to spend a lot of money to buy product and sign up...Not sure how that stereotype was ever planted in my head but it was a pretty firm belief. Another reason was that I had ZERO interest in using the products that this company was affiliated with and I had even less of an interest in selling them. Lastly, I didn't see it going anywhere. My thought was that it was a "get rich quick" scheme, that would fizzle out as soon as people realized it was a scam. What changed, and how did I end up working with a Network Marketing Company? I will say that my objection about believing in the products is still a real one for me when it comes to network marketing. If you don't have a genuine interest in the products or services that the company you are associated with then you will have to "sell" them. What I mean by that is, if you don't wholeheartedly believe that your widget or service will make someone life's better, then you will need to try to convince them or sell them on it. If you are meeting a need that they have you are just making a recommendation based on what has worked for you. A personal example for me is my experience with the workout program Focus T25, this was the first program that I really did from Beachbody. It got me into incredible shape all while working 50-60 hours per week. The 25 minute length of the workouts was perfect for my situation I had a need for exercise, I had a busy schedule and this program filled that need. There is a big difference between referring quality products that you enjoy using and peddling crap just to make a profit. We sell things everyday without knowing it: we tell our friends where we had lunch and recommend/sell them the idea of going there also. We tell/sell people about TV shows or movies we watch that we think they would like.Take a look at some of the services you use: your realtor, your accountant, the church you go to, where you bought your last car. I would guess you either worked with a friend in one of these industries or a friend told you about who they use. I've come to realize that this is all network marketing is...you tell people about your experience with a certain product or service and if they end up seeing value in it then they will pass along those recommendations as well. My view of what network marketing changed VERY slowly. Laura had joined on as a coach in July of 2012 and for those first 6 months I was hesitant with what she was doing. My perception of what she was doing focused more on how she was working so that someone above her would make more money. Her sales helped their bonuses and her recruiting helped their rank advancements. Somewhere around the spring of 2013, I changed my focus. Instead of looking up in our organization, I started looking down. How was she helping her coaches make money? How was she helping people below her grow their businesses? How was she helping people grow as individuals with their confidence and health? This idea of looking down instead of up totally changed my impression of network marketing. That's why I love this quote from Zig Ziglar.
I learned to approach network marketing with a selfless attitude. An attitude that you are there to serve, and help people meet THEIR needs. I think this is where network marketing gets a bad image. All too often the focus is on how sales and recruiting will benefit you and the people above you. Instead, this is how we approach it: how will this opportunity or product help this person. Will it serve a need that they have?
Specific to Beachbody,
Network Marketing Compared to Corporate America
Just because something is different doesn't make it good or bad, it's just different. If you look at the hierarchy of a traditional business with a CEO, VP's, middle management, supervisors, and finally employees it looks a lot like the same structure of a network marketing business. The difference is that in network marketing the ability to climb the proverbial corporate ladder is much easier. By "climbing the ladder" in a network marketing organization you don't have to displace someone in that position. Everyone has equal opportunity to grow and advance. Compare that to a standard corporation, usually someone has to leave a position before you are able to get promoted. There are certainly benefits to a corporate job, mostly the health benefits are what most people mention. There are also benefits to network marketing though: freedom, ability to work anywhere, unlimited income potential, residual income and being your own boss to name a few. One of the benefits about network marketing versus starting your own company is you don't have to go all in from the start. The startup costs are very minimal. A lot of coaches within our company are doing this just as a part time job, working maybe an hour or two a day. They are doing it because they love being held accountable themselves for their fitness and health and they want to help others with their health and fitness goals. The range of coaches varies from the person that just wants to get fit to the person that wants to grow a huge team and make a 7 figure income and everywhere in between. Why I Now Love Network Marketing There is a small part of me that thinks back to the opportunity that I was approached with 8 years ago and wonder if I should have went for it. I now see how network marketing is a viable business and not a get rich quick scheme. In just 2 1/2 years with our business we have been able to pay off nearly all of our debt and I've been able to leave my full-time job and now stay at home with our son. More importantly, this business has helped me reclaim my health and meet so many amazing people that have similar interests and goals. I also see the potential in this business to give us the freedom that we want in our life and not be tied to a 9-5 job. I'll close with this because I wish someone would have told me this 8 years ago: don't judge this business by the 1 or 2 bad experiences that you've potentially encountered. Just like any industry there are going to be people working with integrity and there are going to be people that lack a certain level of professionalism and customer service. If you have a bad experience at a restaurant are you going to stop eating out all together, absolutely not. You may do your homework the next time and learn about where you want to go and other people's experiences prior to going out but 1 bad restaurant experience isn't representative of the entire industry. One bad experience 8 years ago left a bad taste in my mouth, but I did my research and found something that I can believe in and I know will change lives and that has made all the difference. We want to recognize a couple of our friends that have decided to make a commitment to their health and fitness. They have found success in their own journey using Beachbody products and want to share that success with others. Please welcome Cheryl Vaske to Team FullyFit! Cheryl and Dan used to work together at Hazeltine National Golf Club. Cheryl has been a couple of our Challenge Groups and has fallen in love with Focus T25 and loves Shakeology. The 25 minute program fit nicely into her busy day and helped her lose some weight all while getting stronger. She has decided to make a commitment not only to her health but also wants to help others reach their potential too. We are SO excited to have you on board Cheryl...and for those of you that know her, she would love to connect with you on how you could begin your own health journey. She will actually be co-hosting a fitness and nutrition accountability group with Laura starting on May 4th. If you want more details about what that accountability group is all about, reach out to her us and we would love to help. We are SO excited to welcome our good friend, Jillian Kruger, to our amazing team of coaches. What that means is...she loves health and fitness and wants to help other people create change in their lives!! She is such an amazing, compassionate person...a busy mom...and loves to be active. She participated in a few of our accountability groups and has done T25 and the 21 Day Fix.
We are so EXCITED for her to start this new journey and have no doubt she will be an incredible coach. If you know Jillian and need some help building some healthy habits into your busy life, reach out to her!! She'd love to chat more with you to help! That's right, a number of Beachbody's most popular workouts are available to stream online as long as you have access to a web browser and the internet. Just like Netflix revolutionized online movie space, we feel this is going to be a game changer in fitness world. We have been able to use this platform for the past month and blown away with the quantity and quality of the workouts that they have included. It's also extremely easy to use. We have accessed it from both our computers and our phones and it works great. We were able to stream workouts to our TV using Google Chromecast and I'm pretty certain you could do the same using Apple TV. So how does it work??? When you log in this is the first screen you will see. Right now there are 11 Full programs available and they have a New & Noteworthy section that you can preview all of the latest programs that have been released and some classics that haven't made their way into the Member Library yet. The 11 programs that are included are: Insanity, TurboFire, Brazil Butt Lift, P90X, P90X2, P90X3, Chalene Exreme, Hip Hop Abs, 10 Minute Trainer, Tony 1-on-1, and Insanity Asylum. The New & Noteworthy workouts will give you access to 1 individual workout from 8 of Beachbody's other programs. Also coming by the end of March 2015, there will be a Purchased Products section which will give you access to certain programs that you have purchased by DVD. After you select a program, you will have access to all of the workouts and program materials for that particular workout. For example with P90X3 you would also get Quick Start, Fitness Guide, Calendar, Nutrition Guide, and Extras. All of these are downloadable. Once you hit play you will be prompted with a disclaimer screen. Beachbody is really good at making sure if you go all insane doing Insanity that it isn't their fault. A couple clicks and you are ready to start working out. Plus after you hit this agreement on the disclaimer you won't have to do it again for that workout series, which is nice. Here is a short video showing some of Beachbody's celebrity trainers getting a first look this new function. Club Member Benefits
Frequently Asked Questions: Will I need to buy the fitness program to stream them? No. Programs inside Beachbody on Demand’s digital library come with a membership to Team Beachbody Club. Will there be an extra cost per workout watched? No. Unlimited access is included in Team Beachbody Club membership at no extra cost. Will I be able to stream workouts internationally? Yes. You will be able to stream abroad as long as you have a valid internet connection. Will the workouts be available to download and watch offline? No. Programs inside the digital library come with a membership to Team Beachbody Club. How much will it cost? The current price for a Team Beachbody Club Membership is $38.87 which is paid quarterly. So essentially it is $13 per month. The CEO of Beachbody eluded to the fact that this price may go and you would be able to lock in the current price if you sign up before the price comes out. You are also able to buy a Club Challenge Pack which is a combination of 3 months of membership plus a 1 month supply of Shakeology for $140. If this feature sounds like something that will help you stay on track and see the results that you've been hoping to accomplish, we would love to chat with you. Feel free to shoot us an EMAIL or comment below and we will be in touch. If you KNOW this is going to be the difference maker for your fitness, click the button, JOIN THE CLUB, below and feel free to go through the sign up process. Oh and in case you want to combine a club membership with a month's supply of Shakeology, click JOIN THE CLUB + SHAKEOLOGY. That combination is on special this month and you will save $30 when you bundle them together. Shaun T hooked me on home workouts with Insanity and to this day, he's the ONLY ONE that can inspire me to do more than I think I can and push my body to its limits. My body wasn't the only thing that changed though....my MIND was stronger and it made me believe I could do anything...which also spilled over to the rest of my life. I love that the goal is to fail. I love that it pushes you right away and forces you to assess your own limits...and then INVITES you to shatter what you thought was your limit!! Eeek!! I can't wait!
**BONUS from us: anyone that orders a challenge pack THIS WEEK will also get a $25 gift card to either Amazon or iTunes! Who wants in?? Don't be shy! Beachbody's annual "Black Friday" sale is back. The great thing is that you don't have to wait until Friday to take advantage of these deals. Whether you are shopping for yourself or someone on your Christmas list, you will be able to find some equipment or program for just about anybody. The programs range from low intensity workouts like Slim Series and Hip Hop Abs to some of the most intense workouts like Insanity Asylum and P90X. If you aren't sure what program is right the fit feel free to send us a message. You can find the full list of sales and availability by clicking on any of the pictures. If you are anything like me, when I first was learning about nutrition and our body's metabolism I was trying to take in information from everywhere. It wasn't just good enough to know that eating green leafy veggies was healthy, I wanted to know why? I didn't want to just accept that High Intensity Interval Training was a better way to burn fat, I wanted to know why? I think the knowledge of knowing why is so important in making lasting changes to your lifestyle. You don't just have to take someone else's word for it, you understand the science behind it. If you guys are ok with it I would love to share some science with you from time to time, those of you that are like me trying to find your way with your fitness and health and want to go deeper you have us as a resource. So today wanted to share with you the concept of EPOC or Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption. EPOC, what is it and how does it affect weight loss? The main concept here revolves around creating an oxygen debt during exercise, that later needs to be repaid. Let's start by explaining how the debt is created in the first place and to understand that I'll briefly explain our body processes energy. Energy Transfer Systems Our body has three major systems that provide our cells (muscles) with energy. Let's use running as our activity of choice, specifically running as fast you can. ATP/PCr System When you start running the first system that kicks in is the ATP/PCr system. This system uses the energy in the bonds between Creatine and Phosphate in our cells. This system will provide roughly 10 seconds of energy. Glycolytic System After that, your body switches over to the Glycolytic System. This system uses glycogen stores in your muscle tissue and breaks that glycogen down into glucose. That glucose is then used to regenerate ATP (our cells energy source). This system has some byproducts, pyruvate and NADH. We eventually hit what is called the anaerobic threshold (AT), because ATP generation can't keep pace with energy expended, and we need to switch to the next system which requires oxygen. A person will usually be able to exercise intensely for about 80-90 seconds before this threshold is hit. You'll notice this when you are running when you have to make a more drastic slow down in your pace and you notice a little burning in your legs. Oxidative Phosphorylative System Once you hit that threshold your body then kicks into the third system the Oxidative Phosphorylative System. This system needs oxygen in order to function, hence oxidative in the title that means with oxygen. This system is the real powerhouse in energy transformation and supplies our cells with a bulk of the energy they need after that initial 90 seconds or so. Activities that do most of the work in this system would be considered aerobic activities because they are done WITH oxygen. Repaying your Debt Oxygen consumption doesn't immediately match up to energy demands when you begin an activity. As explained above it can take up to 2 minutes before your body kicks into that third stage of ATP generation. Prior to hitting your anaerobic threshold you are creating an oxygen deficit quickly. The rate slows as you get into the oxidative phorphorylative system but you never fully catch up. Therefore, the more intense your workout/activity, will result in a larger oxygen debt or deficit. This is where EPOC comes into play. After you are done working out your body needs additional oxygen to do 3 main tasks:*
Therefore, exercise intensity directly relates to longer excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). This is why we recommend the workouts that we do versus straight cardio or traditional weight lifting with longer breaks between sets. It is because of this that higher intensity workouts that involve some strength training is the best solution for fat loss. If your goal is something else, than there are other options out there. Just one specific example of how EPOC works, in one study an individual that did circuit weight training (bench, power clean, and squats), 10 reps, 4 sets of each and completed all of that in 31 minutes, had an elevated EPOC for the next 38 HOURS!!!! They actually stopped measuring at 38 hours so it actually could have been longer. This is where the magic happens when it comes to boosting metabolisms and fat loss. It's not what happens during the workout that really matters its what our bodies do to recover from that workout that really affects body composition. I'll end with a quote from Alan Aragon: "Caring how much fat is burned during training makes as much sense as caring how much muscle is built during training." *Information from The Essentials of Sport and Exercise Nutrition, Certification Manual 2nd Edition
We talk a lot about nutrition, changing habits, exercise, and recipes. So you might think we have always eaten healthy, or don't struggle with the same issues that you have. Wrong. As the picture above shows, I didn't always have a 6 pack and defined chest and arms. Believe it or not the picture on the left is actually after I had already lost 15 pounds. The first 15 pounds came off solely through nutrition and food using the Ultimate Reset, which is a 21 day program. Prior to the Ultimate Reset I was eating pretty crappy food, with some good stuff mixed in every once in a while. After the Reset, I flipped that, I was eating mainly good food, with a little bit of crappy food mixed into my diet. That change I made with my diet was by joining one of Laura's Challenge Groups. This group put the pressure on me to make good decisions DAILY, because I knew at the end of the day I would have to tell the group if I ate chicken strips and french fries. It was that pressure that helped me start making better decisions. Although kale and sweet potatoes can help you with a lot of things nutritionally, they don't help you build muscle. So the other piece of my transformation was doing a new program at the time called Focus T25. This program was created by Shaun T, the same guy that created Insanity. One of the main factors that helped me stay on track was that this program was only 25 minutes. YES...you can get results without working out for hours at the gym. When I started this program in June, 2012, I was working as a golf professional, so I was right in the heart of my busy season. I was working 50+ hours per week, sometimes up to 80 hours/week. So the time piece was crucial for me to still get my workouts in, on top of my day job. Coming home after a 12 hour work day that started at 6:00 a.m., I faced the same conflicting thoughts on whether to workout or not...that you probably battle! There were definitely some days where I missed workouts and also other days where I just wasn't motivated. The thing that got me to workout on on those days, was my commitment to the group I was a part of. Just like with my eating, I was being held accountable for my daily actions. The decision to do the workouts was already made for me. I didn't look at it as an option. I wanted to give this group all I had for 60 days and see what would happen to my body and how I felt. I focused on my nutrition with Shakeology and eating right. I did my workouts. I got results. It really is that simple. There isn't a magic pill or potion that I took to see the results I did. It came through those daily choices, and not viewing them as optional. In my mind, if I would have seen these choices as merely optional, then that would give me a way to get out of it with excuses or when I didn't feel like it. The combination of a workout program you can fit into your day (Focus T25), proper nutrition,(including Shakeology), and having people that will hold you accountable for the decisions you are making (Challenge Groups), I KNOW is the best way to see the results you are after and ingrain lasting healthy habits. If this combination sounds like something you want to try the Focus T25 and Shakeology bundle is on sale this month and we have a group starting August 18th!! There are plenty of other programs that are proven to be successful as well, and we would love to help you find the the one that best suits your ability and lifestyle. What is the 21 Day Fix? 21 Day Fix is a nutrition and fitness program that makes losing weight so simple, anyone can do it. Easy-to-follow portion control and 30-minute workouts take the guesswork out of losing weight to help you see results fast—up to 15 pounds in just 21 days! Whether you want to lose a few pounds before your next vacation or jump-start a bigger weight-loss goal, 21 Day Fix is the program for you. It’s simple, it’s fast, and it works. If you’re ready to get serious, 21 Day Fix can help you lose the weight. Why is the 21 Day Fix so effective? Because it’s so simple! You don’t have to count calories, points, or log your food into diet software. With 21 Day Fix, everything is laid out for you. All you have to do is use the specially designed portion-control containers and do one 30-minute workout per day. Commit to it for 21 days, and you’re going to love your results. What makes the 21 Day Fix unique? It’s the only fitness and nutrition program that combines portion-control containers and world-class workouts. By placing equal emphasis on fitness and healthy portion control, 21 Day Fix can help anyone lose weight—and keep it off—in a way that’s simple and sustainable. Whether you want to lose 10 pounds or 100 pounds, you can do it with this program. How does the 21 Day Fix work? With the 21 Day Fix container system, you’ll learn how to create healthy portions simply and intuitively. It shows you how to eat whatever you want, in the right amounts, so you can reach your goals fast. No guesswork, and no calorie counting! What is included in the 21 Day Fix Challenge Pack? You will have me as your personal fitness coach and accountability partner. You will receive 24/7 Online support, 30 day membership in Team Beachbody Club. You will also receive a 30 day supply of Shakeology. You will also receive everything listed below in the essential kit. What is the cost of the 21 Day Fix Challenge Pack? If you want to get the most out of your workouts you will need a lightweight and heavyweight set of dumbbells or resistance bands. You may also want a yoga mat for the yoga workout. What is the cost of the 21 Day Fix Challenge Pack? The normal price for the Challenge Pack is $160 which includes everything listed above. For the month of February only Beachbody is running a special promotional price for the 21 Day Fix Challenge Pack that will also include FREE SHIPPING ($12 Value) for $140. Can I eat out while doing this program? Although it is recommended that at least the first time you go through the 21 days you try to make all of your own food. The program does allow you to eat out using similar portioning as if you were to make your own food and fill the containers. Are there any foods that are off limits? In the nutrition guide that comes with the program will be a list of the “best” foods to fill the containers with within each category. You are allowed to put anything you want in those containers however. That even includes wine and chocolate. So NO, you can eat the same food you do right now. Your results may vary depending on the quality of foods that you fill your containers with along with how many “treats” you have. Can I use my own containers while doing the program? No, the containers that come with the program are designed specifically to give you the right amount of each food category. You will be able to buy an extra set of containers, if you would like. |
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