Beauty and the Beast
I started Body Beast last week! YAY!! I snagged it for only $29 during Beachbody’s Black Friday sale. I’ve been wanting to do another weight lifting program so when it went on sale, I figured why not? My main concern was that the workouts would be too long like P90X. But the Body Beast workouts are much shorter in length, but just as intense! Each workout is 48 minutes or less.
You have two program options: Huge or Lean. The main difference is Lean includes more cardio than Huge. Even though my goal is to lean out, I chose 
Huge since I get in regular cardio teaching Turbo Kick and RIPPED every week. Both are 6 day a week programs with only one dedicated ab workout each week. However, Sagi includes a bit of ab work at the end of every workout so it’s more ab work than it seems. Each program has 3 phases: Build (3 weeks), Bulk (6 weeks) and Beast (3 weeks) for a total of 12 weeks.
My biggest challenge is sticking to the workout schedule consistently while teaching 2-4 fitness classes a week. After consulting with some of my fitness friends on Facebook, the general consensus was I’d have to 2-a-days on the days that I teach. Which in theory is simple, but in reality…well…I’ll give it my best shot. I’m in my 2nd week and so far so good.
So, Body Beast Day 1 – Chest/Tris. It’s 48 minutes and alternate between chest and tricep exercises for the full 48 minutes (except warm up, abs and cool down). After about the 3rd round, the pushups started getting tough for me and I failed LONG before the intended 15 or 12 reps. That’s ok though because as I friend once told me, however many you do is more than you’ve been doing. So I do what I can and keep it moving.
I was happy to see some new chest press and chest fly exercises introduced. At the end of the workout my shoulders and triceps felt like jelly and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to lift my arms after DOMS set in. I’ve got to get some Results & Recovery formula. I was surprised at how much it reduced muscle soreness when I was doing P90X.
Body Beast Day 2 – Legs.
OMG – the squats felt like recovery after all those friggin lunges! I actually love lunges because they work deep into the glutes and hamstrings (for that high, sculpted booty look the celebs pay the plastic surgeon for :-). But after 3 rounds of 3 different lunge variations, the delayed onset muscle soreness skipped the “delayed” part and jumped to “immediate”. I literally may not be able to walk tomorrow. I was still super happy to see that Sagi incorporated step-ups though. I’ve loved these (and have had AWESOME results) ever since my Firm days. And these step-ups were different because he adds a rear lunge at the bottom of the move. I have very high expectations for my legs and booty when I’m done with this program!
I’ll give a review of the other workouts in a separate post. But I’ll tell you I was CRAZY sore my first week! It’s partially my fault because I didn’t order my Results & Recovery drink in time. I used R&R during P90X and it definitely makes a difference in reducing soreness and helping the muscles recover. I highly recommend it during this program.
I started my 2nd week this past Monday and am not as sore since my body is adjusting to the daily lifting schedule. I’m following the Beast meal plan to make sure I get in the right balance of macronutrients to support the intensity of the training sessions. Plus to see the best results, modifying your diet is a must!
That’s all I have for now, but will make weekly posts to update you on how it’s going. Until then, eat right, exercise and take care of that body! #JiggleFree
Coach MaShelle
