Let’s Talk About Sweat, Baby

I’m talking about working out of course (Why? What did you think I was talking about?)

If you know me, you know I’m a pretty big advocate of being physically active. Sometimes (well, most of the time) it’s for my mental health as well as my physical.

But working out, every day, with the same routine, can get monotonous and boring. And it is soooo much harder to maintain a routine if you lose interest. So I constantly seek out new fitness routines to try.

Leading up to my wedding day, I was hitting one of those slumps where the gym was just not keeping me motivated. I’d people talk about Beachbody On Demand and seen the commercials so I figured “what the hell, I’ll try that” (plus they had a 30-day trial at the time, so there was nothing to lose). I’ve tried many of their on demand fitness programs over the past eight months. Some pretty awesome, some pretty fun, and some pretty much made me want to pull my hair out. So here I’m offering my unbiased (but definitely snarky) reviews of some of the most memorable.

1. Insanity by Sean T

This was the first workout program I decided to try. If you haven’t heard of Insanity or Sean T, I’ll assume you live under a rock (or maybe you just never watch TV). This one is not for the faint of heart. If you’re not a fan of sweating profusely, gasping for air, or breaking down in tears screaming “Why God, Why”…skip this one. But if you’re like me and feel like a workout that doesn’t end with your clothes drenched in sweat is a workout wasted, go for it.

My one big turn off with this program was the warm up.It was literally the exact same moves, repeated multiple times, every single day. By the end of the sixty day program, I was forcing myself to start the workout everyday because I was dreading the stupid warm up (also, I may have cheated a few times and done my own version of a warm up just for a little variety). Seriously, Sean T, would it kill ya to mix things up a bit?

2. Core de Force

Honestly, this is probably my favorite program. For some reason, the act of turning on this workout everyday and pretending to punch and kick the stuffing out of an imaginary opponent (okay, so usually it was who ever pissed me off that day) really worked for me. The instructors, Joel and Jericho, appealed to me too.They weren’t overly drill sergeant-esque nor were they rah-rah cheerleaders. Compared to a lot of fitness video instructors, they were surprisingly normal.

While encouraging and supportive to viewers and the on-video participants, they also talk and joke with each other quite a bit (and a lot of their jokes are so corny I feel like I’m working out with my husband), which helped take my mind off my burning muscles and lungs. The programs also only last 30 days which makes it way easier to stick with, and if you choose to complete another 30 days there are options to mix it up.

3. P90X

I wanted to like P90X, I really and truly did. I had heard so many things about it and it seemed like people got results using it. When I decided to up my game with a workout that focused less on cardio and more on strength training, I assumed this one would be a no brainer. But oh my God….uggggggh. I’ll be honest, I didn’t make it through the program. I threw in the towel less than two weeks in. It wasn’t the workouts themselves. I enjoyed the idea of the workouts at least and I feel that if I had managed to make it through the full program, I would have seen changes.

But the only way I could have accomplished that was if I put my TV on mute the whole time. I seriously could not stand the instructor Tony…how is this guy so successful? Throughout my brief attempt at doing P90X I usually found myself yelling at the TV to please, please, for the love of all things holy, shut up already! He chattered non-stop the entire time, which was already annoying. It was so much worse when he decided to start spewing on and on about how bad certain foods are for you and how things like burgers and pie are just gross. I get it, we can’t be healthy and eat junk food 24-7. But one of the reasons I workout and sweat my tail off is so I can indulge in something like pizza or ice cream sometimes. And I don’t need a dude on a TV screen trying to make me feel guilty for it.

I’ve given several of the other programs on BOD a shot. While I haven’t really followed any of the yoga programs I like using them sometimes when I need a little relaxation. They’ve all been pretty enjoyable (except for YBB…those ladies creep me out). I can also happily recommend The Master’s Hammer & Chisel, though I must admit I enjoyed Autumn’s days for than Sagi’s. Speaking of Autumn, I also gave her new program 80 Day Obsession a go. Sadly it was short-lived. While I liked the workouts, I just didn’t feel like they hit the level of intensity I prefer. Which is why I’m now back on the Sean T bandwagon with Focus T25. I may cover that one in another review when I’m finished

…if Sean T doesn’t kill me in the process.