Last Friday I officially completed Body Beast!! I am especially proud of this task because this is the first program without Tony Horton that I actually finished. I own a ton of Beachbody programs, but before Beast, Tony's programs (P90X, P90X3 & P90X2) were the only ones that could capture my attention for 90 days. I thought I would share my thoughts of the program with everyone, since I know a lot of people may not be familiar with it.
What is Body Beast?
Body Beast is a 90 day weightlifting program. The trainer, Sagi, is a bodybuilder and nutritionist and I really found him motivating. He's not as corny and joke cracking as Tony, but he knows how to keep you going even when you want to give up. The program has two schedules: lean beast and huge beast. I did lean beast. Both schedules have three phases: build, bulk and beast. Build sets the foundation, bulk puts on the muscle and beast shreds off the fat. The main difference between lean beast and huge beast is lean beast incorporates cardio during bulk phase while huge beast does not. Lean beast also spends one less week in bulk phase and instead does that extra week in beast phase.
During the program you lift 5 or 6 days out of the week, do cardio one day depending on the phase and your schedule and rest the other. Build and bulk have different weightlifting workouts, with the bulk workouts all being around 30 minutes, build workouts are longer; some are 50 minutes. During the final phase, beast phase, the week's lifting workouts alternate between build and bulk workouts.
The workouts themselves are challenging. For the most part, each move uses three sets of weights: heavy, medium and light. You do the light weights for 15 reps, medium for 12 and heavy for 8. I never lifted this way before but let me tell you, it gives you results!! Beast cardio uses light weights (I use 5lbs or nothing when I am in a hotel room) and you do different one minute moves such as squats, mountain climbers and push ups. That workout is my least favorite, but it goes quickly. My favorite workouts are the leg workouts because they really kill me. Build legs in particular has this one move where you step up on the bench, step down and then do a back lunge. It is HARD!!
What supplies do you need?
You need three sets of weights: heavy, medium and light. Heavy is whatever is heavy to you. On some moves, 5lbs is heavy to me. On others (leg day) it's 20. I use 5, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20. I have built up this collection over the years so don't think you need that many to start! Sagi uses a barbell as well, but they have a modifier who just uses dumbbells. I do not have a bar (yet) so I follow the modifier. You also need either a bench or an exercise ball. I use a ball. Back day involves pull-ups so either a pull-up bar or resistance bands to mimic pull-ups is needed. The only thing I needed to buy for this program was some 20lb weights for leg day.
Body Beast is also really easy to take to the gym too. Don't think that just because you are a gym rat that Beast will not benefit you. I have easily used it in hotel gyms. And with Beachbody On Demand you can easily watch the video on your phone while at the gym. Perfect!
Who would benefit from Body Beast?
Anyone and everyone can benefit from Body Beast! The DVDs only have bodybuilder type men in them (ugh, we need some women) but this program is absolutely for women too. Whether you want more muscle or want to burn off some fat, Body Beast will work. I am a big believer in lifting weights even if you want to lose weight, instead of spending endless time on cardio. Building muscle increases your body's metabolism, therefore really helps burn off that fat. Plus, weights sculpt your body. If you just do cardio, sure you will shrink, but you will still be jiggly! Weights help prevent that jiggle. Plus it is very important for us women to lift, especially as we get into our 30s, 40s and beyond. Lifting weights helps us retain bone density and that is so important! Do not be afraid to lift weights! Women cannot bulk up like men! Not to mention, it is HARD to gain muscle! It takes lots of food and lifting extremely heavy and even then this process is SLOW!
My results
Prior to doing Body Beast I did a round of P90X, 2 rounds of P90X3, a round of P90X2 and another round of P90X. Obviously, I love those programs. During X2 and that last round of P90X, I was focused on muscle building. I had lost all the baby weight by the time I was done with P90X3 but I wanted to build up my scrawny arms and build up my butt. So Body Beast was the logical choice. Just a few weeks into the program my husband told me that he could see arm muscles. Obviously I was thrilled with that! My arms have definitely put on some muscle during those 12 weeks. I do feel a little fluffier in my mid section, however, I am focused on growing muscle so that extra food will add some (temporary) fluff. I'm doing one or two more rounds of Beast and then focusing on shredding down any unwanted fat. I have already had amazing strength gains with this program. I am absolutely looking forward to where this second round will take my body. I still need to take my after pics.
Tweaks I'm making for my second round
I started my second round of Body Beast on Sunday and decided to make a couple of tweaks with the program this time around. First of all, Beast doesn't have a yoga day or any sort of stretching/mobility day. I love my yoga and my body really misses it when I don't do it. This round I absolutely plan to incorporate yoga each week. Even if it's just the 30 minute P90X3 yoga. I think our bodies need yoga, especially when pushing them so hard each day!
I'm also going to incorporate more butt work. Beast has one leg day per week but I would like to work my butt more often so I decided I'm going to do Butt Bible workouts on shoulder day (Butt Bible can be found for free on YouTube. It's fantastic).
I also want a little more cardio so I will be doing Les Mills Combat a couple of times per week. I just got that program and it seems really fun so I'll add that in a couple of times when I have time. I'll probably end up getting CIZE when it comes out and doing that as my extra cardio.
Final thoughts
I love Body Beast and I really recommend it for almost anyone. If you are a total newbie when it comes to working out, I suggest working up to it. Perhaps with 21 Day Fix first to incorporate some weights into your workouts. Otherwise, if you are on the fence about this program I say go for it!! Weights benefit everyone and anyone and this program is the best when it comes to weightlifting. Plus, Sagi said he has a special announcement coming soon so maybe Body Beast 2 is in the works! Fingers crossed! And here's to hoping that one has some women in it :)
