21 Day Fix

The program that started it all for me. If you read my other fitness post, you’ll see that I first tried this program out after I had my son. Being a mom and trying to find time to get an effective workout in isn’t an easy feat, which is why this program works so well. They’re literally 30 minute videos. Sometimes I’m in the bathroom for longer than that. I mean, my husband ALWAYS is, but this isn’t about him. Anyway, 30 minutes is relatively easy to get in during nap time, snack time, tablet time, playdoh time etc.

Like most Beachbody programs, the program works in conjunction with their container system; color-coded Tupperware that changes quantity depending on which meal plan you fall into. You get a certain amount of containers per food category for the day. I tried this system the first time I did the program and had shit results. The next time I did it, I paired the videos with counting calories and was much more successful. This most recent set of rounds I obviously just paired the videos with my typical keto way of eating and had great success.

There are 7 main videos and 4 bonus videos. You repeat the same videos in the same order for 3 weeks (21 Days) and on the third week, you can double up your videos to give you a little boost. You can also throw in some of the bonus videos when you’re feeling up for it.

Each video is meant to emphasize working out a specific area of the body or style of workout. Upper Fix focuses on your upper body and arms, Lower Fix is legs, Cardio Fix is no equipment necessary, Pilates Fix is a slower pace full-body workout, Yoga is your basic moves, Total Body Cardio is emphasized with weights, and Dirty 30 is a complete full-body weighted exercise. I can’t tell you much about the bonus videos because I never did them, except for Piyo Fix which I hated because it was ALL jumping and hurt the shit out of my knees.

All you need for the program is a basic set of weights so you have some variety to choose from and the ability to increase your weight as you progress and get stronger. Aside from that, just a simple mat and you’re good to go.

You’re going to sweat. You’re going to not be able to finish all the reps or rounds every time at first. You’re going to want to quit. But, you’re going to get stronger and see results. Trust me. I’ve done four rounds of this program now and it was amazing to see my progress EVERY week. I was able to do more reps and less modifications each time. Yes, there is a specific group member that shows you modifications for every move. Her name is Kat and she is going to be your BEST FRIEND. Trust me.

You’re likely going to hate Autumn, the instructor. One, she is extremely peppy and has her signature catch phrases that you’ll hear over-and-over in hopes to keep you motivated. Two, she never seems to do all the moves. She is fantastic at walking around the room and critiquing everyone’s form, it’s annoying.

There are some moves you’ll hate throughout the program. I still cringe at the thought of cross-jacks. There were days I dreaded certain workouts because I knew specific moves were in them. Regardless, they help get you to your end goal so they’re worth it to push through.

One thing that is nice about 21DF- there is a timer in the bottom corner that shows just how long you have left of each rep or round. Focusing on that clock helped me a ton. As Autumn says, “you can do anything for 60 seconds.” If I was starting to die at 15 seconds left, it was easier to push through seeing how close I was to being done.

But really, this program is fantastic. It’s a great place to start if you’ve never done much in regards to free weights. You’ll see results and progress and it flies by. When I did it, I had to have the DVDs, but now you can stream it using their On Demand service, which is what I’ve been doing this past year. It gives you access to all their program library and I believe there is even a 14 day trial you can do. Once you’ve mastered 21DF, they came out with a follow-up called 21 Day Fix Extreme.

If you give it a go, let me know and post your success story! I can’t wait to see and hear about your results.