Body Beast

I started a round of Body Beast 3.5 weeks ago. I'm also doing the Build phase for 4 weeks before moving to 5 weeks of the Bulk phase.

I'm going to admit that Build legs has a HUGE dread factor for me. I have to psych myself up to get out of bed to do it when it's on the schedule. This morning I told myself this is the last time you're going to do it for 5 weeks so just suck it up and do it, lol! I think what I dread the most is the front lunge/step up super set. It moves so fast and when I'm lifting heavy weights, my heartrate soars! I finally decided to take a little longer break between sets so I could keep good form. Sagi is mostly coaching this segment and he doesn't really take long enough breaks! I was afraid Edwin was going to fall over there the first time I did the workout, lol!

I am enjoying it though. It's a nice change up and hopefully when I'm done with this round Cathe's HIIT set will be ready. :)

Kathy
 
When he does really fast rep counts, such as the barbell curls, I will start like 5 seconds early and then I usually finish when he does. But, I agree, even the hamstring work on the legs disc.... he's ridiculously fast. But, i like the program.
 
desertambrosia said:
I agree. It's imperative to have excellent form. If you can't keep your form, drop the weights, for a lighter set. I also agree with the extra curricular activity. At one time I was a personal trainer and a certified group instructor. My best physique was when I was teaching about eight to ten classes a week, most of them had a cardio factor, along with my personal training. Most of the people I trained with were instructors as well. Fabulous physiques, all of them!!
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Hi Everybody!

You have all been lifting a lot longer than I have and I need some advice...at the start of the year I have had some aches in my right shoulder and I think it was from swimming...it got kind of worse from kickboxing workouts and of course being the stubborn
A s s that I am...continued on to lifting.

It got worse the last week. Can't reach into the back seat of my car, cant unhook a bra and get trapped in a sports bra. If its my rotator cuff does this mean no lifting at all?

I'm feeling bummed.
 
Try heat on it, to see if you can get some mobility back. Shoulders are tricky. You may have just overworked it, but then again, it could be injured. Rest it a few days, if it doesn't feel better, see a physician. You don't want to mess up a shoulder. Just like a back, they never seem to be the same.:(
 
Nathalie - I think doing Body Beast, we're likely to be the other way round - too much resistance training and not enough cardio....

Cardio (HiiT) once a week for half an hour is feeling a bit weird to me ;)
 
I agree Justine, 30 minutes of cardio a week is a big difference from doing hour+ long sessions of cardio several times a week. However, it think the article makes an excellent point--balance. I personally need more cardio than 30 minutes once a week for many reasons. Mental/emotional health, striking that balance between strength, cardio and flexibility and finally--cardiovascular health! I fear if I were to follow Body Beast as laid out, I would lose heart and lung strength! But that doesn’t mean I feel compelled to do hour long sessions of cardio. Adding a few more short HIIT level cardio sessions serves my purposes fine and seems to fall in line with the article as well.

My biggest weakness has always been the flexibility aspect, but I really feel like since I have been doing Body Beast I have struck the best balance I've had in a while. My cardio sessions are short but intense and I do 3-5 a week. I strength train almost every day but shorter workouts and I do flexibility multiple times a week. I actually feel pretty good!

On a different note, my husband started the Bulk phase yesterday (I start next week) and I am previewing as he does them. Now, I have only previewed one Bulk workout so far (Chest), but after watching that one, I think that maybe due to the title of the workouts and phase "Bulk"--I was assuming this program was structured similarly to STS Hypertrophy (Build) and Strength (Bulk). I don't think that's the case anymore. I think the entire Body Beast program is primarily hypertophy. Bulk just focuses on the individual muscle groups even more intensely with new/different techniques than Build uses. I'm okay with that, btw. But I guess I won't worry so much about going crazy heavy anymore because it doesn't seem that Bulk is designed to be "strength" focused anyway. Again, this is just from me previewing one workout. My opinion my change by the end of the week!
 
I didn't mean to make it sound as though the article wasn't relevant - just that I seem to have swung the opposite way, and maybe I'm doing too much strength and not enough cardio!!!

I'm doing BB as designed (so cardio 1 day and then the Bulk Legs is cardio - for me, anyway :p), and all I'm adding is yoga. However, I walk my dogs 4 - 5 miles every morning (at a fast rate) - so I guess I do some steady state as well.
When life quietens down next week, I think, like you Jen, I'll add in another HiiT or two. Got to take my baby back to Uni tomorrow :(

I'm looking forward to Bulk. Then Beast seems to be similar to Build, but with a bit more cardio????

I'll continue with BB until Cathe releases Ripped with HiiT. I'll be desperate to get back to Cathe by then!
 
Jen, I'm in my second week of Bulk, and I'd say your impression after previewing the one workout is correct. Bulk is not about lifting as heavy as you can. It's just not possible with as fast as he goes. That's not to say I don't like it. It's just not what I expected. A good thing about the Bulk phase is the short length of the workouts. This is where Cathe's wonderful premixes come in handy to tack on some cardio. I've got to have more than one day of cardio a week, not only to keep my endurance but to keep my sanity as well!
 
Yes, I agree with you! I just started the Bulk phase this week and Bulk Chest moved way to fast to go really heavy. I just went at my own speed and then rewound to the start of the rest periods (so I got in enough rest between sets). It ended up taking me 32 minutes instead of 30 minutes but it's still short enough to fit in a good cardio workout too.

I did the first two phases of Body Beast (Lean Beast) when it first came out but never completed the entire 12 week rotation. I did start to "bulk" up last time though and felt like a marshmallow, lol. I think this time around I'm going to do some sort of cardio everyday just to keep that from happening. I'm looking to lean out more than build so I'm hoping it works!

During the Build phase, I was doing a short cardio first before the Beast workout to warm up my muscles. The BB warmups are WAY to short! But with the Bulk phase, I think I'm going to reverse it and do the BB workout first, then the cardio. How is everyone else that's adding cardio doing it? Before or after the BB workout?

Kathy
 
I'm still in Build so I have been doing my HIIT cardio in the afternoons after work (I workout to Body Beast first thing in the morning). But next week when I start Bulk, I plan to do the Bulk workout first, then follow with a Weider Ruthless 20 minute workout and end with a Cathe stretch (I'm thinking the X10 stretch, and maybe alternate with Supercuts stretch). That's the plan!

This is my last week of Build and this morning was Legs. I cannot say I will miss that workout. I'm glad for a 4 week break from it. It is brutal! I swear, I don't care what any article says, but I swear my quads have blown up! Just like Sagi says--I am turning into Quadzilla!
 
Kathy - I was just wondering whether to do my cardio before or after during the bulk phase! A lot of research indicates that it's better before - but I quite like doing my strength workout first, so that I can give it my all.

I may even do both - Tabatacise warm up followed by 1 tabata, then BB, then another tabata and tabatacise cool down and stretch. But I may yet change my mind! Sort of depends on how the workouts feel.

Jen - my legs have lost their puffiness - I thought it was maybe because I was only doing 1 leg workout a week. Are you doing anything else?

The other thing I was wondering about was going from Build straight into Bulk - it's a long time without a rest day. Has everyone just gone straight from one phase into the other? I'm due to start Bulk on Monday.
 
Justinef said:
Kathy - I was just wondering whether to do my cardio before or after during the bulk phase! A lot of research indicates that it's better before - but I quite like doing my strength workout first, so that I can give it my all.

I may even do both - Tabatacise warm up followed by 1 tabata, then BB, then another tabata and tabatacise cool down and stretch. But I may yet change my mind! Sort of depends on how the workouts feel.

Jen - my legs have lost their puffiness - I thought it was maybe because I was only doing 1 leg workout a week. Are you doing anything else?

The other thing I was wondering about was going from Build straight into Bulk - it's a long time without a rest day. Has everyone just gone straight from one phase into the other? I'm due to start Bulk on Monday.
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I have a book that says to do cardio or weights first depending on which one you are focusing on more, so if you want to give the strength workout your all I would go with that first.
 
lrusso, I've always read the same thing, so I always do strength first and end with cardio.

And Justine--no, I am only doing Body Beast Legs. My thighs however seem to have been growing ever since I started STS. I've now been through 2 rounds of STS and now I'm doing Body Beast and my thighs are the biggest I think they have ever been. I'm not going to lie and say they are solid muscle--there is some fat there, too, but the quads are clearly solid muscle and very large. the fat seems to be on the inner thigh area.
 
I've always done my cardio first. By the time you are done with cardio, your muscles are very warm and ready to go. My sister tried to tell me I was doing it wrong. She told me my muscles were too fatigued after cardio, to get a great lift. I told her that cardio after weights, diminished the results of a great strength session. I had always done cardio first, and it worked for me. Thanks for the article. I think I will send it to my sister. (Just because I can)
 
I can't even imagine doing a HiiT workout like say X10 Cardio Blast and then trying to do a heavy weight routine right after it. I would be way too wasted!
 
I'm just the opposite. Cardio after a strength workout is not gonna happen. I try to lift as heavy as possible. My muscles are so fatigued after lifting, a stretch is about all I can handle.:p
 
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