Ah, the wind is blowing, the leaves are changing, Ugg boots are making their revival, and suddenly everything tastes like pumpkin spice again. What a time to be alive – fall is upon us!
Okay, not really.
But in case you missed it, summer is still basically over.
Which means you’re probably a little depressed that you never actually got that summer bod that you promised yourself when you made your New Year’s resolution. So your bikini body is waiting until scarf season. We’re not judging. But we do know that all the time you spent not pumping iron this summer was probably spent on social media instead (because, well, same). Which means you probably saw the hashtag #BBG. A lot.
Kayla Itsines’s “Bikini Body Guide” program (more commonly referred to on your fitspo friends’ Instagrams as “BBG”) has taken the athlete-aspiring world by storm in the past year. Many young women and men have recently jumped on the BBG bandwagon (and they have loads of #TransformationTuesday pics to prove it).
Pre-BBG-critique disclaimer: I love Kayla. Her self-love mantra is huge among all your fitspo friends – and it should be for you too. Not to mention the program promises that each workout will take only 28 minutes to complete (umm, can you say “SOLD”?).
However, after getting through BBG twice in the last year (that’s 24 weeks of my year, in case math isn’t your strong suit), I have come to find that Kayla’s workouts aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. If you’re considering giving BBG a shot, you might want to consider these few things before Kayla gets you too excited about getting washboard abs.
1. The workouts aren’t actually at-home-friendly.
One of the draws of Kayla’s program is that, on the surface, it appears to be a simple, at-home workout that doesn’t require any equipment besides your own body weight, maybe a dumbbell or two, and a little self-discipline. That’s not exactly true. In fact, several of Kayla’s moves require a gym bench (which – I learned the hard way – cannot, in fact, be replaced by a basic coffee table), a Bosu ball, and other uncommon pieces of gym equipment with few sufficient substitutes. And Kayla doesn’t exactly offer modifications for the moves if you don’t have the equipment.
2. They progress too fast.
BBG is 12 weeks of straight HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and LISS (low-intensity steady-state) workouts. Sounds great, right? Now, I’ve used HIIT workouts as a part of my exercise routine for several years now, so I’m a strong proponent of a good HIIT in the butt. But even still, I found myself moving from one day of BBG to the next, saying, “Really, we’re doing this? Already?” Kayla will have you going from normal burpees one week to Bosu burpee push-ups the next week – sometimes with less than seven days in-between. There’s obviously a method to the madness of workout programs getting progressively more difficult. BBG just does it way too fast. I can’t imagine being a brand new fitness junkie and taking a stab at BBG, only to be discouraged thinking that I was supposed to be progressing that quickly as a beginner. Not realistic, Kay.
3. You have to be very self-motivated.
Unlike many other workout programs that are available, BBG doesn’t offer any follow-along videos or tutorials. Instead, you’re just left with a piece of paper that lists the name of each move you’re supposed to do that day and some arbitrary photo of how it’s supposed to look when you do it. Translation: You’re pretty much on your own (and you’re probably going to look like an idiot if you’ve never done it before). No one virtually standing by your side motivating you, no one showing you how the moves are done, and no one making sure you jump to the next move when you’re actually supposed to. Which leaves a lot of wiggle room to dawdle, or, as Jillian Michaels might say, “phone it in”. This is HIIT we’re talking about. There’s no time to stumble over how the hell a snap-jump knee-up is supposed to look.
In the end, it’s all about finding a program that works for you. But for those of us who like a workout that progresses gradually, can be done entirely at home, and maybe even gives us a virtual workout buddy here and there, BBG may not take the cake (which, yes, can still be a part of a healthy diet and fitness regime). My advice? Eat the cake and just stay active, whether that be with Kayla Itsines, Jillian Michaels, Cassey Ho, or your mom. HIIT and LISS on, BBG fam. Or don’t. You decide.
