PiYo Review

Wow! I can’t believe I’ve finished my THIRD Beachbody program already. I love PiYo but not for the reasons that you may think. PiYo is a melt of Pilates and Yoga, and suitably named. Prior to this program I had never taken either type of class and, I’ll admit, I’ve skipped the stretch and yoga sections of both T25 and 21 Day Fix because I thought they were less important. I figured that these types of things would never help me reach my goal because my goal at that time was specifically to lose the baby weight. However, after reaching my goal weight I decided to work on improving my flexibility and though some PiYo would be a big help (plus it was on sale! So I really couldn’t say no). PiYo is a 60 day program and, like all Beachbody programs, comes with a schedule and a nutrition plan. The schedule starts off easy and then gradually introduces workouts that make you really thankful for child’s pose! The nutrition plan is very similar to the one for 21 Day Fix with the exception of the containers and the addition of a “secondary grains” food group.

Why I will forever be in love with PiYo:

1. Flexibility – I can put my hands on the floor WITHOUT bending my knees! What?!? Yes this is huge for me. Now, I didn’t take before pics of my flexibility (because really who thinks to do that??) so I’ve taken pictures of about where I was before and where I am now. AMAZING! I danced for 14 years of my life and have never been this flexible. It works.

Before

After

2. Strength – Specifically core and shoulder strength. I can actually hold a plank for longer than 2 minutes. One day I will grab a magazine and time how long but I got bored the last time I timed it and gave in at the 2 minute mark.

3. Great party tricks – There’s one move that Chalene tells you you can use to show off at a party and be like “I bet you can’t do this”. And I always thought, who on earth would actually do that?? The answer, ME! Ok so maybe it wasn’t a party, but I did show it off while at a friend’s house for supper!

4. Easy, but hard – I have an internal battle with this. It always seems like such an easy program compared to the other programs I have done and yet I sweat more and gain more strength than I did with the other programs. If you want something that makes you reap the benefits of working out but doesn’t feel like working out, this is it!

5. Pain relief – It’s not like I have chronic pain or anything like that but I do seem to continually have a sore back. You know the usual stress points that always have giant knots that you just can’t seem to lose. Well PiYo got rid of them for me. I found myself asking my husband for way less back rubs while I was doing the PiYo program and now that I haven’t done it for a week my knots are all back. Time to get back into it I think!

The not-so-great parts:

1. Portion Tracking – I think I was spoilt by 21 Day Fix. PiYo doesn’t come with a chart to track how many portions of what you have eaten each day. It’s a small downside but it caused me not to really follow the nutrition plan like I should have. I also think I could have easily made my own or found one on the internet. This was pure laziness on my part.

2. Results – Pretty sure this one is all on me… I didn’t have any definition results like I was hoping for but I also didn’t follow the nutrition portion of the program. Afterall, abs are made in the kitchen! Next time around I will be sure to follow the WHOLE program and not just do the workouts.

3. Length – Once again spoilt by T25 and 21 Day Fix I was shocked that the workouts range from 25 minutes to 50 minutes! This is something that I’m just going to have to get used to since I plan on starting BodyBeast next which has hour long workouts.

I will definitely be continuing this program. I plan to combine PiYo with any program that I do in the future, mostly for the pain relief aspect. The flexibility that it’s given me and the tension that it’s relieved has given me a passion for PiYo that I never thought I could have.

If you would like more information on my experience with PiYo just comment below or send me an email! If you are ready to commit to this program or any other Beachbody program, click here.