Kayla Itsines' Bikini Body Guide
So as of Monday, I will have 6 weeks until my trip to Las Vegas and will be trying my absolute best to eat well and workout consistently before then as I have a whole bikini collection to show off by the pool at Planet Hollywood. I am a big fan of pre-made routines for myself because I just don't have the knowledge and education to plan a reliable regime for myself. That's why I'm going crawling back to the Bikini Body Guide created by Kayla Itsines.
Kayla is a certified fitness trainer for down under in Australia who has taken the fitness world by storm with her 12 week guides that will work your ass off for weeks 1 to 12 and 12 to 24. These guides can be purchased from Kayla's website and there is also an option to get a free 7 day free workout here to see if the style works for you. Electronic copies of the guides are sent to you directly to keep on your electronic device or print to get a physical copy at hand.
Kayla also offers a nutrition guide which I think is excellent. It is not a strict meal plan that you should stick to by the gram but it does literally guide you through how to eat better to suit your needs which I think is so refreshing compared to the strict meal plans you find online or in magazines which are not personalised for an individual's needs. It walks you through how to eat more healthily and recognise how to nourish your body properly to support all the extra activity brought about by using the guides.
The workouts are mix of resistance training, stretching, Low Intensity Steady State (LISS) cardio and HIIT sessions towards the end of the guide. The resistance workouts use minimal equipment so that you can workout using just your bodyweight, or added weights if you wish, for the 28 minute workouts. These include 2 circuits each with the first circuit being performed as many times in 7 minutes, resting, performing the second circuit for 7 minutes, resting, performing the first circuit for the second time, resting and finishing with the second circuit to complete the 28 minutes. You can choose to do the resistance training for 2-3 sessions a week to begin with. They are split up into Legs & Cardio, Arms & Abs and a Full Body workout. These are brilliantly illustrated in the guides so you know exactly what you need to be doing for each move and how your form should be. If you're unsteady in terms of form then don't forget to focus on quality before quantity. It really helps to practise the moves in front of a mirror to see where you need to make adjustments.
The LISS cardio sessions can simply be walking, slow cycling etc. for 35-45 minutes 2-3 times per week depending upon where in the guide you are up to. The HIIT sessions are 10-15 minutes of interval sprints which are introduced in week 9 onwards in the first guide. The intensity of the workouts increases as you progress into the guide and build up your stamina which adds pressure to your body to respond to the training. How to fit these workouts together into your week and further guidance to consider is all laid out in the start of the guides so that it is very hard to get confused once you have read it through for yourself.
The equipment required is absolutely minimal. You will need some dumbbells (I sometimes just use my kettle bell), a foam roller for post-workout/stretching sessions, a surface to step up onto and a bosu ball if you have the funds to buy one. This post I wrote on how to start leading a healthier lifestyle has some links to where you can find cheap but reliable fitness wear and equipment.
Every Sunday night, as of the 6th of September, I will now be posting a weekly catch up of the workouts I have done that week so I can have some accountability to make sure I try my best! I am by no means a serious athlete or some superwoman so I would be classed somewhere around beginner because my workouts have always been basic and things like Insanity scare the life out of me. Hopefully this will act as a long term review of the guides and may help you decide if you want to spend your money on them
XOXO
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