BODY BEAST REVIEW - Week 1

Week 1 review of the "Body Beast" program.

The Science behind the program:

• The "Body Beast" program was developed by Sagi Kalev.  Sagi is the former two-time "Mr. Israel", fitness model and bodybuilding title-holder. He is also a knowledgeable nutritionist.

• The sports science behind Sagi's "Body Beast" program is what he terms "Dynamic Set Training". This  blends the best of historical bodybuilding with the latest advancements in sports science. Sagi utilizes single sets, super sets, giant sets, progressive sets, drop sets and tempo sets. This protocol is super efficient, (total workout time between 30 min - 50 min). It fatigues muscle by recruiting more muscle fiber in a shorter period of time. This lessens the amount of weight necessary to produce hypertrophy (muscle growth). 

• Dynamic set training hits both fast and slow twitch muscle fibers, increases time under tension, lessens rest time between sets and total workout time, mixes various techniques to hammer the muscles while keeping the workouts new and fun, increases maximal testosterone production. All of this produces hypertrophy... The addition of lean mass and the subtraction of body fat!!!

• The program comes with "The Book Of The Beast". This is by far the most detailed fitness manual that I have seen from Beachbody. It provides practical information on the workout program and schedules, safe lifting technique, supplementation, nutrition and nutrient timing. It is an extremely thorough bodybuilding bible! 

• There are three phases to the program: Build, Bulk and Beast. The Build phase focuses on muscle synergy. It'll provide you with a strong foundation and produce mass. The Bulk phase utilizes the latest innovations in bodybuilding science to get you super pumped and focuses on max hypertrophy. The Beast phase is where you fine tune your nutrition and combine the first two phases to get absolutely huge and ripped! The nutrition guide is detailed and provides all the info you'll need to Beast up.

• The program also comes with two schedules, "Huge Beast" and "Lean Beast". The main focus of the Huge schedule is putting on mass. The Lean schedule includes more metabolic conditioning for those looking to get big and lean.

My Thoughts After Week 1:

• It's more challenging than any program that I've done in a few years. I am very conditioned for muscular endurance, circuit style weight training and body-weight exercises. This is an entirely different animal... it is a "BEAST"! Sagi Kalev's training style is informative, effective, motivating and a hell of lot of fun. I'm learning a lot from the Beast and wake up each morning excited to do "Whatever it Takes" and hit it hard again.

• I'm sore in places that I've never been sore before and I've been working out seriously hard since 2008. The individual workouts are relentless (and this is a very good thing). They move at a quick pace and continually hammer the specified muscle group until the point of complete fatigue and muscular failure. I like the efficiency of the workouts. You're done in 40 - 50 minutes.

• I love the cardio/abs workout. It hits everything in 30 minutes. It is a straight up metabolic conditioning workout. This means you'll burn body fat like crazy. Even after you finish the workout you'll still be burning up calories for hours due to the after-burn effect of the metabolic training!!! If you push yourself as hard as you can go for the duration, I'd put this workout in the same category as Shaun T.'s "The Asylum". Yes! It's really that hard. 

• So far I've gained two pounds and my shirts fit tighter in the arms, chest and shoulders and my shorts fit more loosely in the waist. That means I'm putting on mass and leaning up simultaneously.

• Keeping it real and honest, my only complaint with the program so far would be the length of the cool-downs. I personally need more. I'm flexible and want to maintain my flexibility and joint health. I usually do my own cool-down and incorporate more stretching, stability ball work and foam rolling at the end of each workout. I'm also sticking to my yoga. I will do one light yoga workout during the week to maintain my mindfulness and fluidity. 
• Overall, I'm having more fun with this program than I've had in years. I cannot wait to see what kind of results I get at the end of 90 days.

Brett Thornton

FullFunctionalFitness

To join my challenge group go to www.FullFunctionalFitness.com and click the Body Beast banner on the right side.