It is time for me to do a workout review! I love doing these as they are fun for me and I can help others who are looking for a workout to try.
If you look at my other workout reviews, you will see that most of them are done on Fitness Blender workouts. Well, here is another one!
Doing bodyweight Strength workouts
For strength training, I have been mainly into using weights for years. My interest in just using bodyweight for these types of workouts has grown in the past year or so, though.
I used to think that I wouldn’t be able to get quality muscle work in but I realize that that isn’t true at all. You can get an awesome strength workout in if you do the right moves and put in the hard work.
Here is what I like and dislike about bodyweight strength training:
Like-
- Can be done anywhere in my house.
- Can be done in small spaces.
- Not as worried about getting injured.
- Mentally easy for me.
Dislikes-
- Doesn’t burn as many calories.
- Not necessarily fond of the upper body options.
Usually when I do the bodyweight workouts that I come up with, I add some extra cardio and intensity into it. This means that I will do more cardio than I usually do during a strength training workout and really make each move count.
Another thing I used to think was that I wouldn’t get very much of an afterburn for calories with bodyweight strength training. Recently, I learned that the cardio intervals I add into the workouts can cause an afterburn and also that it may be an overrated effect.
One thing I can say is that my muscles definitely feel it the next day after doing bodyweight workouts. They just hit a bit different and I am not used to doing them as much.
The workout
For this review, I chose Fitness Blender’s Kickboxing & Yoga workout. It is part of their 5 Day Workout Challenge To Burn Fat & Build Lean Muscle. This is a program that is free to everyone and includes five workouts that focus on different things.
The workout I chose requires no equipment and includes a cardio warm-up. It targets the upper body with its strength components and combines that with cardio kickboxing. After that part of the workout is finished, a Yoga power stretch is done.
The strength and cardio part consists of seven superset groups. Each superset includes one upper body strength move (pushups, triceps dips, pullovers and bicep curls) and one kickboxing move. Each move in the supersets are to be done for 45 seconds with a 15 second rest before moving onto the next one. Each superset group is done two times through.
Although the workout is listed as being a “no equipment” one, they do mention that you can add weight for two of the strength moves if you want to.
The Yoga portion of the workout involves seven different movements. They are not just Yoga moves though as they also combine Pilates and strength. This is why they called it a “power stretch.”
The total run-time of this workout is 49 minutes and it has an estimate calorie burn range of 272-561. The latter depends on various factors that include body size, fitness level and effort. They have it rated as being a 4/5 on their difficulty scale.
My review
I was excited for this one as it was pretty different than what I usually do. By that, I meant that I never include kickboxing moves as my cardio. I am kind of stuck in my ways when it comes to the cardio moves I do and I really need to start branching out to challenge my body more.
The cardio/stretch warm-up felt great. I have gotten into doing them lately and really do see their value.
The first superset has single leg pushups. Starting off, I thought that it felt easy. After about 15 seconds I realized that it was not easy. I dropped down to doing modified pushups (easier ones) and I still felt like my arms were going up in flames with weights tied to them.
I liked the kickboxing moves even though I felt a little silly doing them (and probably looked silly, too). They were tough and kept getting more challenging for me as the workout went on.
I actually thought about using weight for the curls because it seemed weird to just make the curling motion but I quickly realized that that would be too hard. Body weight was enough!
When I got to the Yoga portion, I was pretty well spent. I guess I wasn’t really sure what I was expecting with the moves but the combination seemed odd to me. This part of the workout was definitely a “no” for me. I did do all of it though.
I stopped my Fitness watch right after the workout was over. It showed that I had burned 400 calories and had a maximum heart rate of 156.
Overall, I think this is an okay workout. It definitely isn’t one of my favorites that I have done. The pike pushups and the Yoga portion in particular were not enjoyable. I will say that my arms are really feeling it as I type this out so my muscles did get some good work.
I give this workout a 3/5.
My recommendations
Even though I wasn’t exactly thrilled with this workout, I would still recommend it to the following people:
- Those who want a workout that is under an hour.
- Those who want a bodyweight workout that hits the upper body.
- Those who like or are willing to do kickboxing moves.
- Those who are physically coordinated.
- Those who are looking for a relatively high calorie burn.
- Those who don’t have wrist and hand issues.
- Those who don’t have a lot of space to workout.
- Those who don’t have any weights to use.
Here are a couple of things to buy that might help with this and other workouts:
- Workout mats– These mats from ProsourceFit are perfect to create a cushioned workout area.
- Extra thick Yoga/Pilates mat– This mat from ProsourceFit is great for providing cushioning when doing a workout such as this Fitness Blender one. These are not just good for Yoga and Pilates.
In conclusion
Although this workout wasn’t that great (in my opinion), my muscles and cardiovascular system did get some work in. I probably will not do this one again though.
Sometimes things are a miss and that is perfectly okay! I still love Fitness Blender and will keep trying their workouts.
Have you done any Fitness Blender workouts? If so, what did you think about them?
You can find the workout here: https://www.fitnessblender.com/videos/day-4-5-day-workout-challenge-to-burn-fat-and-build-lean-muscle-kickboxing-and-yoga-workout
Thanks for reading!
Affiliate disclaimer: I am part of an affiliate program. This means that I may receive a commission from purchases you make after clicking any of the links.
Health disclaimer: I am not a medical professional so whatever I post can not be used as a substitute for medical advice. You must speak to your doctor before adding in any kind of exercise. Your health is your own and I am not liable for any consequences you suffer due to your choices.
#homeworkouts #homegym #fitnessblender #strengthtraining #upperbodyworkout #fitmoms
conqueringthislife.com 