Tips for Surviving Your First Round of BBG

I have just finished my fourth round of BBG (Bikini Body Guide) today, and let me tell you – it has not been easy! I’ve taken weeks off because of the flu, vacations, pure laziness… but the key is to get right back to it! I know, I know. If I would have told myself this a year ago I would have rolled my eyes, too. But the thing is, that’s the “secret sauce”, DON’T QUIT.

Now that I told you everything you need to know, you can go out and do it! Right?

If you don’t know what BBG is, it’s an acronym for Bikini Body Guide (an embarrassing name, so you’ll never hear me call it that). The program was designed by an Aussie named Kayla Itsines and her boyfriend, Tobi Pearce. BBG is a 12 week at-home workout program with 3 resistance workouts at 28 minutes each. A 28 min session is split up into 4 rounds of 7 minutes. Each 7min round consists of 4 workouts (typically 15 reps each) and you do as many laps as you can. You get about 30sec to rest between each round. Outside of resistance training, you have 3 LISS sessions (LISS is Low-Intensity Steady State Cardio, Kayla suggests walking a quick pace at an incline for 35-45min on the treadmill while watching Netflix), and 1 HIIT session (High-Intensity Interval Training, think 30 sec sprint / 30 sec rest intervals). You can download the Sweat app in the app store, and it’s about $55/3 months or $20/month. The app has videos to show you how to do the exercises, a calendar to help you plan your workout week, and a timer for those 7 min. Recently they’ve added a few all-gym workouts (BBG Stronger and PWR by Kelsey Wells), a yoga program by Sjana Elise, and a post-pregnancy program (also by Kelsey Wells).

BBG has worked well for me because I’m one of those people on the treadmill saying “Okay, 20min left. That’s 10min 2 times. Which is 4min 5 times. 4min is practically a song. So only 5 songs, then I’m done!”. Don’t get me wrong, I had attempted BBG Pre-Training about 4-5 separate times (4 weeks of resistance workouts that prep you for BBG 1, not even at actual BBG intensity). I would even pay for the 3 month option thinking that the money I spent would be motivation to keep me going. I don’t want to waste $50, right? *insert eye roll* Then one day, I decided just to try it again, but with a different mind set. So HOW do you find the motivation to stick to BBG?

1. You don’t.

   Okay, if you’re only going to workout when you’re motivated, that’s like, once a month. The key is to develop discipline. Make it a habit! Especially when I first started, I would make myself do abs on Monday morning, arms on Wednesday morning, legs on Friday morning – LISS after work Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (the best TV shows are on after work, and my gym had TV’s on the treadmills). They say it takes 28 days of consistency to build or break a habit. I don’t know how much truth there is to that, but it doesn’t hurt to try. It’s only 28 days…

2. Remember, it’s only 28min out of your ENTIRE day.

   28min is too short of a time to take a nap… so what could you possibly be doing that’s more important? (Naps > everything). Sometimes when you’re doing the workouts it feels like 2 hours, but in reality… it’s less than a half hour! And it’s only 3 times a week. You don’t have to sacrifice anything. Some of the workouts don’t even require equipment, so if you’re feeling max lazy, put on your favorite tv show and do abs in the living room. I’ve done that plenty of times. Plus half of the ab workouts you do laying down! Pro Tip: save abs for when you’re feeling extra “laid-back”.

3. Along those lines, it’s only 12 weeks!

   I’m not going to lie, in the beginning 12 weeks felt like a lifetime. But just like everything else in this post – if you split it up it’s really manageable. I had to start thinking about it like “3 workouts a week, for 1 month, okay that sounds doable.” Then at the end of the month I would reflect on how manageable that actually was, and at that point you’re seeing a bit of progress so you’re willing to go on to the next month. By the end of the second month, you should be seeing decent progress, and you only have one month to go! You’ve already passed the halfway point, no reason to stop now. By the end of the third month, you’ve done some of the hardest workouts you’ve ever done in your life but, it’s done.

4. You will be so proud of yourself.

   If you haven’t picked up on it yet, I was super out of shape when I started BBG. I actually met a few girls at my gym who were doing BBG and it was funny to see the girls who were completing their first round of BBG who had made it a goal just to finish, versus the girls who had maybe done a few rounds and reaching week 12 was not a big deal. The week I finished my first week 12, a girl at my gym had finished week 24, and I was beaming I was so excited, and she was so nonchalant. Which is awesome and I hope to be there some day, but even four rounds later I’m so proud when week 12 comes around.

5. The BBG Community.

   The BBG Community has been huge for me and my “motivation”. If you’re on Instagram, just check out some of the BBG hashtags and you’ll see countless women supporting eachother, sharing their stories and progress photos, giving tips, etc. It’s so great! A few of my go-to hashtags when I need the desire to workout are: #BBGProgress # BBGTransformation #KaylasArmy

The long and the short of it is: make BBG work for you. I’m kind of lazy, so I had to change the way I viewed the workouts. Now I actually enjoy it! I will be starting PWR next week, and I plan to write about my experience doing that versus BBG 1 and 2, so stay tuned! If you’d like more information on BBG, or the Sweat App in general, check out www.Sweat.com or leave a comment!