I have tried many different workout routines throughout the last couple of years, but my favorite workout routines have been from BBG, Blogilates and Tone It Up. I know a lot of girls who want to start these workout routines, but don’t know which one is the best for them. So, I have compiled a list of what I enjoyed and didn’t enjoy for each of the workouts to make it easier to choose from.
Kayla Itsines (Bikini Body Guide)
What I liked:
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The short time (28 minutes) it takes to complete each workout.
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The individual workouts can be done at my own pace. It is not timed like the PIIT28 workouts where whenever I needed to take a 10 second break, it meant I missed 10 seconds of my workout. With BBG, it is all about the number of reps I can do at my own pace.
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There is a supportive BBG community on Instagram and all over social media.
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The workouts start off easy, and gradually get more difficult throughout the weeks.
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Not everyday is a HIIT workout—there are days where I do low intensity workouts (such as 35 minutes of fast-paced walking), which is a great break and motivation to push through when the HIIT workouts start getting difficult.
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The exercises could be modified to my own needs.
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You can start seeing results in less than a month.
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Not only was I more fit, I also felt stronger and more confident as a person.
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The results last for a long time. After stopping the BBG workout, I went on vacation for a month without working out. But, when I came back, the results were still there (less defined, but definitely still there).
What I disliked:
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The fact that it was a long workout program. Since it is a 12 week program, it is very difficult for someone to follow it unless they have a set schedule to workout every single day. It was easy when I was at work because I would go for my workouts everyday during my lunch break, but now that I am back at school, it is very difficult to maintain this set schedule.
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There is no suggested warm up, so I needed to make sure I was property warmed up before starting any workout.
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The workouts require equipment, so it is hard to do at home unless I have the proper equipment.
Blogilates (PIIT28)
What I liked:
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The short time (28 minutes) it takes to complete each workout.
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The flexibility guide that comes with the program.
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Cassey Ho’s follow along videos gave me great motivation to continue working out even when I was extremely tired.
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There is no equipment required to do any workouts, which makes it very easy for me to do at home while I am at school without having to go to the gym.
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This program focuses on warming up, cooling down, and having the correct positioning as part of the workouts. That way, I know I won’t injure myself during the workouts.
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There are many YouTube videos on the Blogilates channel for additional exercises if I felt like the PIIT28 workout was not enough, or if I also wanted to work on another part of my body.
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You can see results in about two weeks if you stick to the workouts every single day
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The results are long lasting, and I feel like a stronger person.
What I didn’t like:
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The workouts were timed, rather than rep based. That means taking a break during the 45 seconds of the workout would shorten the amount of reps I could do.
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The workouts start off difficult since there are only 28 days to the program.
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It is a new HIIT workout every single day (except for the one rest day), but this can easily stop me from wanting to workout if I did not feel like doing a HIIT workout that day.
Tone It Up
Note: I did not follow the Tone It Up Workout Guide because I believe that all the workouts they had on their website and YouTube channel were sufficient enough for me to tailor my own workouts everyday. I would choose 3-4 cardio workouts a week, along with 3 strength training workouts.
What I liked:
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I was able to customize my workout the way I wanted to, and choose workouts I felt like doing that day. It helped keep me motivated everyday.
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Tone It Up workouts are extremely fun and easy to follow.
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There are many different workouts to choose from, so my muscles never got used to the same exercises.
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These workouts can be done in less than 10 minutes or up to as long as an hour. Therefore, if you do not have a solid 30 minutes on hand everyday for the BBG and PIIT28 workouts, then the different lengths of Tone It Up workouts would be great for you to choose from.
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The videos are very easy to follow and much more motivating than the BBG workouts.
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There are kettlebell workouts and resistant band workouts available as well, and I love doing those workouts in replacement of traditional HIIT workouts a couple times a week.
What I didn’t like:
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I needed to be very careful of how far the workouts were pushing me. There was a treadmill workout where I had to put the incline extremely high and run. However, I ended up hurting my back from that workout, and I needed to stop working out for a couple of months. Moral of the story is to keep in mind your own limits when following their guides.
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Even though I was able to choose my own workouts, I felt like it was less effective than BBG and PIIT28 in terms of toning and strength training.