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Introducing PiYo: The Workout Your Body Needs

4/1/2014

Q & A with Celebrity Trainer and Creator, Chalene Johnson

PiYo is NOW AVAILABLE! Follow THIS LINK for the base kit ($59.85) and THIS LINK for the Challenge Pack ($160)!

What makes celebrity trainer Chalene Johnson’s programs so effective? She answers common fitness needs by creating targeted, killer workouts.

That’s where PiYo® comes in. A few years ago, Chalene noticed people wanted a program that combined strength, flexibility and cardio. She developed and introduced PiYo to gyms around the world and now, for the first time on DVD, Beachbody is releasing this low impact workout with high intensity results to YOU.

Chalene shared with us why PiYo is the workout your body wants, what you should stop skipping during a sweat sesh and the music that powers her through a typical PiYo workout.

Why are you so excited to introduce PiYo?
PiYo is a proven program that has been so effective in gyms around the world. I’m super excited to bring it to DVD because it’s the program that will shape, strengthen and heal people’s bodies.

Sounds incredible. Who is the ideal PiYo customer, then?
PiYo is for anyone who wants a workout that will help them work on flexibility, cardio and strength—at the same time.

What are the main things you need to know about PiYo?
Studies show that a more flexible muscle has greater strength potential which leads to better results. The training you get during PiYo allows you to burn incredible amounts of calories that you wouldn’t in a static type workout.

What inspired you to create PiYo?
Whenever I create a fitness program I start with a need. I was doing yoga, but I still felt like I needed to stretch certain areas, do more cardio, and lift more weights. So, I started to think, “How can I get more flexible and develop strength and cardio?”

Did you develop PiYo in response to anything you struggled with personally in your own training?
Totally! I always found I would finish and feel like I didn’t really stretch certain areas. I felt so tight and I’m a fitness professional, it was embarrassing. So when I was developing PiYo I asked my students to show me the one muscle that was the tightest. When people did that I saw five different stretches. It made me realize the important of focusing on flexibility needs so my students could be better at running, etc. I wanted to make PiYo really functional and forget the traditional rules of stretching.

What types of results can people expect to see from PiYo?
My goal is to make everything easier for you. I want you to trust that you can use your own body weight to make yourself stronger. The transformation people will see is amazing.

For example, I have a letter from a lady who said, “Since I started PiYo six months ago, I have broken every single personal marathon pace and I’m astonishingly faster than I ever dreamed possible. I broke the four-hour mark for my marathon time and I know it’s because of Piyo. Plus, normally I’m spent for a week after a marathon, but the next day I felt great!

Would you say PiYo is accessible for all fitness levels?
Yes! PiYo is truly accessible for everyone from the brand spanking new, to the super tight, but super fit. We did some cool things with camera angles so it is very clear how to do each move.

You always have such good playlists. Do you have favorite songs for your PiYo workouts?
When I do PiYo I like moody, cool indie music. I love Marine and the Diamonds, Lady Gaga, even old school like Marvin Gaye – anything that gives me a sexy, cool, soulful mood. The music in PiYo is really important because if the right song is playing it tells you how to move and flow.

Do you have a favorite move or workout from PiYo?
It’s not a move or workout, but Beachbody granted me my wish. I had an idea to incorporate a piece of equipment that we don’t currently have in our catalog. I’m absolutely in love with it and all the workouts that feature this equipment are my favorite. It’s going to blow peoples’ minds and it’s killing me not to tell you what it is. But more details to come soon…

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A Fitness Friday Survey

11/1/2013

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I have good news and bad news for you Fitness Friday lovers. The bad news is that I don't have new workout for you today. The good news is that I want to give you more of what you want! My Fitness Friday workouts have ranged from little challenges that you can incorporate into your workouts to shorter high intensity interval training workouts to longer full body workouts. I want to know what you like best! Take a second to vote and let me know what you want to see! And don't forget, you can always access my Fitness Friday workouts by clicking HERE.

Challenges

A Fitness Friday Survey - FitYaf Pushup Challenge

Other challenge workouts:

How far can you run in 30 minutes?
Body Blitz burpee challenge

Short workouts

A Fitness Friday Survey - FitYaf's Fitness Friday Tabata Workuot

Other short workouts:

Low Impact HIIT
"Insane" HIIT
Gym Rat workout

Full Body Workouts

A Fitness Friday Survey - FitYaf's Body Blitz style workout

Other full body workouts:

Body Blitz dumbbell workout
BOSU workout
No equipment necessary

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Les Mills BODYPUMP 87 Launch & the importance of strength training

10/30/2013

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Les Mills BODYPUMP 87 Launch & the importance of strength training

Launching a new BODYPUMP workout is always an exciting time, and the launch of 87 certainly did not disappoint. This release is one of my favorite BODYPUMP workouts yet - the music is great and the back and lunge tracks are KILLER! My favorite tracks are squats & biceps for the music and back & lunges for the challenge. This year, the launch coincided with our Freaky Fitness Fest at the gym - a full day of free group fitness classes, prizes and even a dance class to learn the moves from the Thriller video. It was double trouble for me - I started my day team-teaching the 7:30am class with Jackie, and finished things up at the 6:30pm class with Alex and Carrie.

Why is it important to strength train?

It is important to understand the basics of strength training and why you should incorporate this activity into your training program. Muscle mass naturally diminishes with age. "If you don't do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose, you'll increase the percentage of fat in your body," says Edward R. Laskowski, MD, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Mayo Clinic and co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center. "But strength training can help you preserve and enhance your muscle mass — at any age." It's the good old "use it or lose it" phenomena. The lean muscle mass that we all work so hard for decreases with age. If we don't add strength training to our routine then it will turn into fat. Below are some specific benefits of strength training.

Develop strong bones. By stressing your bones, strength training increases bone density, resulting in stronger bones and reduced risk of osteoporosis. One of the best ways you can control bone loss as you age is to add strength training into your workout plan.
Control your weight. Strength training will not only make you strong, but will also help with managing your weight. As you gain muscle, your body begins to burn calories more efficiently because your body works harder to maintain muscle over fat. The more toned your muscles are, the easier it is to control your weight. Controlling your weight can also improves your quality of life as you gaining body confidence. In a specific study where BODYPUMP™ was used for strength training, An average of 483.1 (males) and 338.9 (females) calories can be burned during a BODYPUMP™ session. This equates to 8.4 (males) and 5.9 (females) calories per minute. An additional 10% of calories have been shown to be burned after the cessation of a BODYPUMP™ session, due to Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC). Who doesn't want to burn more calories?
Boost your stamina. As you get stronger, you won't fatigue as easily. Building muscle also contributes to better balance, posture and functional fitness.
Manage chronic conditions. Strength training can reduce the signs and symptoms of many chronic conditions, including back pain, arthritis, obesity, heart disease and diabetes. It not only builds muscle, but increases the strength of connective tissue, muscles, and tendons. This leads to improved motor performance and decreased injury risk. Strong muscles, tendons and ligament build up in the joint and back areas making these areas less likely to give way under stress.
Muscle tone. The conditioning effect will result in firmer and better-defined muscles.
Improved aerobic fitness. In the same study as mentioned above, it was found that during a BODYPUMP™ session the mean oxygen consumption was 21.5 ml/kg/min (males) and 19.0 ml/kg/min (females), with an average intensity of 41.6% VO2 max (males) and 39.8% VO2 max (females) observed. Males spent an average of 11.6 minutes and 3.2 minutes, and females, 8.0 minutes and 0.6 minutes, above 50% VO2 max and 70% VO2 max, respectively, during the same BODYPUMP™ session. The average heart rate during a BODYPUMP™ session has been shown to reach 138.2 beats per minute (males) and 132.6 beats per minute (females). Males spend an average of 37.4 minutes, and females 40.2 minutes, above 70% of maximum heart rate during a BODYPUMP™ session.

And when it comes to BODYPUMP specifically? Well it's just downright FUN!

Have you tried Bodypump yet? What are you waiting for?

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FitYaf's Fitness Friday Low Impact HIIT Workout

10/11/2013

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When teaching a class, especially high-energy classes like my Body Blitz class, I often demonstrate low-impact options for people who may have injuries or are just beginning a workout program. While most exercises can be modified to be low impact, I recently got a request for a whole low impact workout from my friend Lauren's mom. So today, I bring you FitYaf's Fitness Friday LOW IMPACT HIIT Workout.

Low impact exercise is a type of exercise where the amount of stress placed upon the joints of your knees, hips and ankles is relatively minimal. Often times this translates to never having more that one foot off the ground at a time. However, it can also refer to something like swimming, which is a great example of low impact exercise that is often chosen by athletes who have suffered a stress fracture. The athlete is still able to participate in cardiovascular exercise, without putting a large amount of weight on the injured body part.

Last week I posted a high-intensity interval training or HIIT workout, and explained the benefits of combining high intensity intervals with short periods of rest for the benefit of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. The good news? Low-impact exercises can be part of a great HIIT workout too - and that's what I have for you today! This workout plan was designed to help you push yourself to your max without doing any jumps. You don’t need equipment or a lot of space.

Low Impact Exercises

*from Shape.com

Begin by walking or doing the elliptical for 5 minutes. Then, go through the exercises 1-8, doing each one for 50 seconds, as fast as you can while maintaining proper form, and resting for 10 seconds before continuing on to the next move. For your rest, grab a drink if you need to or march in place (just don't sit down). The 5th exercise (lunges) is a 2-for-1, since you'll have to do it once on each side! Once you're finished the 8th exercise, repeat 1-8 again two more times. Including a stretch at the end, this whole workout should take about 35 minutes.

1. Squat

FitYaf's Fitness Friday Low Impact HIIT Workout - squat

Start with feet slightly outside your hips, lower into a squat position with arms extended. Bring your arms down as you push through your heels to stand up. Reach arms overhead and lift your heels off the floor. Return to start position and repeat as quickly as possible for 50 seconds.

2. Reach-through

FitYaf's Fitness Friday Low Impact HIIT Workout - Reach through

Begin in a full plank position with feet hip-width apart, neck in line with your spine and shoulders over your wrists. Quickly kick right leg to the left, as left hand reaches toward right foot, pivoting on left foot. Return to start (rotate back to full plank) and repeat on the other side. Continue alternating sides.

3. No-jump burpee

FitYaf's Fitness Friday Low Impact HIIT Workout - No jump burpee

Stand tall with feet hip-width apart, arms extended overhead. Push hips back and bend knees to lower into a squat. Place hands on the floor and quickly walk feet back into a full plank position, one at a time. Lower into a pushup if you can. Press up, walk feet back into squat, and stand up, reaching arms overhead.

4. Plank extension

FitYaf's Fitness Friday Low Impact HIIT Workout - Plank extension

From a low-plank position (feet hip-width apart and shoulders over elbows), extend one arm keeping your torso still and hips square to the floor. Return arm to plank and alternate.

5. Lunge (once through on each side)

FitYaf's Fitness Friday Low Impact HIIT Workout - Lunge

Begin in a lunge with left leg forward, arms bent by sides, back knee pointing towards the floor and both knees at a 90 degree angle. Pushing up through your feet, extend legs and rise up onto balls of feet as arms extend overhead, fingertips reaching to ceiling. Return to start and repeat. Repeat on opposite side.

6. No-jump tuck

FitYaf's Fitness Friday Low Impact HIIT Workout - No jump tuck

Sit on the edge of a sturdy chair or box, leaning back slightly. Pull abs in tight, and bend knees about 90-degrees. Point toes lightly on the floor, and bend elbows and hands in front of shoulders. Lift knees up and lightly tap thighs with hands, sitting upright as you draw legs in. Return to start and repeat.

7. Skaters

FitYaf's Fitness Friday Low Impact HIIT Workout - Skaters

Stand with feet wider than your hips. Bend right knee, putting your weight in your right heel & extend your left leg out, driving your left arm forward and right arm back. Staying low in squat position, shift weight to left leg, lowering into a left side lunge, with your weight in your left heel, right leg extended & right arm forward. Repeat side to side.