If you have’t heard of, or don’t know of Kayla Itsines, where exactly have you been? She is literally on every fitness magazine and health article around, and is taking the internet, and fitness world by storm. With thousands upon thousands of girls, and some men, following the Kayla Army working their way towards a body that they are confident with, named purely as the “Bikini Body“.
Now there are some who are skeptical about the transformation photos posted within her Instagram page, however, these are quickly shrugged off as each girl is tagged into her own photo. From there, if you were smart enough you would almost “Instagram Stalk” those girls, who can evidently be seen transforming from one body shape to a confident, lean and enviable shape that they are proud of.
I’ve decided to put myself to the challenge and really push myself. I’ve been following Kayla and her transformations for months now, and chickened out every time I was mentally attempting to psych myself up to start the Bikini Body Guide. But no, not this time. This is the start of the Bikini Body Guide 12 week challenge. Bring on week 1 !
It is inspiring to see so many girls posting their transformation photos online. It’s certainly not easy to do. For me, it’s difficult to even show family and friends any sort of transformation photos, let alone millions of strangers online. To get the full experience of the Bikini Body Guide transformation photos should be in clothing whereby it is obvious to see the difference, for example a sports bra and shorts. Without the photos how would you tell what your progress is? Because seriously, those scales need throwing out. It’s just a number, photos and actually seeing the difference is much more effective.
Let me take it back a little here, the Bikini Body Guide is a 12 week training programme involving three weekly strength/cardio sessions using the guide, one stretching session and individual sessions of HIIT and LISS. Before you even do the workouts, however, it is recommended that you take a full length “before” picture, to capture progress. The guide itself has a glossary of terms and a detailed guide as to how to complete the programme and the workouts themselves. One programme day will consist of you having 7 minutes to complete a circuit, and going through that circuit as many times as you can within that 7 minutes. For example, you may have 7 minutes to complete a circuit of 15 squats, 15 weighted squats, 24 lunges and 15 burpees. When this has been completed once, you try and complete it again within the 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes you move onto circuit 2. Then repeat circuit 1 and 2 again, so in total you will be working out for 28 minutes. Obviously you can take a break in between, but just try and push yourself.
The Workout Diary:
Day 1
Eek, Day 1 of the Bikini Body Guide – Legs and Cardio. Seriously, I have gone through Day 1 enough times to know the workout off by heart. But this time round I am determined to follow through! I will not lose motivation. Day 1 consisted of squats, a lot of squats! And, how could I forget the dreaded burpee? That will be the death of me, and one day I will end up slaying that dreaded burpee, but for now I’ll struggle my way through. I managed to do each circuit twice through, and was literally sweating buckets. Lovely. My legs wouldn’t stop shaking after the 28 minutes, but the feeling of overcoming the first day was great. I have to admit though, I was feeling it the next day. But no pain no gain right 
?
I needed to use weights for some of the squats, and I didn’t have any heavy enough, so I just used one of those big boxes of washing powder you can buy in bulk, which worked perfectly. I literally felt like I couldn’t do another jump squat for at least a week, so when I saw I had one minute left of the workout and was starting again on circuit 2, I was in pain! Nothing feels better than that post workout shower though, when you know you’ve got through the first day. I hydrated up with some ice coconut water with chia seeds floating on top.
Day 3
On Day 2 I completed some LISS by simply going for a 30 minute walk after work as the weather was beautiful. Day 3 was Arms and Abs day, this consisted of ab bikes, mountain climbers, straight sit ups, push ups etc. I could really feel my arms burning after this workout. My abs not so much because I do a lot of sit ups as it is. I could only complete each round twice as the sit up twists took a long time to complete – there were a lot of reps!
Day 5
Admittedly, this was the one workout day that I was dreading. A full body workout, consisting of circuits of a mix up of days one and three – so yet more burpees. Though, I’ve been reassured that I will get used to them the more I do them. Practice makes perfect right? Some how I hope I’m not kidding myself on that one! I haven’t been aching as much as I thought I would, and hopefully that isn’t a sign that I haven’t pushed myself hard enough. Because, honestly, I have pushed myself way out of my fitness comfort zone.
So that’s week one done of the Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide, and I have definitely been put through my paces. My fitness has really been tested. But I must admit that after each work out I did get the best nights sleep I’ve had in a while, and I’m feeling a lot less tired. Bring on week 2!
Are there any other BBG Girls out there doing the challenge? If so, I would love to hear how you are getting on. Keep up the conversation with #KaylasArmy
