Last Sunday marked the end of my first round of Muscle Burns Fat, and the completion of my first workout program for 2021 (yes, I did start the program in 2020–but I finished it in 2021).

This is a three-week program that focuses on weight training, mixed with cardio and core work.

I was intrigued with the idea of the program, and wanted to see how it was different from the previous three-week programs developed for Beachbody (21-Day Fix and 21-Day Fix Extreme; both of which I think have now been re-filmed to where all 21 days are ‘different’–compared to how they were originally released (7 workouts that you repeated over a 3-week period).

So, my first day of the program was Dec 28, 2020 and I finished it on Jan 17, 2021–and then headed straight into Muscle Burns Fat Advance (review coming early Feb on this program).

All Beachbody programs stress the importance of measuring/weighing and taking progress photographs (mainly so you can enter yourself into contests and win free clothes). I decided last year that I was going to be changing my mindset around fitness and nutrition.

Therefore while I did measure at the beginning of the year (and five days into the program), I’m not planning on measuring again until probably June. This is because I know that things can fluctuate in terms of water retention–which can mess with your measurements (especially around the waist and hips), and your weight.

Instead I’m going to focus on the following:

I’m actually committing to working out daily (or as often as the program requires)

I’m putting in at least fifty percent effort into each workout–some days I don’t want to push play, but I do and I commit to at least fifty percent effort.

Am I lifting as heavy (or heavier) than last week?

Finally, I’m trying to just develop a better relationship with both fitness and food.

So, while it took me awhile to get use to the format of the program, I did end up liking it at the end. There were a couple of things that irritated me throughout the program–but I also realize that everyone is on their own journeys and what irritated me could be beneficial to someone else.

What did I like about the program?

Focusing on weight training, I’m getting stronger with certain exercises and lifting a little heavier.

The asymmetrical lifting blocks–mainly on the upper body days. I actually semi-disliked the asymmetrical lifting blocks for leg days.

The amount of time for each workout–I really like workouts that are less than an hour, and these were 20 to 35 minutes.

What didn’t I like about the program?

The constant reminder on nutrition, while I know that some people can drop weight quickly and keep it off–I dropped weight quickly once, and now it is a struggle. While I know nutrition is an important part of any fitness journey, I’m (personally) trying to steer clear of the diet culture.

The BOD-ropes; while I’m slowly getting use to them, I would still rather be doing modified jumping jacks or something else to get my heart rate up.

Calling lunges split-squats. This was one that really irritated me–mainly because it is in a asymmetrical block of work (working one side of the body at a time), and I was questioning how do you do a partial squat? Split-squats are just static lunges.

Saturday’s workout–the EMOM (every minute on the minute) workout. This workout is where you’re given a specific number of reps of a certain exercise to try to get done in 40 seconds (you’re given 20 seconds of rest before starting the next round). Some exercises I could do, others I couldn’t. So truthfully–my dislike of this was for how much it pushed me outside my comfort zone trying to finish the workout.

I’m going to give the program an initial 3.5 out of 5.0 star rating for my first time through. The lost of the 1.5 star is due in part to the constant reminder of nutrition (once or twice throughout the entire 3 weeks is fine–not every other workout), calling static lunges split-squats, and no note letting you know that the tracker sheets are on-line.

I will probably be doing this program again (probably sometime in 2023 or 2024) and will have to see if any of my opinions/thoughts have changed from this first time to when I do it again.

#beachbodyondemand #muscleburnsfat #mbf

images taken from beachbody’s challenger guide for muscle burns fat