PiYo

Month 1 Review of:

PIYO! MY NEW OBSESSION!  If that gives you any idea as to what my feelings are about PiYo so far, you are probably guessing correctly...

I love it.

I asked for PiYo for Christmas this year thinking that it would be an awesome choice for me because of my knee injury.  Last year while running, I suffered a knee injury that has never fully healed, despite the extensive break and substantial weight loss I have gone through.  I am able to run a mile or two at a time now, but every time I push a little more, it starts to push back.

I was intrigued by PiYo because it is advertised as being low-impact and excellent for people with joint injuries, but at the same time is fast paced and gets you results that you're looking for.  As a person that has done yoga before (definitely not every day for years and years, but with some experience), I thought that I would really enjoy it.  PiYo has far exceeded my expectations.

Chalene Johnson is the celebrity coach in this at-home workout program, and though I have never done a full program of hers, I did do Chalene Extreme with my mom last year for a little bit, and wasn't sure if our styles mixed...but since starting PiYo, she has quickly risen to the top spot on my list.  She is SO motivating and encouraging the whole way through!

It provides an awesome blend of yoga, as well as cardio by moving quickly through the positions.  I don't want you to think that you need to have previous experience with yoga in order for this to be doable for you though, that is not the case at all! In fact, the first two weeks of the PiYo calendar are pretty much a program of their own, with the first day being called "Align: The Fundamentals."  This 40ish minute workout only happens once through the two month program and it teaches you the foundation that all of the moves will use, taking extra care to make sure you are correctly aligned.  Of course, the benefit to being in a yoga class is that someone is there to fix your posture and alignment, but for a DVD, I really appreciated this because she is very thorough and describes everything in great detail.

After the initial day of Fundamentals, the first two weeks start very slowly, with DVDs like Define Upper Body and Define Lower Body, the flow is very slow but still provides strength training to better be able to handle the remainder of the program.  Since I had experience with yoga and pilates previously, I doubled up on some of the workouts in the first couple weeks.

One of the things that I love about this program is that every single week for the first 5 weeks a new workout is introduced, so you always have something new to look forward to! I am halfway through the fifth week officially and have now done all of the DVDs, and I have to say, they certainly always have something to work toward!

With a modifier and an advanced option alongside the normal level of workout, it really is good for everyone.  The only thing that I have noticed on my knee is that there are quite a few squats involved, but I have found that not squatting as low, OR not coming up all the way out of a squat has helped a lot and enables me to work through everything.

Check out the promo video for PiYo to get an inside look at it:
http://beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/hanwenger?bctid=3695942706001

And finally...my progress report...

Some of the results that I have noticed in my first month of PiYo:
MUCH increased flexibility!
Upper body strength has significantly increased (thanks to Chalene's favorite: tricep push-ups!)
Stronger core that is starting to peek through :)
Down .5 lbs (my goal is not weight loss so I am not eating a deficit in calories)
Overall much more toned!

This is not something I have EVER felt comfortable doing before...but in order to stay honest with myself and all of you, here are my 28 day progress pictures from PiYo!

I am anxious to see what my results at the end will look like!