Here's my review of Fit R2. Just a warning before I start: after about week 3, I got sick and my winter asthma really kicked in, so I didn't get the most out of this program. (Still not quite better by the end of the program. My life in winter, sigh.)
First, let's talk results. I have more to say than usual!
Fitness: Around week 3, I was unbelievably fit. Probably the most fit I've been in my life. My test was a game of netball (my first in many years), mixed, playing centre for the whole game - no problem! I was very impressed with myself. I'm not quite that level of fitness now, but I would love to do this program again to get back there.
That said, there was a definite improvement in my PFT results. Most notable was the 1.6km run: 8.08 -> 7.17 mins!
Appearance: Muscles look fab and my jeans look baggy. (Drat. I hate jeans shopping.)
Weight: I don't usually bother weighing myself, but I did after a week of barely eating because so sick just out of curiosity. But anyway, with no adjustments to nutrition, here are my "weight loss" results.
Usual weight: target + 1-2kg
Weight after illness: target - 2kg (!)
Current weight: target - 1kg
(It's really just a pretend target - I'm happy for it to go back up to usual.) So there you go: weight loss happens when you increase calories out and even more so when you decrease calories in. How about that.
And more importantly, let's talk about enjoyment!
I loved the workout lengths. 40-60 minutes each day, with two 1000 cal workouts thrown in. Sometimes I did the extra credit; sometimes I didn't. I never felt like I needed the extra credit to make a full workout, which was great.
Probably most weeks were structured lower, upper, core, upper, lower, which I prefer. There were some total body days, usually around the 1000 cal workouts, which I'm not so crazy about, but at the same time some variety in an 8-week program is welcome. There was a good balance of strength training and HIIT, and quite a few non-HIIT cardio workouts in there too. Once or twice I skipped the optional recovery day because it looked like too much work: pilates when I just wanted to stretch!
I did enjoy the workouts. There were some great new ones in there - yep, I'm thinking of that nearly-1-hr HIIT routine of Daniel's! The only days I remember not really enjoying were more to do with my mood than the workout itself. (One day, maybe two.)
However, what I enjoyed the most was the company of the awesome superwoman Renee. I like to do workouts and then reflect on them, and to read about a different experience and opinion of the same workout. (And it's handy that Renee also tends towards 8- or 9-day weeks!) So I'm not sure this program (or any other program) will be quite as much fun without a buddy for reflection (rather than accountability/motivation - I don't really need that).
So in short: Great results, great fun, will definitely do again - soon!! Thank you so much, Fit R2 and Renee!
FB Fit Round 2: Review
Here's my review of Fit R2. Just a warning before I start: after about week 3, I got sick and my winter asthma really kicked in, so I didn't get the most out of this program. (Still not quite better by the end of the program. My life in winter, sigh.)
First, let's talk results. I have more to say than usual!
Fitness: Around week 3, I was unbelievably fit. Probably the most fit I've been in my life. My test was a game of netball (my first in many years), mixed, playing centre for the whole game - no problem! I was very impressed with myself. I'm not quite that level of fitness now, but I would love to do this program again to get back there.
That said, there was a definite improvement in my PFT results. Most notable was the 1.6km run: 8.08 -> 7.17 mins!
Appearance: Muscles look fab and my jeans look baggy. (Drat. I hate jeans shopping.)
Weight: I don't usually bother weighing myself, but I did after a week of barely eating because so sick just out of curiosity. But anyway, with no adjustments to nutrition, here are my "weight loss" results.
Usual weight: target + 1-2kg
Weight after illness: target - 2kg (!)
Current weight: target - 1kg
(It's really just a pretend target - I'm happy for it to go back up to usual.) So there you go: weight loss happens when you increase calories out and even more so when you decrease calories in. How about that.
And more importantly, let's talk about enjoyment!
I loved the workout lengths. 40-60 minutes each day, with two 1000 cal workouts thrown in. Sometimes I did the extra credit; sometimes I didn't. I never felt like I needed the extra credit to make a full workout, which was great.
Probably most weeks were structured lower, upper, core, upper, lower, which I prefer. There were some total body days, usually around the 1000 cal workouts, which I'm not so crazy about, but at the same time some variety in an 8-week program is welcome. There was a good balance of strength training and HIIT, and quite a few non-HIIT cardio workouts in there too. Once or twice I skipped the optional recovery day because it looked like too much work: pilates when I just wanted to stretch!
I did enjoy the workouts. There were some great new ones in there - yep, I'm thinking of that nearly-1-hr HIIT routine of Daniel's! The only days I remember not really enjoying were more to do with my mood than the workout itself. (One day, maybe two.)
However, what I enjoyed the most was the company of the awesome superwoman Renee. I like to do workouts and then reflect on them, and to read about a different experience and opinion of the same workout. (And it's handy that Renee also tends towards 8- or 9-day weeks!) So I'm not sure this program (or any other program) will be quite as much fun without a buddy for reflection (rather than accountability/motivation - I don't really need that).
So in short: Great results, great fun, will definitely do again - soon!! Thank you so much, Fit R2 and Renee!