FB Mass review - confessions of a reluctant lifter 🤪
Hello BlendFriends! I completed Mass a couple of days ago (my 14th program, wooo!) and wanted to give a review.
For start, I think I should be open about my training style preferences. I’m with FB since 2015 and absolutely love it, but never became a huge fan of lifting (over other stuff). I’m not a cardio junkie either. I most enjoy a good mishmash of everything (luckily, exactly what FB offers) but for strength in particular I prefer(ed?) bodyweight, or pilates/barre with ankle weights, pulses, styles with lighter weights and more reps. Most times when I try to lift heavier my joints start hurting or form goes off... I do know “lift heavy” is relative, but that doesn’t help me feel accomplished in strength training🤷♀️. Anyway, wanted to get that out of the way about my starting point – I think I’m relatively fit but not strong and it frustrates me so I’m not very keen on weights. This was my first strength based program.
How did I fare?
Was out of my comfort zone, but didn’t feel out of my league or disappointed in myself like I feared I would!🙌🙌 Wasn’t bored either. Stayed motivated and interested, put in the work, learned stuff, felt accomplished. Win!
Was sore at least twice a week, including muscle groups I don’t target easily. Took it as a sign that I successfully switched it up and challenged myself in new ways. Win! 💪
Found the style for upper body that feels like I’m making an effort that *counts* (huge deal, upper usually being my nemesis). The style is splits – targeting a limited number of muscle groups and repeatedly hitting them in slightly different ways and many sets. Perfection! Feeling it for a day or two afterwards in muscles and not joints was beautiful 👌. Two program weeks have that style.
For the first time after years of using the same set of dumbbells, I thought “hmmm, maybe I should get heavier”. Yup, some all-time-heaviest lifts happened! Just a couple of times, and then there were days I had to back off (wrist and shoulder complaining again, on opposite arms to make it more fun lol! 🤦♀️🙄), but… there’s another less obvious win - even if I most often lifted the same weight as before, I did it more TIMES per week, and cumulatively over the past month. Perspective! 😉
I might be imagining this one but I felt less droopy, like maybe my posture improved a bit. Hooray!
I enjoyed the break from HIIT! 😛Noticed how easily I can talk myself into doing a workout when I know there won’t be gasping-for-breath heart racing. And without having to figure out the best time for it in between meals (to avoid growling stomach if it’s too full or too empty for jumping). But! Looking back on what were my favorite days of the program, it’s the two level 5 HIITs! 😊 Dreaded, but nothing beats the post-workout bliss after those. So, general impression: I’m not “converted” to strength training, but I gained much more confidence for it. Win!
Oooof that's so long already and I haven't even gotten to my favorite part of reviews, so let's switch to...
BREAKDOWN OF THE PROGRAM 👀🧐🤔
It has 37 videos ranging from October 2012 to January 2015. For me 7 of them were completely new, and 6 of them seeing only for the second time. So lot of newness for an old program (or precisely because). 10 videos are the old voiceover format, but only 1 video (thank goodness!) has rounds (and it's only 2 rounds of a short extra credit). 2 videos are from their first 5-day challenge (To Burn Fat and Build Lean Muscle).
There's no kicboxing and no kettlebell videos.
When removing separate warmups / cooldowns and recovery stretches, it has 25 videos with 137 different exercises.
Only 4 extra credits altogether.
Average duration (with extra credits) is 38 minutes. Averages per week: 32, 37, 44, 39. Shortest video is 21 minutes (does have extra credit on that day), longest 52 minutes.
Average difficulty – see pic.
Also see core in pic! And I actually added more every time. So I'd say core gets a little bit neglected in Mass. Only 3 “core” days and always sharing the spotlight with cardio. When I repeat this program I think I’ll alternate weeks with Abs.
WEEKLY STRUCTURE was one of my favorite things about this program – 3 out of 4 weeks are U-L-C-U-L body focus and why I prefer that simple small switch to the usual L-U-C-U-L is more rest between upper days, plus the fact you can easily stretch the whole schedule out (to less days per week) without Friday's lower bumping into next Monday's lower again.
The remaining week isn't total body 😏😉
In fact, there is not a single total body strength workout. 6 videos do have total focus (either alone or combined with another), but all of them include some cardio so if it's a cardio(HIIT)/strength combo the “total“ applies to cardio. Meaning - no compund lifts. When you do strength, you know exactly which group you're focusing on.
TYPE OF STRENGTH TRAINING
So I was wondering what else is specific about ST here in comparison to other programs (besides the proportion of it), and realized ALL strength intervals (except for core) are by reps and not timed. If you love the sound of the beeper, tough luck!😆😁 It's most often either 8 reps or 10 reps per set.
I liked how it's slow paced, focusing on each rep. Also, when intervals aren't timed, rests arent either :) so there was always plenty of time to switch between weigths. If I could go back in time when my set was new and I was taking forever handling it, I'd do this program. Also if I ever get a bench I'll come back because it uses it in 7 upper body videos. Would love to learn what difference it makes.
Number of sets: no “bored easily“ videos, at least 2 sets per exercise, mostly AB pairs. 2 sets per exercise: 10 videos (6 lower, 4 upper), 3 sets per exercise: 6 videos (5 upper), 4 sets per exercise: 1 video (upper). So upper got more sets.
While on focus...
There are 10 upper videos (9 upper days so 1 ec), total duration 315 minutes, 7 videos pure strength, 3 with some cardio (not HIIT) in the mix;
9 lower body videos (8 lower days, 2 of the videos extra credit, one main repeated twice in the program), total duration 308 minutes, 3 pure ST (1 completely low impact, 2 including just a set or two of jumping), 5 that have about an even mix of HIIT and ST (1 of them a bodyweight ec), and 1 ec HIIT.
... So this is becoming a mess of unfiltered cross-data 😫😖 therefore, conclusion about DISTRIBUTION OF CARDIO VS STRENGTH:
I heard Mass has more cardio than Strong, but I haven't done Strong yet so can't compare.
Frist week of Mass has most cardio – 2 days alternate ST and cardio (not HIIT), 1 day alternates ST and HIIT, 1 day IS cardio (with core ec).
Second week seemed least cardio to me – one day cardio alternated with core, and one day a HIIT/strength combo with 1/3 time spent on HIIT.
Third week: one low impact cardio, one cardio (not HIIT) alternating with strength and one HIIT/strength combo (but this time more time on HIIT).
Week 4 has 3 absolutely jumpless days and 2 half-and-half HIIT/ST.
In total, only 8 out of 25 videos have “HIIT“ or “Plyometric“ listed for type. One of them isn't exactly what I imagine for HIIT (more like endurance cardio), two are short extra credits and the others are just half(ish) HIIT and the other part strength.
…………………………..
😳🥱
..........
Guys, I’m sorry, I tried to make sense.
Bottom line, Mass is good! Challenging, traditional (I think), effective. A nice way to get someone not-in-love with strength to do it more often without hating it, and to benefit from it.
FB Mass review - confessions of a reluctant lifter 🤪
Hello BlendFriends! I completed Mass a couple of days ago (my 14th program, wooo!) and wanted to give a review.
For start, I think I should be open about my training style preferences. I’m with FB since 2015 and absolutely love it, but never became a huge fan of lifting (over other stuff). I’m not a cardio junkie either. I most enjoy a good mishmash of everything (luckily, exactly what FB offers) but for strength in particular I prefer(ed?) bodyweight, or pilates/barre with ankle weights, pulses, styles with lighter weights and more reps. Most times when I try to lift heavier my joints start hurting or form goes off... I do know “lift heavy” is relative, but that doesn’t help me feel accomplished in strength training🤷♀️. Anyway, wanted to get that out of the way about my starting point – I think I’m relatively fit but not strong and it frustrates me so I’m not very keen on weights. This was my first strength based program.
How did I fare?
Was out of my comfort zone, but didn’t feel out of my league or disappointed in myself like I feared I would!🙌🙌 Wasn’t bored either. Stayed motivated and interested, put in the work, learned stuff, felt accomplished. Win!
Was sore at least twice a week, including muscle groups I don’t target easily. Took it as a sign that I successfully switched it up and challenged myself in new ways. Win! 💪
Found the style for upper body that feels like I’m making an effort that *counts* (huge deal, upper usually being my nemesis). The style is splits – targeting a limited number of muscle groups and repeatedly hitting them in slightly different ways and many sets. Perfection! Feeling it for a day or two afterwards in muscles and not joints was beautiful 👌. Two program weeks have that style.
For the first time after years of using the same set of dumbbells, I thought “hmmm, maybe I should get heavier”. Yup, some all-time-heaviest lifts happened! Just a couple of times, and then there were days I had to back off (wrist and shoulder complaining again, on opposite arms to make it more fun lol! 🤦♀️🙄), but… there’s another less obvious win - even if I most often lifted the same weight as before, I did it more TIMES per week, and cumulatively over the past month. Perspective! 😉
I might be imagining this one but I felt less droopy, like maybe my posture improved a bit. Hooray!
I enjoyed the break from HIIT! 😛Noticed how easily I can talk myself into doing a workout when I know there won’t be gasping-for-breath heart racing. And without having to figure out the best time for it in between meals (to avoid growling stomach if it’s too full or too empty for jumping). But! Looking back on what were my favorite days of the program, it’s the two level 5 HIITs! 😊 Dreaded, but nothing beats the post-workout bliss after those. So, general impression: I’m not “converted” to strength training, but I gained much more confidence for it. Win!
Oooof that's so long already and I haven't even gotten to my favorite part of reviews, so let's switch to...
BREAKDOWN OF THE PROGRAM 👀🧐🤔
It has 37 videos ranging from October 2012 to January 2015. For me 7 of them were completely new, and 6 of them seeing only for the second time. So lot of newness for an old program (or precisely because). 10 videos are the old voiceover format, but only 1 video (thank goodness!) has rounds (and it's only 2 rounds of a short extra credit). 2 videos are from their first 5-day challenge (To Burn Fat and Build Lean Muscle).
There's no kicboxing and no kettlebell videos.
When removing separate warmups / cooldowns and recovery stretches, it has 25 videos with 137 different exercises.
Only 4 extra credits altogether.
Average duration (with extra credits) is 38 minutes. Averages per week: 32, 37, 44, 39. Shortest video is 21 minutes (does have extra credit on that day), longest 52 minutes.
Average difficulty – see pic.
Also see core in pic! And I actually added more every time. So I'd say core gets a little bit neglected in Mass. Only 3 “core” days and always sharing the spotlight with cardio. When I repeat this program I think I’ll alternate weeks with Abs.
WEEKLY STRUCTURE was one of my favorite things about this program – 3 out of 4 weeks are U-L-C-U-L body focus and why I prefer that simple small switch to the usual L-U-C-U-L is more rest between upper days, plus the fact you can easily stretch the whole schedule out (to less days per week) without Friday's lower bumping into next Monday's lower again.
The remaining week isn't total body 😏😉
In fact, there is not a single total body strength workout. 6 videos do have total focus (either alone or combined with another), but all of them include some cardio so if it's a cardio(HIIT)/strength combo the “total“ applies to cardio. Meaning - no compund lifts. When you do strength, you know exactly which group you're focusing on.
TYPE OF STRENGTH TRAINING
So I was wondering what else is specific about ST here in comparison to other programs (besides the proportion of it), and realized ALL strength intervals (except for core) are by reps and not timed. If you love the sound of the beeper, tough luck!😆😁 It's most often either 8 reps or 10 reps per set.
I liked how it's slow paced, focusing on each rep. Also, when intervals aren't timed, rests arent either :) so there was always plenty of time to switch between weigths. If I could go back in time when my set was new and I was taking forever handling it, I'd do this program. Also if I ever get a bench I'll come back because it uses it in 7 upper body videos. Would love to learn what difference it makes.
Number of sets: no “bored easily“ videos, at least 2 sets per exercise, mostly AB pairs. 2 sets per exercise: 10 videos (6 lower, 4 upper), 3 sets per exercise: 6 videos (5 upper), 4 sets per exercise: 1 video (upper). So upper got more sets.
While on focus...
There are 10 upper videos (9 upper days so 1 ec), total duration 315 minutes, 7 videos pure strength, 3 with some cardio (not HIIT) in the mix;
9 lower body videos (8 lower days, 2 of the videos extra credit, one main repeated twice in the program), total duration 308 minutes, 3 pure ST (1 completely low impact, 2 including just a set or two of jumping), 5 that have about an even mix of HIIT and ST (1 of them a bodyweight ec), and 1 ec HIIT.
... So this is becoming a mess of unfiltered cross-data 😫😖 therefore, conclusion about DISTRIBUTION OF CARDIO VS STRENGTH:
I heard Mass has more cardio than Strong, but I haven't done Strong yet so can't compare.
Frist week of Mass has most cardio – 2 days alternate ST and cardio (not HIIT), 1 day alternates ST and HIIT, 1 day IS cardio (with core ec).
Second week seemed least cardio to me – one day cardio alternated with core, and one day a HIIT/strength combo with 1/3 time spent on HIIT.
Third week: one low impact cardio, one cardio (not HIIT) alternating with strength and one HIIT/strength combo (but this time more time on HIIT).
Week 4 has 3 absolutely jumpless days and 2 half-and-half HIIT/ST.
In total, only 8 out of 25 videos have “HIIT“ or “Plyometric“ listed for type. One of them isn't exactly what I imagine for HIIT (more like endurance cardio), two are short extra credits and the others are just half(ish) HIIT and the other part strength.
…………………………..
😳🥱
..........
Guys, I’m sorry, I tried to make sense.
Bottom line, Mass is good! Challenging, traditional (I think), effective. A nice way to get someone not-in-love with strength to do it more often without hating it, and to benefit from it.
Good day!