*INCLUDES MY RESULTS - please don’t read if this will be upsetting for you.
I’ve just done the last workout of Benchmark, the titular fitness test, and felt inspired to share a few thoughts.
FORMAT: This is the most varied program I’ve done of Fitness Blender’s, with all seven trainers making an appearance, and workouts including balance, mobility and even mindfulness cropping up alongside strength and cardio. Yoga, Pilates and barre make a good compliment to more usual training styles.
Most of the workouts fall into the 30-40 minute bracket, with a few longer and shorter. There are options on most days with some variability of duration and training style between the options. There are occasional extra credits, which tend to be geared towards recovery or improving some aspect of performance rather than just doing extra lifting or cardio. I really approve of this; it seems to me to be a really healthy use of the extra credit, rather than just focusing on “more work”.
Tasha offers a change to the standard FB format, in that at no point will you find yourself doing Lower-Upper-Core-Upper-Lower, which I personally found very refreshing. There are a couple of weeks where you do the total body-recovery format, but even in the split weeks the schedule is a pleasing jumble that I found worked very well.
A small note: if you’re used to doing a 5+1 day style, you might be surprised to find that you’re given the option of a day 6 workout (as opposed to just stretching) at least once, but this is not mandatory.
Tasha does like her recovery days, something that I know I’m not alone in struggling with. I actually promised Tasha at the start of the program that I would try very hard not to fall back on my habit of throwing in extras at every opportunity. I failed fairly spectacularly on this, largely due to having discovered that I like running. 10km does not constitute a good recovery option, readers. If you have a better mentality regarding exercise, I encourage you to embrace the light days and hopefully enjoy better progress (and being less knackered) than me.
So progress in most areas, but I have a suspicion that I was determined to show improvement even if it killed me…
THOUGHTS:
I really enjoyed this on the whole, but my only doubt is the overall concept. It seems to me that it’s implied that progress is expected, and therefore if for some reason you don’t manage it - maybe because you’ve had an injury, because you’ve been sick, maybe life has been hectic and you haven’t managed to be really consistent with your workouts, maybe you’ve just been an idiot like me and stupidly over exercised and were exhausted - it’s hard not to view this as a failure.
Tasha writes excellent daily thoughts throughout the program and encourages you to reflect on your approach to exercising and movement, focusing on positive attitudes and healthy mentalities, so I hope that for the vast majority of people this will be a wholly beneficial experience.
If you enjoyed the You against You and Full Fusion challenges, you already know that you’ll love this, but even if you haven’t done them, give this a go. It’s a cracker.
FB Benchmark - review/musings
Hello all.
*INCLUDES MY RESULTS - please don’t read if this will be upsetting for you.
I’ve just done the last workout of Benchmark, the titular fitness test, and felt inspired to share a few thoughts.
FORMAT: This is the most varied program I’ve done of Fitness Blender’s, with all seven trainers making an appearance, and workouts including balance, mobility and even mindfulness cropping up alongside strength and cardio. Yoga, Pilates and barre make a good compliment to more usual training styles.
Most of the workouts fall into the 30-40 minute bracket, with a few longer and shorter. There are options on most days with some variability of duration and training style between the options. There are occasional extra credits, which tend to be geared towards recovery or improving some aspect of performance rather than just doing extra lifting or cardio. I really approve of this; it seems to me to be a really healthy use of the extra credit, rather than just focusing on “more work”.
Tasha offers a change to the standard FB format, in that at no point will you find yourself doing Lower-Upper-Core-Upper-Lower, which I personally found very refreshing. There are a couple of weeks where you do the total body-recovery format, but even in the split weeks the schedule is a pleasing jumble that I found worked very well.
A small note: if you’re used to doing a 5+1 day style, you might be surprised to find that you’re given the option of a day 6 workout (as opposed to just stretching) at least once, but this is not mandatory.
Tasha does like her recovery days, something that I know I’m not alone in struggling with. I actually promised Tasha at the start of the program that I would try very hard not to fall back on my habit of throwing in extras at every opportunity. I failed fairly spectacularly on this, largely due to having discovered that I like running. 10km does not constitute a good recovery option, readers. If you have a better mentality regarding exercise, I encourage you to embrace the light days and hopefully enjoy better progress (and being less knackered) than me.
RESULTS:
Thrusters: (first round 10kg per hand) 15 reps < 17 reps; (second round 8kg per hand) 16 reps < 20 reps
Low row: (8kg per hand) 22 reps & 21 reps < 26 reps and 19 reps
Burpees (kipping style): 12 & 12 < 13 & 13
Skaters: 53 and 53 reps < 56 and 56 reps
Push-ups: 15 full/4 half, 7 full/8 half < 18 full/6 half, 8 full/ 6 half
Hollow-man hold: 45 secs & 45 secs < 45 secs and 45 secs
Plank: 45 secs & 45 secs < 45 secs & 30secs full/15secs crocodile hold
Bear crawl: 14 crawls, 15 crawls < 21 crawls, 20 crawls
So progress in most areas, but I have a suspicion that I was determined to show improvement even if it killed me…
THOUGHTS:
I really enjoyed this on the whole, but my only doubt is the overall concept. It seems to me that it’s implied that progress is expected, and therefore if for some reason you don’t manage it - maybe because you’ve had an injury, because you’ve been sick, maybe life has been hectic and you haven’t managed to be really consistent with your workouts, maybe you’ve just been an idiot like me and stupidly over exercised and were exhausted - it’s hard not to view this as a failure.
Tasha writes excellent daily thoughts throughout the program and encourages you to reflect on your approach to exercising and movement, focusing on positive attitudes and healthy mentalities, so I hope that for the vast majority of people this will be a wholly beneficial experience.
If you enjoyed the You against You and Full Fusion challenges, you already know that you’ll love this, but even if you haven’t done them, give this a go. It’s a cracker.