Beachbody or Planet Fitness....a working mom's point of view.

In the past, I have had no trouble at all signing up for the $10/month membership at Planet Fitness.  Hello?  It's only $10/month!  I had been struggling, however, to sign up for Beachbody's On-line Club Membership.  I didn't want to be charged $40/quarter for on-line access.  It was time for me to sit and weigh this out!

Planet Fitness:

• It's only $10/month! (after a $29.99 start up fee...and you make a 12 month commitment, so canceling any time is not really an option)
• You get access to free weights, weight machines, treadmills, bikes, and ellipticals.
• You can set up appointments with PF trainers to help you with your fitness routine.
• The serve pizza once/month (Ummmm....really???  Why would I want to have the smell of pizza wafting over to me while I'm working out?)
• They serve bagels once/month (well, I guess it is better than the pizza?)
• You can go as often or as little as you like.

Beachbody's Club Membership:

• The first 30 days is free.
• After the first 30 days are up, you are billed $38.87 per quarter (which is like paying $12.96/month) and you can cancel any time without penalties (even before the free period is up).
• You get access to 25 + Beachbody programs from any device with internet capability
• They give you a Challenge Du Jour each day that you can do if you want to add to your workouts.
• If you purchase any other Beachbody programs, they automatically pop up in your On-Demand account, so they are also available to you on-line.
• You get access to all of the step by step program guides, workout calendars, and nutrition plans for each of the available programs.
• You can set up personalized meal plans.
• You get 10% off any Beachbody purchases.
• You don't have to GO anywhere to workout.
• You get a free coach to help with questions, concerns, and motivation.
• I know Planet Fitness is a "Judgement Free Zone," however, my living room is TRULY judgment free!  There is no lunk alarm if I drop a weight or grunt loudly.  I can swear at Tony and Shaun if I see fit and the kids aren't around and NOBODY will see me if I have to drop down to a lower weight or can only do a few push-ups on my knees!

My thoughts:

After actually listing things out and looking at it objectively, it makes much more sense for ME to have a Beachbody Club membership.  If I have to drive somewhere to get my workout in, there is a much higher chance that it won't happen.  I have to fit things in around my kid's schedules and my work schedule.  Adding drive time to the gym (even if it is only 5 minutes from my house) DOES make a difference....  and cost?  If you add in the sign up fee, Planet Fitness only averages 46 cents/month less ($10/month x 12 + $29.99 = $149.99/12 = $12.50)....and I have to make a one year commitment.  I can cancel my Club Membership whenever I want!  So I don't have to have that charge popping up every month on my credit card, knowing I haven't been there in AGES!

Support:

The other addition to the Club Membership that Planet Fitness is lacking in would be support.  Beachbody offers a free coach to help motivate you and answer questions, so if you need someone to push you and check in on you to make sure you actually get your workout in, this is the route to go.

Are YOU interested in a Team Beachbody Club membership?  Click here if you want to check it out.

If you want to talk about other options with Beachbody programs, sign up for a free fitness consultation email me at coachmomnteach@gmail.com

Hydrate!

I'm not a Gatorade or Powerade person.  I tend to just stick to plain old water while I'm working out, however, I also know that there are added benefits, during a hard workout, to drinking something that actually replenishes what your body needs.

This week I tried Beachbody's Hydrate, from their new performance line.  I have to admit, I didn't feel the "drain" that I usually feel during a tough workout.

Even mild dehydration can cause a dramatic reduction in power performance. Typical sports drinks have too much sugar and artificial ingredients that can dehydrate you. And water alone doesn’t effectively hydrate during exercise or replace what you lose through sweat.

Want to know what is IN Hydrate and how it works?




Interested in Hydrate?  Click here.  Want to know more about the entire Performance line? Click here.

Recovering from a tough workout

Typically, when I start a new program, I am SORE.  I also tend to have that "I can't get out of bed" feeling after pushing pretty hard on a workout the day before.

When I tried Beachbody's Energize pre-workout drink, I pushed HARD! And I was afraid that I was going to really feel it later...making the next day's workout even harder.

I decided to try Recover - the new post workout formula and found that, although I felt as though I needed to stretch, I wasn't feeling SORE.  It was more of a tight feeling.  Now...I SHOULD have also taken Recharge that night, but I wanted to see how I would feel the next day without it.  Yeah....I definitely pushed hard during that chest & back workout, because I woke up hurting.  Testing that one out will be next.

Recover takes advantage of the critical post-workout window to help combat exercise-induced muscle soreness, speed muscle recovery, support muscle growth, and improve strength recovery.  Taking it for only one day was nice, but I think it would be much more effective to have it for a stretch of time.

Learn more about Recover:




You can find Recover here.  Or you can check out the entire Performance Line here.

More Energy!

Today I tried Beachbody's Energize performance supplement.

My workout today was P90X Chest & Back and Ab Ripper X.  This workout is jam packed with push ups and pull ups - my two hardest exercises.  I can't actually do pull-ups, so I use a band and a door anchor for these exercises.

The last time I did this workout, I did a total of 112 push-ups, 78 pull-ups with the bands, the exercises that used weights, and the ab work within the hour long workout.

I took Energize about 15 minutes before my workout and felt like I had a push.  I got in 121 push-ups and 95 pull-ups (with bands), plus increased my reps with my weights.  That may not seem like a huge increase, but I have a feeling I'm going to FEEL it later!  I would really like to try this with a more cardio based workout to see how much more I can get out of that!

What IS Energize?

ENERGIZE is formulated with key ingredients to help:

• Boost energy and endurance 

• Improve exercise performance 

• Sharpen focus and reaction time 

• Increase muscle power output 

• Delay exercise-induced muscle fatigue

What are these key ingredients?

Beta-alanine:  This is an amino acid that helps buffer lactic acid buildup to improve performance and delay exercise induced muscle fatigue.

Low-dose caffeine (from green tea):  This enhances performance, improves reaction time and focus, and reduces exercise-induced fatigue.  It can give both a mental and physical boost

Quercetin: This is a plant-based nutrient and powerful performance enhancer, shown to improve endurance and delay exercise-induced muscle fatigue.

Want some more information about Energize?

Where can you find Energize?  Click here.   If you want to check out the entire Performance line, click here.