PIYO REVIEW – IT’S NOT JUST FOR THE LADIES
PIYO – PILATES + YOGA = DOPENESS
90 days ago I decided to switch up my workout routine and give PiYo, Chalene Johnson’s new at-home workout program, a go…and boy did it go!
PiYo is a 60-day-body-weight program merging Pilates and Yoga into a 8 different workouts which not only got me into better shape but also helped me gain about 4 pounds of lean muscle mass…in other words, PiYo is 60-days of awesomeness.
MY APPROACH – A PIYO/X3 HYBRID
Right as I was about to start my third round of P90X3, PiYo was hitting the streets. Being that I already thought Yoga changed my life, I thought I’d give a Yoga/Pilates mix a try.
The plan was to simply add PiYo to my X3 routine and see what happened.
I had originally thought about revisiting P90X or X2 but I was more curious to see what simply adding PiYo to my X3 routine would do. PiYo’s workouts average about 30 minutes (the routines actually range from 18 minutes to 48 minutes) and since I was already thinking about restarting P90X or X2, both of which are an hour, adding another 30 minutes to my X3 routine wouldn’t really be adding any more time to my scheduled exercise time.
So, I decided to give PiYo ago…and 90 days later…wait for it….
QUICK OVERALL PIYO REVIEW
Would I Recommend PiYo?
Without a doubt!
Who Is PiYo For?
PiYo is for anyone looking to improve his or her overall strength, flexibility, and/or core. Be it man or woman, young or old, injured or not, PiYo WILL IMPROVE YOU.
What Is My Favorite Thing About PiYo?
The fact that it requires NO EQUIPMENT!
This is a huge deal in my opinion because equipment cost money, takes up space, is hard to travel with, and must be maintained.
What Is My Overall Opinion Of PiYo?
The first half of the program is a bit easy if you are already in shape…but don’t let that fool you!
Though the first half might seem a bit easy, no matter how fit you are the second half of the program will leave you wanting to punch Chalene Johnson right in the face!
THE PIYO RESULTS – PIYO IS THE SH*T
…in a word, PiYo is AWESOME! Okay, that was three.
Though I did a 90-day X3/PiYo Hybrid, I still took note of my stats at the 60-day mark to make sure I got the 60-day results of adding PiYo to my routine…but I didn’t need 60 days to start noticing results – noticeable results happened within the first three weeks!
By the end of PiYo’s 60 days I had gained 6 pounds of pretty lean muscle in my arms, back, and legs, was noticeably bigger, more vascular, and a good bit more defined in my shoulders and back than when doing X3 by itself.
21-DAY RESULTS
Within the first three weeks of adding PiYo to my X3 workout routine there was a noticeable strength difference in my shoulders and legs. In a mere 3 weeks of doing PiYo, a body-weight only routine, I was not only feeling stronger in my core, shoulders, and legs but also lifting more.
It is important to note that PiYo requires no equipment other than a yoga mat. And with nothing more than a yoga mat and my own body weight, Chalene had me feeling stronger than ever in just two weeks.
30-DAY RESULTS
But feeling stronger was not the end of the story – I WAS ACTUALLY GAINING MASS.
If you’ve already read my X3 review you may know that I thought X3 was a bit lacking in the arms and back department…and this was the case in my 2nd round of X3…BUT WITH PIYO ADDED TO THE MIX THIS WAS NO LONGER THE CASE.
In the first 30-days of my PiYo/X3 Hybrid I had not only noticed strength gains in my legs and shoulders, BUT I HAD GAINED MUSCLE MASS IN MY LEGS AND SHOULDERS. I gained about 3 pounds of mass in the first 30-days of my X3/PiYo Hybrid…and I was only getting started.
60-DAY RESULTS
By the 60-day mark, the end of PiYo’s traditional program I had gained 6 pounds of mostly lean muscle and had noticeably bigger and more defined arms, back, and legs…not to mention veins running through my arms normally associated with me being at a lower weight (i.e., seems like my mass gain wasn’t really doing harm to my body mass index).
With the weight gain came more strength – i.e., I was doing more push-ups, more pull-ups, and higher rep counts and/or heavier weight when working out with weights…in other words I was noticeably stronger.
BUT being stronger wasn’t the PiYo icing on the cake!
The icing on the cake was being able to complete X3’s Pilates and Isometrix workout without even batting an eye!
90-DAY RESULTS
The last 30 days of my X3/PiYo Hybrid followed suit – I just became stronger and more flexible still. I ended up gaining a total of 7 pounds…and though I could have had a bit more lower ab definition I believe the 7 pounds where worth it…especially for my arms…though Niña liked the resulting buns and legs.
PIYO AND MY CHRONIC INJURIES
You may or may not already know that I have three chronic issues with my body – a fully torn right labrum (bum right shoulder) and two bum knees. And, though P90X, X2, and X3 did wonders for my shoulder and knees, I must say PiYo did nothing but continue the development of all three…my shoulder and knees haven’t felt this good in 3 years.
THE PIYO WEIGHT GAIN
My objective going into my X3/PiYo Hybrid was to try and gain weight.
“Gain weight by adding a body-weight Yoga/Pilates workout to your routine? That doesn’t make sense!”
Yeah, it doesn’t really, but I cut back my runs to only 2 a week and started eating like a beast for 2/3’s of the 90 days.
So, I went from running 5-6 days a week to running twice a week and started eating at least 3,000-3,500 calories a day.
I ate an average of 3,200 calories a day for the first 60 days and gained 6 pounds. Then, on the last 30 days, I cut back my calorie intake to 2,200 a day to try and lean up a bit…because though the 6 pounds did contribute to some nice muscle mass gains it also contributed to some ab definition loss…but it’s always easier to cut bad weight than it is to gain good weight in my opinion.
PIYO – IN SUMMATION
In summation, if you haven’t guessed it already…
…I would recommend PiYo to anyone!
Be it a novice starting to workout for the first time, someone recovering from an injury, someone with a chronic injury, or an expert fitness guru looking for a new routine that will certainly contribute to (and aid in making their current routine that much more effective), I truly believe PiYo is for everyone.
Disclaimer: I am a Beachbody Coach but all opinions expressed in this post and on this website are 100% my own and all the results are 100% real. If you have any questions concerning the PiYo program or any other fitness related issues at all please feel free to contact me or visit the PiYo Page on my Beachbody Coach Site.