Final Review of Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping

I just finished 10 amazing weeks at Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping. I saw results, I feel better, I enjoyed every workout.
The basic set up was 6 days a week, alternating cardio and strength workouts. Cardio days were centered around kickboxing moves. And the strength workouts utilized resistance bands.

Check out the recaps of the first five weeks:
Week One
Week Two
Week Four
Week Five

I bet you're wondering why no reviews of weeks 6-10... Well, I got f-ing busy, so just assume they got progressively harder and I enjoyed them as equally (if not more) than the first 5 weeks.

My results were pretty good. At the end of the 10 weeks I worked off 5 inches (mostly from my gross c-section tummy). I improved my mile from 11:20 to 9:38. I went from 12 to 32 sit-up in a minute. And from 23 to 69 push-ups in a minute. I'm really proud of my mile time and my push ups. My weight went down like 6 lbs but my body fat % dropped like 4%!
People like lists, so I'll give you what I think are the Pros and the Cons of dropping like $400 on a 10 week program like this.

Pros

•  If you go you will see results. Plain and simple, you can't fail if you show up every day.
• It's like a family. Your class and your coach really make it about your success.
• the Coaches  are great. It's personal but not over bearing. And they use EMAIL! It's the 21st century, I'm glad someone is effectively using email to keep me motivated. 
• The strength training workouts are just as engaging and fun as the cardio. I didn't think they would be.
• a 45 minute workout is the PERFECT amount of time. It's gut busting, sweaty, and extreme. But then you look at the clock and you're 10 minutes to finished. 
• It's a group workout that isn't cheesy and it certainly isn't dancing.

Cons

• It's not easy to drop $360+ on anything you're not sure about.
• I was a bit younger than everyone else in the class, sometimes that is awkward for me (oh, I'm 28 BTW)
• The nutrition portion/regime was hard to follow as a breast feeding mother. I kind of wish it was more specific, too.
• My employer wouldn't reimburse me at all because it wasn't a monthly fee; like other gyms.
• oh, and current top 40 pop/dance tracks ALL THE TIME! Egghhhhh...

End summation-- If you want to change your self- Do it at Farrell's. You will love how you feel and you that's worth any cost.

Half Way Done, 5 Week Testing at Farrell's

This is fabulous week 5 of my 10 week program at Farrell's eXtreme Body Shaping. We did initial testing during week one, we do this mid way testing, and again at the end of ten weeks.

I improved on EVERYTHING (except weight). I'm 100% confident that my measurements and strength more than justify the static weight. My stats thus far, are as follows:

Weight	185	185
Body Fat %	33.6%	33.0%
Push Ups	20	57
Sit-ups	9	20
Mile Run	11:19	10:29

So, as you can see- I've gotten faster, stronger, and more flexible. This first 5 weeks has gone by so quickly. I love my 5am class. I love that it's loud and full and even entertaining.

Farrell's mid week 5

Today Was 1 of those cardio day Where you work your ass off I love it. Now my arms are killing but I can't wait to get on with my day.
I should apologize for the odd capital letter placement. I'm actually doing this from my car with speech to text. It may sound dangerous and dumb. But I'm a busy mother and I have no free time except in my car.

I'm really excited about 5 weeks testing I know that I've gotten stronger I'm really excited to see if I've lost any inches. But even if I haven't I feel fantastic everyday!  We're doing sit ups and pushups during the week. And on saturday we run the mile.

Speaking of the mile. I'm doing the beer and bagel run at quarry oaks on November 9th. I had convinced a few buddies to run with me. We'll see if they actually do. It's 4 miles if golf course, and after are the aforementioned bagels and beer.

Week 4 Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping Recap

Week 4 has been tough.
 We introduced several new exercises and started doing drop sets (6 reps, 8 reps, 12 reps- each one getting faster).
I did end up missing one class (no way I was getting out of bed). So I did a make up class at 6:30 pm. It had a totally different vibe, very mellow. End of the day classes are not for me. I need the big class at 5am- I LOVE my 5am buds

I haven't lost any weight. That might surprise you, but it's not a big deal for me. I know I feel stronger. I can tell my push-ups are better, I can actually do sit ups, and my planking kicks ass. So the weight will come off, right now I'm super excited to be getting stronger.

I'm getting pretty excited about the 5 week testing. Seeing if I've made any progress, well- I know I've improved I just want to know how much. I am totally drinking the cool-aid at this point. I think this is the way to get fit, stay fit, and live a happier life.

Week 2 of Farrell's Extreme Body Shaping.

First of all, I'm loving it. I get pushed to work harder than I've ever worked.

Cardio/Kickboxing in week 2 was much the same as week one, just that I knew the lingo better. I felt like the exercises moved pretty quickly so that you were tired and working hard, but not drilling away at the same thing all the time. Being on the mat (when your partner is doing the kickboxing bag) is the real killer. I've never before worked like that before. My planking (the real kind not the YouTube kind) is getting WAY better. And I even did real full sit ups the other day. My day 1 testing, I only managed 4 full sit ups with someone holding my feet. Now I can knock out two sets of 16  pretty decently.

So I am seeing improvement. I haven't lost any weight, but I certainly feel stronger and I can see a little change in my muscles.

The strength training is also GREAT. I was worried it would be tedious and dull. How could anything compare to kickboxing, right? Well, dull it is not. It's a challenge every time and I work up the same sweat I do on cardio days. It's not easy and it's up to you to really push yourself to level 10. There bands we use are color coded yellow to purple... Well in week 2 I've started uping my bands to green (one above yellow)!

The nutrition is still my weak spot. I'm improving.... Aren't we all though? Seriously though, I'm trying to balance a moderately vegetarian diet (with NO success) and a breast feeding diet- toss in trying to get 14-17g Protein and 30g Carbs per meal-- 6 times a day! Lets just say, I'm improving and striving for more protein and fewer carbs.

Week 1 of Farrell's

Week one was many things- none of them were disappointing.
The format is Cardio/kickboxing MWF and resistance strength training TTHS. A lot of this week was establishing a working vocab and understanding of the exercises. Although, that doesn't mean we took tons of time with form. Saturday there was an extra "techniques" class- that my daughter's soccer game prevented me from attending.

I am in the 5am class, which I really dig. There early but then the rest of the day is ahead of me and there's no big dreaded workout looming over me all day. I like the cardio kick boxing a little better than the strength days, not because they are any easier but because I like learning new 'moves'. Their big thing is working out at your level 10, which is as hard as you an go for each exercise. I definitely felt level 10 on my strength days, felt is like a slap in the face.... I didn't know I was so weak, well I did know I just didn't have to feel it for a very long time. The intensity level of the instructors was perfect for me. Intense but fun loving. They want to be there and like what they're doing, but they aren't super buzzed or in your face yelling.

Now, where I did struggle was nutrition. Don't we all? Yes, I struggled but didn't fail. This week I really focused on increasing the protein and decreasing the carbs. I tried to eat 6 times a day with mostly success. I did pretty well about logging everything I ate, it was just recording the carbs and protein that I slacked on. But, I plan on improving in this area too. It's all about awareness and improvement for me.

I'm really looking forward to week 2. I am looking to improve the quality and quantity of my crunches and sit ups, as 3 c-sections have left me flabby and with no muscles in my abdomen. I'm going to do more green bands on the strength days (that's the next harder band in the world of resistance bands). And I can't wait to have more of the moves incorporated into the work outs.

My only complaint- The classes are supposed to be 45 minutes. And each one has gone a little over. Throwing off my 'home by 6' plan of getting 2 girls ready each morning and out the door by 7:30. I'm sure it's the first week explanations that are making us go over. Hopefully that will change.