Not sure if Body Beast is for Women?

I’m here to tell you that Body Beast is definitely for women.

Just because the Body Beast creators forgot to put a woman on the team of this particular routine (there are women in some of the other Body Beast workouts) doesn’t mean it’s not for you.  This workout (Beast: Cardio) is absolutely an incredible option for any woman.

I have to admit, the first time I previewed Beast: Cardio I thought it looked kind of easy.  But don’t be fooled.  This is a tough and effective cardio routine.

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Here’s a reminder of what the Body Beast program looks like:

Remember, Beast: Cardio is just one of the routines in the Body Beast program.

Body Beast: Cardio Workout Review

How does Beast: Cardio compare to other cardio workouts?  What equipment will you need?  How many calories could you burn? 

I’m going to answer all these questions for you about this 30-minute cardio routine from the Body Beast series.

*And check out, Girls, Get Sculpted and Sexy with Sagi—Body Beast, Total Body, to find out exactly what weights I use to crush another Body Beast routine.

Let’s get started…

Instructor-Sagi Kalev

Category-Cardio+

*You’ll be using weights so you’ll incorporate some strength-training but this is primarily a cardio routine

Equipment–10 lb. DB’s, mat

Girls, grab your 8 lb. DB’s, too, if this is your first time doing Beast:Cardio.

The mat is optional but there’s one exercise where you’ll go down in low plank (on your elbows) so if you’re on a hard surface you’ll want a mat.

Length-30 minutes

HRM-231 calories

*This is how many calories I burn when I do this workout.  Your number could be VERY different than mine.

Choreography-Simple

My rating– A

If you’re just getting started with resistance training then check out this post for guidance on finding the right equipment, A Woman’s Guide to Buying Dumbbells.

The Important Stuff about Body Beast: Cardio

I was a little disappointed that the Body Beast masters forgot to include a woman on their team to record this workout.  But don’t let that throw you off.  You can hang with the boys.  The team members are Eric, Nick, and Sagi.  Eric represents most of us.

There are 12 exercises in this 30-minute program. You’ll do each exercise for about 1 to 1 ½ minutes, then you’ll rest for up to approximately 1 minute (I tell you the exact length of time for each interval and rest period below).

I use the same weights that Sagi’s team uses in this workout.  The weights aren’t meant to bulk you up.  They’re used to make a few of the exercises compound (involve multiple body parts) and more intense. 

Girls, if you never (or rarely) lift weights then start with 5 or 8 lb. DB’s the first time you do Beast: Cardio.

All of the Body Beast routines have a countdown clock in the corner of the screen.  It lets you know how much time is left in the current interval AND how much time is left in the workout.  I love that clock.

Sagi demos the exercises for you but never really does an entire set of anything.  He’s just there to motivate and encourage you to finish.  I wish he’d do the workout, but that’s just me, it might not matter to you.

Remember to read to the end of this post for tips on each section in Beast Cardio as well as links to a few places you can compare prices on Body Beast.

Warm-Up

The warm-up is a little over 1 ½ minutes.  You’ll jog in place, do hip stretches, lunges, and some squats.

Main Workout (The Exercises in Body Beast: Cardio)

SQUAT WITH OVERHEAD PRESS

Equipment-10 lb. DB’s

Interval Length-1:25

The name of the exercise tells you what you’ll be doing.  You raise the DB’s over your head every time you come up out of the squat.

The pattern of the interval>>As many reps as you can (I try to stay with the team) for 20 seconds. Then you do a 10-second static hold with the DB’s at your shoulders and your knees flexed in the squat.  Repeat that pattern for 3 total rounds (until the 1:25 is up).

Sagi tells you when to do the hold so you don’t have to stare at the clock but I always do because these are harder than you expect (and I need to know when it’s going to end).

REST-40 seconds

TOE TAPS

No equipment

Interval Length-1 minute

When I was coaching my daughter’s soccer team I found out that this particular exercise is a lot harder for some people than I realized.  If this move seems like some kind of fancy athletic engineering then don’t do it. You can do a high-knee run in place as fast as you can, instead.

Sagi is using a weight bench to tap his toes on.  I wouldn’t recommend that.  For most women, I think a weight bench is too high to pull this off safely and at the tempo he’s going.  The modified equipment is to tap on a DB.

I’d recommend you use a platform or something lower (than a weight bench) and that won’t roll out from under you (like a DB can).

If you don’t feel this in your core you’re probably doing it wrong.

REST-1 minute 17 seconds

SUMO SQUAT TO JUMP SQUAT + HOLD

No equipment needed

Interval Length-1:32

The exercise is this>>Go down in a squat, come halfway up, go back down in a squat and then come all the way up with a vertical jump.  Repeat.  There’s a static hold in the low squat position every 30 seconds (Sagi will tell you when to do it).

Go as fast as you can.  You’ll only get out of this what you put into it.  If you cheat the squat and do a baby jump then you’ll think this is easy.  If you go deep in the squat and jump as high as you can then you’ll find this exercise really tough.

REST-40 seconds

MOUNTAIN CLIMBER + ROW + PLANK

Equipment-10 lb. DB’s

Interval Length-1:32

The team is using 8 and 10 lb. DB’s.  I use 10’s.  (Anything smaller is hard to balance on.)

You’ll be balancing on your DB’s in a high plank and doing mountain climbers for about 25 seconds then Sagi will prompt you to do alternating one-arm lat rows (stay in high plank) for a few seconds.  Then you’ll get another prompt to hold a high plank for a few seconds before starting the cycle over.

You’ll be balancing on those DB’s for the entire minute and a half.  That really hurts my palms.  As a modification I place the DB’s beside my hands and only grab them for the rows.

Sagi holds the final plank on his knuckles like a caveman.  He’s a funny dude.

REST-39 seconds

SUMO SQUAT + HOLD

Equipment-one 10 lb. DB

Interval Length-1:31

The pattern is the same as you’ve already done.  You’ll do squats for 20 seconds and then a static hold for 10 seconds.  There are 3 sets over the minute and a half.

I’m not a big fan of the way they hold the DB (vertically) to do these.  I turn it horizontal instead.

Make sure you’re going deep in the squat (check out Eric).  Push yourself to keep up with the team.  Remember this is a cardio workout.  If you stop then you’ll lose your heart rate.

REST-47 seconds

WEIGHTED BURPEE + STRETCH

Equipment-10 lb. DB’s

Interval Length-1:42

You’ll be doing burpees on your DB’s for about 30 seconds.  Then you’ll put the DB’s out to the side for a one-arm/one-leg plank hold (this is the ‘stretch’ part of this exercise) for about 20 seconds.  (You lift the opposite arm and leg and balance until Sagi tells you to start all over.)

Helpful Tip-Tighten your core and the quad of the supporting leg to balance.

There are 2 cycles.  On the second set you balance on the other two limbs.

Burpees on the DB’s hurts my palms but if you don’t use them then you’ve just made the burpee too easy.  The DB’s intensify this exercise so you’ll want to use them the exact way the team shows you this time.

REST-34 seconds

PLYO PUSH-UP HOLD

No equipment needed

Interval Length-1:34

Girls, don’t think you’ll be able to ‘plyo’ off the ground like the guys in this video.  I can barely get a millimeter off the floor (even when I drop to my knees).  But any plyo effort counts.  The 10-second hold at the bottom of the move is the killer part.

There are 3 rounds.

You’ll notice Eric starts off like a champ bouncing miles off the ground but then he goes to his knees (after Sagi tells him to) on the 3^rd set.  I like that guy.

REST-42 seconds

SUMO JUMP

No equipment needed

Interval Length-1 minute

You’ll be moving your legs in and out like a jumping jack.  But the idea is to stay low (for the entire minute) with your knees flexed so your quads and glutes are firing.  It doesn’t matter what your arms are doing but Sagi tells you to hold them at your chest

Sagi keeps yelling to get lower in the squat but as long as your quads are firing you’re low enough.  If you get too low you won’t be able to jump your legs apart.

Don’t feel bad that you have to slow down (I’m barely moving by the time the minute is over).  But try to keep your legs going in and out (at whatever pace) until the end.

REST-1:05

SQUAT TO UPRIGHT ROW + HOLD

Equipment-10 lb DB’s

Interval Length-1:34

The name tells you what you’ll be doing.  The static upright row hold is a little longer than 10 seconds.

There are 3 rounds.

Your effort at this point is what ‘Separates the men from the boys,’ according to Sagi.

Again, Sagi forgets about 50% of the population.  I guess we’re supposed to assume this is the point that separates the girls from the women but my 11-year-old daughter is kind of a bad ass and could kick my tail on half of these exercises.

REST-49 seconds

ALT. LUNGE JUMPS + HOLD

No equipment needed

Interval Length-1 minute

You’ll do an alternating runner’s lunge as fast as you can.  At some point (after about 20 seconds) Sagi will tell you to hold the lunge (for about 10 seconds).  Then you start again.  Make sure you do the hold with the other leg forward the second time.

Eric is dying (and giving 1000%) during this exercise.  (I love him more every time I do this workout.)  You’ll understand why Eric is making that expression once you do this one.  (Hint-Your legs will feel like two burning sticks of Jello.)

REST-36 seconds

PLANK PRESS-UP + HOLD

Equipment-You’ll need a mat if you’re not on a soft surface because you’ll be on your elbows half the time.

Interval Length-1:34

You’ll be going up and down between high and low plank.  There’s a 10-second static hold approximately every 30 seconds.

There are 3 rounds.

The static holds are all done in the low plank position.  Make sure your butt is not spiked up when you’re in plank (high or low).

REST-1:04

PLANK + TWIST + SPRINT

No equipment needed

Interval Length-1:27

You’ll be in high plank for the entire interval.

Bring one knee to the ipsilateral (*fancy-word alert*…it means the same side) elbow for 4 counts (alternating 2 reps on each side), then shoot your knee to the opposite elbow (again, alternating 2 reps on each side), then get up and run in place.

Repeat.

There are 3 rounds (round 3 is the ‘Bonus’ round).

You’re done!

Cool Down/Stretch

The cool down/stretch is about 1 ½ minutes.  It’s not that impressive.  Keep stretching out on your own for at least 5 minutes.

Now Sagi wants you to say, “I’m a winner.  I am a Beast.”

Sometimes I say it (if no one else is around) cuz I’m kinda a dork.

Now What?

This is an effective cardio routine for when you’re short on time.

I love that Body Beast: Cardio isn’t just straight cardio but incorporates strength-training to raise your heart rate.

I always pair this workout with an ab routine.

You can find this routine with the rest of the Body Beast program by Beachbody on Amazon or with a membership to Beachbody on Demand (BOD).

I love BOD!  Want to know more about why it’s so awesome?  Read this, Beachbody on Demand—5 Reasons to Give it a Try.

Thanks for reading!

You’re awesome!