Being Bruce -: March 2013

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

How to Choose a Challenge Group


So you've already heard about Beachbody Challenge Groups, either from a Team Beachbody Coach, another Beachbody customer, or perhaps you orginally heard about them on Facebook, YouTube.com, or other social media. Perhaps you saw the cool little video that sums them up:

Ever Feel Like This?



The idea of Challenge Groups is appealing to you and it makes sense. Combining nutrition, exercise, support, and incentives is a killer combination to reach health and fitness goals.

There's a still a question in many minds, however, (and perhaps yours), and that is, "Which Challenge Group should I join?"

The quick answer, and the longer one, too, is it's all about the fitness program. Now, the success of any group is based on the strength of the members - the more people participate in a group's private Facebook page, the more powerful the support component of the group will be, and that's key, but otherwise, all things being equal with nutrition, support, and incentives, the choice comes down to which exercise program do you want to do now?

Your Team Beachbody Coach is the best person to help you make the decision about which fitness program to select, assuming of course that there is a Challenge Group available for the program you eventually pick. If you want to a program and there's none going on when you want to get started, consider asking your Coach if s/he will host the group if you recruit a half dozen or so of your friends to join with you. Chances are pretty good your Coach will be delighted to host a group you build - it's not essential that the host does the program along with the group, or even has ever done it, since Beachbody provides Coaches with a wide array of support materials for running Challenge Groups with more than 20 of the most popular programs.

So what factors do you consider in making your exercise program choice? There are three primary factors:
  1. Overall fitness level
  2. Past experience, skill levels, and ability
  3. Personal Preference
Fitness Level: If you're currently in great shape or in pretty poor shape, your choices are easier. If your already very fit you'll likely want to do a Challenge Group based on one of the more extreme programs like P90X, Insanity, TurboFire, Les Mills Combat, Less Mills Pump, or maybe even Body Beast. If you haven't worked out in a long time and especially if you have lots of weight to lose, Slimin6 or Power 90 would be better choices.

If you're somewhere between being in very poor shape or awesome condition, let your Coach be your guide. She or he can ask some questions to help you choose.

Past experience, skill levels, and ability - If you were a college jock or used to run until just a few years ago, those both can give your Coach clues to which programs would fit. While you should always check with your doctor or other medical professional about any new fitness program, some of our workout programs were designed specifically for people with limited abilities due to various conditions - for example Tai Cheng is an awesome program that stresses balance, flexibility and strength building that, while it's great for golfers and surfers and anyone for whom body alignment and control is important, it's also often a great choice for people in rehab from surgery or implants (knees or hips, for example).

Personal Preference - What do you like to do? It's important that you enjoy your workout program. If you like going full-tilt cardio, that gives your Coach some suggestion, like possibly Insanity, Turbofire, or Les Mills Combat. If you like to dance, give Brazil Butt Lift or Hip Hop Abs some consideration.

What's Next? - There is one other consideration when choosing a Challenge Group fitness program, and that's when you're about to finish one Challenge Group and then want to try something different the next time around. Some people will go from P90X to Insanity then back to P90X, then Body Beast, and then back to P90X again. People who like Power 90 and want to stick with Tony Horton can choose to 'graduate' to Ten Minute Trainer or P90X and then after that jump up to P90X2.

So there are several factors in choosing the best exercise program for you next Challenge Group. The important thing is to decide, commit, and then succeed! That's the path to health and fitness with Beachbody Challenge Groups!