Cassey Ho’s Blogilates Workouts Review

I receive a lot of questions about my thoughts on various fitness programs. Girls ask me if I think different programs will help them slim down, or if they can combine these programs with my Lean Legs Program. 

In general, I don’t recommend combining my workouts with other fitness programs purely because it could lead to overtraining. But since, I lot of you ask if certain fitness programs are OK when combined with my, I decided to review the most popular ones and give you my honest opinion :)

In this blog post I’ll share my thoughts on the popular Blogilates program.

If you want to, you can check out some of the other reviews I’ve done, such as Lilly Sabri’s Thigh and Fat Burning Workouts Review, Chloe Ting’s 30 Day Lean Thigh Challenge Review, and more!

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A post shared by Cassey Ho (@blogilates)

WHO IS CASSEY HO, THE CREATOR OF BLOGILATES?

Cassey has been in the fitness world for a long time, and she has developed an amazing following for herself. She developed Blogilates, which is the number one fitness channel for women on YouTube.

Her YouTube career started in 2009 when she posted her first POP Pilates workout video. POP Pilates mixes pop music with classic Pilates moves, and it would later inspire the world of Blogilates.

When she was younger, Cassey struggled with an eating disorder called orthorexia, which is defined as obsessing over eating a healthy diet. Because of her experience, she emphasizes staying active for the sake of feeling good. She doesn’t want to shame people into eating a specific diet or working out.

Cassey recognizes that not all workouts work for everyone. Some people will respond well to CrossFit, for example, but that isn’t for her. For Cassey, a workout that is good for you will make you excited to get going. This will help you lower your stress and lower your cortisol levels too!

In addition to her inspiring story, Cassey is also an award-winning instructor, certified group fitness instructor, and a Pilates mat and Reformer teacher (with ACE, NESTA, Balanced Body). She has also written a book called Hot Body Year Round and has her own activewear line.

WHAT IS POP PILATES?

POP Pilates is all about combining strength with flexibility. Cassey created POP Pilates back when most Pilates classes were set to classical music or even no music at all.

Cassey likes to describe the classes as a “dance on the mat” or “music with movement,” demonstrating that they should be fun! Today, POP Pilates is a live class and an instructor certification program. It is the official Pilates class at 24 Hour Fitness gyms.

For Cassey, exercise should be about doing things that make you feel good, strong, and happy!

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A post shared by Cassey Ho (@blogilates)

BLOGILATES WORKOUTS REVIEW

Cassey posts workouts on her website and on her YouTube channel.

On the website, you can filter through her videos to pick which part of the body you want to target. Remember, you can’t spot reduce fat. You can only lose overall body fat and improve your fitness. :)

Users can also filter by workout level. If you are at a beginner, intermediate, or advanced level, there is a video for you!

Cassey’s blog is focused on workouts, but you’ll find other types of content besides just workouts on her YouTube channel.

Most of you want to know about full-body workouts and lower body workouts. Because of this, I’ll be reviewing three of each type of video. :)

RELATED POST: Full HIIT Body Workout for a Slim and Toned Body

Are Blogilates Workouts Effective for Weight Loss and Do They Build Muscle?

FULL BODY WORKOUTS

21 MINUTE ALL IN ONE TONE WORKOUT – GET YOUR TOTAL BODY LEAN AND SCULPTED

This video is part of Cassey’s 2021 challenge to be active for at least 21 minutes for 21 days.

In the workout routine, you will tone up your entire body. The routine raises your heartbeat without needing to do jumps or burpees.

The routine uses a yoga mat and dumbbells, but Cassey is awesome at providing modifications for people who don’t have that equipment.

The video features seven different exercises. You do them for 45 seconds each, and then take a 15 second break. Cycle through all seven exercises, and then repeat for a total of three rounds.

Here are the exercises:

• Squat to shoulder press
• Lunging bicep curl
• Lunging side raise
• Row butt lift (left and right)
• Chest press double leg lift
• Flys with bridges

If you’re an endomorph or a mesomorph body type and want to slim down your legs, you should be careful when following this video, as it has lunges and squats.

Both squats and lunges could make your legs bigger and not smaller so if getting slimmer legs is one of your goals, I would avoid this particular routine.

RELATED POST: Do squats make your legs bigger or smaller?

14 MINUTE TOTAL BODY PILATES CLASS – WARMUP, ABS, BUTT, CARDIO

This video is typically reserved for people who are training to become POP Pilates instructors, but Cassey decided to share it with everyone to do at home! In the video, Cassey compiled four of her favourite POP Pilates choreography tracks.

She does this video with her sister. Cassey demonstrates the advanced and intermediate positions, and her sister does the modifications for beginners. I appreciate that Cassey prioritizes showing modifications so often!

The video is broken down into four different categories:

Hundreds: With the hundreds, she does leg stretches and a variety of crunches.

Butt challenge: In this section, she does leg bridges, leg drops, heel lifts (both left and right), leg bridges, bridge pulses, and up and down heels. What a burn! :)

Ab challenge: Here, she does earthquakes, double leg cycles, reclining baby helicopters, and the butterfly stretch.

Crazy cardio: In the final section, Cassey does knees in planks, knees in flyers, lunges, and double pulse hop lunges.

This is a great variety of workouts, but endomorph and mesomorph body type girls who want to slim down their legs should make sure not to overdo it.

AT HOME TOTAL BODY SLIMMING WORKOUT – USING ONLY A COUCH!

This is a quick workout you can do at home so it’s great for women who have a busy schedule. The video includes ten moves. Do each one for 1 minute, and then take 10 seconds off as a short break.

Here are the moves:

• Squats
• Squat knee tuck
• Tricep dips
• Split lunge (left and right)
• Couch climbs
• Leg outs
• Russian twists
• Couch arm balance

The only piece of equipment you need for this routine is a couch. :) This is a good workout for toning your body, but some of these workouts target your quads (muscles at the front of your thighs) heavily and make those muscles grow.

If you’re looking to slim down your legs but tend to build muscle easily, this might not be the best workout for you.

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A post shared by Cassey Ho (@blogilates)

MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE FULL BODY WORKOUTS

These workouts aren’t too long or too short. At just 10-20 minutes, they are fairly easy to squeeze into a busy schedule, but they still manage to be effective!

I like that you really don’t need equipment for these workouts. You can do them from the comfort of your home, which I appreciate!

Will Blogilates Help with Weight Loss and Will You Build Muscle?

I think Blogilates workouts are great for toning, especially if you don’t mind building muscle in your legs.

And when it comes to losing weight, yes, I think these workout can help with weight loss as long as you’re mindful of your diet.

I believe Blogilates workouts can help more with toning than with weight loss since most of her workouts are actually resistance training or resistance training mixed with a bit of cardio.

And as some of you may already know, resistance training is a form of workouts that you do when you want to build muscle tone and get stronger.

For effective weight loss, you should include both cardio and resistance training. :)

Also, her workouts do include quite a few lunges and squats. If you do these workouts a lot, you will notice that your lower body muscles will get stronger but also, depending on your body type, bulkier.

LOWER BODY WORKOUTS

THE BEST THIGH WORKOUT | POP PILATES TOP TIKTOK HITS

Cassey is always fun and ready to jump on exciting trends. This lower body routine is no different! She uses popular music from TikTok to fuel the routine. :)

In this video, you do the following moves:

• Narrow Squats
• Standing Leg Swings
• Squatting Leg Swings
• Plie Squats
• Single Heel Plie
• Up Up Down Down Plies
• Leg Circles
• Sideways Scissors
• Inner Thigh Lift
• Inner Thigh Circle

If you want to slim down your legs, but easily build muscle, you should probably avoid workouts that include squats and plies.

20 MINUTE LEG SLIMMING CARDIO PILATES WORKOUT | 7 DAY THIGH CHALLENGE

This video is part of her 7-day thigh challenge, and she wants you to do it daily.

The focus of the video is cardio. You do 7 moves for 45 seconds each with 15-second breaks in between. Here are the moves:

• Side lunge (left and right)
• Releve chairs
• Releve plie pulse
• Squat lunges
• Leg circles (left and right)

Repeat this for a total of three times.

If you’re worried about your calves getting bigger and you want to slim them down, then it might be best to skip those plies.

RELATED POST: Why You Need Cardio for Lean Legs

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A post shared by Cassey Ho (@blogilates)

BEGINNER PILATES THIGH TONING WORKOUT

As you can see, this video is made specifically for beginners. but this doesn’t mean that the routine is easy.

Instead, it means that Cassey spends extra time explaining how to do foundational moves so that you don’t suffer any injuries. She focuses on form and technique so that you can move to the intermediate and advanced levels. :)

In this video, you do these moves:

• Plie squat
• Plie up up down downs
• Side lying leg lift (left and right)
• Side lying leg circle (left and right)
• Drag and pull (left and right)
• Inner thigh lift (left and right)

You should avoid plie up up down downs if your goal is to slim down your thighs and calves.

This workout will tone your thighs but it could also potentially make your muscles bigger, especially if you are an endomorph or a mesomorph body type.

But if you are an ectomorph who has trouble toning up and prefers a bit more muscle, then this is the exercise for you.

RELATED POST: How to Slim Down Muscular Thighs

MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE LOWER BODY WORKOUTS – Will These Workouts Build Muscle?

Just like the full-body workouts, these aren’t too long. You can make them work with your schedule that way!

The videos also contain a lot of squats and lunges, which could bulk up your lower body over time. This is especially true if you have an endomorph or a mesomorph body type.

However, if you’re an ectomorph body type and want to build muscle, these videos are perfect for you.

SHOULD YOU COMBINE BLOGILATES WITH MY LEAN LEGS PROGRAM?

Cassey is a fantastic instructor, and she has some amazing videos available! I like that her videos offer variety, and that she is so fun!

Even though I really admire Cassey, I don’t think you should combine her videos with my program. If you do this, you will probably overwork and potentially bulk up your muscles, especially since a lot of her videos include squats and lunges.

If you want to develop lean, toned legs, my program will work well on its own. :)

I loved sharing more about Cassey and her program! Let me know if there are any other programs you’d like me to review for you.

Love Rachael xx