Kayla Itsines BBG Review – Does BBG Program Really Work?
I love all the different questions I get from you about how to exercise to get maximum results! One of the common questions I receive is if you can combine my program with another workout program.
I am happy for you to try different workout programs. After all, there are some great ones out there! But doing them at the same time as my Lean Legs Program probably won’t give you the results you want.
KAYLA ITSINES’ BBG REVIEW
One of the workout programs I am asked a lot about it Kayla Itsines’ BBG (Bikini Body Guide). I wanted to take a chance to answer your questions about the program and give you my thoughts!
WHAT IS KAYLA ITSINES’ BBG?
Kayla’s original BBG program is 12 weeks long. Now, she has over 80 weeks of workouts available, but the structure of all the weeks is similar.
Every week of the program includes the following types of workouts:
- Resistance training workouts
- Cardio workouts
- Recovery workouts
- Challenge workouts
RESISTANCE TRAINING
Kayla’s resistance training workouts are all circuit workouts. You do 4 circuits of 7 minutes each, adding up to about 28 minutes of workout.
In each circuit, you do 4 different exercises as fast as you can for the duration of 7 minutes. Your goal is to do as many of the exercises as possible for those 7 minutes.
Once the timer goes off, you take a 30-second break and then switch to the next circuit.
Each session focuses on a different part of the body (legs, arms and abs, and full body), and Kayla uses a combination of bodyweight moves, jumping, and strength-building exercises.
You do 3 sessions of resistance training per week.
EXAMPLE RESISTANCE WORKOUT
In one of the resistances workout on the BBG website, you do the following workout:
Circuit 1
Cycle through the following exercises as much as you can for 7 minutes.
- Rebound Lunge – 20 repetitions (10 per side)
- Lay down Push-up – 15 repetitions
- X-Mountain Climber – 30 repetitions (15 per side)
- Straight leg raise – 15 repetitions
Take a 30 second break.
Circuit 2
Once again, cycle through the following exercises as much as you can for 7 minutes.
- Bench Jump – 15 repetitions
- Tricep Dip – 15 repetitions
- Commandos – 24 repetitions (12 per side)
- Single-Leg Ab Bike – 24 repetitions (12 per side)
After completing circuit 2, repeat circuits 1 and 2 once more.
MY THOUGHTS ON THE RESISTANCE TRAINING
Kayla’s resistance exercises are pretty intense, especially if you are a beginner. If you are new to working out, you might struggle to keep up with these circuits.
The BBG resistance workouts include a lot of skipping rope, jumping, lunge variations, squat variations, and burpees.
These moves are great for toning your legs if you are an ectomorph (like Kayla!). Ectomorphs tend to struggle with having the so called skinny fat look. They are usually very slim, they don’t build muscle tone easily and weight loss is not their main goal. Instead, they tend to want to look more toned and defined.
The resistance training in these workouts should help Ectomorphs look lean (like a model!) without adding bulk or getting bigger.
However, if you have a Mesomorph or Endomorph body type, your legs will most likely become bigger and more muscular from this program. Squats, lunges and jump rope make most girls thighs bigger, especially if you’re doing them regularly.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think having muscular legs is a bad thing. It just depends on your preferences. :)
If you want to build your leg muscles, this program will help you do that. But, if you want to slim down your thighs, these resistance exercises probably aren’t the best choice for you.
And what about cardio?
RELATED POST: WILL DANCING, CYCLING, BARRE, JUMP ROPE MAKE MY LEGS BIGGER
CARDIO WORKOUTS
Depending on the week, you do 3-5 cardio workouts with Kayla’s BBG program. These cardio workouts are broken down into 2-4 low-intensity sessions of 35-45 minutes and 1 HIIT session of 10-20 minutes. The HIIT sessions are optional in the beginning.
For low-intensity workouts, Kayla lets you pick from the following:
- 35-45 minutes of fast-paced walking
- 34-45 minutes of cycling
- 35-45 minutes on a cross-trainer
And for HIIT workouts, Kayla lets you pick from the following:
- 10-15 minutes of interval sprints on a treadmill, rower, or bike
- 10-15 minutes of interval sprints running on a flat surface
All of the HIIT workouts follow a 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off structure. In other words, go as hard as you can for 30 seconds, and then walk or go very slowly and steadily for 30 seconds. Repeat this for the duration of the workout.
MY THOUGHTS ON THE LOW-INTENSITY CARDIO
I like that Kayla allows you to pick the low-intensity cardio that works best for you. I always suggest that you pick walking if you can though. :) Walking is a fantastic way to burn fat and slim your thighs.
I recommend that Ectomorphs walk 2-3 times a week for 34-45 minutes each.
But girls who are an Endomorph and Mesomorph body type will probably want to do more than this. So if you’re an Endomorph or Mesomorph, I suggest walking 5-6 times a week, especially if you want to lose weight. :)
Although cycling and cross-training can be fun ways to get your cardio in, some girls don’t like the way this type of cardio impacts their bodies.
Endomorphs and Mesomorphs will most likely notice that their legs are getting bigger if they do a lot of cycling. Other types of cardio, especially if you use your legs muscles a lot, can cause the same thing.
RELATED POST: THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR FAT BURNING ZONE – HOW TO BURN MORE FAT
MY THOUGHTS ON THE HIIT WORKOUTS
HIIT is an excellent mix of cardio and resistance training. It’s important for improving your metabolism and cardiovascular health!
But most HIIT workouts are very focused on the lower body. And a lot of girls will notice their legs bulk up when they do lots of HIIT, which is why I specifically create HIIT workouts that HIIT workouts that won’t make your legs bigger.
The sprinting, rowing, and biking that are in the BBG program will make most girls’ legs bulkier! Sprinting and biking are obviously very lower-body focused, but rowing actually is too! You use your arms, core, and legs a lot when you row.
Also, the HIIT workouts in BBG might be a bit too challenging for you if you’re new to working out. I like that Kayla makes the HIIT workouts optional in the beginning. This helps people adjust to doing low-intensity cardio and resistance training first.
RELATED POST: HIIT VS LISS – WHICH IS BETTER FOR FAT LOSS
RECOVERY WORKOUTS
Every week you do three recovery workouts — one for your lower body, one for your upper body, and one for your full body. You also have one full rest day per week.
The recovery workouts are made up of a combination of foam rolling and stretching.
MY THOUGHTS ON THE RECOVERY WORKOUTS
The recovery workouts are great! It is important to give your body time to recover. Stretching and foam rolling will help prevent injury, keep your muscles from being sore, and ensure that you stay flexible.
Foam rolling specifically is one of my favourite ways to get rid of and prevent muscle soreness. When you foam roll, you are essentially giving your muscles a massage. This will help you loosen up knots in your muscles, relieve tension, and improve blood flow. Sign me up!
The weekly day off in the BBG program will give your body a chance to rest and get ready for the next week. If you do this program, I recommend that you follow the weekly rest day. :)
CHALLENGE WORKOUTS
Every week, Kayla provides you with different workout challenges to complete. Most of the time, you are required to complete a certain number of repetitions of an exercise. Some of the challenges are:
- 500 repetition ab challenge
- 600 repetition leg press
MY THOUGHTS ON THE CHALLENGE WORKOUTS
I love a good challenge, and it can feel nice to accomplish something. If you’ve been working out for a long time, you might feel a sense of satisfaction by completing the challenges.
But these challenges are probably going to be too hard for beginners. If you are new to exercising you might want to try out the challenges after at least a couple of weeks of training. :)
DOES KAYLA ITSINES’ BBG PROGRAM REALLY WORK?
This program is well-balanced. It includes resistance training, low-intesnity cardio, HIIT cardio, and recovery workouts. These are all important for losing fat, building muscle, and staying healthy!
Only you can determine if this program works or not. It just depends on your goals. If you want to lose fat, this program should help you accomplish this. If you don’t mind putting on a bit more muscle, this program will work for you too.
Some girls are concerned about looking bulky. If you’re worried about that or are prone to building muscle easily, this program might not work for you. 2 out of 3 female body types build muscle easily, so I’d say that most girls will notice that their legs got more muscular at the end of this 12-week program.
WILL BBG HELP WITH WEIGHT LOSS?
This program should definitely help you lose fat and tone up, especially if you are eating clean and healthy. But BBG might not help you lose weight.
What’s the difference between fat loss and weight loss? When you burn fat, you are using your stored body fat as energy. This helps reduce your overall body fat percentage. When you lose weight, you’re losing fat, muscle, and even body fluid. Some girls want to lose just fat, but others actually want to lose weight.
I’ve written more about how fat loss and weight loss are different here. :)
SHOULD YOU COMBINE BBG WITH MY PROGRAM?
I don’t want to disappoint you but I wouldn’t recommend it! BBG is not a bad program, and I have nothing against you trying it. :) But, if you combine it with my program, you will be working out way too much! :/
Doing both of our programs at the same time would mean you are doing 6-7 resistance training workouts a week. That’s a lot. You don’t need that much resistance training!
If you’re doing my programs, you are probably trying to avoid bulking up your legs. Combining my program with BBG will almost certainly make your thighs and calves get bigger.
We all want results quickly. But slimming our legs, toning our abs, and other changes to our body sadly doesn’t happen overnight. A lot of women that I talk to want to make their results go faster by:
- Going on extreme diets
- Trying fad pills and teas
- Or overexercising
Some girls like to combine my program with other programs with the hope that this will help them see results faster. But it doesn’t work this way. Ironically, working out too much can actually slow down your progress and affect your results negatively.
Doing more than one workout program can lead you to overwork your body, which can lead to bulky muscles, exhaustion, stress, overeating, or other problems.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Kayla Itsines’ BBG workout program will make you work hard! The workouts are no joke, and beginners might struggle with some of them.
Girls who are worried about bulking up should learn more about their body type and the types of exercises that are in the BBG program. They might find that BBG makes them more muscular than what they want. :)
But, if you’re looking to burn fat and become stronger, this is a good option for you.
I love answering your questions! If you have any more fitness programs you’d like me to review, please let me know in the comments. xx
Love Rachael
Featured image credit: Kayla Itsines’ Instagram
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Rachael is an Australian born certified personal trainer and nutritionist who holds a Bachelor degree in Science.
After struggling for years to find an exercise and diet program that is tailored to women striving for lean and toned body with no bulk she designed her Lean Legs Program. This program is tailored to each body type and focused on helping women get toned but feminine bodies, without getting bulky.
Her mission is to empower women and help them stay in shape in a healthy and balanced way.
Não consigo andar ou correr 5x na semana, por conta do trabalho no máximo 3, sendo assim o que posso fazer para substituir e ter os mesmos resultados?
Hi lovely,
To be honest, from Rachael’s experience, walking is by far the most effective cardio exercise for slimming down! But if you are in a quarantine or the weather has been terrible the entire day and you can’t get out, you can temporarily substitute it for these two in-door cardio videos:
FREE AT-HOME CARDIO VIDEO
FREE AT-HOME CARDIO VIDEO (BOXING)
Again, keep in mind that it’s not as effective as walking is but it will be way better to practice these than skip your daily cardio routine. <3
Love,
Len