I last shared an update on my fitness routine in January during Wellness Week, so considering how much has changed since then I thought I’d share another update! In addition to working from home, most of us are also working out from home these days. I’ve received more questions lately about what I’m doing to stay motivated, what my routine is, and to give reviews on the apps I’m using, so going to answer all of that today!
Just a little background on my routine if you’re new around here! I’ve been doing BBG on the Sweat App for three years at home already, so I was glad to already have that routine going when coronavirus started spreading in the US. I have a ton of blog posts all about BBG, which you can read here! The reason I have stuck with BBG for several years now is because the commitment is only three days a week for 30 minutes, and you can do the workouts anywhere. Seeing as I usually travel often, it was the one workout I could commit to doing anywhere – whether I was in a gym at home or in a tiny AirBnB overseas. As you progress through the program, more equipment is utilized (see what makes up my home gym here), but it’s really easy to modify all the workouts and do them without equipment. BBG beginner and 1.0 require very little equipment though and are perfect for the current shelter-in-place situation!
I have already done a review of the Sweat app on the blog, so read that if you want more info! Since that review, the Sweat app has added a couple of new programs including BBG Beginner (for those new to working out or new to high intensity style workouts!), and Fierce At Home, which is a home program by one of the other instructors on the app. BBG is the program I’ve done long-term, and focuses on High Intensity Interval Training in the form of circuits.
WHAT HAS CHANGED ABOUT MY ROUTINE SINCE I STARTED SOCIAL DISTANCING
As I mentioned above, I was already doing BBG three times a week in my home gym (ahem, my garage). On my off days from BBG, I would usually go to Terlingo for spin class in Dallas, but I stopped going to spin a week before the studios closed in March. I was considering getting back into running on my off days from BBG while social distancing, but really wanted to try something new that didn’t have to rely on the weather – Dallas weather is notoriously unpredictable and all over the place. I’d seen Megan Roup and her The Sculpt Society workouts on Instagram, and it looked really fun, so I decided to give that a go!
The Sculpt Society is an app totally focused on Dance Cardio and “Sculpt” workouts, which to me translates as barre-type moves. It doesn’t contain any other kinds of workouts like Obe Fitness, for example, which I’ve heard is another great fitness app. Obe has everything from yoga and pilates to dance and HIIT workouts. Since I already do BBG, I wasn’t really concerned with doing the other stuff. If you’re looking for an app that has a ton of different options, then Obe might be a better app for you!
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SWEAT APP/BBG AND THE SCULPT SOCIETY
BBG and The Sculpt Society are ENTIRELY different workouts. BBG is all about circuits – you do everything from jump squats and burpees to bicycle crunches and push ups of every variety. If you’ve ever done personal training or Orange Theory, the BBG moves will be familiar to you! Because it is high intensity, there’s A LOT of jumping around – jump lunges, broad jumps, box jumps, jump squats, etc. If you deal with knee pain or think those kinds of exercises may overwhelm you, BBG may not be for you. BBG targets the major muscle groups: abs, arms and thighs/glutes. There isn’t much attention paid to smaller problem areas like saddlebags and inner thighs. BBG has gotten me in the best shape of my life, and I honestly feel like I can do just about anything because of it. It is incredibly challenging!
The Sculpt Society is SO different and much lower impact than BBG. Sure, there’s some jumping around in the Dance Cardio classes, but no jump lunges, jump squats, or burpees of any kind. The “sculpt” sections of the classes are highly targeted on certain muscles like a barre class – like your inner and outer thighs, for example. Most of the work is done on the floor! For The Sculpt Society, all you need is a pair of 3 lb weights, ankle weights and sliders – all are optional though! You could also easily sub the sliders for towels or paper plates on a wood floor, and you could sub the 3 lb weights with canned goods or bottles of water! I actually use small wash cloth towels for my sliders since I don’t have those myself.
Now that I’ve done them both together for about a month, I can honestly say it’s a great combo of classes! I still enjoy the challenge of doing BBG three times a week, but it’s been SO nice to break it up with fun and energizing classes on The Sculpt Society! I also feel like Sculpt targets the muscles BBG doesn’t, which I really love! My hips, saddlebags and butt are areas I’m always trying to minimize, and the targeted work on The Sculpt Society is really helping. I also absolutely love the dance cardio classes! I’ve even started making up my own as a warm-up before starting BBG!
FAVORITE CLASSES ON THE SCULPT SOCIETY APP
In addition to a four week program she’s created with specific classes she suggests if you’re just starting out, you can also just pick and choose from the video library like you can with Peloton classes. I’ve just been going through all the 30 minute dance cardio and 45-50 minute full body classes, because those are my favorite! I personally love the longer form classes most, but it’s easy to combine some of the quickie workouts to mix things up or make your workout routine longer. I have yet to take one of the 30 minute sculpt classes, because I really love the dance cardio part of the others. I’ve also had fun adding some of the quickie workouts after BBG. For example, last week after I finished BBG legs I tacked on a 10 minute quickie arms workout from The Sculpt Society.
Because this app is pretty new, there isn’t an endless list of videos to go through. As of Monday, these are the classes available on the app/website:
- Seven 30 minute dance cardio classes
- Seven 45-50 minute full body classes
- Ten 30 minute sculpt classes
- Three quickie full body classes
- Seven quickie abs classes
- Twelve quickie butt classes
- Four quickie dance cardio classes
- Six quickie arms classes
- Nine quickie legs classes
With all of that said, Megan is currently adding new content every day because of social distancing! Most of the live classes she’s been doing during quarantine have been quickie workouts, but I did a 45 minute live class with her last week that was so fun and hard – hope she does more of those! And as I said above, there are a ton of ways you can combine the different classes to keep your workouts feeling fresh and fun. I wouldn’t let the fact that the number of classes is somewhat limited keep you from subscribing, because I the # of classes is only going to go up! She’s been posting like two new classes every day of quarantine so far.
**Updating this post here to answer a couple of questions I received on Instagram!
QUESTION: Is there music? ANSWER: While a couple of the very first sculpt videos don’t have music (the oldest ones, not the newest), every class since does. It’s a mix of hit songs and generic dance music! Some are obviously better than others, but I haven’t been bothered by anything yet.
QUESTION: How do do you watch it? ANSWER: While I’ve done a few of the workouts via the app on my phone, I’ve been mostly using my laptop/large computer monitor to stream the workouts on a bigger screen! It’s definitely easier to follow the dance cardio classes on a larger screen. You can definitely just use your phone for the sculpt classes!
QUESTION: Is it a workout apartment dwellers can do? I worry about doing a lot of jumping with downstairs neighbors. ANSWER: While there is some light jumping involved in the dancing routines, it’s never like a slam you’d hear with jumping moves like you do with BBG. It’s more like skipping around! I think it’s totally doable in an apartment setting, and you don’t need much space to work with!
CURRENT WORKOUT SCHEDULE
MONDAY – BBG Legs, followed by a 45 minute walk
TUESDAY – 30 Minute Dance Cardio + Quickie Abs on The Sculpt Society App
WEDNESDAY – BBG Arms, followed by a 45 minute walk
THURSDAY – 45-50 Minute Full Body Class on The Sculpt Society App
FRIDAY – BBG Abs, followed by a 45 minute walk
SATURDAY – 30 Minute Dance Cardio + Quickie Butt on The Sculpt Society App
SUNDAY – Walk or rest.
FAVORITE WORKOUT BASICS
I also thought now might be the time to share some of my go-to activewear pieces for all of my workouts! Shop them all below!
