6 Week Challenge By Christine Salus

About a year ago, I committed to a 28-day workout program called PIIT28 by Blogilates. I’ve gone through 10 rounds of it since then. I think it’s a great program (for both beginners and more advanced folks), and I will likely go back to it someday. But seriously, after 10 rounds, you’re bound to get bored. I had watched the videos so many times I could recite them all by heart.  The workouts lost their excitement, and the 28-minutes every day started to feel like a dreaded, everyday routine.

And then I found Christine Salus. Rediscovered, I should say. I followed her workouts for a few months back in college (a few years ago). But my level of fitness was sh*t back then, so I couldn’t even do most of her workouts. I would try a 15-20-min routine here and there, and even then, I was only able to get about halfway through before my lungs felt like they were going to give out. Lungs and arms. I could barely do a pushup back then. We’ve come a long way, I know.

Anyway, one of her videos popped up on my feed about a month ago, and I decided to give it a shot. It was on the shorter side (20 min) and I decided to see how far I could get. I was able to make it through the whole thing!! Granted, I was dying at the end, but I made it yo! First Christine Salus workout I had ever completed from start to finish. Kind of sad, but I was so proud. I started doing her workouts 2-3 times a week and found myself really enjoying them! The feeling of satisfaction after finishing a hard workout—that finally came back. My muscles were sore again (in a good way—no pain, no gain, right?), and I was finally excited about working out again.

It gets better! Turns out, Christine has a 6-week program via a paid YouTube subscription channel. 5 different workout videos each week. For 6 weeks. So 30 videos total (plus a couple of bonus videos). FOR ONLY $18. What?! I paid $40 for PIIT28. And that was 4-weeks, and you really only get 2 weeks’ worth of unique videos. So this 6-week program is such a steal!! I’ve only gone through the first week (as I’m writing this post), but here are some things that stand out right off the bat. And most of these are relative to PIIT28 cause that’s the only other thing I’ve known for the past year, haha.

Pros:

• Different workout videos every single day. No repeats. So you always have something new to look forward to. The exercises are varied and the pace changes from day to day. You’ll have a high-intensity HIIT workout one day and a slower rep-based strength workout the next. Keeps things interesting.
• Workouts are much more challenging than PIIT28. This can be good or bad. But there are beginner modifications to most of the exercises. And sense of accomplishment is greater when you finish.
• Christine struggles with you. Cassey from Blogilates sometimes sounds a little too cheerful in her workout videos. Which is great for motivation (to a certain extent), but also makes you feel like you’re on the struggle bus alone, haha. With Christine’s videos, you hear the struggle and the determination in her voice, and I actually find that to be more motivating. More genuine, at least, almost like she’s telling you: “You’re not alone, and this isn’t supposed to be easy.”
• Have I mentioned it’s only $18?! So much cheaper than BBG and PIIT28. And you get so much more.

Cons:

• Slightly more equipment needed than PIIT28 (bodyweight), but not as much as BBG. And the equipment isn’t anything fancy, so don’t let this be a deal breaker. Just some dumbbells, a couple of heavier weights, a chair every now and then, and sliders (for ab workouts) that you can easily make out of salad containers.
• This is probably the biggest con for me, but I think your results will reflect the time that you’re putting in. The workouts are on the longer side (30-60 min), but the 28 min PIIT28 workouts were getting a little easy anyway. So you gotta up the challenge, you know?

All in all, I think this is a great program, and an amazing value. Maybe not the best for beginners, but if you have a decent level of fitness built up (try some of her shorter HIIT workouts and see if you can get through them), I highly recommend giving this program a shot. As with PIIT28, I’ve decided to document my progress over the 6 weeks. So check back every couple weeks if you’re curious to see how things are progressing 🙂 I don’t expect the difference between before and after to be as significant as it was for PIIT28. But that’s just because I’m starting off at a better level of fitness than I did when I started PIIT28. But we shall see. Here’s to the next 6 weeks!

Again, here is the link to the 6-week program: click here. If you can’t access the link (not available in some countries), please email Christine directly at christinesalus[@]gmail.com

Let me know if you guys decide to give it a try!

XOXO,