80 Day Obsession.Pros And Cons.

Chances are by now you’ve already heard of the 80 Day Obsession. It’s everywhere especially on Instagram. Even a commercial for the 80 Day Obsession appears in my feed.

The 80 Day Obsession appears to be an intense workout. Most of the moves I saw in the commercials were compound exercises. Compound exercises are a movement that works many muscle groups. For example, a curtsy lunge with a shoulder press. You burn more calories this way and get a more efficient workout. I was curious to discover what the buzz was about. So I tried the first 7 days of the 80 Day Obsession. The 80 Day Obsession is a good workout. But, there are drawbacks.

My background also matters so here is what you need to know about me. I am a short plus sized woman. I am runner who has run over 30 half marathons a majority of them plus sized. I workout every single day. Even on my “rest days” I complete at least 10,500 steps because why stop at 10k? Fitness is crucial to my lifestyle. I have hip and back issues and I live upstairs. So I avoid jumping or high impact workouts. 

I prefer weightlifting, running, and using the elliptical. The 80 Day Obsession could intimidate beginners. Beachbody says this is an intermediate to advanced workout but I disagree. I think most beginners can do this. Weekly the sets and weight increases. You can also opt to not use resistance the first few weeks and ease into the routine.

I want you know the cons of The 80 Day Obsession. Beachbody made the 80 Day Obsession available only on their streaming service. Which means you have to pay a monthly subscription fee. Most of their workouts start at about $50. The 80 Day Obsession would run you about $50 through streaming.

You do not receive DVD’s or a digital download in case you want to do 80 Day Obsession again. You would have to continue to pay for their streaming service. Many Beachbody workouts including P90X are accessible through the service. Still is it worth the monthly cost? Only you can determine that. 

My second issue and gripe is Beachbody on demand is a more often than not a poor quality streaming service. If you do your research, many people complain about the same issues. You can have the most perfect high-speed Internet and the picture can be fuzzy. Sometimes it’ll be a little imperfect and blurry and sometimes you cannot see anything.

You can begin the workout and the picture will look fine. Within two minutes its blurry and you can’t see anything. I have reset my Roku box. I’ve checked my Internet connection. I’ve backed in and out. 

Sometimes a 30 minute to 40 minute workout will end up taking me over an hour because I can’t see the screen. Sometimes I let it stay blurry. Sometimes I keep exiting and restarting until the picture is distinguishable. I have followed all the Beachbody streaming recommendations to a tee. If pressed for the time a picture you cannot follow along with is more than an inconvenience.

I also want to make it clear to you you might have equipment issues with this workout. You don’t have the advantage of buying the DVD online and adding the equipment needed as Beachbody does. I’m lucky that I had pretty much everything I needed at home but it didn’t work out well. For example, you will need sliders. If you’re not familiar with sliders, they are a little disc you put under your feet so you can slide around on your floor. 

There are hacks if you don’t want to buy sliders. Some people use paper plates and that’s what I opted to do. I didn’t want to spend more money if I didn’t need to. The plates were not working out well on my carpeting therefore I had to purchase some on Amazon. Sliders are not expensive. Still, I had to wait for the sliders to arrive to resume my program. 

An integral part of the workout program is using resistance loops. The problem is if your band bunches up you need to stop and readjust your bands. I had several resistance loops. Different brands and resistance levels bunched up and stuck together. It became a problem. I tried using a regular resistance band tied in a loop. A tied loop was not as effective. 

One solution I found was to go to Amazon (I am not an affiliate) and buy an elastic band. An elastic band will not work for exercises like hydrants or exercises that require a loop around the ankles or shoes. These work great for bridges, hip thrusts, and certain leg lifts. So finding a loop that does not roll, bunch, up or stick together is crucial. I tried 4 brands and they all bunch up and stick together. You need hand weights, most people already own weights though.

The workout does not offer many modifications. This is an issue I’ve had with Beachbody workouts. When following the modified exercises, the camera does not focus on the modifier for the duration. The camera will focus on the instructor. You cannot see the modification until after a few reps. If you know you will follow the modified person, you need to skim through the workout before starting. Otherwise you could do as many regular reps as you can then change to the modified ones. Even with this concern I could preform almost all exercises without issues. 

I have the same feelings about 80 Day Obsession as I do about PiYo for inclusiveness. However, 80 Day Obsession is not a low impact, no weight, no jumping workout. A full figured fitness model would have made a wonderful addition to the workout. It’s easier to follow someone who has a similar body type. I will warn you some workouts need you to be on all fours. Even with extra padding my knees were in agony at the end of one workout. 

My concern is AAA day. Which relies a lot on the sliders. With a bad back, some exercises are difficult on sliders. For example, I’m struggling with the pikes not only because my back hurts but because I’m new to using the sliders. I found these exercises were safer to try a few reps, then removing the sliders. Some positions are strenuous after two circuits. Be cautious to avoid straining your knees or wrists. The sliders can make it harder to control your form. If you are not used to sliders practice. Or use them for as much reps as you can with proper form or without letting momentum take over. Then complete the reps without sliders. 

The cardio workout on day six concerned me enough I quit it. We preformed similar exercises from the day before. The exercises had different names but were similar. My gripe with this is the intense leg workout the day before made me sore. I never get sore. Those muscles needed rest. So I exited and picked a Youv2 workout instead. I like these cardio workouts a lot. My heart rate is higher doing those than when doing the 80 Day Obsession cardio workouts. 

What I like about 80 Day Obsession is Autumn Calabrese's no nonsense instructional style. These are circuit style workouts. During the first circuit Autumn shows each exercise. Every move is a compound exercise to get a more efficient workout and burn more calories. Autumn is not annoying and is relatable. She plugs Shakeology but in such a subtle manner it is not annoying. The Shakeology ads are part of why I hated PiYo. 

You can easily start the program and not use any resistance loops the first week if you are new to working out. You can opt to change many of the exercises. By pausing the workout and looking up modifications that prolongs the workout.

No matter your size this is a fitness program most people can do without modifications. If you have no back, knee, hip, or shoulder issues you will love 80 Day Obsession.

Each week the workout intensifies, I am on week two right now. I think these are excellent strength workouts, although I am not a fan of the sliders. If my back feels stained, I will stop and do standing mountain climbers. Or other standing exercises to avoid straining my back. Most moves are not only compound exercises but functional exercises. 

The 80 Day Obsession delivers on its promises. That is why I will continue doing it. I will turn it off if that days workout is not appropriate and choose a Youv2 workout in its place. I plan on posting a week two update next week.