Beachbody programs Vs. Zuzka vs. Bodyrock.tv

Beachbody has a bunch of their own widely known at home workout programs such as P90X, Insanity, Hip Hop Abs, T25, PiYo and more.
They are best known for P90X and I have tried it and it is a great program. It includes mostly strength training, some cardio and some yoga. The biggest complaint out there among customers is that this program took too much time - at least an hour a day, 6 days a week.
Hence they came out with shorter versions of P90X as well as T25 - which is a hard core workout in only 25 minutes.
There is the ever popular Insanity workout as well, which is 30-45 min routines of very, very high intensity cardio moves.
Hip Hop Abs is a fun cardio based routine, and PiYo is a cardio mix of yoga and pilates moves.
Other than P90X, these very popular videos are CARDIO based. They include very little strength training.
Strength training trumps cardio every time when it comes to building a better body. If you want shapely legs, firm glutes, sculpted shoulders and six pack abs you need to build muscle.
Even you ladies who say - I only want to tone - what do you think toning is? It's building muscle!
you cannot run, jump, skip, hop, high knee, jump rope, Kettlebell swing your way into a sculpted body. Not that cardio doesn't have its place, and not that all of the aforementioned exercises won't help you achieve your sculpted body, but you need strength training.
Why do you think body builders do very little cardio? Why do you think they do no jumping? Because they do not put enough metabolic stress on the muscles to make enough changes.
Now for someone like Zuzka - these exercises are enough. She is an anomaly and for anyone else out there with a true mesomorph body type - are going to have far more success with less exercise.
Lisa is a combo ecto-meso body type, and will also get more results from cardio type exercises, but in order for Lisa to look like Zuzka she would need to LIFT heavy weights.
Compound leg exercises like squats, lunges, deadlifts, hip thrusters, split squats, 'tone' your legs to a superior degree than jumping.
Zuzka, BR, Insanity and T25 all use A LOT of jumping. This is great to burn fat and it will help you shed weight, but that's all. If that's all you want and don't care about 'toning' then go for it. I for one like a little muscle on my frame, and too much cardio burns fat AND muscle.
We see pages and pages of body transformations. If you have 10-25 lbs to lose, this may be a great way to jump start your program, but you will plateau and will need strength training exercises to continue to see results.
If you have more than 25 lbs to lose I think strength training and walking is a better way to start. The jumping puts a tremendous amount of pressure on your joints, and the more overweight you are, the more pressure it will put on your joints. It is not recommended until some of the weight comes off.
Even if you do not have a lot of weight to lose, some folks find all the jumping too much stress on their joints. Some of these super intense cardio workouts need more recovery time, and if you are also trying to add in strength training, your body might be too tired and or too sore.
We do not get the sweat or endorphin rush a lot of times from strength training. I typically add in a 'cash out' at the end of my workout or pick one or tow days to do a more metabolic conditioning workout, but spend the rest of my time training my strength with heavy weights.
I want to be able to deadlift 200 lbs (I'm stuck around 165-175 lbs), I can do 10 pull ups, but often get stuck at 8, so it is still a work in progress. I can do 25 push ups, I want to be able to do 40. I can also do 8 push ups with a 25 lb weight on my back, and want to be able to do it with a 45 lb plate. :)
I can lunge with 2 35 lb dumbells, working my way up to 2 50 lbs. I can front squat 70, and want to be able to do 100. I can barbell press only 55 lbs and would love to be able to do 95 lbs. I struggle the most with squatting and pressing, so these are my weakest. I am much better at pulling exercises like pull ups and deadlifts.
None of this would be possible from Beachbody programs, Zuzka or BR.
Now I know some of you could care less about lifting heavy weight. I get that. But if you are stuck in a rut and not getting the results from your workouts, it might be time to add in some weights. Even just 2 days a week of heavy lifting would be enough for a lot of you.
Women are afraid of getting bulky, but most of us do not make the testosterone needed to be bulky. Look at the women who are bulky and how much weight they are actually lifting. So if you increase from your usual 8 lb dumbbells up to 12. then 15, then 20's, you will NOT get bulky. You will simply get 'toned.'
Another example is look at how much weight a lot of men lift and yet only SOME men are bulky! What makes most women get larger thighs is food, not squats.
Of course nutrition plays a HUGE roll in all of this, so regardless of what program you pick, you will not achieve results if you eat like crap!
I know a lot of people make comments on Zuzka and BR's FB pages about doing more rounds. Mostly beginners and people who are short on time actually stick to the 12 minutes. It just isn't enough on a daily basis.
Even the T25 and the Insanity programs that are longer in duration do not have enough of a strength training component to continue to see results - you will plateau and this is where the weights come into play.
Some of you might be fine when you do plateau and keep doing the workouts because they are fun and you're comfortable with where your body is at. There's nothing wrong with that! :)
There's also nothing wrong with using these workouts for a variety of reasons - short on time, a couple of times a week, or as part of your overall workouts.

Beachbody coaches swear by their programs, but then again they are trying to make a sale! I think P90X is the best one, but that's my opinion. I recently got certified in PiYo which is a combo of pilates, yoga and some plyometrics. I was actually disappointed though. I did not find it to be challenging enough. It would be more of an active rest day for me. From Chalene's promo videos though, it looked great - much more challenging, and she was dripping in sweat. It was more cardio and less strength based as well.

Zuzka of course swears by her ZGym, and it clearly works for her. Though BR encourages their own workouts, they are the most open to other workouts. It is well known that both Lisa and Sean workout more than their 12 minute HIIT's.

And now completely off topic, this is a pic of Lisa. Not an ounce of fat or cellulite to be seen anywhere, and this pic leaves nothing to the imagination. Do you guys think it is a touched up photo? Or is she just this lucky to have such a perfect butt?!