22 MINUTE HARD CORPS

22 MINUTE HARD CORPS: OFFICIAL REVIEW!

For the past 10 weeks I've been undertaking the challenge of Tony Horton's newest program, 22 Minute Hard Corps. Now I would like to share my full review and final results!

This program is fun, challenging, and rewarding. What drew me to this program was the time (only 22 minutes/day, say whaaa???) and the fact that it was directly connected to the military. As a military spouse I really wanted to support this program. The entire cast is comprised of military vets from all branches of service who are leading out the workouts. 

BASIC CONCEPT:

Simple moves using basic training-style cadence counts with short breaks using multiple muscle groups at the same time to maximize results in a short amount of time. 

EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENT: 

You can purchase the 22 Minute Hard Corps official sandbag, which has a 20 pound capacity or you can also use dumbbells in its place. So you will need that sandbag and/or a nice variety of free-weights. I used a pair of 8 lb and 10 lb dumbbells throughout the program. You'll also need a pull-up bar (either free standing pull-up station or a doorway pull-up bar) OR for modification you can also use a resistance tube with door attachment (that's what I used for the duration of the program as I still wasn't able to do pull-ups following my shoulder surgery). 

TO PURCHASE YOUR 22 MINUTE HARD CORPS OFFICIAL SANDBAG CLICK HERE!

HOW THE WORKOUTS WORK:

Each workout truly is 22 minutes long. However, there are days where the schedule also calls for an additional core workout (Core 1 is 11 minutes long and Core 2 is 22 minutes long). This is an 8 week program with workouts 6 days per week, with the option of adding on a 9th week called "Hell Week" where you're doing 2-3 workouts each day for an entire 7 days. 

22 MINUTE HARD CORPS OFFICIAL 8 WEEK SCHEDULE WITH "HELL WEEK" NOTED AT THE BOTTOM

As you can imagine, the workouts get increasingly harder as you're going through levels 1-3 in both Cardio and Resistance. Cardio 1 is notably easier than Cardio 3 and the same goes for Resistance 1 to Resistance 3. Although I will note that every workout is a challenge and you will sweat a lot. Even using the resistance bands for my modifier I would sweat like crazy and burn a ton of calories! 

NUTRITION:

As with any of the Beachbody programs, this program comes with a comprehensive nutrition plan. Tony Horton is known for being a huge advocate of good nutrition with his programs and 22 Minute Hard Corps is no exception. The nice thing about this program is that the meal plan is also streamlined to work with the 21 Day Fix container system. So if you have these containers you can pair this meal plan with the container system. 

(IF YOU NEED TO ORDER YOUR SET OF PORTION CONTROLLED CONTAINERS, CLICK HERE!)

The meal plan is easy to follow and the nutrition book includes a bumch recipes (including several for your Shakeology) to help to keep you on track! 

MY RESULTS:

My program ended up being 10 weeks instead of 9 (including Hell Week) because I repeated Week 5. I do have to say that my nutrition was pretty much not on point the entire time. That's just the reality of it. I found out Frida had cancer during week 4 and from there it was just a mess. I don't believe in making excuses, but I know for sure that my eating was severely affected by my stress levels. I am not proud of it, but that's the reality of it. 

However, what I will say is that I still flattened my tummy and shed some inches off of my waist, even if I didn't lose any actual pounds. But the BEST part for me was the fact that I gained so much strength in my left shoulder over the course of this 9 weeks. When I first started 22 minute hard corps, I was just coming off of Hammer & Chisel and I was still working on a lot of the strength in that left shoulder. I'm pretty sure it was the millions of burpees that I did that helped me to get that strength back, but by week 8  I was doing several plyo pushups in a row.....I was not able to even come close to doing these at the beginning of this program. So for me, although the SCALE itself might not have seen much change, I feel much stronger and I know for sure that some of the endurance conditioning I had lost after my surgery came back! 

I really love this program! I love that it only takes 22 minutes out of your day, so literally ANYONE can fit it in! I love the variety of movements and the little equipment it requires. And I love the fact that real military vets were supported through the making of this program! I will definitely be repeating this one again! 

ARE YOU'RE READY TO START YOU'RE 22 MINUTE HARD CORPS CHALLENGE?  CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR CHALLENGE PACK. AFTER YOU'VE PURCHASED, MESSAGE ME HERE TO LET ME KNOW YOU ARE READY TO JOIN MY FREE ACCOUNTABILITY GROUP!