I’ve written several posts about workouts that I loved explaining why you should try them too. Did it seem like I love every workout I try? Well I don’t! I thought it would be good to also tell you what I didn’t like and why.

When I started my half marathon training, I thought the Beachbody program 30 Day Break Away would be a great way to start. It’s a 30 day program with a combination of running and lifting that culminates in a 5K on day 30. This is the first workout program that I tried with Idalis Velazquez, one of Beachbody’s super trainers that also does workouts in Spanish. The program is set up so you lift and then you take the audio run portion with you using the Beachbody on Demand app on your phone where Idlais gives you prompts as to what the run is and what your level of effort should be.
The first week, which is all I did, went like this:
Monday: Total Body Strength followed by a Fat Blasting Ladders Run
Tuesday: Upper Body followed by a Rest Day Roll Out
Wednesday: Core Fuerte followed by a HIIT Run
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Lower Body followed by a Tempo Intervals Run
Saturday: Rest Day Roll Out
Sunday: Rest
So what didn’t I like about it that made me quit after a week? I think the biggest things was that the runs didn’t seem like they were helping me train. Despite watching all of the introductory videos, I couldn’t tell the deference between the Ladders, HIIT and Tempo runs. They were all literally interval runs where you ran a 30, 60, 90 seconds with walking periods in between. There were prompts to give different levels of intensity but no description on what those would be until you hear the prompt during the program. I ended up running just over 1.5 miles each of these days in about 20 minutes of work but I felt terrible after each one! Much different than the 2.5 to 3 miles I can do under my current program.
The lifting portion was a little hectic as well. While I thought the exercises themselves were good, it felt like Idlais’s earpiece wasn’t giving her the proper counts. There were times where transitions between exercises were rushed and I had to rewind to understand the prompts and complete the exercise. By Wednesday, I was contemplating continuing with the running portion but swapping out the lifting portion with something else. When I really thought about it, I wasn’t enjoying the running portion either!
An easy way to give up is to get stuck with a workout program that just isn’t working for you! I am glad I quit this running program because I am getting much more training (and enjoyment) from my current program. Just because it worked for someone else or it was really popular doesn’t mean it’s the right program for you.
I will definitely write about a few more programs I didn’t finish, including the one that made me take a break from Beachbody programs all together!