Have you seen those Body Beast ads on tv and wondered if it worked?

You know, one those late-night infomercials with the excited hosts and exciting scene transitions. (Now, they air at any time of the day.)

And I would buy just about anything that is sold in an infomercial, especially if it’ll make me look good or make good food — if it’s got a 30 minute time slot dedicated to selling it, I’ll probably want it. I’m terrible.

But, back to Body Beast. Of course it looked awesome. And like it would get me shredded if I just did the workouts.

Actually, I had been wanting to start a weight training program, but didn’t know how to go about it.

So, I bought Body Beast. And I’m going to share with you what my experience was with it and whether I think it’s worth buying.

Please note that this is my experience, and before you start any workout and/or diet program, you should consult your doctor. This post may include affiliate links, which means that I may make a small commission if you choose to make a purchase, at no extra charge to you.

I will address this post as answering some of the most pressing questions I get about Body Beast.

What Is Beachbody?

As I wrote in my post on Beachbody’s On Demand streaming service review, Beachbody is a company that puts out a network of exercise programs and supplements. 

They have many insanely popular workouts such as P90x, Insanity, and PIYo. And those workouts have really helped thousands of people change their body shape.

What is Body Beast?

Body Beast by Beachbody is a workout program that focuses primarily on weight training.

Its workouts are generally from 30-55 minutes, and include using different sets of weights and different positions to target certain muscle groups.

Generally, the exercises target upper body, lower body (legs), and a sprinkle of cardio and abs workouts.

How To Buy Body Beast

In this post, I explain more, but you can get Body Beast from a Beachbody “Coach” (MLM rep) as part of their streaming Beachbody on Demand lineup of workouts, or you can get it here directly from Amazon.

I chose initially to get it from Amazon before I knew a Beachbody Coach, but eventually tried Beachbody’s On Demand streaming service.

Long story short, once I had the yearly Beachbody on Demand with all the other workouts, I still only used the Body Beast purchases I’d made on my computer. 

I liked other workouts, I just wasn’t interested enough to use them consistently.

The only other one I wanted to try was Hammer & Chisel, which is a similar concept to Body Beast with a little more refinement and an additional trainer. But I never did end up trying it.

So I canceled the Beachbody on Demand subscription and kept using my Amazon purchase.

What Equipment Do I Need for Body Beast?

Generally, you will need the following to perform Body Beast workouts:

• Weight bench (optional but recommended), you can usually get them for fairly cheap or find ones from friends or craigslist/Facebook marketplace. Just make sure it lays flat and also lays back at an angle.
  • I have a weight bench on our Bowflex machine, but I use a step bench like this one for certain exercises where the bench is too high for me, and or you pay a little more and get this style which serves as both bench and stepper.
• Free weights/dumbbells – each set (pair) should be a different set of weights (I will explain what I use further down)
• Barbell with weights, optional. I do not have one, I use free weights and it works fine.
• Towel, optional, for sweat control. Since these workouts are typically for home use, I don’t need to wipe down my equipment, as I don’t sweat so much that it needs it.
  • But if you do these exercises in a gym, you definitely need to adhere to their equipment cleaning rules.
• Yoga mat, optional. I have one like this highly rated one, and I would definitely recommend a thicker one if you’re like me and need a bit of padding from a hard floor. Plus, who wants to get their home carpet all sweaty, or lay directly on a gym floor?

Can You Do Body Beast At the Gym?

Yes, you can absolutely do Body Beast at the gym.

Though it is primarily designed for home workouts, the gym will have any equipment that you need, and you won’t take up any more space than you would with a normal workout.

You’ll just need your phone, tablet, or even computer and ability to access the program, and you can follow along. That is exactly how I would have to do it at the gym to stay focused and motivated.

The most headache you might find is switching weights. A lot of the exercises require three sets of free weights and sometimes a barbell with weights.

If someone else were to want to use those particular weights, well, that’s something you’ll have to figure out for yourself.

What Kind of Weights Do You Need for Body Beast?

As I stated above, Body Beast uses both free weights and barbells.

I don’t have barbells at home (nor space for them), so I use free weights.

And they reside under my bed, covered by a bed skirt.

HIdden weights, good for the spare guest bedroom where we work out, so they don’t take up extra space. Though, take a picture of your weights, and you may find a missing sock. Or whatever that is. Now have to investigate…

And generally, with my free weights, I stick with the same sequence – I have a set of 3 lbs, 5 lbs, and 7 lbs.

If I were more consistent, I could probably go up in weights, however, I generally fall off the wagon for a few weeks at a time due to … life… and start back with the same weights. 

Also, the programs rotate between a course of “Build” and “Bulk”, so Bulk is a little harder, though often shorter, and it’s kinda like starting over with different exercises. 

I guess if I could go a few months consistently I could move up in weights, and as I get stronger, I have considered it, but haven’t invested in heavier weights yet.

Will Body Beast Make Me Stronger and Help Me Lose Weight?

With consistent use, yes, Body Beast will likely make you stronger, everything else being equal.

I do feel that it has made me stronger, I can generally tell when opening jars or picking up heavy items.

Also, as I said earlier about going up in weights, I found a great deal on some 10 pound weights and lifted them and thought they felt a little light to be 10 pounds. So, anecdotal, but probably stronger. 

As far as losing weight, that is a tricky question. Since muscle weights more than fat, your increase in muscle mass may outweigh your decrease in body fat.

One pound of fat is much larger than one pound of muscle.

For instance, I generally hovered around 130 pounds in weight. I know it’s taboo for women to talk about their weight, but I’ve never really cared about vanity metrics, only in how they apply to health.

So, once I started doing Body Beast, without any other diet modification, I got up to about 145-150 lbs. I could not figure out why I had gained weight, and one day it hit me. Building muscle, may increase weight.

Now that I am doing intermittent fasting and Body Beast, I have lost some fat and inches, mostly in my legs, but I am still only to about 140 lbs. I’m fine with that.

I guess you would have to figure out what works for you if you have anything in your life that goes by your BMI (body mass index (a measure of body fat based on height and weight)).

Is Body Beast Good for Women?

Being a weight training program, I get the feeling that Body Beast is primarily geared towards men. Which is fine, that’s probably 99% of their users anyway.

But with that comes a few noticeable things: there are no women in the normal workouts. 

Now, there is at least one woman in the additional workouts found in Beach Body on Demand, but there’s not one in the base program.

And she powers through those workouts as well as or better than some of the men. Go, Girl!

And she is very fit and toned, but doesn’t appear to be a bodybuilder so much. 

Which is great because it means she can be lean but not bulky in a bodybuilder type way and still keep up with the workouts everyone else is doing.

Generally, women will not get super bulky the same way that men will.

For me personally, I like a toned body more than just skinny. I think it’s much more admirable.

And I don’t like cardio because I get bored doing it by myself. It’s fun in a class. But I work out at home. #savingmoney

So, Body Beast gives you a definite workout, but you also get sufficient enough rests.

You will be able to do the exercises, just maybe not as much as the men in the workouts. Or maybe more, depending on your fitness level.

Plus, all of the demonstrators have clearly been working out for a long time, so if you’re just starting, you’ll want to start with something lower than they use, whether you’re a man or a woman.

And I’m sure a lot of the people you see on your screen take lots of supplements and eat right to look the way they do, just like with any workout program.

One Annoying Thing in Body Beast

There is one thing about Body Beast itself that is somewhat annoying that I would be remiss to not tell you about while promoting it and saying that it’s a good workout. 

I’ve never seen a taped workout leader be anything but encouraging, and I’ve done a few workout programs in my time (to include Walk Away the Pounds with Leslie Sansone, she just makes you feel so good about yourself, and Tae Bo with Billy Blanks, also awesome).

The leader in this program, Sagi Kalev, can sometimes be a bit…. demeaning … to his helpers.

He says things to his workout buddies like, “Do you need a nap nap?”, “Do you need a note from your mommy?”, “Were you always late in school?”, and gets a little testy when one of his helpers is still getting into position and he catches him out of the corner of his eye.

Those comments do deliver kind of a jerky and “musclehead” type vibe from him. In general, he is very encouraging, but he definitely has some embarrassing eyeroll moments. 

Now why Beachbody didn’t edit that out, I have no idea – it would have been an easy fix.

I’m not generally easily offended, but it is somewhat of a turnoff, but not enough for me to quit the program entirely.

I do have to say, in the extra workouts from the BOD app, he does not do this with the female. He walks over to her at times and comments on her form, and is encouraging. However, also in those workouts, he still says something a little condescending to at least one of his other workout-ers.

I would recommend, until you get used to hearing his voice and knowing his cadence, listening to the program at full volume all the way through for each episode. 

You’ll find out whether he’s telling you something important about how to do the exercise; there is also a whole video dedicated to how to safely perform the moves.

But now, since I watch Amazon Prime (try it here for free) shows at the same time, I generally turn the volume down on Body Beast just low enough to hear the counts but not every single word.

Is Body Beast Any Good and Will It Get Results?

In my experience, yes, it does give me good results and is effective in building muscle.

I do like the look of muscles on a woman, as well as a toned waist, so I am always shooting for that.

It is nutrition and body-building common knowledge that how your body looks is mostly your diet (maybe, 75-80%) and the rest is your exercises and activity (20-25%?).

Though I am not overweight, I have always had jiggly thighs and a noticeable belly. I like to eat, and I like to eat a lot at one meal!

I don’t generally have that internal signal that says, ‘It’s time to stop, we’re full.’

So, I have gotten the best results when I had two big changes to my way of eating: once when I was gluten and dairy free, and currently – I am practicing a very light version of intermittent fasting.

Gluten, in it’s primarily consumed form of white bread and pasta form, is inflammatory for pretty much everybody. 

Which means it will raise your blood sugar, which induces all kinds of diseases and problems, including a larger waistline.

And with a confirmed dairy protein allergy, dairy is definitely inflammatory for me, as it is for many people.

So, when I cut out those inflammatory foods, or just eat less overall with the intermittent fasting, I am in much better shape.

My mom even said she could tell because my ‘thighs looked more defined.’ Finally, haha.

Here I am around that time with my wonderful mother. Not super defined muscles, but my waist was definitely loving me at that time.

And I do not do any Body Beast supplements. Though they are generally okay-ish, I have seen some questions as to the ingredients online recently. 

Plus, their supplements often have B vitamins and folic acid, which, for me personally, I need a different version of B vitamins (my body’s always gotta be rebellious), and same with folic acid; also, folate would be preferable to the highly processed & stripped down folic acid.

All that to say, Yes, you will likely build muscle with consistent, safe use of Body Beast.

Is Body Beast Good for Weight Loss

Body Beast is great for weight loss.

And although cardio exercises will burn more calories during the workout, muscle building continues to burn calories long after the workout is over.

In a study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, women who completed an hour-long strength-training workout burned an average of 100 more calories in the 24 hours afterward than those who skipped the weights.

But, again, you’ll likely not get the extra hard, slender bodies from Body Beast, or any other workout program, like the presenters & success stories unless you fix up your diet.

If you’ll notice, if you look at any Beachbody program, including Body Beast, most of the current ones have a diet plan that go along with the workout program. 

Perhaps it’s so they can sell you more supplements, but they also provide containers for you to portion out your meals and snacks.

That is primarily how the “success stories” you see get success, via diet modification. 

And yes, I suppose you could lose tons of weight doing their P90x or Insanity workouts, but I really just have no desire to be a dripping ball of sweat and do a thousand burpees for a year straight. Give me a better diet any day.

Is Body Beast Worth the Price?

In my opinion, yes, it is. If you use it.

As I wrote in this post, I tried the Beachbody on Demand service and didn’t use it very much. 

I almost exclusively used the Body Beast that I got for my computer here a couple of years prior instead.

And Body Beast is what I do to work out 95% of the time.  

It’s simple, I know what to expect, it does build muscle, I can watch another program while I work out, and it doesn’t take up too much of my day.

That’s what I’m looking for in a workout program.

Have you tried Body Beast? Or any other Beachbody programs? Do you have additional questions or comments about Body Beast? I would love to hear them in the comments!! Let me know, I love feedback.

As always, thanks for reading, and God bless!!

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