You may have noticed on Twitter and YouTube that I've been chatting a lot about Charlotte Crosby's 3 Minute Belly Blitz fitness DVD. I've reviewed it on my new YouTube channel but I've now decided to review it on here too! That way you can either have the DVD review in text or with my talking at you!
Fitness DVDs are everywhere! It can be so bombarding to know where to start if you're looking for one. I've never really used them because previous experiences have taught me they tend to be a bit... well... pathetic in terms of providing a decent workout. The whole idea is for you to want to do over and over again which is something I have never found with any I've tried... until now.
I did actually write a previous post asking the question do fitness DVDs really work? And after such a positive response I decided to make it my mission to test a few out! First thing I have tested is Geordie Shore's much loved Charlotte Crosby's 3 minute belly blitz! I bought the DVD from Amazon for £11.99 (it's also available on iTunes) and it's joined me everywhere, even when I've been working away from home... I wanted to test it in every possible scenario of my life.
So what is it all about? I know there as been a ridiculous buzz about Charlotte's amazing body transformation and that this DVD has been the top selling fitness DVD of 2015, so as you can imagine I was really intrigued to find out what all the fuss was about and decided to test it.
My fitness
I am quite an active person anyway but figured this may throw a curve ball into my bog standard fitness regime. I'm getting married in July too so the thought of not actually fitting into my wedding dress or that almighty fear of looking at wedding photos and cringing, I'm all about steping everything up a gear... and this could be the answer. I've put on a fair bit of weight since I stop training for my triathlon and the large gap of doing very little between moving gyms definitely hasn't helped!
What's it all about?
The whole routine was choreographed by ITV's Biggest Loser trainer, Richard Callender, but the DVD is also instructed by fitness instructor David Scouter as well. Richard and Charlotte lead with the high intensity options, whilst David demonstrates the lower intensity moves. Always handy to provide alternatives!It's designed to be short, sharp bursts of intense training in 3 minute intervals, Richard compares this to the kind of training a boxer does and emphasises on how fit a boxer is.
How does it work?
When the words interval training were mentioned I immediately thought of Les Mills, Body Attack. Have you ever done this before? Well it's a choreographed workout class that delivers short sharp burst of high intensity training. You'll start with cardio then move to resistance, then back to cardio to raise the heart rate to build you up again. This is essentially one of the best ways to burn fat! I'm a huge fan of Body Attack and I must say when I did it a lot, (I no longer train at a gym which delivers it) I was really fit and super slim.
The Workout
The workout has 12 rounds with a warm up, a cool down and an extra abs session as well.
The Warm Up
This is nice and easy to do with boxing moves thrown in to make it fun. It's not too energetic but gets you good and warm to crack on with the rounds ahead. Charlotte and Richard use weighted gloves, (I purchased some from Tk Maxx to intensify my workout) which you don't have to use but can do for added resistance to your workout.The warm up is easy peasy and will wake up your muscles ready for round 1.
The 12 Rounds
It's really well designed and most certainly gives your body an all over bloody good work out, so if you've just been doing upper body resistance work, you'll be doing legs on the next round. As the routines go through you'll have a mixture of cardio, hip training, kickboxing and resistance workouts, each one is different so you'll never be bored. As it's so short (3 minutes per round) you won't be getting fed up and even though it's a long hard workout altogether, because it's broken up into 12 rounds it somehow doesn't feel as tough... even though it really is! I hate the times when I'm not in the mood to workout and clock watch until it's over, but somehow with this I don't, which in all honesty I'm really surprised about.
Extra Abs
When I first started I didn't always do the extra abs sectuin each time, now I automatically do it regardless to give me the ultimate workout. The 10 minutes focuses purely on an all round abs routine, and for me has without a doubt made my muscles much tighter and given me a stronger core. If you're worried about it being purely crunches... that's not the case, you'll be working your obliques and core really hard. I struggled with the windowscreen wipers as anything where I need to move my legs and work my tummy muscle at the same time, really challenges me! Being honest unless I was told I probably wouldn't do it... but that's why it works!
Cool Down
The cool down is quite standard and is an easy way to stretch, however as you work your glutes hard in the last round I would of benefited from a long stretch focusing on this area. I also believe a longer calf stretch would of been good as well, purely due to the nature of the work out. I always have to add in more time for stretching afterwards, obviously it differs from one person to the next and you may find it's enough for you, but for me I could do with a bit more time.
Charlotte's Diet Plan
Charlotte provides her diet plan of a 1,250 calorie a day limit. Never been a huge fan of diets because I don't think they are always lifetime adaptable, but I must admit because I've cut out chocolate, biscuits and 'bad foods', having some ideas of snacks has been very handy! I'm a firm believer in everything in moderation but if you are trying to shift the extra pudding then make sure you look at this for ideas.
My Experience
I am the most sceptical person when it comes to fitness DVDs... but I love this one. I can't believe I'm even typing that! I am an outdoors girls who likes to cycle, go for swims and runs, but I just don't do anything like this so it's been ironically a breath of fresh air!
As I mentioned I'm getting married in July and want to look fabulous! I lost a lot of weight due to being poorly when I was diagnosed with epilepsy, I struggled coping with it and coming to terms with the huge lifestyle changed so my weight really dropped. I loved how small I was, but it wasn't a healthy way to do things. Luckily I've now managed to nearly control my seizures which has made me happy, so I eat and drink as a happy person would, but that's meant my weight has crept up.
To be honest it's not even about the weight it's how I feel. There is this horrible belief that if you weigh a certain amount then it's bad. If you get a chance Google weight misconceptions... there will be girls who weigh the same, one will clearly be visually overweight whereas another can be small but toned. So sometimes we build muscle but slim down in inches. Just keep that in mind.
Since doing my vlog review of the DVD, I've added this workout in 4 times a week as Charlotte suggests. I still do boxing, indoor cycling and bootcamp but this is purely because I'm getting married and need all the help I can get to shift it! I now get up at around 6.30am to do this DVD before I start my day. By doing this I know I've trained hard, burnt calories on an empty stomach and if I don't get a chance to do anything else I know I've done something active!
Is this for me?
If you're a beginner or someone wanting to lose weight then this is the DVD for you. For someone like me who does other bits activitiy wise, I'd say it's a good top up or those days you can't get to the gym. I'd rate it a 4.5/5 and perfect for a beginner or someone at a good standard wanting to do something different.
Summary
I really hope this review has helped clear up some queries about whether this is a good fitness DVD, I absolutely love the workout and will continue to use it. I really hope I won't get bored of it but right now that doesn't appear to be happening - a jolly good sign!
If you are following Charlotte Crosby on twitter make sure you tweet her and use hashtag #3minutebellyblitz because she's doing a giveaway for the best transformation. When I get to my wedding I may reveal my before and after picture... but we'll see how I get on... watch this space!
Tweet me, follow me and let me know if you decide to give this a go too...
If you fancy watching my YouTube review... click below.
Thanks for reading!