Thinking About Joining The Nerd Fitness Academy?
Here is my honest Nerd Fitness review and why I chose NOT to join…My opinion, thoughts and alternative I found that is working for me!
Hi, my name’s Carrie. I’m a mother of three beautiful children, devoted wife, jewelry maker, and small business owner where I sell not only the jewelry I make, but those made my other locals as well. My entire life, I always have been avid about health and fitness, believing that it is one of the most important things in life not only for my own health, but for my family too. That is, until I hurt my knee last year…
You see, I used to run every morning for about an hour or so after I dropped the kids off at school. Then, one day I was on one of my notorious morning runs, enjoying the music playing on my iPod, and the sun on my face when I felt a pop in my left knee followed by one of the worst pains I have ever experienced in my life, worse than even giving birth. It instantly stopped me, and I tried to walk home. I pretty much limped the whole way instead, taking breaks to sit and motivate myself to power on. After I went to the doctor and they did all their tests, I found out I had torn the meniscus of my knee. I had to have surgery to fix it, and was then on bed rest for quite a while to recover.
Afterwards, I was never able to run again. Even though my injury has healed and gotten so much better over the past year, it still hurts sometimes when I walk or run, especially during weather changes or rainy days. As a result, I gained about 30 pounds over the course of just one year, and no longer can complete my daily run, the only workout I really ever did. So, I began my search for a workout plan I can do that won’t hurt as much as running or further damage my knee at all while allowing me to effectively lose all the weight I had managed to gain while I was recovering. That’s when I came across nerdfitness.com.
My Nerd Fitness Review – Here’s What I Found:
On nerdfitness.com, the first thing they boast is that they’ve found a better way to get healthy and they use clever, nerdy phrases like “stop taking advice from the dark side.” This instantly caught my attention because that was exactly what I was searching for, and the Star Wars references definitely had me entertained.
First, the website talked about their book Level Up Your Life. The instant promotion of the book kind of put me off a little bit. It just felt a little like they were trying to sell me something before even explaining what they had to really offer, but I read on…
Just trying to find the workout regime they promote took a little time. Most of the pages involved talking about how this program can help you without really giving out any details. For instance, they talk about getting stronger, faster, eating right and having fun, but it’s all pretty vague.
Finally, I found the information I was looking for. The Nerd Fitness Beginner Body Weight Circuit utilizes multiple muscle groups to burn calories and get your heart pumping. They claim circuit weight training burns more calories than cardio or interval training can achieve. So by doing squats, push-ups, lunges, dumbbell rows, plank, and jumping jacks followed by stretching, that’s how you lose weight, which just seems a little too simple. I did like the idea of not having to join a gym, and being able to do the workouts at home though. Then, there’s a Rebel Fitness Guide with more step-by-step sort of instructions and an Advanced Body Weight Circuit once you’re ready to move on. Basically, it’s a program promoting weight training over cardio. Seeing as cardio is a little harder for me after my injury, it had my attention, but at the same time I felt there should be more balance, as I believe both are important in order to be truly healthy.
Then, the advice Nerd Fitness gave on dieting is pretty basic, and things I was already doing myself anyway, like eating real food, cutting back on processed foods, and eating in moderation. While they claim to be a fan of Paleo diets, which is essentially eating unprocessed foods, and talk about cutting out liquid calories like soda, beer, juice, etc. I just don’t really feel that is the sole solution. Not that it was bad advice; I just already did much of the same things. It’s just… nothing new or special.
Why I Didn’t Buy Nerd Fitness, And You Shouldn’t Either:
Steve, the leader at Nerd Fitness, definitely means well. I love how he admits he’s a nerd who liked fitness, so he decided to combine the two to create sort of a game out of it, and I know he is just trying to help people. For some, maybe these vague tips will help, but it just didn’t seem right for me.
Then, I read Steve himself is not in any way, shape, or form a fitness expert. He does have a basic personal training certification and experience in his own work outs, but he really doesn’t have much more training than I do. How can he help me if our knowledge base is basically the same?
I decided to instead continue looking around at what else is out there when I found Bodyweight burn.
Why Bodyweight burn is so much better:
Bodyweight burn actually taught me some lessons in fitness I never knew. Not only did they have studies to back up their claims, it was actually created by someone who knew what they’re talking about. Adam Steer is a bodyweight coach, weight loss author, and bodyweight exercise specialist with so much knowledge and research into the field. I felt like this was someone I could actually learn something from!
The most important thing I learned that completely related to my situation was that there are serious negative side effects from longer workouts like running. As I learned the hard way, runners are more likely to become injured, and while I was spending time running, I was actually building up a stress hormone called cortisol. This hormone can help burn fat in small doses, but in larger doses (like from running an hour every morning), it instead forces the body into a protection mode and stores fat. This leads to an increasing risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. So by promoting 21-minute long daily workouts instead, I can still workout from home without the need of equipment in less time than I was before my injury, and actually achieve better results and overall become healthier.
Best of all, Bodyweight burn didn’t make me feel as if they were trying to sell me books, or teach me how to eat. I didn’t have any trouble with my diet; I just needed to find some new workouts that could actually help me.
Here’s how it works:
Bodyweight burn is centered around a system called the Bodyweight 3x Fat-Burn Multiplier Effect that combines cardio workouts, without running, that are similar to dancing around, afterburners that help you burn fat, replenish energy, and remove byproducts in the muscles like squats, and then building lean muscle and burning fat with workouts similar to Nerd Fitness. Not only did the Bodyweight burn workout method seem more complete, they have the science to back up their claims. The workout are all designed around scientifically proven methods that multiply the effect of the short workout, meaning you get all the gains in such a small amount of time. And because these workouts are designed to keep you in a fat burning state 24/7, you burn more calories. To make it even better, the workouts also increase your insulin sensitivity, allowing and encouraging you to actually eat more carb based foods while maintaining the same normal lifestyle you previously has in the first place. That way, you don’t have to completely change your life to revolve around eating a paleo diet, counting calories, or measuring out every tiny little thing for portion control. You’re allowed to be a normal person and have a piece of bread!
My awesome results:
Before my injury I weighed about 110 pounds (at 5’2), after my recovery I was about 132, and by the time I was well enough to find a new workout plan, I weighted 142. After only six weeks, I lost 13 pounds, and I couldn’t be happier! While I still have a ways to go before I’m completely back to my old self, I’m on the right track! I’m more toned in my belly region as well as my arms, legs, and butt, and I feel great! My energy levels are back to being what they were, and I can complete the short workout without my knee hurting at all!
As I’ve learned, hardships and injuries can happen to anyone, especially people like me who have revolved their entire workout regimen around running, which actually hurts the body a lot more in the long run, over weighing and ruining any gains you’ve achieved over time. Please, don’t fall victim to injuries by over exerting your body. Instead, try Bodyweight burn ✓, and you will find, as I did, that it is an absolute dream come true!
Thanks for reading my not so positive Nerd Fitness review. I know there is a lot of mixed reviews out there and I thought I would give my thoughts and opinions about both programs.