Macaroni Moves ~ My Review of Piyo

I need to preface this review by saying that I am not new to the exercise scene. I’ve been working out regularly (4-5 times a week) for several months doing various at-home workout and yoga videos. I also want to say, while I don’t always practice what I preach, I 100% recognize that you have to eat a healthy diet to get the fitness results that you want. {My problem is that I’ve never met a cookie I didn’t like.}

Ok, so on to Piyo. If you’ve never heard of Piyo it is a fitness program from the makers of the very popular Beachbody brand of home fitness. Piyo is a low impact, high intensity workout that includes a little bit of yoga, a little bit of pilates, a little bit of cardio, and a whole lot of strength and flexibility training. The workouts are all designed to help you look and feel amazing.

I kept hearing fantastic things about Piyo and I was really excited to try it out. Getting started with Piyo was easy. There are step-by-step instructions and a great training calendar to follow. Remember I prefaced this by saying that I’m not new to exercise so, for me, many of the initial workout videos for Piyo were very easy to follow since I was already familiar with some common yoga and pilates moves and positions. Now, that doesn’t mean I didn’t get a good workout, but being familiar with many of the moves was helpful and I felt I could jump in at the more advance level.

But, don’t worry! Charlene Johnson, the instructor on each video, is really great about talking you through the poses and it’s never, ever rushed. There is also someone to watch if you need to modify for more beginner poses, and then also for intermediate and advance.  What’s great is someone like me could jump right into the program at a more advance level (and still get an amazing, challenging workout), but the videos are also really great for someone just beginning their fitness journey.

• The videos are short (25-45 min max) and sometimes I felt, gosh it’s over already?
• I can easily work up a sweat even in a short amount of time. One of the workouts is actually called Sweat! {And don’t get me started about Strength Intervals…oh boy was that a killer!}
• If you follow the training calendar, which I’ve been doing, you don’t do the same workout two days in a row. Each day is different, working different areas of the body. (And just FYI, following the training calendar has you working out 6 days a week over a period of 2 months)
• Following this program has made me want to eat healthier. Because I know without eating a little better I will never get the results I want. 

I am a month in and loving Piyo. If you are someone like me who is ready to try something new and little bit different, I highly recommend it. If you are someone who is new to the world of exercise and needing a program to start with, I also think this is a great program for you. 

Oh, and we have top-notch local support with Ferguson Fitness. They are the only ones in this area offering Piyo classes live. I do prefer working out in the comfort of my own home but if you want live classes you can totally do that, too! 


I received a complimentary copy of Piyo in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own.