The Sweat app was created by Kayla Itsines and her former partner and fellow Young Rich Lister Tobi Pearce. Workouts completed through the fitness app in April surged to 3.87 million, up 86 per cent on those completed in the January, which is usually its busiest month.
The programs originally started off as one of the popular downloadable fitness plans, ebooks titled Bikini Body Guides. I was keen to try out the Sweat app and see if the routines had improved and evolved. When you set up your program, you can select a trainer: Kelsey Wells, Anissia Hughes, Samantha Ortiz-Young, Marilyn Rodiguez and Kayla Itsines. Otherwise, you can select your primary fitness goal: lose weight, gain muscle, get stronger, get fitter, get flexible, rebuild fitness post-pregnancy.
Then you’ll want to specify whether you’ll be working out at home, the gym, or outdoors. There is a good range of programs. You’ll find ones devoted to bodyweight strength, barre, Pilates, yoga, zero equipment, high intensity, low impact, lifting. There are also 6-week challenges that you can join. For each workout, you’ll see the total number of exercises and how long it will take to complete it. You can schedule your workout into your diary on a day of the week and specify the time. You can also select a playlist and connect to Spotify so you can enjoy music while you work out. However, this only works if you have a paid Spotify Premium subscription. The workout then gives you visual icons of the equipment you’ll need. You’ll see how many circuits you need to complete – these are called activations. For a particular exercise, you’ll see a short video and written instructions. You can click on the button to substitute it with something else.
When you are ready to start you hit the big red button, and optionally select whether you want to warm up with cardio or cardio and movement or skip it. For example, if you select cardio, you’ll see a handy timer that keeps track of your 5 minutes. The first exercise is a squat with pulses. There are no encouraging remarks from the trainer. My second exercise is a plank, which I detest. When I tried to substitute it with something else, I’m presented with variations on the plank, commandos, mountain climbers and bear crawls!
If you’re a fan of the original program, BBG is now called High Intensity with Kayla, and the second one BBG Stronger is a gym-based program that can be found as High-Intensity Strength with Kayla. Lastly, BBG Zero Equipment has been renamed to High-Intensity Zero Equipment with Kayla and can be completed anywhere, anytime. There is an active community forum called Sweat with Kayla. The blog contains news on fitness, life, nutrition, recipes, exercises and workouts. I would have liked to be able to filter the recipes divided by meal type.
The app is designed better than the website, so I’d recommend using it as it’s easier to navigate around. It’s good to see diversity in the trainers. As a beginner, I found the Sweat programs too difficult. If you are just starting out, you may need to look for modifications online for some of the moves. The Sweat app might suit people who are flexible and already fit. Perhaps it is more suited to younger generations. I’d recommend trialling it first to see if you like it before purchasing.
About Sweat App
Billed as the world’s largest fitness community and app! Workouts for women everywhere. Shape your best life and sweat with the world’s best female trainers – Kayla Itsines, Sjana Elise, Kelsey Wells, Stephanie Sanzo and Chontel Duncan.
Sweat recognises that all women want flexibility, variety and support to reach their OWN health and fitness goals. We have high-intensity, weights, powerlifting, yoga and post-pregnancy programs available to suit each woman’s needs. #SweatwithKayla
Get 7 days free here: www.sweat.com/app
