RESULTS from Hammer and Chisel

I did it!

I completed Hammer and Chisel. An 8 Week strength training program designed to get you lifting iron and pushing your limits 6 out of 7 days a week. AND I did this, all by myself!

The hardest part about doing this program, was the fact that I was doing it alone. I didn't have an accountability partner. I didn't have a group of online friends doing it with me. It was just me. Me and my own motivation to get'er done. Every day I had to wake up and press play, whether I wanted to or not because I chose to make it public. THAT was the key in to how I was able to make it to the end. Pulling my online friends along for the ride, knowing they watch my social media and ask me about it was my way of holding myself accountable. So to all of them, I say THANK YOU. Thank you for encouraging me, supporting me, "liking" my posts, commenting underneath them, and simply caring to see me finish 8 weeks of a program, I decided was good for me! LOL


GOALS

As a Beachbody Coach, and only having completed 2 21 day programs, I felt I needed to test my fitness and knowledge base a little bit more, to better Coach my clients. I didn't finish Body Beast for various reasons, so I thought because I was familiar with Autumn Calabrese's fitness approach to strength training, I may like the combo of her and Sagi better than Sagi alone. So for me, this was about completing 8 weeks!

Completing this program wasn't necessarily about losing weight. My body seems to be its happiest at 150 lbs. I have always been an active person, even while training for half marathons and triathlons I never really fluctuated with my weight. So I know it's most content in the 150 zone.  I was more focused about tweaking my nutrition and challenging myself with a strength training program. Goal #1, finish it and not quit half way through like my first attempt and #2, push myself. No excuses. Put the Beachbody Performance RECOVER to the test on my muscle recovery.

I also wanted to successfully complete this program as a vegetarian. I didn't see a lot of dietary options in the meal plan for me, so I sought the help and guidance of my friend and nutritionist to help me come up with a plan that will in fact fuel these work outs and help expand my own veggie repetoire. It was nice to work directly with someone who could customize those needs for me. I highly recommend seeking that expertise if you have special dietary needs!


MOTIVATION

To keep myself focused and on track and accountable to completing the 56 days of this program, I used social media and my friends/followers to keep me motivated. I would post sneak peeks into my work outs to inspire others on my Instagram and then report in with my daily accomplishments. I wasn't using those platforms to brag, it was more of a means of accountability. Doing this program alone took a lot of mental will power and on the days I just didn't want to, and there were many of them, I had to remember that I am sharing this journey so people want to see the struggle and the successes.

On top of that my husband deployed for 5 weeks. He left the week after I started.  Every time he leaves, I use my work outs as my means of stress relief, but also as motivation to get "hot" upon his return. Whatever it takes, right? So while he was gone, I woke up each day with the goal of WOWING him upon his return. Not that he doesn't already make me feel sexy and attractive, but because I needed something to PUSH me! A lot of progress can happen in 5 weeks, so I wanted to take advantage of that....and in fact, he did notice :-)


NUTRITION

My nutrition was dialed in, but not perfect. I "cheated" aka lived! I enjoyed a glass of wine every night. I celebrated my son's birthday with cake and ice cream. I treated my kids to froyo. I mean, it's ok to have that healthy balance. I am never going to DEPRIVE myself from living! I was just very conscious about how much "living" I did :-) I kept my proteins varied. I tried new things like tempeh. Varied up old favorites like quinoa, lentils, pumpkin seeds, cauliflower, spinach. I liked doing new things and expanding my cuisine.

I definitely upped my water intake. I tried to drink even more throughout the day to help keep my system running. Not to mention my home gym was in the garage and it was JUNE...so it was hot, hot hot! Sweat plus heat....MORE WATER! If you struggle with that too, try using an App. There are water drinking apps that help you create water alerts to remind you to DRINK! Annoying at times, but effective :-)

Lastly, I was lazy about my shakes. I love them, but didn't commit to drinking them every day. So, in an effort to follow the program as designed AND to test the benefits of drinking a smoothie every day, I commited to it the entire series. So every day, after my fasted work out, I had my daily dose of Cafe Latte Shakeology. I documented my daily dose, every day on Instagram. Here is DAY 61's pic!

I am being perfectly honest with you in saying I put it to the test. I had heard all the testimonies about how awesome it is for you, and how it made others feel but I was still skeptical. I am a girl who likes to EAT. I mean, EAT-EAT! I had such a hard time thinking a shake would be filling to me. But here I am, 61 days later and still going strong. A shake a day...and I feel AMAZING. The benefits are truly felt and I am not here to convince you of that. If you're like me, you need to experience it yourself. If you don't feel any changes, or an increase in your energy in 30 days, you get your money back. Yes, even if you drink the ENTIRE bag. How's that for a guarantee?

RESULTS

As predicted, my weight did not fluctuate. I weighed myself in the morning, after my work out and before I had my shake. Just like I did going into Day 1 of Hammer and Chisel. I still weigh 150 lbs. However, I can CLEARLY see some inches lost and lean muscle mass and definition in place. WINNING!

I see a smoother core. I see strong shoulders. I see a lifted chest. I see a reduction in my cheek bones. I see leaner quads. Not to mention toned arms in this first pic

In this pic, I see a leaner torso. Inches lost around my hips. A higher  and tighter booty ~ WINNING! Strong shoulders and back. Lean legs. I can totally see how all those pulls up paid off!

This pic is probably the most telling. ABS! See them? I do! I see ABS! And hello hamstrings! I nicely formed hamstring holding up that tighter booty! Notice my bikini bottoms are looser too. They are gapping in the back! WINNING! My arms are leaner, my legs are leaner and I can clearly see a much toner silhouette. I am proud of this! SUPER PROUD.

This program will challenge you. For sure. BUT, you have to WANT to challenge yourself. You have to decide how hard you want to work to GET results. Don't make it easy on yourself. Don't tell yourself you don't want to be sore the next day. That does not CHALLENGE you. Let the Beachbody Performance Line help you with the recovery process. CHALLENGE your limits and tell yourself YOU CAN. I had so many conversations with myself going through these 56 days. Arguing with myself over whether or not I really want to see this through. This was mentally tough completing on my own...and physically demanding but SO WORTH IT

In the end, it's YOU against YOU! Yes it's nice to have a support group doing it right along with you, but in the end, you are creating your own masterpiece and this program will help you get there! Let's 

talk!

WHAT'S NEXT

I am so happy with my results. I am ready to continue to do another 30 days of Chisel along with my TEST GROUP doing the 22 Minute Hard Corps with me.  Mixing the strength of Chisel with the cardio from #22mhc will hopefully keep my fitness as its best as I prepare for my family's vacation next month!

And you KNOW, I will be sending in these pics for my FREE CHALLENGE Tank that I EARNED! With every completion of a Beachbody program you qualify to earn that t-shirt and I will WEAR IT OUT! 

I definitely feel more confident as a Beachbody Coach but also as a walking testimony that you CAN GET RESULTS FROM HOME! I have not been this fit before. Not by running. Not by Triathlon. Not by working out in a gym. THIS format works for me. I am ready to do it all over again...

This blog was about my experience, but I will be doing a FULL Hammer and Chisel REVIEW on my YouTube later today. Please subscribe to My Channel if you'd like to learn more about the program itself. 

CONTACT

If you have questions or if you want to start your own fitness journey but don't know where to start or how...let's TALK! 

Find me here ----------->>>>> CHRISTY KILGORE PERSONAL TRAINER ON FACEBOOK

Leave me some feedback. I appreciate you following along, checking in, and your comments of support

Equipment for Hammer and Chisel

Hi there! My name is Christy Kilgore. Personal Trainer, ACE certified Group Fitness Instructor and an online fitness Coach. I just completed 8 weeks of Hammer and Chisel and wanted to share with you some of the  equipment needs you will want to have on hand to be successful completing this program

To feel better prepared to start the Hammer and Chisel program right when it arrives to your front door, it's a good idea to know what kinds of equipment pieces you will need to jump right into it. That way if you needed to go out and purchase additional pieces, you can do that before your package arrives. Right away, I make sure I am ready to journal the whole process. It doesn't have to be an expensive, leather bond journal, just something that will allow you to track your weights and your experiences as you go. It also allows me to write a little testimony each work out about how I felt during the work out and afterwards. At the end of the 8 weeks, I can look back at how I felt in the beginning to how I felt near the end. It's cool to see that progression that maybe you don't see WHILE you're doing it. So your first equipment need would be a journal.

You will be doing LOTS of pull ups. If you don't already have a pull up bar installed in your home gym, or have a door jam pull up bar, you can get by with resistance bands. I got mine at Target. It came with 3 different resistances: light, medium and heavy. As you progress through the series, you may find you want to increase your intensity, so going up on your resistance would be a great option. These are the ones I used for the full 8 weeks. Make sure you have a secure spot to use your resistance bands. If you don't, than consider the bands with door attachment. You want to make sure you're safe and that the bands will not snap and break. My husband attached our bands to our garage door track. He first used duct tape to protect the bands and then secured them on top.
I also used my TRX suspension trainers too, when I could.  There are various ways to effectively complete the pull up movements, even if you do not have the actual pull up bar. Do what works for you and challenges you that is also within your budget. Message me if you need modifications to make your work out work for you.

If you don't already own a bench, you can do some of the movements on a stability ball. Pay close attention to the size of your ball and how that fits your height. You want to ensure you are fitted correctly. Instructions are usually included on the packaging. You will find that using the ball over the bench will actually be a little more challenging in some cases, which is potentially a good thing! You're using more core and stabilizers to hold your position versus a static bench. However, if you don't have the bench, you would just simply do a variation of the movement on the floor instead, for some of the cardio segments that use the bench. Still a great modification.

You will be doing some core work on the floor, so if you don't already down a mat or have a carpeted surface you can work from (and use a towel for), you will want to invest in a mat .

In terms of weights, it's important that you go light when instructed, and go heavy when instructed. That will be relative to your fitness. The smaller weights are for smaller muscle groups: tricepts, shoulders, etc and the heavier weights are for larger muscle groups: chest, legs, etc.  So, have a few options at home you can work with...and remember you may need to up your weights over time, as you start to build up muscle strength and endurance. NOT A BAD THING! I was able to find a set of Select Techs off craigslist which worked great for me, but you can also find random sets of weights on there too, or any of the local sports and fitness stores, like Dick's, Academy, Sports Authority, Target, Walmart, etc

I want you to feel prepared so hopefully this will be helpful to you. As you work through the 8 weeks of this program, you may find you need additional equipment. Do what works for you. If you have any questions, you can always personally contact me, I am more than happy to help!

----->>> Christy Kilgore Personal Trainer

GET HAMMERED!