I’ve been talking about this workout for months now. In my blog, on Facebook, to friends, family, basically to anyone around me who will bother to listen (or pretend to). Yes, there are many so called bikini body workout guides, videos, and classes out there. But this one, this one….it’s life changing. This ain’t no BS. It didn’t just get me in shape and tone my body, it truly transformed my lifestyle. I genuinely love working out now. I even crave it when on holiday. Imagine that I made sure to fit in a 30min sweating session every day while in Mykonos! Who does that? Clearly anyone who’s ever been put under the Kayla Itsines spell.

Kayla Itsines you say? Who the hell is that? Believe it not, she’s some random 23 year old Australian fitness instructor that I came across on Instagram and started following by pure fascination at the crazy real people transformation pictures she would post. In less than a couple of years she’s gained over 3 million followers and runs boot camps across the world. Her popularity and proven effectiveness is unbelievable. Abs and a great butt in just 12 weeks! Sign me up! And boy did my butt start to look good. I still have a lot of work to do, but my life now focuses around staying fit and eating healthy and fitting in the required workouts each week.

What you need to know about the 12 week bikini body workout:

1. Kayla Itsines is so freaking adorable. Her posts and her simple way of talking make her so relatable. None of that crazy babble some fitness instructors try to feed you.

2. Her guide can be purchased online and comes in an ebook format with easy to understand explanations and images. I just carry my iPhone to the gym. Others choose to print it all out but the Canadian in me would rather save some trees.

3. It’s a 12 week program with each 4 week segment requiring a certain number of:
Resistance training sessions
Low intensity steady state (LISS) cardio sessions (35-45min of fast paced walking, biking etc.)
High intensity interval training (HIIT) (10-15min of cardio where you alternate between very high intensity to rest periods)
Stretching
And of course each 4 weeks it’s gets tougher and tougher. Big duh.

4. You have to be dedicated. I’ve done the full 12 weeks twice now, not because of lack of motivation or dedication. But because I’ve completed the 12 weeks and would like even better results as I know I could push myself harder. She does have a version 2 for weeks 13-24 but I’m not there yet.

5. Scheduling your workouts in the morning is by far the best route to go. I simply get it out of the way and go about my day.

6. If you lack the motivation, find a workout buddy. I’ve done that and it definitely forces you to get out of bed when you know someone is waiting for you at the gym at 7:30am and you can’t possibly bail on them. It’s also very good to take weekly pictures in front of the mirror to track your progress and exchange them with your workout buddy. I used to do that with my best friend in Vancouver and we would notice changes in each other that otherwise alone we wouldn’t.

7. You’ll get more hungry because of all the calories you’ll be burning. Resist the urge to binge and munch on unhealthy snacks. Try to stick to a healthy nutrition regime because fitness is only a small part of the overall picture.

I always say this but this is your body. You only get one in your life. So take care of it, nurture it, make it strong, lean and fit. It’ll thank you later.

The Bikini Body Guide:

Buy the guides at: http://www.kaylaitsines.com/guides
Follow Kayla Itsines on Instagram: @kayla_Itsines