Body Beast is awesome! There is no way around it LOL I am still hoping and praying for Body Beast 2. PLEASE BEACHBODY! I have no idea when that will happen, but I hope it’s sooner than later!
I have played around with a few auxiliary, bonus Body Beast style workouts that I created. After completing the program multiple times, I had the idea to mix it up a little!
Tempo Workouts
If you don’t have the Tempo workouts from Body Beast, I would encourage you to pick them up. Especially if you have completed the program and know you love Body Beast. The whole idea behind tempo workouts is Time Under Tension. This is where you maximize your muscles are under load by controlling (and slowing) the speed of the reps. You also vary the speed of the concentric (think squeezing – contracting) portion of the rep and the eccentric (think elongating – negative) portion of the rep. In Body Beast Tempo Back and Biceps, you get sets like this:
Pull Overs:
- 15 reps – 6s Down / 6s Up
- 12 reps 6s Down / 3s Up
- 8 reps 3s Down / 3s Up
Motions are extremely controlled and you WILL feel the burn with tempo work. You also will have to use lower weights too. Tempo workouts are great in general if you have a limited amount of weight. You really can make light weights “heavy” if you slow down. So use that tip during normal workouts if you are maxing out your weights. Slow you reps down, count them out. 3s down, 3s up is a great rep scheme to make those weights BURN!
Tempo Legs and Tempo Shoulders: My Addition to Body Beast
Tempo Legs and Tempo Shoulders are two workouts that I think would be great to add to Body Beast! When I made these, I followed much of the same structure of the Tempo Chest/Tri workout and Tempo Back/Bi workout. Now you will have to do these only from a worksheet, but I have done them a few times just to mix it up and really like them! Check them out and I will give you my comments on each after the workout sheet.
Tempo Legs
When you look at the worksheet, you will see suggested tempo schemes for the various sets. COUNT THEM OUT! Try not to speed up and stick with it. If it is your first time doing a tempo workout, LIGHTEN UP YOUR WEIGHTS! These will tax you. Keep your form dead locked and go slowly, really contract and release those muscles. I would suggest using dumbbells for the squats in case you need to bail on the lift. Or make sure you have the safeties set on your squat rack. Be smart. All the same rules, logic, form as from any Body Beast workout. Drop the weight and do it right!
The Straight Leg Deadlifts (SLDL) are some of my favorite. Again go light, and feel the stretch. Don’t bounce at the bottom on these. Make sure you keep a strong, straight back. The final sets of Sumo Squats drop the reps a bit to allow you to keep the weight up more. If you have pushed it and keep tempo to this point, you will thankful for 2 less reps LOL!
Tempo Shoulders
My Tempo Shoulders is pretty straight forward. Again, slow down, count it out. I mixed in some of my favorites from P90X Ab Ripper to give it a different feel. Tempo ARX moves are fun :-)
The last set is a DROP SET with the tempo moves. So do 15 Bent Over Flys right into 15 (SLOW) Plate Twists – 3 seconds to the right, back 3 seconds to the left… You’re shoulders will be smoked!
How Often to Do TEMPO Workouts?
I would add them in 1-2 times a month. You still want to lift at your normal weight ranges to better increase strength but these workouts still build muscle! Just go light the first time through and feel it out. When you get the right weights, all the TEMPO workouts are monsters! Keep bringing it teamRIPPED!
Need a coach?
My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
IG: @wayne_wyatt
