PiYo Review + Results (Before & After Photos)

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From celebrity trainer Chalene Johnson, comes the new Beachbody home workout program PiYo! PiYo is a 60 day program of high intensity, low impact workouts based on yoga and pilates. You may remember Chalene from the popular strength training workout ChaLEAN Extreme (my very first Beachbody program!), but PiYo is a workout like we haven’t seen from Chalene before!

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PiYo – All The Details

As a PiYo group fitness instructor, I was SO EXCITED for this exercise program to be available on DVD for everyone! PiYo uses the most effective pilates and yoga inspired moves (hence the name: a combination of pilates + yoga = PiYo) set to a fast pace to help you burn fat and sculpt long, lean muscles.  You will carve every inch of your body without jumps, weights, or strained joints.

PiYo has 11 workouts that you alternate according to the schedule, each targeting a different area of your body. These workouts vary in length, lasting between 20-40 minutes max.

There are two PiYo calendars to choose from: Basic and Strength. You can find both of these PiYo schedules below!

Who is PiYo for?

Because the PiYo workout program is low-impact, PiYo could really be for everyone – including beginners. This program is perfect for people of all fitness levels, including:

• people who want to build lean muscle without the bulk
• those who love the benefits of pilates and yoga, but feel these programs lack the cardio they need to burn fat and calories (or those who get a little bored with yoga!)
• people who want a low-impact workout that doesn’t require a lot of equipment

The intensity can get high, but there is a modifier to show alternative moves if Chalene’s moves are too advanced for your current fitness level.

Yes, as you can see from this photo, I even did (and taught) PiYo while I was pregnant.

No weights. No jumps. Just hardcore results.

The two workout calendars help you to choose your level of intensity as well. If you’re new to working out, pilates, or yoga, you can definitely go with the Basic calendar and get results. If you’re more experienced and would like a bit of a challenge, I’d go with the Strength calendar.

Equipment needed for PiYo

There are no weights necessary for PiYo! However, you may want to get a yoga mat for floor work and the yoga moves.

For the Strength calendar, you WILL need the Beachbody strength slides, so be sure to get some of those. (Or save some $$ with our free option – use a dish towel on hard floors or paper plates on carpet!)

Also recommended:

• Shakeology
• Beachbody’s Performance Line (especially Energize – my favorite!)
• (and my personal recommendation) a foam roller to help with self-myofascial release

Careful! You might like PiYo so much that you start doing it everywhere you go. 😉

What’s included with the program

In the PiYo base kit, you get 11 different workouts – two are part of the Strength calendar – that are between 20-30 minutes. The Strength workouts are a bit longer.

Check out a sneak peak of the workouts here in this PiYo video:

There is also a PiYo meal plan, but this is optional and similar to the 21 Day Fix meal plan.

The PiYo Calendar

Although there’s no doubles calendar, the Basic and Strength calendars differ in that Strength offers a Full Body Blast as well as a Strong Legs workout that you can do instead of what the Basic calendar provides.

PiYo Workout Schedule – Basic Calendar

Month One

Week 1

• Sunday: Define: Upper Body
• Monday: Align: The Fundamentals
• Tuesday: Define: Lower Body
• Wednesday: Define: Upper Body
• Thursday: Sweat
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Define: Lower Body

Week 2

• Sunday: Core
• Monday: Sweat
• Tuesday: Define: Lower Body
• Wednesday: Core
• Thursday: Define: Upper Body
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Sweat

Week 3

• Sunday: Strength Intervals
• Monday: Define: Upper Body
• Tuesday: Buns
• Wednesday: Core
• Thursday: Define: Lower Body
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Sweat

Week 4

• Sunday: Sweat
• Monday: Sweat
• Tuesday: Core OR Hardcore On the Floor
• Wednesday: Buns
• Thursday: Drench
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Strength Intervals

Month Two

Week 5

• Sunday: Strength Intervals
• Monday: Sculpt
• Tuesday: Sweat
• Wednesday: Core
• Thursday: Drench
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Strength Intervals

Week 6

• Sunday: Sweat
• Monday: Drench
• Tuesday: Core OR Hardcore On the Floor
• Wednesday: Buns
• Thursday: Sculpt
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Sweat

Week 7

• Sunday: Strength Intervals
• Monday: Sculpt
• Tuesday: Sweat
• Wednesday: Core OR Hardcore On the Floor
• Thursday: Buns
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Strength Intervals

Week 8

• Sunday: Drench
• Monday: Drench
• Tuesday: Buns
• Wednesday: Sweat
• Thursday: Core
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Drench

PiYo Workout Schedule: Strength Calendar

Month One

Week 1

• Sunday: Define: Upper Body
• Monday: Align: The Fundamentals
• Tuesday: Define: Lower Body
• Wednesday: Define: Upper Body
• Thursday: Sweat
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Define: Lower Body

Week 2

• Sunday: Core
• Monday: Sweat
• Tuesday: Define: Lower Body
• Wednesday: Core
• Thursday: Define: Upper Body
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Sweat

Week 3

• Sunday: Strength Intervals
• Monday: Define: Upper Body
• Tuesday: Buns
• Wednesday: Core
• Thursday: Define: Lower Body
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Sweat

Week 4

• Sunday: Sweat
• Monday: Sweat
• Tuesday: Core OR Hardcore On the Floor
• Wednesday: Full Body Blast
• Thursday: Drench
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Strong Legs

Month Two

Week 5

• Sunday: Sculpt
• Monday: Full Body Blast
• Tuesday: Sweat
• Wednesday: Core
• Thursday: Drench
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Strong Legs

Week 6

• Sunday: Sweat
• Monday: Drench
• Tuesday: Core OR Hardcore On the Floor
• Wednesday: Buns
• Thursday: Strength Intervals
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Full Body Blast

Week 7

• Sunday: Full Body Blast
• Monday: Sculpt
• Tuesday: Sweat
• Wednesday: Core OR Hardcore On the Floor
• Thursday: Strong Legs
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Drench

Week 8

• Sunday: Drench
• Monday: Drench
• Tuesday: Buns OR Strong Legs
• Wednesday: Sweat
• Thursday: Strength Intervals
• Friday: Rest Day
• Saturday: Sculpt OR Full Body Blast

My PiYo Review

What I liked

Ok, time for my PiYo workout review! I love that the home workouts aren’t too difficult, so someone just starting out isn’t going to have too hard of a time completing the program. In the same vein, there IS some intensity, so someone who’s a little more advanced will still get the results they want.

I like that I had the option between the two calendars and that I could pick and choose which one I did on specific days, depending on how I felt.

Being a body weight workout is, for me, also a bit of a plus, since that way it’s easier to track my progress across the board. I can just see if I have to modify less rather than switch between weights.

I also felt like PiYo was a great complement to a running program. Because it helps you strengthen your core muscles (and your glutes), it helped me to improve my running performance and also really helped me stretch out my tight muscles!

Oh and by the way, that core workout is NO JOKE. The core work was my favorite part and it burrrrned so much but was amazing!

What I didn’t like

Personally, sometimes I just like to lift weights.

Did I find it a little bit easier to track progress doing only bodyweight? Yes. Did I think it was the change my body needed? Absolutely.

Did I miss lifting weights the entire time? Oh, yes. I definitely did.

But besides my personal preference, I don’t really have anything negative to say. I enjoyed the pacing, Chalene herself, the program, all of it met my standards. But then again I knew I’d love this program because I was already a PiYo instructor and those workouts were AMAZING!

PiYo Meal Planning

Personally I don’t think the nutrition guide included with PiYo is the best guidance for meal planning and proper eating habits. It just isn’t thorough enough.

Now, you should definitely still eat clean. Still watch your portions. But I didn’t personally follow her meal plan and instead just watched what I ate and controlled my portions (using the 21 Day Fix containers).

I also definitely drank my Shakeology daily. THAT I will always include, no matter which program I am doing, as it always helps me get the best results.

How Beachbody’s PiYo Program Compares to Other Beachbody Programs

While perhaps not as intense as some other fitness programs, PiYo still definitely has some intensity and you will definitely get whole body results. It’s going to work you and will work you hard, but it’s not necessarily going to burn you out.

Overall, I think this low impact workout is definitely a good one for beginners and advanced trainers alike.

My tips and advice on completing PiYo

• Meal plan in advance – make one plan and eat the same thing each week for all 3 weeks to keep it simple if you have to
• Meal prep in advance – don’t let yourself run out of food and get hungry
• Don’t use weights, but bring a mat!
• Stretch stretch stretch. Spend a little more time stretching each night before bed. You’ll thank me later!
• Modify the moves if they are too advanced. Keep moving, even if you have to lower the intensity.

PiYo Results – Before & After Photos

If you think pilates and yoga aren’t going to help you get the results you need, I’m sorry. But you’re wrong. PiYo is effective, and these before and after photos prove it!

PiYo is a good program for toning your muscles – not necessarily getting big and bulky (although you’ll definitely get stronger), but more for slimming down and gaining muscle definition.

You can expect to get leaner and more toned by the end of the program.

Even without high impact or weights, the results are there and the results are good.

PiYo FAQs

Ready to get up and get moving?

If you want to try PiYo for yourself, you can find all the options to buy the program over at the Team Beachbody website!

My personal recommendation is to stream the workouts with Beachbody On Demand. You get this program plus all the others (over 700 workouts)!

I also recommend becoming a Beachbody Coach so you can get a discount on your monthly Shakeology. Send me a message or email me at amandaseghetti at gmail and I can tell you more about it!

Check out our other Beachbody program reviews and info here!

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