My family has a history of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea......and a bunch of other health concerns related to excess weight. On a recent trip to the pharmacy to help my parents pick up their medications, I noticed an increased amount of pills. It struck home to me in particular this time, and hence I started to look at some local gyms online.
During the first week of April, I saw an Instagram ad promoting the free 6-week challenge at Tuff Girl Fitness and Nutrition in Livermore. I tapped on the ad and started to fill out the form, but my phone froze up and I couldn't get back to the form again.
A couple hours later, a Tuff Girl trainer called me and asked about my unfinished form. It was a nice touch, to follow up on potential clients and the trainer sounded super chill on the phone, so I set up an initial appointment.
There, I talked with the main trainer and business owner, Erica, about my fitness history and goals. She told me about the challenge rules:
1) Do 3 Tuff Girl sessions every week
2) Check in on Facebook (and on their digital attendance) each session
3) Post weekly grocery photos on the private Facebook group every week
4) Send a whole day's meal photos, 3 days a week, to your 6-week challenge coach
5) Accomplish your personal goal. The form allows for an option of body fat decrease as well as weight decrease, which is nice since that allows people with an OK BMI to have a goal that fits them. My goal was to lose 20 pounds in 6 weeks.
6) Write a Facebook, Google, or Yelp review of the business
7) Have a mid-challenge check-in with a trainer face-to-face
8) Pay $499 up front
I, like some of the other reviewers for Tuff Girl, was also taken aback by the large, upfront expense. Although, I should have known better, since one of my friends had also done a similar challenge a couple years ago at another gym.
So I was most interested in the meal plan that Tuff Girls provides. There are several versions, and one is chosen for you depending on your nutritional needs (i.e. your starting weight). I was assigned 2.75 in the beginning, but during my mid-challenge check in, I was asked how the 1.75 meal plan was going.....which lead to me digging up the original email and showing my trainer that I had been assigned to the 2.75 plan. What a whoops of a typo!
The workouts themselves are much more do-able than I thought. At only 30 minutes each, there's a combination of mostly HIIT, TRX, kick-boxing, cardio, strength training, interval training, and Tabata. I can tell that as time went on, my squats got lower, I lifted heavier weights, and my cardio stamina increased. I also felt my clothes fit looser, and people around me mentioned that I looked fitter.
Personally, my favorite benefit to this challenge is that I decreased my reliance on coffee. I feel more alert, and the quality of my sleep has gotten better. I feel more confident with what I can do physically as well.
In a nutshell:
Pros:
- A variety of challenging workouts: I learned a new move almost every session
- Clearly outlined challenge requirements
- Group of super supportive people in both the trainers and gym members.
Cons:
-The meal plan communication mistake, as stated above
-The expense, this may not be the gym for those on a strict budget
-The fact that the trainer didn't hear her morning alarm and we showed up to a dark and locked gym at 5:30AM one day. But the ladies decided to have their own workout in the parking lot that morning, which was rather fun. And after talking to my personal coach, I was allowed an additional day to meet my challenge goal to make up for the class.
In the end, results come only if you put in the appropriate effort, whether you decide to join and try Tuff Girl or whether you decide to go on a fitness journey on your own. read more
