If you’ve seen the results of the Kayla Itsines BBG workout, you’re probably looking for a Bikini Body Guide Review. You’ve followed her on social media and yeah, you’ve seen all the other girls posting their progress pics, but still, you’re curious. Does the BBG Workout, well, work? Let’s break it down.

First of all, the BBG Workout Guide contains an exercise schedule, a meal plan, and information on how to track your progress.
BBG Workout Overview

Let’s start with the Kayla Itsines workout itself. It is, after all, the meat of the BBG program. The workout comprises mainly cardio and circuit training, in addition to what she calls rehabilitation and you just call stretching. A typical week can look like this:

• 2-3 days of circuits
• 2-3 days of low-impact cardio
• 1 day of stretching (rehab)

That’s the blueprint for the first month of the 12-week BBG program. For the next month, you’ll add a couple more days of low-impact cardio. In the final month, you will up the number of days you do circuits and add in high-intensity interval training.

If you’re even more lost, let’s break it down further. The circuit training is pretty straight-forward. It consists of exercises you’re likely familiar with, even if you’re a newbie. It includes moves like:

• burpees
• squats
• push-ups
• tricep dips
• sit-ups
• lunges

See? All stuff you probably know or at least, have heard of. There are probably also exercises that you haven’t heard of, but they’re illustrated clearly in the Bikini Body Guide pdf.

Ah yes, the Kayla Itsines pdf. That’s one of the perks of buying the program: there are hefty pdf guides to the plan so you can really get the most out of it. Nothing is left for you to puzzle out on your own.

That will help when you’re wondering what exactly counts as low-impact cardio—walking, mostly–or how you will ever figure out the scheduling. For the latter, you can follow along in the Kayla Itsines pdf. However, if you’re the kind of person who needs to see the big picture, her website has a calendar template that you can download.

If you’ve lived a charmed life and have never encountered burpees (or any of the other exercises), you’re still in luck. Well, until you have to do burpees. If you don’t know how, there are detailed written instructions in the guide. Pictures of each exercise follow the instructions.

Again, most of these are likely exercises that you learned to do in elementary school—skipping rope, anyone?–but some may be out of your comfort zone. That’s where the instructions come in.

Most of the circuit exercises can be done with no accessory other than your winning smile. However, some require equipment. If you have access to a gym, this should be no sweat (no pun intended). If you want to work out from home, though, it’s still doable. You can make a minor investment in the gear required or you can use substitutions. For example, some exercises call for an aerobic step. If you don’t have access to one or don’t want to shell out around $20 for one, you can just use an actual step.

How do I know all of this, besides my sparkling intellect? She tells you, listing suggestions for substitutions. They’re all simple and easy to do—no long list of branded products here! That’s definitely one of the pros of this program: you don’t feel like she’s trying to sell you something every other second.

Bikini Body Guide 2.0

Congratulations on making it through the first twelve weeks. Now it’s time to start on the second half. Like all sequels, it gets more complicated. The basic idea is still the same, though. You will rotate between circuits of strength exercises and light to high-impact cardio. Some of the exercises are the same as part one—fitness gurus love to squat—but there’s a lot of new stuff, too. You’re not just paying money to buy the same program a second time.

And if you were hoping that maybe you got the hang of things in the first half and it’s all smooth sailing now, no such luck. This program is hard. Not only do you have the circuits and the cardio, but now she’s added in a Sunday challenge. The challenges are things like, do 30 reps each of all these 20 exercises. Try not to cry.

Kayla Itsines Diet Plan

As you’ve been reading this Kayla Itsines review, you might be wondering by now if you have to change your diet. Of course you do! While the phrase “bikini body” is nebulous at best—once you put a bikini on your body, you have a bikini body—there is a certain level of fitness that’s being peddled here.

In all but the rarest of cases, you just can’t achieve Instagram-worthy results without altering your diet. You can do all the squats and burpees you can physically do, but it won’t make much of a difference if you’re still living on pizza. I know. I’ve tried.

So what is the Kayla Itsines meal plan? Basically, it’s the same clean diet you’ve seen a million times before: whole grains, lean meats, green veggies, fruit, good fats. She includes an actual 14-day meal plan if you’re completely at a loss as to what to eat.

At first glance, it’s not very appetizing—dry tuna on toast? Yum. However, if you flip past, you’ll find a lot of tips on how to jazz up your meals with spices, herbs, and citrus juice. There is also a recipe section.

The bulk of the meal guide is information, though. You’ll find a full accounting of things like:

• nutritional data, including scientific studies
• serving sizes
• calories
• food allergies and intolerances
• substitutions

She puts more emphasis on getting the recommended allowances of food types, rather than counting calories, which should be refreshing for most. Overall, the meal plan is full of solid information, although you’ll be out of luck if you prefer a low carb diet. She takes a dim view toward those.

The meal guide also includes a FAQ section, which covers a lot of topics. There are questions in there that you might not have even known you didn’t know. These include questions like:

• Should I eat at certain times?
• What should I eat post-workout?
• Can I follow this diet if I’m pregnant or breast-feeding?

Pretty much anything you could possibly be wondering about is covered.

Tracking Your BBG Progress

So how do you know if it’s even working? Unlike other programs that rely on the scale or measurements, Kayla’s plan relies more on progress photos. You take one set of photos when you start and you take a set every week, always at the same time. She does include a section on weighing yourself, but again, the emphasis is on photos.

If you’re feeling particularly proud of your accomplishments, you’re encouraged to post these photos to social media with her hashtag. If you’re uncomfortable with showing the world, but want to brag to someone, you can also email your progress pics to her.

Kayla Itsines Review Summary

So what’s the takeaway from this Kayla Itsines review? Overall, the BBG workout isn’t bad. It’s also not cheap. It’s not as expensive as some programs, though. Also, it doesn’t try to sell you a million different required accessories.

However, the whole BBG program isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel. You could cobble together a similar bikini body guide program yourself. However, if you’ve got the money and you need extra discipline and/or accountability, Kayla Itsines BBG workout plan is a good choice.