How to Make PIYO Workouts Even More Challenging

If you've been around here for any amount of time you know that I love Beachbody workouts and I use them daily with Beachbody on Demand, which is basically the Netflix of fitness.  There's a ton of workouts on there from weightlifting to cardio dance, but as a long-time yoga and pilates lover, Piyo is probably my favorite program overall.

If you want a breakdown and review of the Piyo workout, you can catch that right here.  If you don't have Piyo, you can buy the DVD's from Beachbody or on Amazon (it's the same price), but I recommend getting Beachbody on Demand so you can stream the workouts.  Plus it has a free 30-day trial period, so you can try before you buy.

Head's up - If you buy it together with the nutrition support (a superfood concoction that helps with cravings and hunger) then you can also get into my online coaching group where you can work with me directly.  You can learn more about the group coaching here, or just dive right in and grab the bundle here.

For those of you who know what Piyo is and would like to advance your experience with the workout, read on.

How to amp up your Piyo workouts for better results

I would call Piyo an intermediate workout.  It's challenging, but it doesn't take your breath away or want to make you throw up (like some of the workouts in Insanity or 21 Day Fix Extreme).  But with any bodyweight exercise, it's hard to progress the workout without adding additional weight to the moves - which is exactly what I did!

Add hand weights to the workout where possible

The next time you're going through one of the Piyo workouts, have a pair of light hand weights on hand so that as you're going through some of the moves you can add the weight to the movement. I use 10lb weights, but I recommend having something lighter to start. It's not suitable for every move, but you'll quickly get a sense of when it's possible to grab your weights for more impact, particularly when you're doing lower body lunges and bowlers.

Add ankle or wrist weights throughout the entire workout

Another hack is to add ankle or wrist weights to your workout!  This is a little less flexible than using hand weights because you can't drop them quite so easily, but man, they really add some intensity to the movements without adding impact. Go easy on this!  I recommend starting with 2lb weights (Amazon's Top Pick), then working your way up to 5lb weights (on each limb).

Incidentally, ankle weights are also great for amping up your barre workouts, too!

Let me know if you try this technique.  Note that this is not an "official" PIYO recommendation, it's just my personal hack to make the workouts even more challenging than they already are.  

Hope this helps!