LIIFT 4 for the third time!

 Hi everyone! Today I started LIIFT4 for the third time, and I feel like I've done this program enough to go in depth and talk about it! Yesss!

LIIFT4 is a bit different from any kind of workout program I've done before. You can find it on Beachbody On Demand and it's created by Joel Freeman. (I also want to say that I am NOT a Beachbody coach. I just did the workout and enjoyed it and never used a coach myself.) It's eight weeks total, and it starts out with six build weeks and the last two weeks are shred weeks. You work out for four days a week, hence LIIFT4. You have three rest days a week. I love that you never, ever do the same workout twice throughout the program. There is no way you're going to get bored with it. I also love that it focuses on lifting heavy! Jillian workouts are great, but there is only one program that I know of where lifting is the focus, and that's Lift and Shred. I also love, love, love that this workout ends with a core workout. That's something I really missed in Lift and Shred. It also has focused/targeted workouts, like shoulder days, chest and triceps, legs, and back and biceps rather than a full body or front of the body one day, back of the body another day. I also love that there are stretching workouts included that go beyond the normal cooldown. I'm telling you, throughout this workout I was always sore, which is something that didn't happen with other workouts. I felt like my body got sooo used to doing the same things all the time. I feel like LIIFT4 is built to be able to do again and again and just add heavier weights. 

In LIIFT4, there are three blocks. And in each block, you do three sets. After you do your three sets, you write down the weight you're using and do the next one three times. Write down your weights and repeat. Depending on what type of workout is up for that day, you either go right to the core component to finish for the day, or you do a burnout round. 

On the subject of types, there are four different types of workouts. 

LIIFT 50/50 - You do all your lifting for the first half of the workout, and then the second half you do a HIIT style workout with lots of cardio. 

LIIFT Circuit - This reminds me a lot of Jillian where each set finishes with a quick cardio interval. So you do two lifting moves (say shoulder presses and lateral raises, and then you do a cardio interval). You do that three times, and then your next block is two moves and a cardio interval. 

Straight Lift - No HIIT! Yessss! It's all lifting and I'm telling you right now that you may think that no cardio means an easy workout but oh my goodness, it's not!

Straight HIIT - just what it sounds like. All cardio. No need to drag out your weights because you don't need them. I thought that I'd love this since I'm definitely more of a cardio girl but it's HARD. 

Your straight cardio is always on leg days, except for the shred weeks where it is a full body HIIT. But we'll talk about that more when we get there. 

And so that's LIIFT4 on paper. Are you ready? My plan is at the end of every week to give a rundown of the four workouts you do that week. I hope that helps me get back in the swing of blogging more often!