I did it! I finished 9 Week Control Freak and it was AMAZING! It is officially one of my favorite programs that Beachbody and Autumn have put out.
So, let's talk about it!
The first thought I had when it came out was: "I'm not buying all that stuff".
The control track, the ball, the step.... that's a lot! But I wanted to do the program so bad! I kept seeing the different results people were getting from doing the program, so I gave in.
And I am so glad that I did!
So, the program. Here is what the workout calendar looks like:
5 workouts each week with 2 rest days. 3 of those workouts are called DCT-T days. That stands for Density, Complex, Tabata Training. You can see on the calendar that on those days there is an emphasis on different parts of your body. You will have 1 day each week that is called Tabata Cardio and 1 day that is called Total Body Tone.
Here is what a DCT-T day looks like: You warm up. Then she shows you 5 different moves you are going to and you practice doing 4 reps of each move, just to make sure you have it down. You then have 12 minutes to get through as many rounds as you can of those 5 moves. That is the density part. Next, you do your complexes. That is when you work the specific muscle group listed for the day. You do 10 reps of each move without rest or changing out the weights. Then you repeat the complex moves again.
Finally you have your tabatas. Pause. What, you might ask, is a tabata? Well, a true tabata is 20 seconds of work (a cardio move) with 10 seconds of rest. But don't worry, she eases you into it. In the first week you will do 10 seconds of work with 20 seconds of rest. The second week you will do 15 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest. And then finally in the third week you will do a true tabata. It is like that for the first two phases. However, for the final three weeks, you will be doing true tabatas! No easing into them in phase three!
So that is what a DCT-T day looks like.
There are 3 phases in this program, and each phase get progressively harder. You will not do the same workout more than 1 time, with the exception of the Total Body Tone days. In each phase, you will do the same Total Body Tone workout 3 times. Then for the next phase, it changes.
Along with the workouts, there are the nightly Controlled Stretches. Every night Autumn leads you through a super short but relaxing stretch. She focuses on stretching out the muscles that were worked that day. It is also kind of a time to check-in to make sure you are still on track and prepared for the next day. She teaches you really good breathing exercises as well.
I will be totally honest: It was hard for me to remember to do the stretches. I would be ready to climb into bed and remember that I still had a stretch to do. There were several nights that I didn't do them... but my body felt less tight the next day if I did do the stretching the night before.
She also has bonus workouts you can do if you feel like you need a little more for the day after the workout (most days you will NOT need more haha). She has tabata bonuses, 10 minute ab workouts, and 10 minute workouts for each muscle group. There are several other bonus workouts that I didn't mention you should check out.
Let's talk about the equipment you need for this workout program. I'll admit that I put off doing this program for a while. The whole control track with the resistance bands intimidated me, and I didn't want to spend money on it..... But I finally gave in and I am SO glad that I did!
I am not a Beachbody coach, but I still highly recommend getting the same control track and resistance loops that they use in the program. You can find those here.
If you don't want to spend that much money on it, you can try out this control track I found on Amazon. It is the closest one to Beachbody's that I could find.
To go with your track, you obviously need resistance bands, and these ones from Amazon have several different options and great reviews. The light blue and black bands in this set are the ones that would match the resistance you get from Beachbody. But you can always go lighter if you need to since you get a few more options.
The next item you need for this program is an exercise step. You can get the one from Beachbody here.
I actually ended up getting my step from Amazon to save a little bit of money. It worked great for me!
The last things you will need are some weights! The lightest weights I used were 5 pound dumbbells, and the heaviest was 15 pounds.
In the program they don't use an exercise mat, but I used one just to make it more comfortable to do the exercises on the floor.
Wow, so much equipment. No wonder I put off doing the program for so long! But I will tell you that it worth it. I wish I wouldn't have waited!
If you absolutely do not want to buy the equipment, she does have 9 Week Control Freak Off The Wall. It is the same layout as the regular program, but the only equipment you need are the weights and the exercise mat.
I haven't done 9WCF Off The Wall, so I can't write a full review on it. But I may give it a go soon so I can write a review for it!
Okay, the results. Here they are:
I wish I would have done a "before" picture of the flexing, but I didn't think of it.... So here is the "after"picture.
One thing to keep in mind, you can't just keep eating a bunch of crap and expect to get results from a workout program. I followed (not perfectly, but for the most part) one of the nutrition plans that Autumn created. I wrote a blog post on The Ultimate Portion Fix. You can read my review on that here.
So the question becomes, will I do this program again? ABSOLUTELY YES!
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