My Experience :: Losing Inches and Increasing Endurance with Stacked Fitness

This post is sponsored by Stacked Fitness. Although we did receive free classes in exchange for a review, all opinions and experiences are entirely our own.

Having a baby can be tough on your body. Suddenly your stomach doesn’t look quite the same, you carry weight in different places and those pre-preggo jeans just won’t fit (despite what the number on the scale says). Getting back to body after baby, or the body you wanted before the baby, can be difficult. But at some point you have to make the decision to take control of your health, and once you do, Stacked Fitness is a great option to help you meet your goals.

What is Stacked Fitness?

Stacked Fitness is a challenging and affordable outdoor workout that will push you out of your comfort zone and allow you to workout in a motivating small group environment, requiring little more than your body weight to get results. They’re more intense than any fitness class and more fun than a traditional gym workout.

What Makes Stacked Fitness DIFFERENT

Let’s face it, there are hundreds of different exercise programs you could chose from (and I’ve tried more than I can count on one hand). Here’s what I loved about Stacked Fitness and made it different than my other experiences.

It’s run by two local moms. Lexington natives Jessica Brown and Leah Condell started Stacked Fitness after becoming mothers, wanting to stay home with their kids, and a desire to turn their passion for fitness into something that could help others. Because they are moms themselves, they understand the day-to-day life with little ones and also battling the bulge after baby. They are approachable, down-to-earth, friendly and are eager to help you meet your goals.

The classes are mainly women. In fact during my 6 weeks we never had a guy in our class, although there are some that do come from time to time. Personally, I feel more comfortable working out with women because their bodies are like mine (which came in handy that time my sports bra gave out during class … true story).

Participants are of all different sizes and fitness levels. As someone first starting out, this was important. It wasn’t packed with a bunch of overly muscular fitness fanatics, so I felt like I fit right in.

Everyone is friendly and non-judgmental. At first, I did feel a little shy. It’s hard to be the newbie. But by the second class folks were talking to me and interacting. Everyone is focused on their own form and success, so it never felt like people were watching me when I was too exhausted to get in a final push-up or the last one to finish my run.

It’s a supportive environment. People genuinely congratulated me on my accomplishments. The trainers texted and emailed me outside of class to see how things were going and if I had questions. When I started to lose inches, classmates noticed and complimented me on the hard work I had put in.

Classes are small. Because the class size is small, each person receives more individual attention but with the added benefits of group motivation and accountability. And I was able to make new friends in the process!

What Classes Are Like

Warm up:

Typically you begin with a cardio exercise, like running, to get warmed up and your heart rate moving.

Circuit and Interval Training:

Resistance training, cardio, core, plyometric, and agility drills are usually incorporated into circuit or interval training designed for the outdoors.

Let me tell you … IT WORKS!

Exercises could include movements like squatting and jumping in the air, pushups, planks or combinations of movements that are proven effective from Jessica and Leah’s training. The goal is to do as many as you can … which feels achievable (especially for a newbie like me) rather than pressuring you to finish x amount in the allotted time. Although exercises are completed individually, you do have a partner by your side which helps keep you accountable, motivated, a let’s be honest … share the pain!

To help maximize your calorie and fat burn, the class includes a session of cardio exercises, which could include running up and down hills (think 10 feet, not 100) or relay type exercises (kind of like field day at school but geared towards adults).

Toning and Ab Work:

The class winds down with a series of different abdominal exercises. Trust me, you’ll feel the burn (in a good way).

Cool Down:

Low impact movements help bring your heart rate back down to normal and stretch out the muscles you’ve worked hard during the past 50 minutes.

Additional Program Perks

Before beginning the program, a fitness consultation and binder are provided. During a one-on-one session, either Leah or Jessica goes over diet and nutrition information to ensure you receive the most out of the program. The binder also includes helpful recipes, shopping information and a journal to track your workouts and food for the day.

As part of the consultation, your starting measurements are taken (no one likes that … but what a motivator!) and you complete a fitness test involving several different exercises. These stats are kept in your binder and for your eyes only. At the end of the 6 weeks, measurements and the same fitness test are taken again to determine your progress.

My Results After 6 Weeks

Honestly, I couldn’t believe how much my strength and endurance improved over 6 weeks … not to mention INCHES LOST. Here were my results after attending classes three days a week at a beginner’s fitness level (aka it had been a LONG TIME since I last worked out).

Measurements:

I lost EIGHT INCHES overall — Two inches in my waist and hips. Two and a half inches in my chest. A half an inch in my arms, thighs and calves. Nice!

Fitness Test:

I was able to run a mile a minute and a half faster. I could do three times as many pushups on my toes, and 14 more pushups overall. Originally, I could only complete 47 crunches. After 6 weeks I could do 70 crunches. And tricep dips? I improved my tricep dip number by 23. We finished up with a plank and I could hold my plank 37 seconds longer (when I started out I couldn’t even hold a plank 37 seconds PERIOD).

Try It For Yourself

Interesting in achieving similar results? Here are the details:

• Fitness classes take place at the Gibson Road Soccer Complex beside the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. (I actually live downtown, but didn’t mind the drive because it game me some time to myself to RELAX after a long day with a very active, non-napping 3-year-old).
• Classes occur every day of the week, morning and afternoon (except Sunday), and private sessions available (find out detailed information about class times here).
• Choose from a single class, package of 5, 10 or unlimited monthly sessions, or one-on-one sessions (pricing here).
• Not sure if this is the type of class for you? Try a class out for FREE before making a commitment.

So give it a shot mama! You’ve got nothing to lose — except weight and inches. And that’s a good thing!