I’ve been a dancer for 15 years, so staying in good shape and living an active lifestyle is second nature to me. Initially, when I was forced to do at-home workouts during quarantine, I worried I would not be able to maintain my fitness regimen and the difficulty level of my typical dance and gym workouts.
Throughout quarantine, I put almost all of the popular at-home workouts to the test. I tried Chloe Ting, Mad-Fit, Pamela Reif, Natacha Oceanes and Whitney Simmons Alive, an eight-week workout app. I also read Sweat It to Shred It (SITSI) by Sarah Stevenson, which is by far the most effective.
SITSI was created by Stevenson, or Sarah’s Day, a health and fitness based YouTuber who promotes a holistic and balanced lifestyle. SITSI is a 92-page e-book, which costs about $70. Monthly gym membership fees can range from $20-180, and workout apps cost roughly $10-30 a month, so SITSI is fairly priced. The e-book is jam-packed full of custom workouts for eight weeks and is designed to not only transform your body, but to completely change the way you view exercise.
Unlike other at-home workouts, this program is easy to follow. SITSI contains a context section with an intro, what to expect, the plan, a timeline and a progress report. When you click on any of the topics in the context section, it brings you directly to the spot in the book, saving you from scrolling through all 92 pages.
In addition, each workout is accompanied by step-by-step pictures of Stevenson doing each movement. Still not sure how to execute an exercise? You can head directly to the Sarah’s Day YouTube channel where she has videos of her doing almost every movement. You can also download a companion timer app, where Stevenson counts down when to start each exercise and gives you a three-second countdown to finish each movement.
The program is composed of five different types of workouts: Sweaty Shredders, Toning Powers, Activity Days and Challenges. Sweaty Shredders are high intensity and designed to burn stubborn fat. They consist of seven different exercises, each performed six times for 30 seconds. After my first one, I couldn’t walk for three days.
Toning Powers includes more defining exercises as opposed to the cardio ones in Sweaty Shredders. Both Sweaty Shredders and Toning Powers take roughly 30 minutes. Activity Days motivates you to incorporate fitness into your everyday life, like walking with a friend or going for a swim. Challenge Days consists of shorter intense workouts, such as a 10-minute ab blaster.
The eight-week program starts you off slowly, allowing you to build endurance and muscle. Some early weeks only have three workouts, but by the end, you will be doing six workouts a week.
Because the program is laid out with a timeline, it holds you accountable. With SITSI, you check off each day that you completed the workout. Seeing results occur so quickly made me want to keep going, too. I felt strong, motivated and in control of living a healthy and balanced life.
Although I was crushed I couldn’t keep my regular routine during quarantine, SITSI improved my physical health and kept me sane. Even as gyms started to open back up, I kept using SITSI’s killer workouts. The unique types of exercises included in the program have single-handedly transformed my body and endurance level.
Rating: 8 out of 10.
