The 20 Minute Body is the home workout program created by fitness and nutrition expert Brett Hoebel, trainer to the stars but perhaps best known for his appearance as trainer on The Biggest Loser season 11.
Is it just another fitness fad or does this program actually do what its creator promises? Learn everything you need to know in this 20 Minute Body review.
Contents
What is the 20 Minute Body?
The program combines short, challenging and efficient 20 minute workouts with healthy, nutritious and time saving meals.
The 20 Minute Body is a 60 day program. It’s divided into three phases, each one lasting three weeks.
Each week consists of 3 consecutive workout days, then 1 rest day, followed by 2 more workout days and one more rest day. The rest days come with an optional (but highly recommended) stretch and recovery program.
The three programs
Program I (Yellow)
This is the first 20 days of your 20 Minute Body workout. It focuses on building a solid fitness foundation. It works on your form, your technique, your strength, and your stamina, preparing you for the workouts to come.
Workouts in the yellow program:
- 4X4 Fat Loss
- Primal Movements
- HIIT MAX
- BONUS: Cardio-Capoeira
(we take a more in-depth look at what these workouts are further on)
Program II (Orange)
This program is all about progression. It takes the fitness foundation from the previous program and increases the intensity… and the results.
Workouts in the orange program:
- The HIITMAN
- 4X4 Fat Loss
- HIIT MAX
Program III (Blue)
This program is all about maximum fat loss and getting the body you want. Building on all the lessons from the first two programs, the blue program takes it up a notch.
Workouts in the blue program:
- Power Pyramid
- The HIITMAN
- HIIT MAX
- BONUS: Abs & Booty, Abs & Chest, Stretch & Recovery
As you may have noticed by now, this program is not for the fainthearted or the unmotivated. It will take a fair amount of dedication to see the program through to the end.
That being said, Brett does a great job of getting you fired up. He brings a lot of energy into these workouts. This really helps keep you motivated.
Of course, if you want lasting results you shouldn’t just stop working out after those 60 days. Lasting results depend on lasting lifestyle changes.
Although you might not want to work out 5 times a week after finishing the program, I would definitely recommend aiming for 3 workouts per week to maintain your hard earned results (depending on your fitness goals).
The workouts
The workouts in the 20 Minute Body are based on HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) which is proven to be the most effective and time efficient way to lose fat.
According to Brett Hoebel, HIIT unleashes a host of fat burning hormonal changes from the inside out that allow you to cut your training time in half.
The moves you will be doing in these workouts consist of bodyweight exercises, explosive cardio movements and moves from different martial arts like kickboxing and Capoeira.
Some of the workouts can be made more demanding by using resistance bands or dumbbells. It’s your choice though.
In the workout videos where extra weights are optional, you will see one person using dumbbells, another using resistance bands and another doing the exercises without extra weights. It’s your choice who you want to follow along with.
We thought this was a pretty neat feature. It allows you to increase or decrease the intensity of the workouts according to your level of fitness.
Here are the different workouts you will encounter in the 20 Minute Body program:
The 4×4 workout
The 4×4 workout This 20 minute interval-based workout focuses on 4 exercises, performed for 4 rounds. It was designed for rapid fat loss and uses mainly bodyweight exercises.
The 4×4 workout combines strength training with endurance. It’s pretty challenging, but the different variations you get for every exercise allows you to make the workout more or less demanding. This means anyone can follow along with the workout regardless of their current fitness level.
Primal Movements
This workout combines 7 primal movements (squatting, lunging, pushing, pulling, bending, twisting, and walking) into a full-body conditioning and core-strengthening training.
These movements pretty much form the foundation of functional movement, making this a great workout for improving and maintaining mobility.
HIIT MAX (30HI/30LO)
This is an equipment free metabolic conditioning and fat burning workout. You perform every exercise at a high intensity for 30 seconds, then take a 30 second low intensity active rest.
The exercises int the HIIT Max workout are divided into specialized categories like Explosive Cardio, Capoeira, Kickboxing, Explosive Upper body and Integrated Core.
THE HIITMAN
This workout is a real fat burner. This is because of the “After-Burn” effect it creates, so your metabolism continues to burn calories even for hours after you stop working out.
The HIITMAN consists of three 6-minute rounds and combines resistance exercise for lower body, upper body and core with intense cardio.
The Power Pyramid
A “stacking” workout consisting of 6 rounds, where each round a new exercise is stacked on top of the other. The first round starts with with one exercise… the last round ends with six.
Cardio-Capoeira
This is one of the bonus workouts. It takes basic moves from the Brazilian martial art Capoeira and turns them into a fun and effective fat burning, toning workout.
Abs & Booty, Abs & Chest, Stretch & Recovery
This is the second bonus. Abs & Booty/Abs & Chest are body part specific workouts, aimed at tightening and toning your abs and butt.
Stretch & Recovery is a great program to do on rest days to maintain flexible muscles and help prepare your body for the workouts to come.
The complete 20 Minute Body home fitness program consists of:
- 13 fat burning HIIT workouts
- Cardio-Capoeira (bonus workout)
- Downloadable nutrition guide
- Downloadable Workout Calendar
You can choose either get the workouts in the form of 13 DVDs or you can download them in digital format.
The digital download option will save you $10. The digital version costs $49.85 and the physical version costs $59.85.
Another advantage of choosing the digital version is that you can download the program and start doing the workouts instantly after your order has been processed.
Extra bonuses
At the moment you also get these bonuses if you order via the official website:
Booty by Brett Video Series
This 6 part video series teaches you how to sculpt your booty using workouts and techniques Brett’s developed while helping some of the most demanding professionals in the world.
Willpower E-Book
Where is what helps you stick with the program until you get results… even when times are tough. This e-book teaches you how to master it.
Food Replacement Guide
You’ve probably heard it before… ‘Abs are made in the kitchen’! No matter how intense the workouts, they won’t out-exercise a bad diet. The Food replacement guide goes hand in hand with the nutrition guide that comes with 20 Minute Body. It includes easy to read lists and food swaps that you can start using today.
About Brett Hoebel, the creator of 20 Minute Body
Brett Hoebel is a 15-year veteran in the nutrition and fitness industry. He has a pre-med neuroscience Bachelor degree, as well as being certified with many organizations including CrossFit, Yoga Alliance, NASM and the C.H.E.K. (Institute for Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology) and Nutrition & Lifestyle Coaching.
Besides his appearance on The Biggest Loser he has also trained celebrities like Michelle Obama and Jillian Michaels as well as numerous A-list actors and Victoria Secret supermodels.
Brett went from an over-weight teenager to being one of the country’s most sought-after fitness experts. In other words, this is not just another guru with a pretty face who was blessed with superior genetics. The guy knows what he is talking about when it comes to getting in shape.
Pros:
- Comprehensive program which covers both the exercise and the nutrition aspects of getting in shape.
- Fun and diverse workouts with a large variety of exercises and movements. This really helps keep your training interesting.
- Work out from home (or anywhere else) with just your own body weight and (if you choose) minimal equipment.
- The recipes are easy to prepare and actually taste really good.
- The program comes with a generous 60 day money back guarantee (if you purchase it from the official website). This gives you ample time to decide whether or not it is the right fit for you.
Cons:
- Some people say this program can be pretty rough on the knees. So, if you have week knees this might not be the best program for you.
- This is a pretty intense program. Some call it the ‘next P90X’ and it will require a fair amount of dedication to see it through to the end. That being said, if you want rapid results, this program is a good choice.
20 Minute Body reviews by actual users
One of the best ways to gauge the effectiveness of any program is to see what results people are getting with it.
Here are some success stories from people who actually followed the program and got some great results with it.