Day 10: PIYO for FREE !

Getting motivated to exercise daily isn't the easiest thing.  The companies behind late night infomercials know this, as they work hard to continually produce these amazing testimonials to the latest exercise fad.  
The infomercial that sucked me in recently was for PIYO by Chalene Johnson.  For those who may not be aware, Chalene Johnson has been a force in the exercise industry for awhile.  I first discovered her in the late 2000's with her Turbo Jam series which really helped me to get motivated to get in shape after I had the twins. But she is so much more than a fitness instructor. Her business endeavor's are too numerous to list so if you want to get her whole story you can check her out at her website.
 PIYO is a workout formed by blending Pilates and Yoga.  What intrigued me is that you can get a serious cardio workout with no impact and since I have had serious  Bursitis flare ups since the age of 8 low/no impact workouts are really important to me for long term joint care. 
Chalene has a way of making her latest fitness program feel like the most amazing club that you can join if you only purchase her videos.  So naturally when I saw her infomercials it felt like seeing an old friend.  I normally don't watch infomercials but I have to admit I watched hers from beginning to end. And I was enthralled by Chalene's description of how SHE developed PIYO over years and carefully honed it into the amazing routine that she is currently selling. I actually went on Amazon and BeachBody.com to price check the package. But since I have committed to not buying any new diet or exercise product for a year I resisted and stumbled onto a real gem!  
I wanted to check out this new fitness craze for free so I turned to YouTube praying that Chalene had posted some workouts that I could check out.  Of course, since her  PIYO workout was just released by Beach Body (a huge exercise conglomerate) most of the  PIYO videos from Chalene are infomercials with one instructional video that is way too advanced for my range of motion and one full workout video filmed on her friends phone while they did a workout in front of a hotel in Hawaii.  That video is beautiful but hard to follow because none of the instructions are loud enough to hear.

What I did not expect to find was a treasure trove of PIYO workout videos from other instructors dating back 8 years. There is literally something for every fitness level.  It turns out that while it is low impact PIYO is HARD and you need to develop lung strength to do it.  Luckily on YouTube I found plenty of videos for super beginners which is the level I am at. I still LOVE Chalene and after my year of buying abstinence is over this PIYO set will most likely be my first purchase.  But I am glad I did not run out and buy her packaged PIYO program right away because I probably would have given up after a few weeks ... or to be honest ... days. 
I am sure that exercise videos on YouTube are not new (judging by all of the views) but I have to admit that it had never before occurred to me that I could do a different video every day literally for years for free.  Thanks YouTube!

If you think that this PIYO workout will be easy 

because the instructor is pregnant ... Think again!!