I wrote a couple of months back about how I had been training using Whitney’s Simmons ALIVE app. I have enjoyed working through her programming, and recently finished the first 10-week strength conditioning program. After almost exclusively focusing on working out in a big box gym again, I wanted to share my thoughts on the program. Follow along to see how I feel now that I’ve finished up the first 10-week Strength program from the ALIVE app!

The Workout Splits

Some terminology I’ve noticed becoming more popular in the fitness community is “splits”. Splits basically just refer to what day you’re training what muscle group. The strength programming I’ve been following the last 10 weeks has a workout split that I’ve really enjoyed. It consists of 2 leg days, a push day, pull day, and then another upper body day. The days are on rotation so that you’re never overworking one particular muscle group, which is great!

Another aspect of the split that I like is the upper body day training. During that workout, there is a designated 25 minutes of cardio after your strength training. As someone who never wants to do cardio on my own, this helps keep me balanced! The cardio workouts rotate between either 25 minutes of sprints or 25 minutes of walking at a steep incline. Overall, the programming for the workouts seems to be very well rounded.

The Movements and Equipment

In order to participate in this Strength programming, you will need access to a big box gym for their equipment. I work with the free weights a lot, but this program also uses a squat rack/Smith machine along with the cable machine for almost every workout. I did find that the app gives an option to complete the movement without equipment if you don’t have access. However, I would say the way to get the most out of the programming is to utilize those machines for your training.

The Strength programming is an “advanced” program, but the movements themselves are not over complicated. They’ve done a great job adding videos for each movement for you to watch and follow throughout your workout. They also have warm up and cool down movements recorded so that if you want to follow their designed program start to finish you know exactly what to do.

My Results

After doing CrossFit for 3 years and building a ton of muscle, to then taking a year off and mainly doing just barre and cycling I was ready to get back into some true strength training. It had also been almost 5 years since I had worked out in a big box gym, so I was a little intimidated to go back. In the last 10 weeks, I have definitely seen my strength increase overall. My body builds muscle very quickly, so I’ve seen that happen physically as well as being reflected on the scale.

As far as weight is concerned, my regular “CrossFit weight” is around 135 pounds. When I was doing strictly barre and cycling, I was my leanest at around 120 pounds. Now that I have been doing more traditional strength training with a little bit of cardio sprinkled in, I stay around 128 pounds.

Regardless of the scale, I have always enjoyed strength training so this program was right up my alley! One wish I do have is that there was a little more required cardio. I understand this is a strength program designed to build muscle. But, because I can get bulky quickly I would like more required cardio to keep me lean. That won’t be everyone’s preference, but it is something I would have enjoyed.

Final Thoughts

First thing’s first, the ALIVE app is awesome! It is one of the most affordable options on the market to have an enormous amount of programming available. Everything from the strength programs, to at home workouts, core workouts, and more! I have really enjoyed the original Strength program, and will probably go on to complete Strength 2.0. If you ever feel like you’re in a slump at the gym, I would highly recommend this app as a way to spice things up and keep yourself motivated.