Last week we reviewed Lift Like a Girl by Nia Shanks. I have to say that after going through this program, I was curious to see what more Nia had to offer in her second program, Beautiful Badass. The first program is so comprehensive and thorough. Beautiful Badass takes things to the next level, with training plans, video demonstrations of exercises, and training advice.
When you purchase Beautiful Badass, you receive access to two PDF files. They are only available for ten days after purchase, so make sure you download them right away! The first file is the Beautiful Badass Manual. This document is just over 40 pages and contains information about Nia’s approach, the exercises she emphasizes and why she does so, training options, fat loss, training investments, nutrition, supplements, and more.
One of the things that sets Beautiful Badass apart from Lift Like a Girl are the videos you find in the manual. Nia provides links to video demonstrations of the following exercises, which are only available to people who buy the manual:
Lower Body Exercises
- Deadlift
- Sumo Deadlift
- Squat
- Front Squat
- Reverse Lunge
- Glute Bridge
- Romanian Deadlift (RDL)
Upper Body Pressing Exercises
- Push-up
- Barbell Floor Press
- Standing Overhead Press
- Parallel Bar Dip
Body Pulling Exercises
- Inverted Row
- Chin-up
- Bent Over Barbell Row
Abdominal Exercises
- Ab Wheel Rollout
- Hanging Knee Raise
- Hanging Leg Raise
- Plank
- Side Plank
These video demonstrations have been helpful for me, both as a trainer and in my own workouts. The videos are comprehensive and provide a helpful resource for actually following through with the workouts Nia provides in her training programs.
In The Beautiful Badass Manual, Nia also offers advice for mature athletes over age 40. I have also found a lot of this information helpful for training my pregnant clients. Being a prenatal fitness specialist, I would love to see some information for the prenatal/postpartum period for all the beautiful and badass moms out there. However, any of the programs Nia provides can be tailored for use during pregnancy, without changing things around too much. So there really is something for everyone in Nia’s program.
This second document, The Beautiful Badass Programs, is full of simple and effective training plans designed by Nia. There are a total of 19 plans, including:
- Beginner Program
- Simple Strength
- A.D.D. Program
- Heavy/Light Change Up
- Fat Loss
- K.I.S.S.
- Double Progression Program
- 6-3-9-3 Program
- Singles Program
- Time Crunch Workouts
- Dumbbell & Bodyweight Total Body
- True Minimalist Program
This is where the value really kicks in. Many of these programs provide 12 weeks of workouts, which means that you could use Nia’s programming for a long time. The three programs I have found most helpful personally are the Time Crunch workouts, which I can do at home or even in the gym while waiting for clients, the Dumbbell & Bodyweight Total Body program, which I am actually in the middle of right now, and the Simple Strength program, a 12-week program that I plan to do next. Most of the programs I listed above have a second component that you can complete after the first progression. I look forward to trying all of Nia’s training plans in the future.
All of these workouts are guided by the same principles Nia outlines in Lift Like a Girl. Nia emphasizes the need for simplicity in planning and executing workouts. As she says, “Using 20 different exercises isn’t necessarily going to produce better results than six exercises; as long as you use six excellent exercises, of course.” The workouts use basic, effective exercises that are tried and true. “It doesn’t matter if your primary goal is to lose body fat, get stronger, build muscle, or just look better naked, the exercises do NOT change.” This simple, no-nonsense approach makes Nia’s Beautiful Badass an excellent option for ladies of all ages and fitness levels.
Beautiful Badass is available for $29.99 at NiaShanks.com.
