Shaun T’s at it again – Hip Hop Abs

Regular readers of this blog will remember my review of Shaun T’s Insanity Workout – well now there is a new infomercial you can look forward to watching on those sleepless nights – Beachbody’s newest workout wonder, Hip Hop Abs. The secret to this new revolutionary training plan? ‘Get flat, sexy abs without ever doing a single crunch or sit-up!’

Unfortunately this ’tilt, tuck and tighten’ technique fills you with an uncontrollable amount of cringe and just reminds me of the ‘5 Ds of Dodgeball’! And while Ben Stiller had me laughing throughout, I think I’d be unlikely to adopt the training techniques of the Purple Cobras. 

Can Shaun T really expect consumers of his product to ‘get flat, sexy abs’ without doing a single sit-up or a crunch then? As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, you won’t ever have hugely defined abs unless your body fat percentage is down to around 12%. So don’t do a single sit-up, or do 5000 – if you don’t get that body fat percentage down then no Shaun T DVD will be able to help.

While again, like Insanity, Shaun T gives you a ‘step-by-step nutrition guide’, it seems he neglects the importance of nutrition to athletic success. We all know that any lifestyle that attempts to be healthy needs to combine both sound exercise with high quality nutrition, but Hip Hop Abs gives the impression that all you need to do is ’tilt, tuck and tighten’. It makes you cringe every time, right?

Actually, maybe I’m being a tad harsh. After all, one of the amazing free gifts you can expect to receive is a ‘results on the run’ diet guide which allows you to ‘eat at your favourite fast food restaurants’ whenever you like. Hopefully that’s the part that shocks you the most, it certainly was with me! I mean seriously, how can an industry professional claim that you can eat fast food guilt free, whenever you like, and still expect to have visible abs?

It might seem I’m being quite critical of Shaun T, but the truth is I don’t know the man. And in a way I even admire somebody who has made such a financial of himself. But at what cost? Okay, Shaun T isn’t the devil – but he does makes a lot of money by exploiting naive members of the public.

So am I alone? Well no I’m not – most people who work in and around the industry will tell you to avoid, not only this type of plan, but all of these fast-track fitness routines. It’s not that they don’t work, you can see the success stories for yourself! But after you do the workout for 30 days, or 60 days, or however long it is – these plans often fail to put in place a long-term plan.

Sound health and fitness doesn’t come from putting in 2 months of work and just relaxing after that! I said it when I looked at Insanity and Hip Hop Abs hasn’t changed my mind – health and fitness is about your lifestyle, switching all those ‘bad’ habits with a whole host of good ones!

Some people will swear not only by Hip Hop Abs, but by Insanity, P90X, and all the other similar routines out there. And if they have worked for you, it isn’t for me to say you’re wrong. What I would say though is that if you’re just a beginner, or if you are looking to find something new, these routines aren’t what you want to be turning to.

Maybe it’s just personal opinion, but when it comes to fitness plans I don’t like time constraints and I don’t like ‘quick-fixes’. It’s like they say, nothing worth while ever came easy. Put in the work you need to do to achieve what you want – but when it comes to something as important as your life, don’t take short-cuts, and don’t make excuses!