The vast majority of humankind is getting more overweight, and more sedentary, and with inflation at an all-time high, most people don’t have the cash to spend on a gym membership.
That said, there are plenty of us who would still like to train and make the most of our own bodies, even if it is from home. As a solution, Shaun over at Beachbody made his own version of Shark Week called Shaun Week … I’m intrigued.
Before We Get Started, Let Me Say This…
Hey, it’s Kyle. I’m the founder of Noob Gains.
Thanks so much for stopping by! 🙂
I just wanted to jump in here to let you know that the program you’re about to learn about might be a total banger… or a complete flop.
(I’m not going to spoil it just yet.)
And while it might do a decent job of getting you the fitness results you want…
There’s one program that I continue to recommend to noobs over and over again because of how effective it is at helping beginners build muscle and lose body fat with minimal effort.
Listen, if you want to build a lean and muscular physique that draws attention…
Without working out more than 3 days per week…
Without forcing down 5-6 bland, bodybuilder-style meals per day…
And without gouging your wallet…
You should consider Superhero X12 by Fit Mole.
Build a Superhero Body Without Training Like One
Getting in shape isn't easy. But this program gives you a real-life approach to building a leaner, more muscular body without obsessing over fitness 24/7.
“Kyle, I’ve never heard of whatever Superhero X12 is. Why should I trust you?”
First of all, you shouldn’t trust me. You shouldn’t trust anyone.
We’re all just strangers on the internet.
That being said, I’m going to do my best to show you why SX12 is a pretty good program for beginners that want to look muscular.
First of all, most workout programs are designed to leech your money and only help you accomplish one very specific goal.
“You want to lose body fat? Sounds good… here’s the program.”
“Oh, you want to build muscle too? Well, you need to buy another program.”
“Wait, you’re not a beginner anymore? OK, you’re gonna need to buy the intermediate program now.”
And on and on and on…
Wouldn’t you rather have everything you need to tackle multiple fitness goals in one place?
Superhero X12 is different because it covers ALL fitness goals.
It’s not just for losing body fat or building muscle. This program teaches you everything you need to…
- Gain muscle
- Build strength
- Improve muscle density
- Build definition
- Get completely shredded
- Take a more AGGRESSIVE shredding approach
- Or maintain the abs you already have
And it has workouts for both beginners and intermediates so you won’t outgrow the program!
| Feature | Superhero X12 | Other Programs |
| Fitness Levels | Multiple | 1 per program |
| Fitness Goals | Multiple | 1 per program |
| Workouts | 3x /week | 5x or more /week |
| Flexible Dieting |  | |
| Calorie Calculator |  | |
| Mindset Guide |  | |
| 2-Day Workout Option |  | |
You don’t have to waste money buying multiple programs because SX12 has specific workouts, diets, and strategies to help you do it all.
Second, a lot of programs completely kill your free time and force you to workout 5-7 days per week.
Often, brands use this as a big “selling point” for their program.
“Are you EXTREME enough to train EVERY SINGLE DAY?!”
Uh, maybe. But a better question is “why do this?”
Nowadays, we’re all busy as hell and we try our best to not let the few precious minutes of free time that we have slip through our fingers like grains of sand.
Personally, I’d rather train fewer days per week, and get back to watching Netflix.
On the other, Superhero X12 shows you how to transform your body in 3 very efficient workouts per week.
There are no unnecessary exercises and no time wasted.
If you can commit to 3 hours of training each week, you can create a great-looking physique…
And maintain it year round!
Finally, the diet portions of many programs are restrictive (and make you hate your life).
Bodybuilders have said for decades that you need to “eat multiple small meals throughout the day to build muscle”.
But guess what? Science doesn’t back this up.
For instance, evidence suggests it doesn’t really matter if you have protein coming in every 2-3 hours, and muscle maintenance is also unaffected by meal frequency.
Do you want to spend your free time portioning brown rice and packing tupperware containers? I didn’t think so!
Superhero X12 let’s you eat your favorite foods every day, have as many meals as you want, and still build muscle.
Do you know why young guys just like you are getting noticeable results on SX12?
It’s because the nutrition plan is easy to follow over the long term and doesn’t turn your meals into a chore.
You don’t have to force down bland, tasteless meals 6 times a day.
You can eat your favorite foods when YOU want to eat them.
But these are the reasons I keep recommending Superhero X12 to beginners:
- You can save money with a program that’s designed for multiple goals and experience levels
- You can spend less time in the gym by working out only 3 times per week
- And you can enjoy the process by eating foods you love at your own pace
But like I said, you shouldn’t take my word for it.
I’m just a random internet person.
Check out Superhero X12 for yourself and see what’s up.
Build a Superhero Body Without Training Like One
Getting in shape isn't easy. But this program gives you a real-life approach to building a leaner, more muscular body without obsessing over fitness 24/7.
About the Creator – Shaun T
From the moment you first “meet” Shaun, you already know so much about his energy and mannerisms, that you want to join his workouts already. Big, bold, friendly, and yet firm enough that you’ll listen to his instructions.
Shaun T is a world-famous trainer and coach, but his career begins at much humbler roots. It all started in 1997 when he started giving exercise classes that combined hip hop and aerobics. These classes are fairly common today, but someone had to start them.
Shaun had a very hard upbringing and deserved to be treated a whole lot better than he was. In high school, he found safety in track events and developed into a rising star. Fast forward to university, and Shaun, unfortunately, fell victim to the infamous weight gain when you start university.
After some time Shaun grew tired of this and wanted to make a change, and so he did. He hit the gym hard, and after shedding a few pounds, he even changed his major.
Sports Science and Health Promotion was the goal now, and this is where he actually started giving classes.
Shaun T is now famous for these very classes and has developed charisma and a brand for this type of training that just draws people in. He is so good, in fact, that he has various programs available on Beachbody like:
- Insanity
- Insanity: The Asylum
- Focus T25
He even started his own company at www.shauntlife.com.
Today he is still giving classes and helping people dance their way to a better self. He also does live events, and his fundamental goal is still to help as many people as possible because he’s been there.
That is a beautiful story, but we have to now see if the workouts are also as good.
Beachbody’s Shaun Week Workouts Overview
Compared to other programs you might find online, Beachbody’s Shaun Week Workouts are all high-intensity, aerobic types of workouts that do not rely heavily on resistance training. This does mean that the amount of muscle you can gain is less, but this makes it ideal for beginners or those who are focused on fitness.
- Fitness level: Intermediate
- Duration: 1 Week +
- Workouts per week: 7 Workouts per week
- Average workout duration: 27 – 43 minutes
- Equipment needed: Minimal equipment
- Goal: Lose weight and get fit
Compared to other programs that you may have seen online, this one does not contain any schedule, nutrition guide, or supplementation guide. There are such options available elsewhere on the site, but it is a bit disappointing not to see them come with the program.
The workouts are definitely all purely focused on fat loss and cardiovascular training. Both these are exceptional in their own right. Fat loss has been linked to decreased mortality, while cardiovascular training has numerous benefits such as a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Before you start any Shaun T program, you should know what you are getting yourself into.
A lot of the movements are high-impact and high-intensity. This means that those who are suffering from joint or ligament issues might struggle. Even those who are severely overweight might need to take things slow initially.
Each workout does, however, come with a video in which Shaun takes you through the entire workout step by step. This makes the whole process and vibe a lot better than other programs because he’s there yelling at you to keep moving!
Again, while this plan is limited in its ability to grow new contractile tissue, it could be effective at helping you lose fat and get fitter.
Beachbody’s Shaun Week Workouts Details
There are 7 workouts in total, and while it is hinted that you could do one every day, I would highly advise against this to allow for some recovery.
Work up some sweat with Cardio!
The idea that we have to do cardio in order to lose weight is not really founded in reality. This, unfortunately, started via misinformation, and with the rise of social media, has only increased in reach.
It’s quite a contract to V Shred telling you that you shouldn’t do cardio if you want to lose weight.
Cardio is simply a tool we use to create a greater calorie deficit, which is still the only way we can actually lose body fat. You need to be in a net calorie deficit so that the “missing” energy can come from somewhere else – from fat in this case.
Cardio can help create a bigger deficit, seeing as you will be burning calories while simply doing “nothing”. Not only that, but as mentioned before, cardio training does have remarkable health benefits.
This is why it is important to do cardio training, and this is why Shaun T has stuck to this style of training to design his workouts.
- It requires very little equipment (if any)
- Can be done in 30 minutes
- The training is going to be pretty high-intensity
This means you will be jumping, running in place, and doing other aerobic types of movements to get the most out of your body. Rest time will be minimal, so it is advised that you have a water bottle close by.
The only glaring problem with this type of plan is the lack of progression. See, when the body is faced with an external stimulus, it adapts. Resistance through weights? Cool, let’s grow some muscle. Oh, more weight? Guess we’ll grow more.
With these dance-like training styles, the body does not have to adapt as much seeing as the workout remains the same week to week. Yes, in the beginning, you will see fat loss, fitness increase, and potentially more muscle.
After a brief adjustment period, however, the body will be accustomed to this training and will refuse change unless you throw something harder at it.
Weight training…?
On the fourth day, you have to squat 900lbs, easy stuff. Kidding.
But obviously, we would love to see some form of resistance training in a plan because it’s just that good for you. In fact, having more muscle can help with:
- Increased bone density
- Decreased risk of diabetes
- Decreased risk of injury
- Being jacked
That last point is obviously the most important one. Resistance training is one of the most important things you can do for your body, and luckily, Shaun does provide some in this plan. It’s not really conventional, however. You will be doing things like:
- Hammer curl into sideways lunge
- Dumbbell Burpees
- Dumbbell curls with alternating knee raise
- Dumbbell rows superset with tricep extensions
As you can see, this is definitely not muscle-focused, but rather whole-body training. On the other days such as the “Ripsanity” and “Dig Deep” days, you will be doing mostly bodyweight resistance training – which can be beneficial.
“Ripsanity” sounds like a weird cross between V Shred and Insanity, doesn’t it? But I digress…
Overall, this is not conventional weight training, and is more “cardio-with-some-weights-sprinkled-in”. This does, of course, make the plan a whole lot more accessible to the general public, and means you have a better recovery from cardio training.
That said, it suffers from the same mistake as the cardio training – no progression. There is no mention of going heavier, and since the training is time-driven and not sets and reps driven, there is no actual way to track progression.
Could you gain muscle with this type of training? Absolutely … if you haven’t trained, ever.
Unfortunately, once the body is consistently exposed to a certain resistance, two dumbbells and some high-knees aren’t going to do much, unfortunately.
One more drawback of resistance training here is that they combine it with cardio. If you’re limited by oxygen capacity, then you will not be training your muscles effectively. This means you could just be wasting your time, that said, Shaun does do one thing that made me smile.
A lady on the videos needed to do a “lighter” version of the movements, and for her (and the camera I presume) he was quick to find an alternative that was also easier to do. This makes the plan a lot more malleable to the public, meaning more people can benefit from this training.
3 Beachbody’s Shaun Week Workouts Pros
- It’s engaging: Because of the way the programs over at Beachbody are created, you get an actual video of every workout, and Shaun does them with you every step of the way. It’s not just simply a piece of paper with numbers on it
- Cardio and weight combo: As with most HIIT, there is a nice synergy between cardio – and resistance training, meaning you get the best of both worlds
- Various workouts to choose from: You have the freedom to choose any workout you want because there are no instructions on scheduling them so, have at it
2 Beachbody’s Shaun Week Workouts Cons
- Zero other guidance: Yes, there are nutritional guides elsewhere on the site, and yes they do sell supplements. I am just the type of person who would’ve wanted a nutritional plan for that workout plan. Other sites like bodybuilding.com do this very well, so why can’t Beachbody?
- It’s just a few workouts: This is the main problem. Yes, these are great workouts, but that’s where it ends. This is not a plan, this is not a program. This is a collection of workouts that you can choose from to do, and if you are shopping for a whole plan, this is going to disappoint you. Especially since every single week will have the same workouts over and over again
Beachbody’s Shaun Week Workouts – Final Thoughts
Shaun Week is a good idea in principle. You can provide people with some high-intensity activities that they can do from the comfort of their own homes, and they can have a lot of fun doing it.
They get to lose fat and be exposed to some form of fitness, all while also getting fitter in the process. If you are looking for at-home workout ideas, and your goal is fat loss, this is a really great place to start looking.
Where it does fall down is when you plan to actually follow this plan week on week. There is nothing wrong with training for the sake of just being, but most people want to improve week by week. If you look back to a year ago you would like to say “I went from that to this”.
This program will not give you that, because it’s not a program. There is zero progression from week to week and so the body does not need to adapt.
There is nothing new or novel about the workouts after you’ve completed a few, and then your body has grown accustomed.
The workouts also suffer due to the fact that they are based on time – you don’t do sets and reps. This means some lazy people might be able to loaf the entire time without putting in real work because “Hey, I lasted the 23 minutes”.
This plan is okay, at best. It does have its applications, but personally, I believe there could be better ones to follow – especially ones with nutrition and supplementation guides.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Shaun Week FAQs
Does Shaun Week Work?
Yes, Shaun Week can work for people that want to lose fat, improve cardiovascular fitness, and have a fun, engaging workout experience at home. However, if you’re seeking consistent progress and muscle growth, the lack of progression and focus on time-based workouts may be limiting.
How Many Calories Do You Burn in Shaun Week?
You can expect to burn 150-300 calories per session if you put in adequate effort. However, the number of calories torched during Shaun Week workouts will fluctuate depending on factors like height, weight, age, and experience level.
