Why I Went Back to Alexia Clark Workouts

I’m like a butterfly fluttering from program to program when it comes to fitness because I want to try them all, but I recently went back to the Alexia Clark workouts. I don’t see myself stopping any time soon. Let me tell you why.

In short: the whole experience. I’ll share in more detail in a minute.

If you’re not sure who Alexia Clark is or what her workouts are like, read my Alexia Clark review. It’s one of the most popular pages on this whole site! The Queen Team is growing.

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Alexia Clark Workouts: Why I Couldn’t Stay Away

I didn’t want to like the Alexia Clark workouts so much that they haunted my mind for months after I canceled my membership. But first, why did I cancel in the first place, if I liked the workouts so much?

• The cost (it’s one of the more expensive options and I have a gym membership plus SO many other fitness programs I’ve already paid for that I technically could do again)
• I was too hard on myself for not keeping up with all five circuits, five days per week (side note: I just realized CBD oil helped me immensely with recovery so I could handle five consecutive workouts if I had the time for them). For me, paying a $29.99 monthly fee and seeing that transaction go through each month puts the pressure on to do all the workouts, all the time. I felt guilty when I couldn’t. That’s not realistic. With a healthier mindset, though, seeing that monthly fee come through is incredibly motivating and the community makes you want to do the workouts on your terms rather than feeling guilty for not doing them perfectly.

Finding Balance

I have quite a few fitness apps on my iPhone that I love. I work those in when I want something specific (like more cardio or abs), but the core program I’m following right now? Alexia Clark workouts, five to six days per week. Usually only two circuits at a time–about 30 minutes–for now, but I’ll be increasing that when I cut my yoga practice back from daily to a few times per week.

I couldn’t stay away. Even with the extra cost. And in harmony with my word of the year for 2019, I took the pressure off of myself about those longer workouts. By the way, you don’t need a gym membership to do these workouts.

The Community

I’ve joined several fitness-related Facebook communities over the years, followed the hashtags on Instagram, and even friended some girls doing the same programs as me at the time and got to know them better. 

Imagine joining a sorority where everyone’s incredibly kind and supportive, including the president. There’s very little–if any–drama. It’s kind of like that, but you wear an invisible crown instead of Greek letters.

You all generally have the same goals and there are women across all age groups and stages in life. It feels like a family, even if you’re new. Even if you’re timid and mostly watch from the sidelines (ahem, me). It doesn’t feel cliquey or catty. Everyone’s cheering and cheered for, willing to help when you need it.

Maybe a Different Demographic?

For what it’s worth, a lot–but not all and maybe not even half, no idea–of these ladies seem to be a little bit older than the ones in some of the other groups I’ve joined, but that could just be because I’m gravitating toward those accounts now. I can think of a couple of big fitness accounts doing the Alexia Clark workouts run by women in their 30s.

I’m not in my mid-20s anymore like I was when I first got serious about my post-baby fitness journey and joined Tone It Up. They still seem to cater mostly to a young-to-mid-20s base, so I feel a little out of place there now.

I’ve seen a lot of other women in their 30s and beyond within the Alexia Clark crowd. There are plenty in their 20s, too, though. So if you feel like an “old lady” (LOL, you know what I mean…we’re still not old) in whatever fitness community you’re in, you may find a more comfortable group of girls to hang out with online here.

The Education

I had never heard of EMOM or ladder sets before starting Alexia Clark’s program. Now I know all kinds of workout terms! Reading through the notes in her emails (daily, through the week) and then above each day’s workout opened my eyes to the fact that there’s more to fitness than 12-15 reps, 3 of sets each exercise, plus steady state or HIIT cardio.

You Don’t Need a Lot of Equipment

If you have a gym membership and go all the time, great. 

If you’re doing these workouts at home, you won’t need a lot of equipment. You’ll probably find yourself wanting to upgrade from the couch or ottoman to a bench eventually and make shifts like that, but you really only need some dumbbells or things you can find around the house to use as weights, a long resistance band, and maybe a shorter resistance loop.

Dumbbells

For dumbbells, an adjustable set might be good if you have the budget but don’t have space to keep adding heavier weights as you get stronger. I have an adjustable set, but I can mostly get by with the sets of 3s, 5s, 8s, 10s, 12s, and 15s I’ve accumulated over the years. If you’re just starting out, maybe stick with 3-lb through 8-lb or 5-lb through 10-lb sets. 

Bands

She sells the bands on her site, but I’m still using the ones I got on Amazon before she had her own. I just used the long purple band from Serious Steel for a long time, but I recently got the orange one by Serious Steel and the red one by WODFitters.

The orange one is good for shoulder workouts with high reps and the red one offers a little more resistance than the purple one, which I especially needed for back exercises.

I have a set of smaller loop resistance bands and they’ve worked okay, but I feel like the only ones I use are the medium and heavy ones. The extra-heavy one is a little too much for me. I recently purchased fabric ones even though they cost more than most similar bands. They seem like they’re less likely to stretch out after a couple of months.

I really only like the fabric resistance bands for lower body workouts. If you’re doing plank rows with a resistance band, you’re still going to want to use the traditional bands, so start with those and then try the fabric ones later (if you have trouble with your resistance bands rolling up your thighs).

What You Don’t Need

Do you know what I just realized? You don’t even need nice weather because she’s not going to tell you to go outside and run if you don’t have a treadmill or elliptical (you don’t need any cardio equipment or outdoor equivalent here).

The Variety

You get a brand new workout each weekday and you never know what’s coming. Sometimes you’ll do a split (upper, lower, upper, lower, challenge) and sometimes you’ll have some full body workouts. The formats of the workouts will always be different, too, from straight sets to those EMOMs and ladder sets I mentioned. 

The variety keeps your body guessing and I’m guessing it’s part of what makes Alexia Clark workouts so transformative and makes your body function better in everything that you do, inside and outside of your workout area.

Room to Show Yourself Grace

If you’re like me, when you start a workout, you really want to finish it. It’s frustrating if you run out of time or steam.

Within the Alexia Clark workouts, you’ll have kind of a choose your own adventure experience (remember those books?). When you log in, you’ll choose:

• Whether you want to work out at home or in the gym, so if you can’t get to the gym that day you already have another good option. I’ve found that I’m less consistent with gym-only plans but sometimes I want to go use the equipment at one. This gives you both options at no extra charge.
• Between the 20-30 minute option (great when you’re short on time, not feeling it but want to get something done, or are a beginner) or the 50-60 minute option (if you have that much time or want a challenge). Beyond that, the last two circuits are bonus circuits, so you can take it even further if you’re hardcore like that and have about 70-90 minutes to spend in the gym.
• Which days you want to work out. There are only five workouts per week, so if you need to skip a day, you don’t have to feel behind and panic the way you might if you were doing a program with six workouts per week for eight or 12 weeks. Catch up on Saturday or Sunday. 

Someone made a great comment in the group one day; it went something like this: Queens just get up, fix their crowns, and keep going. No big deal.

If you’re the type of person who wants/needs to do all the reps, sets, and circuits of any workout set in front of you, you’ll still need to have a little bit of a mindset shift to take advantage of this benefit of Alexia Clark’s workouts. I did. It was one of the reasons I stopped the program for a little while. I told myself I didn’t have time and I couldn’t keep up. 

This time, when I signed up, I told myself I was going to commit to the 20-30 minute workouts, which is just two circuits. If I have time, I do more. If I’m short on time, I don’t sweat the fact that I can’t do a 90-minute workout. But I “got my workout done” for the day if I just completed those two circuits. It counts as a full workout. Anything else deserves an extra pat on the back. No more FOMO or guilt if I can’t do it all. 

Alexia Clark Seems to Truly Care About the Queen Team

She listens! This is something a few online trainers do well, but I feel like Alexia Clark is one of the most responsive. It’s because she’s not creating whole guides at a time and then sending them out into the world (that’s my guess, anyway).

Alexia loads one workout per day. Do the queens (#queenteam) want more cardio? Boom–January has a cardio challenge. Is there something else that needs to be addressed? You can bet you’ll see it addressed in one of her upcoming emails or the workout notes.

She Responds to Emails

I’ve emailed her a couple of times and she’s always been welcoming, sweet, and quick to reply. She’s supportive on Instagram and hangs out in the Facebook community. Her engagement with the community says a lot.

She’s clearly not just in this for the money. It’s usually pretty easy to tell when someone just sees their following as dollar signs. I’ve followed Alexia for about a year now (maybe more, time runs together) and there’s no evidence of that. She’s not pushing products in her emails or videos, even though she has some.

It’s just fitness, pure and simple, and she supplies a quality product. Then there’s the support from her and the community as a whole to back it up. 

Should You Try the Alexia Clark Program?

You don’t really have anything to lose if you do. She has an option for a free trial now. Because you don’t technically have to have a lot of equipment if you’re willing to improvise, you won’t have to make much of a financial investment at all.

You can cancel at any time, so even if you decide you need another full month after the trial ends to see what you think, just cancel. You’re only out $29.99 because you don’t pay for more than that at one time and you’re not signing any kind of contract.

Are you going to sign up and give these workouts a try? Let me know!