Turbulence Training Review (or How I Lost 26 Pounds in 4 Months)

Craig Ballantyne and Bally the Dog

The very best thing I have done in the area of personal development so far in 2009 is to get into better shape.

I did it with one of the most popular workout programs right now, Craig Ballantyne’s Turbulence Training for Fatloss.

Over the last four months I have used the program and by doing so I have reaped these pretty awesome benefits:

• I have lost 26 pounds. My belly is flat, I have lost quite a bit of body fat and 12 kilograms/26 pounds of weight since I last weighed myself in the very beginning of February (both I and friends/family were a bit shocked at how much I had lost, we were guessing that I maybe had lost half that weight over these months).
• My day to day energy has gone way up (at least doubled).
• I am stronger.
• I am more productive and find it easier than ever to be and stay positive.
• I may even look younger. One amusing side effect is that I also seem to look younger since I have had to show my driver’s license a few times over the last weeks in places where the age limit was 25 years (I’m 29). Haven’t had to do that in probably over three years.

Me – before and after

Here are a few photos of me. A bit of before and after I suppose.

To the left is a picture of me at a wedding in October 2008 (I couldn’t find an image that was closer to the start of my training, but I looked pretty much that way until February when I started with this program).

To the right is a picture of me from the beginning of May of 2009.

It’s pretty obvious that I was chubbier and just looking wider back then compared to now.

What is Turbulence Training?

Turbulence Training is a program consisting of downloadable e-books, audio and social support through a online forum by fitness trainer and writer Craig Ballantyne. Craig has written for magazines like Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness and Oxygen and been coaching people in Turbulence Training for years. You can see a picture of him and his dog Bally at the start of this review.

In Turbulence Training you combine brief weight lifting workouts focused on compound exercises – movements where you use many muscle groups – with about 4-6 intervals of running, cycling or body weight circuits to burn a lot of fat while maintaining/increasing your muscle mass.

Each workout takes only about 45 intense minutes all in all – this includes warm-ups and a cool down – and you do three of those per week. You shake things up and switch workout programs every fourth week to keep your body guessing – or in turbulence – and this makes it easier to keep losing fat and to avoid plateaus in your progress.

5 Reasons Why I use Turbulence Training

Besides the obvious positive health effects there are a few other good reasons why I chose Turbulence Training and why I am sticking with it. These reasons are also solutions to some of the most common reasons/excuses why people don’t get in shape and make regular exercise a part of their lives.

1. You can do it at home. You can do Turbulence Training workouts at home right now. So I have no excuses to skip workouts. This is especially great here in Sweden where we have pretty bad weather a large part of the year. Instead of going to the gym or going out running I can do a 45 minute workout right here in my apartment.
2. It’s cheap. I use two dumbbells and a stability ball for my workouts. But some of the body weight circuits can be done without any other equipment other than your own body. It doesn’t get much cheaper or simpler than that.
3. You can do it quickly. Squeezing in three 45 minute workouts a week isn’t too hard, even if you have a busy schedule. You also save a lot of time and stress by being able to skip all the travelling to and from the gym.
4. Concise and easy to understand instructions. I’m no fitness expert so I really appreciate that the workouts are laid out in a simple and easy to follow manner with pictures and detailed descriptions of each exercise. Craig also keeps things lean and focuses on the just essential stuff instead of padding out the various books in the program. He has also included a helpful Common Questions & Answers chapter in the main manual.
5. Variation. I have found that since I have increased my own energy I have also become more restless. So I appreciate that you get to switch workout programs every fourth week. And that you never actually do the same workout on two occasions in a row since you switch back and forth between an A and B (and sometimes C) workout within every four week workout schedule. This keeps things interesting.

Body weight circuits instead of regular cardio

I really don’t like jogging. Or using a stationary bike. So it has been hard for me to be consistent with cardio training over the years. I have lifted weights pretty consistently but always stopped doing cardio exercise after a couple of weeks. Body weight circuits – my favourite part of Turbulence Training – do however fit me really well.

They are quick – only about 15 minutes per workout – and I can do them right here on my own floor. A bodyweight circuit is basically a number of exercises – like pushups, planks, running in place with high knees and sitting against a wall – stringed together without any rest. After you have done about 8 such exercises in a row you get to rest for just one minute.

Then you do them all over again. And after one more minute of rest then you do them one last time. So it’s three circuits, with only 2 minutes of rest all together.

It is pretty intense, I am usually sweating and breathing like crazy after each workout.

I use the Deluxe version of Turbulence Training. It includes a whole lot of body weight exercises compared to the basic version of the program like for example a manual with 6 months of just bodyweight workouts.

What I eat

Craig says, like many other fitness experts, that your diet is the biggest part of what determines your fat loss. You can’t compensate for a bad diet no matter how much or hard you work out. So I followed the instructions from Craig and ate a lot of veggies, whole foods and kept an eye on my calories by using Fitday.com to make sure I had a calorie deficit in my diet. Sure, I slipped and cheated a bit with candy and beer and it wasn’t easy on some days but kept myself on track most of the time.

It’s not just me that got in shape

Although I am very happy with my own results so far I wanted to add a few other before and after pictures that kinda blew my socks off. Jason, Catherine, and Hal have all been a part of the 12 week Turbulence Training Transformation Contests that Craig holds a couple of times a year.

Get your own copy of Turbulence Training

There are two versions of Turbulence Training, the basic one and the Deluxe version.

The basic version of Turbulence Training includes these e-books in PDF-format plus other bonuses:

• The Turbulence Training Manual. 128 pages of advice on what to eat, general training and motivational advice and 9 specific workouts laid out for beginners, intermediate and advanced people in simple formats. You can print out your workouts and put a checkmark for every exercise and workout you have completed. This makes it easy to just follow along and track your workouts. A big part of the book are detailed descriptions with photos on how to do each exercise.
• Two Workouts especially for abs: Amazing Lower Abs & Turbulence Training for Abs.
• Bonuses for Men: The Busy Dads Workout, Turbulence Training for Mass and the DB-BW Fusion Workout.
• Bonuses for Women: Fit Yummy Mummy by Holly Rigsby, Mastering the Fat Loss Mindset and Turbulence Training for Women.
• The 4 Week Bodyweight Workout.
• The Fusion Fat Loss Program (includes specific instructions for mealplans that Craig uses himself to get really lean).
• The Nutrition Guide by Dr. Chris Mohr. A short and simple guide on what and how much to eat.
• Tranformations Secrets. Interviews done with Craig and other fitness experts like Brad Pilon.
• 30-Day for Maximum Fat Loss Workout.
• A one hour interview with Craig in mp3 format where he explains what Turbulence Training is and how it works.
• 1 month forum access. You get access to Craig’s online forum where you can ask questions and get social support from other members. The forums are quite active and Craig is too as he seems to check out most discussions and answers any questions people have.

The Deluxe version of Turbulence Training includes all of the stuff above plus 9 months of workouts in these 5 body weight workout e-books:

• The Turbulence Training 6-Month Bodyweight Manual.
• The Bodyweight 500 Workout Challenge.
• The Athletes 8-Week Training Program.
• The Ultimate Advanced Bodyweight Workout.
• The Bodyweight 1000 Fat Burning Challenge.

And Craig offers a 60 Day Money Back Guarantee with no questions asked.

So if you want to get in better shape over the summer and for life click here to get the basic version of Turbulence Training + the bonuses.

Or click here to get the Deluxe version with all the extra body weight workouts + all the bonuses.

60 Day Money Back Guarantee with no questions asked.