Busybee Summer Shape Up Guide Review - Is it Worth it?

Unless you live under a rock, you've probably come across quite a few Gymshark athletes during your time on Instagram and you might've noticed that the vast majority of them have their own workout guides. Now, I love following these girls (and guys) on Instagram, they give me motivation with the quick little (free) workout videos they post. But it got to the point where it wasn't enough.

When I first started the gym, I knew from that moment that I really loved it. But the problem was, I didn't quite know what I was doing. I would have a leg day, arm day, and cardio day but they would just result in me aimlessly walking around the gym trying out every machine until it was time to go home (I would end up spending TWO hours there!) But then I discovered the Busybee Shape Up guide (BBSSU). 

What is BBSSU?

BBSSU is a summer workout guide that was made by Carys Gray and Connor Swift. I've always loved Carys so I knew from the moment she announced it that I was going to purchase it and when I found out that this guide was based on her own eight-week cut, the purchase was inevitable. 

The 8-week guide costs £15 which is considerably less than most of the guides the athlete's release (For example, the Grace Fit Guide is £35.00 for 8 weeks). This instantly hooked me, I couldn't quite get my head around how a workout guide was so inexpensive. So if you're short on cash but you're wanting to expand your knowledge at the gym, this is for you. 

How it works

So, as we already know, the guide is split into 8 weeks. Weeks 1 to 4 contain the same/similar exercises and then weeks 5 to 8 contain slightly harder exercises. I liked this structure as my body didn't get too used to the exercises I was doing, and I made sure I increased the reps with each week. Although, Carys recommended between 8-15 reps for most of the exercises. My advice is to always strive for the higher number. 

The exercises include upper, lower, HIIT, LISS and ab workouts and the lower days are glute focus, so this guide is great if you want to build a booty! It's gym based and each exercise is explained in detail with pictures, which was so helpful, especially for beginners. However, this guide isn't just perfect for beginners, but also perfect for experienced gym users!

The average workout lasts between 45 minutes to an hour, which is great because, as I mentioned earlier, I was spending 2 hours at the gym for no reason. Being able to get everything done in an hour is so handy - that's like, 6% of your day. 

What I enjoyed about the guide

Detailed exercises

The exercises in this guide are very detailed, telling you exactly how your form should be along with a clear picture of Carys. This really helped me work on my form and feel the exercises in the muscles I should, which to be fair, wasn't perfect before this guide. 

Facebook support group 

There is a Facebook group that Carys made that allows only the girls who purchased the guide to join. The girls there are so supportive and lovely. I had a few questions about alternative exercises to do (because my gym didn't have the right machine) and they wrote back so fast with many tips and tricks. 

Exercises aren't too complicated

The exercises are great because beginners like me are able to just get on with them. A few examples of the exercises you do are barbell squats, leg press, dumbbell bicep curls etc. These are all very easy to get the hang of. The only exercises I'd say were a little bit more challenging were on the cable machine. However, I had never used the cable machines prior to this guide because they're right where all the men train and I was honestly just intimidated. But now, I can use the cable machines confidently all thanks to BBSSU!

Glute focused

The vast majority of girls want a larger booty so this is definitely a massive selling point. The exercise I've been loving the most to train my glutes is barbell squats and I've been loving increasing the weights each time. 

What I didn't like about the guide 

Hard to record your data

As everything is on a PDF, it is difficult to record your reps, sets and any other notes you may have. Every single exercise I did was in my notes, which was frustrating because if my phone was to mess up, I would probably lose everything. Like the Grace Fit Guide, for example, is powered by the Aflete app so you record all your data on there. 

Not enough cardio/HIIT 

It was recommended in the guide that you choose a HIIT at the end of the week, but to me, I don't think that was enough. I mean, it may work for some people but it didn't for me (and I DON'T enjoy cardio). If you're like me and need more cardio then add it in after a workout, never before because you don't want to tire yourself out! 

Would I recommend BBSSU? 

Absolutely! I actually already have and one of my friends have purchased it. It's cheap, cheerful and beneficial. You can't really go wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed how this guide focused on all muscle groups rather than just abs and booty (like most summer guides). Massive well done to Carys and anyone else included and I hope there's another guide ready for the winter - I will definitely purchase!

If you'd like to purchase the guide, click HERE.

My results 

Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions for future blog posts. I am also happy to answer any questions about veganism you may have.

💓 Phoebe xoxo 

**This post is NOT sponsored, I bought the guide myself and all opinions are my own.