Want a Sweat it to Shred it review quick? Scroll down for the review summary!
It has been a hot minute since Sarah’s Day released her first fitness guide ebook, ‘Sweat it to Shred it’. I’ve watched Sarah for years and, as you most likely know, LOVE her and her content. But, I had never done Sweat it to Shred it nor Sweat it Reload before.
I’ve always been a gym-goer and, therefore, never felt the need to purchase Sweat it to Shred it – a no equipment, do it at home, guide. My gym going ways obviously became an issue when all the gyms closed. What was I to do now? Run around my living room?
Sarah must have heard my frustration. Not even a week later she announced that she was going to be doing her 8-week fitness challenge, Sweat it to Shred it, AND they were going to be on sale! I snatched myself a copy straight away and was VERY excited to try something new and workout alongside Sarah and her community.
As I’m writing this, I finished the guide this morning, so it is all fresh in my brain and I hope you find this review useful.
If you’re reading this before Wednesday 27th May then ACT FAST – Sarah is doing another SALE on BOTH of her ebooks! (During the sale each guide costs approx. £17-£18)
Sweat it to Shred it Review
What is included in Sweat it to Shred it?
The Workouts
Sweat it to Shred it is made up of 4 different types of workouts – sweaty shredders, toning power, activity days and challenges.
Sweaty shredders consist of 7 different exercises, each performed 6 times for 30 seconds. Yes, you heard that right. SIX TIMES FOR THIRTY SECONDS. These workouts tend to be the most challenging and, I can confirm, the name lives up to expectation. You perform exercise 1 six times, with a 10 second break in between each set and then move on to exercise 2. A sweaty shredder takes about 30 minutes to complete.
Toning powers are still time-based but slow things down a bit. The purpose of the workout is to tone the muscles, so they include more defining exercises as opposed to the cardio ones in sweaty shredders. Toning powers also take about 30 minutes to complete. There are 6 different exercises, split into 3 pairs. You complete each pair 4 times and then move on to the next. Each set lasts 2 minutes, 1 minute for each exercise in the pair. You then get a 45 second rest between sets.
Activity days is Sarah’s way of pushing you to switch things up a bit. Throughout the guide she suggests activities such as beach workouts (I did mine on my drive), walks or a choice of your own.
Challenges are set by Sarah and range from 152 card pick-up (an absolute killer btw) to 10 minute ab-blasters. The times for these workouts range between 10 minutes to however long it takes!
The Workout Split
Sarah organised Sweat it to Shred it so that you aren’t thrown in the deep end straight away. (But don’t be fooled, week one is no walk in the park.) Weeks 1-3 see you complete one of each workout. Weeks 4-5 see you increase to 2 sweaty shredders and the guide finishes off on weeks 6-8 of 2 sweaty shredders, 2 toning powers, 1 activity and a challenge.
Other information included
Sweat it to Shred is an 8-week fitness challenge and, therefore, does not include any information or reference to nutrition. I didn’t have a problem with this as I was just there for the workouts but worth mentioning for those looking to make serious progress.
Sarah also includes a suggested warm-up of which I did before every single workout. I really liked how Sarah included this as it tends to be something that is missed off of many guides. It is easy and gets your heart going before getting down to business.
Lastly, Sarah suggests recording your progress throughout the Sweat it to Shred it challenge through progress pictures. She evens includes a layout for you to insert your photos and keep track. Speaking of progress pictures, let’s get into my personal experience…
My experience of the Sweat it to Shred it guide
Intentions and goals
My intentions going into Sweat it to Shred it was all about maintaining. I had worked months on growing my muscle and strength at the gym and didn’t want to just sit around wasting it away. I don’t have any equipment at home, so bodyweight needed to be my friend. (This also influenced me to write a post exploring whether bodyweight exercises are effective!)
Previously, I had been doing YouTube workouts, but I began struggling with motivation. I needed a resource that allowed me to just wake up and do and Sweat it to Shred it was exactly that. The guide maps out every one of your workouts for the next 8 weeks. This means you don’t need the motivation to organise yourself, it is all done for you and all you need to do is turn up.
My thoughts on the Sweat it to Shred it workouts
So, my physical goal was about maintaining but what about mental goals? As mentioned before, I was lacking in motivation at the beginning of lockdown. I enjoy challenging myself and trying new things and finding myself sat down repeating each day was really having a tole on my mental health. The first workout of Sweat it to Shred it is a sweaty shredder and I had never trained like that before. I was shocked at how much of a challenge the workout was and the sense of achievement I felt after finishing it.
One of my favourite workouts was the ‘beach workout’ that first appears in week one. Obviously, I couldn’t do this on a beach, so I did it outside on my front drive. The sun was shining and, as I was doing my sprints, it was the first time that I had felt that summer workout feeling.
I did find that, as I got further through the guide, that the exercises in the workouts became repetitive. Especially in week 7, where I felt like I had done about a million star crunches. (Although, they are still better than burpees so I’m not complaining.) A positive to this is you are able to see how you have progressed over the 8 weeks. (I went from ‘I’m dead’ to ‘I’m only slightly dying’)
My Sweat it to Shred it progress
So how exactly did I progress during the 8 weeks? Well, in terms of my physical goal of maintaining I would say that my lower body was almost a success. My legs have become a bit ‘squishier’ than before but overall, I am happy with what I have maintained.
The main thing I wanted to talk about is my upper body. If you have been following my fitness posts for a while you would know I have been struggling to grow my upper body strength. I have a fairly toned back and shoulders so you would think I was stronger but nope. Well, I can happily say that I have seen, or should I say experienced, progress on my upper body strength – finally! I guess this is one way where the repetition of exercises came in handy. There were many variations of exercises that included push-ups, so my confidence and ability has improved. This is probably my best achievement from the Sweat it to Shred it guide.
As with most, I am spending an increasing amount sat down but Sweat it to Shred it kept me moving. Completing each workout also gave me a huge sense of accomplishment and boosted my motivation. Of course, there were days when the workouts were harder to complete. There were even days when I didn’t do them on the assigned day and found myself doing them a week later. But, overall, Sweat it to Shred it gave me a purpose. It gave me that physical challenge that lockdown had taken away.
Review Summary
If you are reading this whilst still in lockdown, there is no better time to invest and start Sweat it to Shred it. With no equipment required and every workout for 8 weeks set out for you, it has never been easier to keep active. The workouts in the guide are easily adapted, of which, I will admit, I did many times as, I swear, jump squats will be the death of me. In fact, if you have access to weights at home then you can take these workouts to the next level.
Sweat it to Shred it concentrates solely on physical activity and does not touch on the nutrition side of things. It is also worth mentioning that many of the photos are of Sarah and her abs etc… which, whilst not intended to be so, could have an impact if you have/are experiencing with body image issues.
| Pros | Cons |
| No equipment needed (very lockdown friendly) | No nutrition section (this didn’t bother me) |
| Workouts are easily adaptable | Guide is a PDF so exercise examples are pictures, not videos. |
| Different type of workouts than usual (e.g. Sweaty Shredders) so a good challenge | Begins to get slightly repetitive nearing the final weeks |
| 8 weeks of workouts mapped out for you | Guide photos are very ab-focused |
| Suggested warm-up included | Unless you buy Sarah’s Timer app, you need to use your own timer |
If you are thinking about purchasing Sweat it to Shred it then please feel free to ask any questions you may have in the comments below. Sarah also has another follow-on ebook, Sweat it Reload, which I will be starting this week! If you want to continue the challenge journey you can follow me on Instagram.
Until next time my friends,