Tai Cheng Exercise Program Review
9.50/10
Quick Overview
- Difficulty
Intermediate
- Cost
Moderate
- Trial Period
90 Days
The Tai Cheng exercise program is a unique entry into the Beachbody fitness program catalog. Rather than focusing strongly on weight loss, muscle building or some combination of the two, Tai Cheng places its focus on the other benefits of physical activity, including mental and physical balance, flexibility, range of motion, stress relief, pain reduction and more.
These previously mentioned physical and
mental benefits are realized through the
practice of Tai Chi, an ancient Chinese
physical art that has exercisers stringing
together graceful, yoga-like movements into
exercise routines.
No one is too young, too old or too out of shape to take advantage of the Tai Cheng exercise program, which is designed with an easy learning curve to cater to individuals of all fitness levels. The pacing is relaxed in comparison to programs like Insanity and P90X, allowing you to develop your understanding and performance of the moves at your own pace. At the same time, even advanced physical fitness enthusiasts will benefit from Tai Cheng and its relaxing routines, which actually require significant levels of balance and flexibility once you reach the advanced stages of the program.
Tai Cheng was designed by Dr. Mark Cheng in collaboration with Beachbody. Dr. Cheng, who also serves as the instructor of the program, has worked for 20 years as a martial arts master and Tai Chi instructor. The difference between Tai Cheng and traditional Tai Chi programs is Dynamic Motion Control, a concept developed by Dr. Cheng as a way of easing the mastery of Tai Chi moves for beginning students.
As with all other Beachbody programs, Tai Cheng is backed with a 90-day money-back guarantee in addition to free customer support offered by phone, email and live chat.
The primary intent of the Tai Cheng exercise program from Beachbody is to make you feel younger and healthier than you have in years, all thanks to the power of the ancient Chinese art of Tai Chi. Although you can expect some level of weight loss and muscular toning to occur as you work your way through the program, the primary benefits of Tai Cheng include stress relief, increased energy, increased flexibility, more agility, a lower threshold of exhaustion, and more motivation (not to mention physical capability) to perform more intense forms of exercise. The Tai Cheng exercise program is also intended to improve your mental health by calming and centering your mind while giving you a physical outlet for your energy.
In order to accomplish its intent, the Tai Cheng fitness program is shipped with the following materials:
- 12 DVDs including 18 different Tai Chi movements
- Easy-Does-It exercise guidebook
- Feel Better food plan with nutritional guidance
- Tai Cheng Foam Roller to assist with certain exercises
- Weekly workout calendar to keep the workouts organized and structured
- Tape measure for keeping track of your progress as you go
At the time of this publication, Tai Cheng also includes $250 worth of bonus gifts including the following:
- Applied Tai Cheng: Travel & Sport bonus DVD featuring two separate 10-minute routines aimed at reducing stiffness and pain as they relate to athletics
- Just Eat This nutrition guide
- Low-resistance elastic strength band
- Medium-resistance elastic strength band
- Removable floor tape for marking out your exercise area
- Free access to the Beachbody online community
For an additional fee you can order the Tai Cheng Master Kit, which includes everything from the Tai Cheng base kit in addition to:
- Two extra DVDs: Qi Gong and Master Class workouts
- Weekly Master wall calendar
- Beachbody RumbleRoller exercise tool
- High-resistance elastic strength band
- Weighted gloves
Tai Cheng is designed as a total body workout program. This means that you'll be improving all areas of your body simultaneously rather than focusing on one or two target areas. As mentioned, the primary purpose of Tai Cheng is not to lose as much weight or gain as much muscle as you can, as quickly as possible. Although there are plenty of other Beachbody programs designed for these exact purposes, Tai Cheng is more about improving your holistic health through the use of traditional Tai Chi exercise moves. Although you'll naturally lose some weight and gain some muscle along the way, the primary benefits are improving your flexibility and range of motion, reducing joint and muscle stiffness and soreness, improving your daily energy levels and preparing your body for more intense forms of exercise, if you choose to eventually do them.
For example, certain benefits of Tai Cheng - such as improved balance, flexibility and coordination - can be applied to a wide variety of other physical activities, ranging from aerobics and strength training to sports like tennis, basketball and soccer. The inner peace and centering of the mind that you'll experience with Tai Cheng will also be beneficial in multiple areas of life, including physical endeavors as well as relationships and your professional career.
The Tai Cheng fitness program lasts for a total of 90 days and includes four separate phases. Phases 1, 2 and 3 each include 6 different Tai Chi moves that you'll learn gradually at your own pace. The first three phases each last 3 weeks, while the final phase lasts for 4 weeks. In Phase 4, you'll learn how to combine the moves you learned previously into various sequences, each of which offer their own physical and mental benefits.
Although Tai Cheng requires a full 90 days to complete, you should expect to see results much sooner. In fact, many people who perform even a single session of Tai Cheng report improved energy, reduced pain and stiffness and myriad other benefits.
Once you complete the 90-day program, you'll be able to repeat certain segments of Tai Cheng - particularly the fourth phase in which you string the moves together into sequences - for as long as you'd like. Many people have used Tai Cheng as an introduction to the art of Tai Chi, at which point they make Tai Chi a regular component of their ongoing fitness routines.
As mentioned, the full Tai Cheng exercise program lasts for a total of 90 days, but you'll probably experience results well before that time period ends. As with other Beachbody programs, the overall effectiveness of Tai Cheng will depend on your ability to stick to the workout schedule suggested in the included guidelines. Consistency is key to realizing all of the available benefits to their fullest extent.
One of the main purposes of Tai Cheng is to introduce you to various moves contained within the art of Tai Chi. As with certain yoga moves, Tai Chi moves can be difficult to perform correctly immediately after you learn them. If there are any moves that seem confusing at first, it's important to continue practicing them until you can perform them with the perfect form. Maintaining proper form is crucial to maximizing the effectiveness of the exercises.
Equipment/space requirements is one area where Tai Cheng outshines most other Beachbody programs. Unlike the vast majority of at-home exercise programs, the Tai Cheng fitness program includes everything you need to perform all of the included workouts. The only obvious exceptions are a DVD player and TV, which you'll need for viewing the workout DVDs.
Other than these basic requirements, Tai Cheng includes everything you need: a foam roller and resistance bands. You'll need an area measuring approximately 6 feet by 6 feet in order to perform the moves without limiting your range of movement.
One of the main advantages of the Tai Cheng fitness program is its flexibility. Individuals of virtually all fitness levels can take on Tai Cheng and experience tangible benefits shortly after beginning. In fact, the types of moves included in Tai Cheng are ideally suited to those with little physical or athletic prowess, since things like balance, flexibility and coordination are so important to solidify before you move on to other forms of exercise. Doing business in Lithuania businessinlitouwen.nl
If you consider yourself physically fit already, you can still realize benefits from Tai Cheng - particularly the mental ones. Practicing regular sessions of Tai Chi with Tai Cheng is useful even for experienced athletes because of how it improves balance, produces calm and relieves stress. However, it's important to incorporate another, more physically-demanding program into your overall fitness routine if your primary goal is to quickly lose weight or develop muscle mass, strength and density.
The Tai Cheng exercise program comes backed by the world-class customer support Beachbody has become renowned for. This means that if you ever encounter a problem with or have a question about Tai Cheng, you can contact Beachbody for free assistance via phone, live chat or email.
Tai Cheng also comes with Beachbody's 90-day money-back guarantee. If you wish to return the Tai Cheng exercise program for any reason within 90 days of your original purchase date, you may do so for a full refund.
The Tai Cheng fitness program is available two ways, each of which is priced separately.
The Tai Cheng base kit can be purchased for three monthly payments of $39.95, plus $24.95 for shipping and handling. This kit includes everything you'll need to work your way through the Tai Cheng program, including 12 DVDs, an exercise guidebook, a food plan, a foam roller, a weekly workout calendar, a tape measure, a bonus DVD with applied Tai Cheng workouts, a nutrition guide, low and medium-resistance strength bands, removable floor tape and access to the Beachbody online community.
The Tai Cheng Master Kit can be purchased for a single payment of $239.70 plus $19.78 for shipping and handling. This kit includes everything from the base kit as well as two additional DVDs (Master Class and Qi Gong), a wall calendar, a RumbleRoller foam roller, a high-resistance elastic strength band and weighted gloves. All of these materials and designed to enhance the intensity of each Tai Cheng workout you perform.
If you've already purchased the Tai Cheng base kit and would like to upgrade to the Master Kit, you may do so by purchasing the Tai Cheng Master Kit Upgrade for $119.85. If you only wish to purchase the DVDs and high-resistance strength band included with the Master Kit, you may do so by buying the Tai Cheng Master Kit DVDs with Strength Band for $44.85.
Finally, you can purchase the Tai Cheng Body Alignment DVD separately for just $19.95. This standalone Tai Cheng DVD teaches you how to alleviate mobility issues, strengthen your core, prevent injury, correct bad joint mechanics, walk with improved posture and more.
Summary
The Tai Cheng exercise program is an excellent addition to the Beachbody catalog because it's well-suited to individuals of all fitness levels, including both fitness beginners and advanced athletes and enthusiasts. Tai Cheng teaches users the ancient art of Tai Chi, in which graceful body movements are strung together into a routine.
While you can expect small amounts of weight loss and muscle growth to occur as you perform the Tai Cheng fitness program, the primary benefits include pain reduction, stress relief, increased joint range of motion, reduced muscle stiffness and gains in flexibility, balance and coordination.
With that said, individuals who are primarily interested in losing as much weight or gaining as much muscle as they can, as quickly as they can, would likely be better served by other Beachbody programs such as P90X, Insanity, Les Mills Pump and Body Beast. At the same time, Tai Cheng does an excellent job of filling a niche that Beachbody's fitness program catalog previously left empty.
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