BODi “For Beginners Only” Review: Low-Impact Fitness Program

Are you looking for a low-impact, at-home workout program that’s suitable for those just starting out with exercise? Let’s see if the BODi “For Beginners Only” fitness plan with trainer Lacee Green might be a match for you!

As background, my name is Lillie, and I am a 43-year old teacher and mother of two who has a passion for helping people find a way to move their body for health and happiness! In all my workout and BODi reviews, I actually DO every single video in the program, taking copious notes along the way, so that I can provide you with the most honest, accurate review possible.

Note: Some links here are affiliates which provide a commission upon purchase at no extra cost to you.

How to Access BODi “For Beginners Only”

There are two ways to access the “For Beginners Only” workout program on BODi. The first is to get a subscription to the entire BODi platform, which also includes over 130 other programs. Click here to see the latest deals and discounts for membership, as well as a free trial. Use the sale code LILLIEFIT25 for 25% off the price of full subscriptions!

The second method is to purchase “For Beginners Only” as a stand-alone program without a BODi subscription. You can find that option by clicking this page here — use code LILLIEFIT15 for a 15% off discount if you pick that route.

Overview of “FBO”

The “For Beginners Only” low-impact workout program was released as a “Super Block” on BODi in March of 2023, meaning it was filmed live with Super Trainer Lacee Green (the wonderful modifier from “Muscle Burns Fat” #mbf“) and two cast members in a studio in front of a “BODcast” wall projecting people around the world working out with them. “FBO” is three weeks long — with two bonus workouts for a fourth “UP Week” — for five days a week, teaching simple bodyweight cardio, weightlifting strength training, and mobility exercises in a format suitable for people who are just starting out their fitness journey.

Now as a reminder, please use caution when starting any new workout program; listen to your body and consult a medical professional if you might need guidelines or clearance. Even though this is a “Beginner” BODi program, many people might still need more of a fitness foundation first — perhaps in the form of a few sessions with a personal trainer or physical therapist before embarking on home workouts. Use wise judgement, and do what’s best for YOU in order to stay safe.

Equipment Needed for “For Beginners Only”

Relatively little equipment is needed to do “For Beginners Only” — just a few dumbbells, a mat, and workout loops. Because 95% the moves are done standing, you don’t need to invest in a lot of floor coverings like ultra-squishy mats, but you may want a towel nearby to pad your knees for the few times there are knee-modified push-ups or “Bird Dogs.”

What about weight amounts? Since this isn’t my first workout program, I used 5 pound, 10 pound, 15 pound, and 20 pound neoprene-covered dumbbells like these, but if you’re just starting out, you could probably be fine with just 5s and 10s.

BODi “For Beginners Only” Review

So, how was “FBO,” and would I recommended it? There were some aspects of this program that I adored — and think most people would, too. There were, however, some dimensions of it that could either be a negative, or, as with “Sure Thing,” go either way. Let’s examine each in detail.

Positive Aspects of “FBO”

1. It truly is good for fitness beginners, and actually low impact.

There are some programs on BODi that I think are absolutely NOT appropriate for people new to online exercise — hellooo, “80 Day Obsession!” — but “For Beginners Only” honestly IS great for those just starting out. Lacee takes her time to lay out the foundations of cardio, strength, and mobility home workouts, defining all exercise terms used, and building slowly from basic moves to more complex ones… all while offering clear modifications for even more ease.

For example, the warm-up is just a small no-impact bounce from side-to-side, with the option to jog in place only being introduced in later weeks — still with the option to keep modifying down. Further, she introduces the visual image a “square” around you, and explains the different dimensions of moves (sagittal, frontal, transverse, and lateral) using this helpful cue.

“For Beginners Only” leads you methodically through the basic elements of home workouts, including different types of squats, hinges, lunges and weight-lifting moves (versus “XB Pilates” which dives right to some concepts I didn’t understand). Even for someone who has done over two dozen other home workouts, I learned a great deal about proper form and body placement from “FBO.”

2. Great modifications down — and even up.

Throughout “For Beginners Only,” the modifier, Claudia, shows how to make the moves more accessible by using a chair for balance and support, decreasing the range of motion, or adding other helpful alterations. Unlike a program like “Job 1” where modifications are delayed or not shown, “FBO” emphasizes the modifier, and keeps her on screen most of the time.

I will also add that “FBO” offers delightful modifications UP, too, should you want to intensify. The cast member Robert (“Ferg”) shows some on screen, and if you’ve done a few workout programs before, you can figure out how to add your own mods up, too. Even though I’m at a High Intermediate workout level, I did end up quite nicely sore from “For Beginners Only” workouts because I really pushed myself to lift heavy.

Further, for anyone concerned about a slow pace for this beginner workout, Lacee actually does a better job than “4 Weeks of Focus” in saying early on that you can bounce or jog during instructions. This way you can intensify the workout and keep your heart rate up if desired, so that no time is wasted.

3. Lacee Green is wonderful in “For Beginners Only!”

Super Trainer Lacee Green is a phenomenal addition to the BODi platform, bringing joy and inclusive fun, paired with quality instruction, cueing, inspiration, and fitness education. We knew since #mbfa that she was a star!

4. The cast is diverse and passionate.

It is a joy to see people of so many age groups, body types, ethnicities, and varieties on the BODcast screen! “For Beginners Only” showcases the most diversity I’ve seen in a program since “Let’s Get Up,” and it’s extremely motivating. Even Lacee’s 75-year-old mother is one of the participants!!!

The in-studio cast, Claudia and Robert (“Ferg”), are excellent as well, and have powerful back-stories — including that Claudia has been battling epilepsy. They don’t talk or interact as much as the “6 Weeks of the Work” cast, but absolutely bring the positivity and smiles… as well as sweat.

5. Clear and organized ramp-up in difficulty over the weeks.

Unlike “4 Weeks for Every Body” which is explicitly set up NOT to progress in difficulty, “For Beginners Only” has a clear fitness curriculum that increases in challenge level and complexity from very basic on Day 1, to compound movements by the end of Week 3. As a teacher, I love this ramping-up structure, and appreciate that it could truly bring someone who is new to fitness up to a level that they could successfully do many other programs in the BODi library by the end of the month.

Even within each video, moves are taught from the basic level to the more complex. For example, for “Bird Dog,” first Lacee has you just lift your arms up while on all fours, then just your legs, and then only at the end of the set does she have you combine lifting both one arm and one leg. For a beginner, this progression builds confidence, and even for someone at an advanced level, this helps you ensure you are using correct form for the fundamentals of the exercise.

6. Impressive focus on mobility and functional fitness.

As you may have seen in my “LIIFT4” review, I get very irritated when workout programs neglect mobility, flexibility, and balance. To my surprise, “For Beginners Only” does a fantastic job of incorporating all of those elements!

Like “XB Sweat + Sculpt” emphasizes, mobility work is extremely important for building a healthy, well-balanced body that can help us age strong. For example, nearly every video in “FBO” includes transverse (twisting) moves, and unilateral (one-sided) moves to foster balance. If you’re more advanced and use caution, you can even modify up some of the unilateral moves by hovering your foot!

7. Motivational ethos of “health esteem,” fun, and inspiring words.

The emphasis in “For Beginners Only” is on feeling good and “health esteem” — not on becoming a size two. With inspiring quotes, hilarious dance breaks, and vibrant smiles, Lacee and the cast keep this vibe alive and motivating. The set is also visually appealing to gaze upon.

8. The time frame is very doable and effective.

A three-week program that has five 30-minute-ish workouts and two rest-days a week is highly doable, as we saw with “Tough Mudder T-Minus 30.” It’s the perfect mix of being short enough to complete, but long enough to yield at least some results.

9. There’s a mix of bodyweight and weighted exercises.

“For Beginners Only” works effectively for those who periodically travel, or want to work out with kids, since half of the videos are bodyweight moves only (no need to pack dumbbells for those), and since you’re standing most of the time. My 9-year-old daughter really enjoyed doing one or two of bodyweight cardio workouts with me — reprising her role as my workout buddy from “30 Day Breakaway.”

10. IMPORTANT HIDDEN FEATURE: Background music can be turned on or off.

Ok, this next “Pro” was almost a major “Con” of the program because it took me until Week 3 to figure out: you can turn the background music on or off! Just click the speech box icon in the lower right corner, and then click “Audio: English, Trainer Only.” This is a hugely useful feature for those who prefer no music, or adding their own tunes!

Potential Problems with “For Beginners Only”

A. The pace can be slow, even in Week 3.

Though this may be a positive aspect for people just starting off with exercise, the pace of “For Beginners Only” can be a bit slow because even in Week 3, Lacee usually explains and demos each exercise at least once — if not twice. By the third week, I just started the exercises on my own while she was still explaining, and got in extra reps that way: a similar tactic that many use in the classic beginner workout, “21 Day Fix.”

If you’re not a total beginner and want to try a bit more of an advanced program that is still appropriate for higher beginners, it might be a match to try the “Fire and Flow” program instead, as it’s a bit quicker. It’s all a matter of what style fits best for your body and motivation.

B. You may want more variety than “FBO” offers.

Because “For Beginners Only” is about building foundational exercise knowledge, there is an emphasis on the basic squat, hinge, and lunge moves of workouts… which makes for sooo many squats, and a lot of repetition in general. Though there is a bit of variety within this (adding in transverse twists and so on), by the end of “FBO” I found myself longing for the creative and surprising moves of, say, “9 Week Control Freak” and was quite ready for a change.

C. It’s confusing to navigate to, given the “Super Block” structure.

Unlike the traditional BODi programs like “Dig Deeper” where you click right to them on the platform, “For Beginners Only” requires a confusing additional click, and is prominently labeled “March 2023 Super Block” which I think could throw some people off who don’t realize that it’s essentially the same as a full polished program. Perhaps the interface will be reworked at some point — it seems to be a relatively easy technological problem to fix.

D. The music situation is not ideal.

As I mentioned in the “Pros” section, you do have the option to turn on or off the music for “FBO,” but when you turn it on… be prepared for a mixed bag. My understanding is that there used to be known pop music in the background, but due to copyright issues, it had to be replaced with a strange mix of original music that verges towards intense club music.

I did enjoy some of the tunes and find myself grooving to them, but others were distracting. As I mentioned in my “3 Day Split” Review, background music with lyrics can get in the way of hearing the trainer.

E. Quite a few workouts are over 30 minutes.

Though the workouts in “For Beginners Only” are mostly around 30 minutes, the timing is not exact (unlike BODi “645”) which means some of the videos are 37 or even 39 minutes long. Though an extra ten minutes seems like it wouldn’t be a big deal, when you have a packed working parent schedule, erratic timing can make workouts tougher to schedule.

F. BODcast can be problematic.

We talked about the positives of the BODcast projected along the walls in the “Pros” section, above, but there are several negatives. First, there are lags and glitches that produced some awkward live filming moments of frozen exercisers, or people hearing the instructions at a delay. Second, because the people in the BODcast aren’t professionals like Amoila Cesar in “Chop Wood, Carry Water,” they can sometimes model incorrect exercise form that Lacee sometimes could correct, but couldn’t always.

G. Quotes can be… off.

While I appreciate the message of many of the inspirational quotes used in the start of each video, some rubbed me the wrong way! For example, because they all incorporate the word “ONLY” in them (as a nod to the title of the program, “For Beginners ONLY”), they verged towards dangerous “toxic positivity.”

Some examples included, “ONLY see the good in people,” and “Good vibes ONLY.” As someone who’s trying to identify and distance myself from people with hurtful traits, and also to allow myself to feel and address negative emotions versus repressing and denying them, I disagreed with those statements, and think they could lead people in the wrong direction.

H. Weight amounts are rarely stated.

Probably because “FBO” is for people just starting out with exercise, Lacee rarely stated the amount of weight she was lifting — unlike Joel in “LIIFT MORE.” Though this can help people new to fitness not get demoralized (“How is she lifting 15 when I’m only at 5?”) I usually prefer to have the trainer give at least a general guideline for amounts.

I. No on-screen timer in BODi “For Beginners Only.”

In contrast to BODi LAVA, “For Beginners Only” doesn’t have an on-screen countdown timer for the workout. This makes it harder to plan exertion and “leave it all on the mat.”

J. This may not fit all beginners! Use caution.

My big worry with “For Beginners Only” is that some people may not realize that — like any new movement program — one still needs to embark on it with caution. While I think that “FBO” is probably one of the best options for beginner workouts on BODi, there are still moments when the modifier isn’t shown on screen, or there’s a move that could cause injury if not done correctly (as with all exercises!), or the cool-down is too short. Again, it’s always so important to listen to your body to stay safe, even if something is labeled as for beginners.

BODi “For Beginners Only” Review, in Sum

Overall, I really enjoyed “For Beginners Only” on BODi with Lacee Green and think it’s a great addition to the platform — becoming one of the best options out there for people just starting with online home exercise who want to make their workout plans stick. That said, the program does have some downsides, and may not be a match for everyone.

If you’ve done “FBO,” what was your experience? If you haven’t done it yet but are considering it, or other BODi workout programs, what questions do you have? Do share!

Want another program that’s great for a slight step up from Beginners? Check out my “25 Minute Speed Train” review to see why it may be a fit for most levels!