I’ve been experimenting a lot lately with at-home workout options since it can be difficult to make time to get away to a gym with five kids. I recently tried a workout called T-Tapp at the recommendation of a friend.
If you aren’t familiar with T-tapp, it is a short workout system that *looks* very easy and makes claims to boost weight loss, lymph function, flexibility, and more.
I’d heard T-Tapp mentioned in several places online before and was skeptical. When I saw “bio-hackers” like Bulletproof Exec mentioning the T-Tapp system and claiming that it:
- “Is the fastest weight loss workout we’ve ever seen
- Detoxifies the body
- Increases insulin sensitivity, which promotes loss of excess weight
- Reduces stress
- Skyrockets energy levels and mental clarity
- Boosts metabolism
- Improves cardiovascular function
- Helps the brain gain better control over the body (builds neurokinetic function)
- Takes just 15 minutes”
I was intrigued. To be perfectly honest, my first impression of the T-tapp system was that it was kind of an aerobic class type system that most men wouldn’t be caught doing. These bio-hackers specialized in finding the systems for health and wellness that take the least amount of time and produce the biggest results. These are people who are in excellent shape and who I’d expect to be focusing on lifting really heavy weights… and they were doing Hoedowns with Theresa Tapp.
I decided to at least try T-Tapp, though I was still skeptical (again with the whole “looking like an aerobics class” thing). I resolved to actually try the system the way she recommends and post my results.
T-Tapp Claims
T-Tapp claims to be an anti-aging weight loss and fitness system. While many forms of exercise can have weight loss benefits and muscle building effects, some of them can actually speed up aging (especially endurance activities done for long periods of time).
It claims to be low-intensity, muscle toning and good for hormone and insulin levels. For reference, Theresa (the creator of the system-pictured above) is 55 and claims to have done no other forms of exercise for the last 20 years. It also be claims to be gentle on the joints and to tone even the inner core muscles that are often very hard to target.
The T-Tapp System
The T-tapp System was created by Theresa Tapp through her work with rehabilitating patients with joint problems, edema, swelling due to medication, and more. Theresa has a back injury herself that she got as a child and that resulted in three fused disks in her back. She found that proper alignment and posture were vital for her to be pain free and her system focuses very strongly on form and posture.
The T-Tapp system is no-impact and truly anyone can do it. I’ve been doing it during pregnancy and it has been both the easiest and most effective pregnancy workout I’ve ever tried.
The basic system truly only takes 15 minutes and while it takes a little while to get the coordination down, it isn’t physically straining, though it does get the heart rate up and stretch muscles!
The focus is on proper alignment and core muscle strength rather than high impact and endurance. I think many people can benefit from this system and that it is particularly valuable for anyone with adrenal exhaustion or medical conditions that prevent them from doing most physical activity.
The system basically involves doing a series of careful movements with a focus on posture and holding a particular form during the entire workout. The most “difficult” part of the workout is “hoe-downs” which really do raise the heart rate and which she has found to help regulate blood sugar levels, balance hormones, and boost weight loss. As crazy as it sounds, I was amazed at how great they work. Here is a preview of hoe-downs:
Without watching the instructional, the hoe-downs don’t make much sense, but she explains the reason for the posture and how to do the exercises correctly.
My Experience with T-Tapp
As I said, I tried the system somewhat skeptically. I thought that the system seemed too easy to work and that it looked rather strange. I tried what she recommends for the system: Doing the basic workout for 4 days in a row and then every other day for a month.
I measured myself before and after to see if there were any size results. Theresa is not a fan of using a scale to measure progress (I’m not either) since increased muscle (or *ahem* being pregnant) can skew weight measurements. I lost 1/2 to 1 inch in most areas of my body (stomach aside). I’ve definitely become a big fan of the system, especially during pregnancy, as I back off weight training and really high intensity during this time, T-Tapp seems like a great way to keep in shape.
As for how it stacks up to the claims:
- “Is the fastest weight loss workout we’ve ever seen (I didn’t weigh myself but did notice a difference in inches and my posture)
- Detoxifies the body (Logical after trying it, especially since I had some die-off symptoms the first few days including congestion along with the sluggish lymph-drainage feeling)
- Increases insulin sensitivity, which promotes loss of excess weight (Tested this and it does)
- Reduces stress (I found that it was a great stress buster and looked forward to it each time)
- Skyrockets energy levels and mental clarity (surprisingly, yes)
- Boosts metabolism (check- I was already more hungry from being pregnant, but I noticed I was eating a lot more on T-Tapp days but didn’t gain size)
- Improves cardiovascular function (Increases heart rate, so this makes sense)
- Helps the brain gain better control over the body (builds neurokinetic function) (Yep, but takes a while to get the hang of it and not look ridiculous while doing the exercises!)
- Takes just 15 minutes (Really does!)
A couple things surprised me… I actually really enjoyed the T-tapp workout, even though I did feel rather dumb doing some of the exercises, and I looked forward to doing it. I love that it focuses on alignment and posture and have noticed improvements in my own posture (even when sitting at the computer) since starting it. I broke my leg as a child, and it was set with my foot pointing out, so my muscles have been trained that way and my left foot has always pointed slightly out. The other day, I was walking at the grocery store and noticed that my left foot was pointing forward, which I attribute partially to these exercises.
What surprised me the most though, was the blood sugar benefits! T-Tapp claims that it can drastically reduce blood sugar instantly. I found a lot of people who had first hand experience with this on diabetes and gestational diabetes forums, but wanted to test it myself. I monitor my own blood sugar periodically during pregnancy (instead of doing the glucose test) so I had a glucose monitor on hand.
To put the blood sugar lowering claim to the test, I purposefully ate a sweet potato, fruit, and honey in one sitting (I don’t normally eat this much starchy foods at one time!) and did a blood sugar reading about 10 minutes later to get a reading in the 140s. I then did the basic workout with the hoe-downs and took another reading immediately… this reading was back to my normal fasting level of 83! While I don’t have any blood sugar issues, it usually takes me over an hour to get back to a fasting level, sometimes longer with as much starch as I consumed, and I was able to do it in less than half an hour with the T-Tapp exercises.
I can definitely see the potential benefit for diabetics and pregnant women hoping to avoid gestational diabetes. I actually found accounts by diabetes who had been able to go off insulin by doing hoe-downs after every meal. At the least, normal low-impact exercise would not be harmful to diabetics and could only help.
My other favorite thing about T-Tapp is that it can be done in such little time each day and has no recurring cost like gym membership, making it an ideal system for people like me who stay at home with kids and have trouble making it to a gym each day. It also requires no equipment, extra room or fancy clothes (PJs work best in my opinion!)
I went from a skeptic to a T-tappvangelist after trying it myself. It literally costs as much as one month of gym membership where I live and takes less time. Even if a person wanted to buy all of Theresa’s materials, it would still be less than $200, which is the registration fee at the gym near me. Her products include:
- The Basic Workout Plus System (all you really need)
- The Total Workout System
- Fit and Fabulous in 15 Minutes (book)
If you struggle with weight loss, hormone problems, blood sugar, fatigue issues or joint pain, I’d definitely encourage you to try the T-Tapp system for 30 or 60 days to see if you notice the same benefits that I did! Not into T-tapp? Here are some other at-home workout ideas to try.
Have you ever tried T-Tapp? How did you like it? Please let me know below!
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