Review: Focus T25

Happy Second Week of the New Year!  I hope no one froze on Monday or Tuesday...
My puppies responded to the cold with alternating insanity and ultra-cuddliness.

All cuteness aside...
I wanted to do a quick plug for another program from my main man, Shaun T:

Last year, he introduced Focus T25, a program targeted at people who simple don't have time for the hour-long workouts normally produced by Beachbody (namely P90X & Insanity).  It was promoted as being able to deliver 60 minutes-worth of results in under half an hour.  Amazing!

But does it work?  The answer: it depends.  If you have significant gains to make and are very diligent with your diet (read: low cal), then sure.  I bet it can give you great results, primarily because it won't exhaust you the way daily, hour-long sweat-fests will.  If you have already been doing intense, explosive cardio and weights, then you probably won't be able to achieve a fantastically transformed physique at the end of 10 weeks with this program alone.

Now, here's a breakdown of the program:

25 minutes x 6 days a week (or the option to do doubles on Friday and have Saturday off)

10 week schedule (5 weeks of Alpha and 5 weeks of Beta)

- 5 Alpha workouts (Cardio, Speed 1.0, Total Body Circuit, Ab Intervals, and Lower Focus)

- 5 Beta workouts (Core Cardio, Speed 2.0, RipT Circuit, Dynamic Core, and Upper Focus)

- Stretch (also 25 minutes and optional every Sunday)

- Bonus: Core Speed

They include a resistance band, workout calendar, and nutrition guide with the program, which sells for $120 + $20 shipping on Beachbody's website or $140 with free 2-day shipping on Amazon Prime.  There is an advanced Gamma phase that you can order separately, but I don't have it so I can't tell ya about it.

Most of the workouts are progressive circuits, but Core Speed and Speed 2.0 are choreographed closely with the music (not necessarily dance moves, but he strings it together like a dance workout). There is no structured warm-up, no breaks, and no stretch included in the 25 minutes, but each video has a 3 min cool-down tacked on at the end.  The music is surprisingly good and times perfectly with the exercises.  The cast includes a postpartum Tonia, of Insanity fame, demonstrating low-impact modifications, her husband, and Shaun T's husband.

All the videos are cardio-focused, even the ones that are meant to be strength.  The theme is: Move Fast, with Intention and with Good Form.  There are no high-impact, explosive moves (read: power jumps) like you get with Insanity - which is great for those of you still resistant to Plyometrics.  The program is also good for people who love cardio but can't take the knee-abuse.  I burned between 200 and 250 calories, and that tracks pretty well with most of the moderate to intense cardio that I do.

There are quite a few youtube videos of people doing the Core Speed routine, if you want to see what the moves look like.

Overall, I recommend the program to those who love cardio, need some basic strength work, and are short on time.  Also, people with $140 lying around.

Hopefully, I'll be back this weekend with a new FREE workout to share!

bgt

Insanity and Making Plyo Work for You

I want to do a quick shout out to my awesome husband who weathered (teehee) tons of rain and mud a couple weeks ago so that I could enjoy day 2 of Music Midtown.  He didn't say it directly, but I'm sure if it were just him, he'd have bypassed all that muck and just spent the day hopping breweries.

Just to give you an idea of how much walking you can do at an outdoor concert/festival, here's screenshot from my Fitbit app:

Pretty impressive, no?  Kind of amazing how far you can walk if you're on your feet all day.  

As an aside, I love my Fitbit Flex.  Jeremy has the Jawbone Up but has managed to break it twice.

So, the point of today's post is to provide a quick review of the Insanity fitness program from Beachbody, but more importantly, to provide some advice for getting the benefits of a plyometric workout no matter what your favorite exercise happens to be.

Insanity

My journey: I started Insanity on my 24th birthday after an insomnia-fueled pledge to actually get into shape after years of off-an-on weekend warrioring.  At the time, my fitness level amounted to running less than 6 miles per week and some occasional yoga or pilates.  The first two weeks were basically torture - my legs were so sore I could hardly function.  Eventually I learned that taking some extra time to stretch or go for a walk after the videos kept the pain to a dull ache.  Somehow, I made it through 9 weeks of intense, gut-busting plyometrics - and my results were pretty great.

I won't bore you with the details of every workout - other sites break down each DVD, including runtime and difficulty.  Instead, I want to highlight the unexpected benefits of this kind of HIIT Plyo.  Ok, if you want the gory details, scroll down to the postscript and I'll do a breakdown of each workout.

- HIIT is a super efficient way to burn mega calories.  I don't necessarily buy into the idea of "after burn" that all the HIITers will try to sell you on, but just calories burned in the workout can be impressive.

- Plyo will cut time off your runs/bike rides/laps at the pool.  You can't NOT build crazy muscle doing plyo.  I struggled to break a 10 min mile before Insanity - after 2 months I was closing in on a 7:30 pace.  I didn't run AT ALL while doing those 9 weeks, but still managed to shave 25% off my mile time.

- Plyo and HIIT is fun.  You are constantly changing your moves, changing your focus, going all out or catching your breath.  Time flies.

- You can get abs without working your abs.  Okay, you are technically working your abs, but it's like a secret.  Every jump, and every lateral movement can target in on your midsection if you just focus on keeping your core tight.  I never thought I would be one of those people with any kind of definition, but after Insanity I started to believe.

- You'll learn to love it.  I remember a time when dreaded any workout that involved jumping.  My rare days in the gym were spent on the elliptical or bike.  Jumping just seemed so exhausting.  Well, it is - but it's also really fun.  You find your inner kid pretty quickly.  You start to challenge yourself - higher! faster! Can I land without making any sound - like a ninja?!

Now, all that being said, you should definitely take it slow if you are new to these kind of workouts.  Plyo is the definition of high-impact and you need to be healthy to take it on.

Because not everyone has $120 laying around, I've got some recommendations for including Plyo into your normal workout routine:

Are you a runner?
    New to plyo?  Start skipping!  Seriously.  On your next run, take a lap or a quarter mile and skip it out.  Then back to running.  Then a lap of high knees, and another of butt kicks.  You may look silly, but these three moves will give you more power with time.
    Feel stronger?  At your halfway point, take a quick minute to stretch.  Then get to work with a few minutes of squat jumps, jump lunges, side-to-side hops.  Then go ahead and finish your run - bonus points if you treat it like an interval routine with sprints and recovery jogs.

Are you a pilates junkie?  Try these moves designed to lengthen your limbs while working up a sweat.
    Once you are nice and warmed up, start with vertical jumps (start with feet together, squat slightly then jump straight up, arms reaching high, getting as much air as you can).  Continue for up to a minute.
    Then get into a high plank and jump feet in, keeping legs straight, into a pike position.  Do a pike pushup and jump back.  Repeat x 20.
    Star jumps are next.  Feet together, squat down and touch your toes, then jump up, reaching arms and legs out wide and landing softly with feet together.  Return to start and repeat for up to a minute.
    Finish it off with pushup jacks.  Starting in a high plank, jump feet (and arms if you're up for challenge) out and lower down.  Bring legs (and arms) back together as you push back up.

Never leave the weights room?  Keep some dumbbells near by for these revved up moves.
     Burpee with curls is a great combo.  Stand, holding dumbbells to your sides then lower down, jump back into plank (if you have perfectly circular weights, you need to set them down; if not, you can keep your grip on them as handles).  Jump feet back in (knees together) and stand, curling into a strong bicep contraction.  Repeat for one minute.  Add in a pushup at the bottom for extra points.
   Next, do weighted 180 squat jumps.  Holding one dumbbell against your chest, squat low.  Jump up, spinning 180 degrees and pushing arms up high over your head.  Land softly and repeat x 20.
   Finish it off with weighted calf hops by starting with two basic weighted calf raises and following up with an explosive hop into the air, knees bent slightly to absorb your landing but focus on just using your calf for the power.  Repeat the raise-raise-hop move 25 times.

Alright, unless you are really interested in exactly what Insanity will put you through, I'll leave you here.  I appreciate you making it this far into a pretty dense post!  Think of all the calories your eye muscles must have burned!!

Go earn some sweat :)
-bgt

----------------Click below to read more about INSANITY...

I Can Barrely Stand It!

Sorry,
Firstly I'm sorry for the delay in posting and secondly I'm sorry that today's post isn't a review of Insanity.  I'm working on it, but I've quite a bit to say about the program that totally changed my attitude about fitness.

Instead, I'd like to write (briefly) about Barre, which I experienced today for the first time.
Macon has its very own Pure Barre studio, and for the low (not at all low) price of $20 you can sign up for a one hour class.  They also let you get your first month of unlimited classes for $99 ($200 for each following month).

So why did I drop $20 on a singe class?  Because a couple of my fellow med school gals said it was the best workout they'd tried...and for my first experience with Barre, I wanted the eyes of a professional on my form.

Am I glad I gave it a try? You bet ya.
Am I going to pay for the unlimited option? Heck no.

I had a really good time at the class, and I'm glad I got to see the moves in person.  Now I know I have a foundation for trying out (free) online Barre workouts to add some variety to my routine.  I just can't justify spending that much every month when I enjoy so many other kinds of exercise.

If you're interested in attending a class at Pure Barre (it's on Forsyth Rd near Fabrik), here a breakdown of the hour:
- Quick warm-up with 2 lb weights and stretch
- Floor, seated, thigh work
- Standing glute/hamstring work
- Seated hip work
- Abs, seated then floor
- Stretch

The class moves along pretty quickly and the instructor was good about keeping an eye on everyone and providing feedback.  The music was current.  The location is very clean and beautifully decorated.
As for the intensity?  My legs have never been so wobbly - something about the combo of balancing on your toes and isometric squat holds just sets your legs aflame.

All that being said - I've found (and tried) another FREE Fitness Blender workout for you to try!  You don't need to know much about barre, because these folks do their usual magic of showing you the moves upfront.  This is definitely a great starter workout.  Zero impact.  Combo strength and stretch.  Using large muscle groups gets the heart rate up.


I hope you attempt this style workout - and I look forward to bringing you more like it in the future!

Until next time,
bgt