Focus T25 Day 1 Review: Cardio

I know that I haven't been posting much to the blog recently and for that I am sorry!  With school starting last week I was super busy not to mention very tired.  Plus, I figured that nothing I was doing was worth blogging about anyway.  I have to be honest:  I wasn't as on track as I should have been with my eating nor working out last week, BUT I am back this week, starting fresh, ready to take on my latest self-inflicted challenge, Focus T25.  I started this program a while ago but something else came along and I stopped without finishing the full 60 days.  Well, not this time!  I have an accountability group to help me and I will get through it!  I love fast-paced cardio and Shaun T, so this is perfect for me.

It feels good to know I'm burning a ton of calories in only 25 minutes!

I made it through workout one with minimal incident, only semi-wanted to stop once but didn't, and didn't shed any tears (yet).  The reviews for these workouts are going to be a little different than 21 Day Fix and Extreme because the workouts are different.  For the first month the calendar rotates through 5 different workouts labeled "Alpha" and then the second month moves into more intense workouts called "Beta."  There is also "Gamma" which can be added on as a third month.  I plan to add that on after I do the 60 days of the base program so the whole program will be 90 days.

Without further yapping, let's get to the review!

Workout:  Cardio
Time:  25 minutes, plus a 2 1/2 minute cooldown (it is very important to do this--never skip the cooldown and stretch!)
Equipment:  None

The set up of this workout as best I can describe it is you do several moves that "build" up to a final move in a progression.  I believe each of the moves is approximately 30 seconds, but between hair and sweat flying, I couldn't see nor focus on the timer.  I was too busy trying to breathe!  After you do four of those progressions, you then do something called 'The Burnout," which is where you put those final moves together.  Then, you move on to the next set of four moves.  This is done twice and then you finish with a power move and pseudo-cool down at the end of the actual workout.

Progression 1:  Jumping Jacks

• Alternating Knee Lift
• Alternating Knee Lift on Toes (same move but don't put the heel down)
• Slow Control Jog (you have to really balance here on one leg--keep lifting your knee up to your waist)
• High Knee Jog
• Jack Feet (in and out with hands together in prayer at the chest)
• Double Jack Feet (same thing as above but two out and two in)
• Double Jack Feet with Arms (when feet are out, arms are up)
• Jumping Jack (touch fingertips each time at the top)

Progression 2:  Step out Lunge with Floor Tap

• Step out Lunge (feet start together, turn left and lunge leg back, then step together and turn to the other side, opposite leg back)
• Step out Lunge with Hop (same as before, except this time hop to switch legs)
• Step out Lunge with Knee Tap (lunge with a hop and this time touch your knee)
• Step out Lunge with Floor Tap (lunge with a hop and touch the floor, make sure to keep your back straight)

Progression 3:  Lateral Mountain Climbers

• Heel Tap up and Back-L (keeping your right leg still and slightly bent, move your left foot up and back quickly)
• Heel Tap up and Back-R (same as above but switch legs)
• Lateral Sprint (quickly move feet side to side)
• Lateral Mountain Climbers (still moving side to side but now go into mountain climbers, where you bring your knee up to your waist and quickly alternate)

Progression 4:  Half Tuck Jump

• Jump Rope (feet together, small jumps off the ground)
• Up and Back Jump Rope (same movement but now move forward and backward with each jump)
• Slow Up and Back Jump Rope (same move as before but when you jump forward hold for a beat and then move backward and hold for a beat)
• Half Tuck Jump (quick jumps off the floor and slightly bend knees, tap your legs each time your jump--you don't have to get very high off the floor for this move, which is rare for Shaun T...)

Burnout 1:  Jumping Jacks, Step out Lunge with Floor Tap, Lateral Mountain Climbers, Half Tuck Jump

Now we move into the next set of movements.  We don't come back to the ones we already did in this workout.

Progression 1:  Hop Hop Squat

• Slow Squat (regular squat, squeeze on the way up)
• Hop Squat (squat position, stay low, jump "just about an inch" off the floor--my jump was about a centimeter)
• Hop Up and Back (two hops up and two hops back, staying low the whole time)
• Hop Hop Squat (two hops to the left and into a squat, two hops to the right and into a squat)

Progression 2:  On Your Mark Up and Down

• On Your Mark Sprint-L (get in an "on your mark" position with your left leg back, right leg bent, and when Shaun T says, explode up into a sprint)
• On Your Mark Up and Back-L (in the same position as before, don't go into a sprint but rather bring your left leg up in front of your right and then back into the on your mark position--this is fast)
• On Your Mark Spring-R (same as above but on the other leg)
• On Your Mark Up and Back-R (same as above but on the other leg) 

Progression 3:  Switch Kicks (oh, everybody's favorite!)

• Low Kicks (arms up by your ribs, kick your feet out quickly--here he says "I bet you're thinking, 'Shaun T, I never thought you'd give us a break like this'" and you're right, he isn't because soon we'll be doing something insane)
• Low Kicks Heels Up (same as before but this time keep your heel off the ground)
• Low Kicks Fast (quickly alternating feet kicking off the ground but keep it low)
• Switch Kicks (arms moving and kick ups fast and alternating up to your waist) 

Progression 4:  Speed and Agility

• Running Lunge (alternating feet up and back quickly)
• Up and Back (start with feet together and move your left leg forward, feet together, right leg forward, quickly)
• Side to Side (open your feet to the side like you're doing a jumping jack, in and out quickly, hands moving open and closed with the feet)
• Speed and Agility (here you put Up and Back and Side to Side together so it goes like this:  up center, back center, out two times [it helps if you say it in a rhythm])

Burnout 2:  Hop Hop Squat, On Your Mark Up and Down (L then R, 15 seconds each), Switch Kicks, Speed and Agility

Power Move

• Hop Up an Back (hands out in front, hop the feet forward and back quickly)
• Hop Side to Side (keeping the upper body still, move the hips side to side quickly)
• Speed Knee Slow (alternate lifting knees and tap the knee each time)
• Speed Knee Fast (like before but move the knees fast!)
• Fast Jog (alternate knees and move hands in a fast jog)
• Slow Jog (alternate knees and move slowly from one to the other, like at the beginning)

Oh, boy, and just like that, you're done!  This workout does go by surprisingly fast!  After the workout is the cool down, which consists of some quick stretches for the legs and back.  Do this cool down.  Your body needs it to bring the heart rate down and stretch the muscles to prevent soreness and injury.

I really enjoyed this workout!  I love intense cardio and this fit the bill.  My legs were seriously burning on the lunges, but that just means it's working, right?  I'm looking forward to tomorrow which is Speed 1.0.  I actually did this workout as an added cardio workout when I was doing Chalean Extreme and I'm really looking forward to it again!