Focus T25 Day 36: Core Cardio

Can you believe it??  It is already the start of MONTH 2 of Focus T25.  I know that I am shocked at how fast the last 5 weeks went.  I am done with month 1 and I am beyond ready to get started with the next 5 weeks.  For the life of me, I have no idea why I stopped T25 in the past and never completed the program.  (I mean, I know the reason why, but now I couldn't fathom it!)  I have gotten the best results in the shortest amount of time I have ever gotten in a workout program!  Let's get going to month 2!

Here are some things I learned from today's workout:

• pants=all around bad idea when doing a workout like this
• even after doing 5 weeks of hardcore cardio workouts, Shaun T still has a way of making me feel like I'm right back at day damn 1
• previously my reviews were based off of my memory; for month 2 I have decided to watch while I review, which means you get the actual names for moves, instead of just what I think it's called 

Workout:  Core Cardio
Time:  25 minutes, plus cool down
Equipment:  None

Just like Cardio (and other) workouts in Month 1, you will start with a pseudo-warmup and then go into circuits.  After completing 4 circuits, you will do a Burnout, then do another 4 circuits, another Burnout, and then the final group of exercises, followed by the cool down.

Warm-Up:

• Split Lunge Agility:  this has been done before:  alternate feet up and back, meeting in the middle
• Low Switch Kick:  alternate kicking feet out quickly, keeping legs low
• Double Switch Kick:  two hops on the left leg, switch to two hops on the right leg, keeping feet low
• High Switch Kick:  alternating switch kick, legs higher

• Static Uppercut:  feet together, alternate uppercuts
• Jack Uppercut:  do a jumping jack and alternate uppercuts

Circuit 1:

• Hop Front and Back:  we've done this before, too (it was part of the power move in Cardio):  hop forward and back, arms up and down
• Hop Side to Side:  (power move from Cardio):  keeping your upper body as still as possible, quickly move your feet side to side, working the core
• Alt. Speed Knee Slow:  tap alternating knees up slowly
• Alt. Speed Knee Fast:  tap alternating knees up fast

Circuit 2:

• Twisting X-Lunge:  do a shallow lunge to the right, meet feet together, do a shallow lunge to the left
• Twisting X-Lunge Deep:  same as above, but move slower so you can go deeper in the lunge
• X-Lunge Touch Shin:  same as above, but touch your shin as you go down *make sure to keep your back flat and your chest up)
• X-Lunge Touch Floor:  same as above, but this time touch the floor, putting your other hand on your thigh for balance *if you can't touch the floor without rounding your back, just go as low as you can*

Circuit 3:

• Demi Squat Walk:  arms up in guard position, move left and right in a shallow squat
• Deep Squat Walk:  same as above, but this time go deeper into the squat
• Squat Walk Touch Floor:  same as above, but this time your hands touch the floor when you go into the squat
• Air Plank Jump:  stay in squat position touching the floor, jump up with hands out straight in front of you, back into squat and repeat

Circuit 4:

• T Twist Front Pulse:  in a sumo squat position with feet turned out, keep your arms out straight to the sides and pulse up and down
• T Twist Lunge Pulse (L):  turn to the left in the same position and pulse the lunge up and down
• T Twist Lunge Pulse (R):  same as above, but turn to the right
• Rotating T Twist:  staying in the same position, turn left and right into a lunge *stay deep into the lunge and squat here and you will really feel the burn!*

Burnout 1:

• Alt. Speed Knee Fast
• X-Lunge Touch Floor
• Air Plank Jump
• Rotating T Twist

Circuit 5:

• High Jump in Place:  feet together, jump up and down
• Control Hop Side to Side:  same as above, this time jump to the right and left
• Double Hop Rotation:  face the left, do a hop and face the right, keeping your core tight and your knees pressed together
• Single Hop Rotation:  in a single jump, turn 180° from the left to right

Circuit 6:

• Hammer Kick (L):  put your weight on your left leg and kick your right leg up, touching your toe as your foot comes up
• Speed Kick (L):  (this is similar to what we did in Ab Intervals Month 1):  hop on the left leg quickly while your kick the right leg back and out (unlike in month 1, though, your leg is low and not parallel to your hip)
• Hammer Kick (R):  same as above, other side
• Speed Kick (R):  kick the left leg in and out this time

Circuit 7:

• Shuffle Feet:  feet wide and move them as fast as you can
• Shuffle Hop Up and Back:  keep shuffling and move quickly up and back into a shuffle
• Shuffle Squat:  shuffle and then go into a squat, pop quickly back up into the shuffle
• Shuffle Burpee:  just as it says:  shuffle, burpee, shuffle, burpee, repeat

Circuit 8:

• Plank Tap Feet Out and In:  in a plank position and keeping your core as still and tight as possible, tap your left toe and then right toe out and in
• Plank Tap Arms Out and In:  same position as above, tap the left arm out and in and then the right
• Plank Diagonal Tap:  tap left arm and right leg out, back in, then right arm and left leg
• Plank Diagonal Lift:  lift the left arm and right leg, back in, then lift the right arm and left leg *it's really important to keep your core tight here and move slowly if you need to to maintain balance*

Burnout 2:

• Single Hop Rotation
• Speed Kick (L)/Speed Kick (R)
• Shuffle Burpee
• Plank Diagonal Lift

• Floor Sprints:  ugh, same as Total Body Cardio Month1:  you're exhausted, your sweating, your arms are burning, and now Shaun is telling you to move as fast as you can in a sprint
• Running Spider Lunge:  ooooh, boy, is this a fun one...spider lunge left and right, but instead of tapping your foot in the back, you're jumping to switch the feet
• Body Sprint:  back up into a body sprint, moving your feet and arms quickly in a small running motion
• Body Run:  same as above, but arms and legs are bigger now

Cooldown (2.5 minutes):  cardio cool down which is the same as the cool down after Cardio from month 1

Whew, we are done with Day 1, Month 2!  I like this workout.  Even though it was similar to some of the ones we had done in Month 1, it had a different feel to it.  The music was different and, I don't know, it kind of started off differently to where I thought it was going to be a little slower than some of the other workouts.  Brrrr, wrong!  (That's my buzzer noise, not me being cold--although it was pretty chilly here today...I digress.)  This was definitely a challenging workout and I worked up a good sweat.  I also like that this workout follows the same set-up as some of the Month 1 workouts with the circuits, the Burnout, and then another set of exercises.  I know that I am going to be feeling this in my legs tomorrow even though it was called core cardio!

Can I tell you what I'm really looking forward to?  Tomorrow's workout!  I actually did it recently when I was doing another program and it is a great workout.  See you then for the review!