RevAbs Fire Up Your Abs
Fire Up Your Abs is a thirty minute cardio ab routine from Rev Abs where Brett Hoebel challenges you to rev it up a little more. Once again, Brett uses a sequence of three rounds. The first two rounds are identical, but the third round is the “spice” round. This is where you try a slightly more challenging version of each exercise by modifying where you put your feet, hands or body position.
The cardio in this workout session comes primarily from what are know as striders. If you have ever been on an eliptical or have been cross country skiing, you will feel the same mechanics in striders.
A strider is basically a low lunge with one of your arms forward and one of them back. You switch into a lunge on your other leg and alternate your arms as well. This is not a slow exercise. It has a good pace that is sure to raise your heart rate.
Brett has a few good ab exercises, but the ones that are hardest for me are the classical plank and side plank. I can do the plank position for about thirty seconds before I have to drop to my knees and modify. He wants you to hold plank for sixty seconds. Ouch.
Side plank is no joke. I hold in a normal side plank as long as I can and then, modify by dropping my knee to the floor. In the words of Tony Horton, I just try to do my best and forget the rest.
Beachbody workouts are designed to be challenging. They are not designed to be easy. If we could get fit the easy way, we would all be watching tv and eating chips.
I’m working hard on my abs because this is an area of my fitness that I want to improve. I’m drinking Shakeology every day because nutrition is half the equation in getting fit and being as healthy as you can be. Shakeology has been known to help lower blood pressure and cholesterol, improve digestion and elimination, and promote weight loss. It has more nutrients than I could possible eat in a day. I love the taste of the chocolate, and it makes me feel great. You don’t have to take my word for it. See what doctors are saying about Shakeology.
Whether it’s RevAbs, Turbo Fire, or Slim in 6-start exercising regularly and learn to fuel your body with good nutrition. Beachbody can help. I’m hear to help. Let’s end the trend of obesity and inactivity.
Six Pack Abs – These Are Real
So you want six pack abs, abs of steel, ripped abs, rock hard abs? Yeah, it takes a lot of work. It isn’t always easy. As a matter of fact the exercises cause pain. You’ll be grunting. You’ll be sweating, and you’ll try to keep up with this 52 year old man. This is Tony Horton, creator of P90X, and Tony has rock hard ripped abs. I know because that’s me in the piture with Tony.
I had the opportunity to meet Tony Horton today at his Bring It! book signing tour in Arlington, Virginia. Although I admire his biceps, back, and shoulder definition, it’s his abs that really pop. And, Tony shows you how to get abs of steel in P90X Ab Ripper X.
At the end of Ab Ripper X, you do an exercise called Mason Twists. Tony has you to do them until you feel like you just can’t do one more. Well, part of today’s gathering included a workout with Tony and about 300 people. Tony had us doing Mason Twists and challenged us to beat the time of a few other groups his had previously toured in different cities. The record was around four minutes.
Now, if you’ve done Mason Twists, that number ought to make you cringe. Our group held out longer than four minutes today. We had a Mason Twist master in our group. He pushed beyond four minutes. Oooh rah!
Seriously, take a look at Tony’s abs. Do you see any fat? No! All you see is well-defined muscles. Part of it is exercising his abs hard. The other part is nutrition.
I have a magnet on my refrigerator that quotes Tony as saying “abs are made in the kitchen.” What happens with most people is they do work up some decent abs but can’t see them because they don’t pay attention to their nutritional intake. Junk in. Junk out.
If you want abs of steel, real rock hard abs, you have to work hard exercising your abdominal muscles and fueling your body with good nutrition. Ab Ripper X is responsible for many flat bellys and wash board abs and is only available with P90X.
90 Days of Rev Abs with Brett Hoebell
I’m still working on my Turbo Fire, ChaLean Extreme hybrid so what I am about to write surprises even me. My best friend is new to Beachbody and wants to do Brett Hoebell’s Rev Abs but has challenged me to do the workout with her for accountability. She lifts weights, does cardio and yoga but does not quite have the abdominal definition that she would like. Is Rev Abs the right product to get those cut abs everyone wants? Well, we’re about to put it to the test.
I have accepted the challenge and will be sure to write about our progress reports. I plan on continuing to mix in Turbo Fire and ChaLean Extreme. I have watched some of the video footage for Rev Abs. I am familiar with some of the martial arts type of moves Brett uses. They are similar to some of the martial arts exercises in Tony Horton’s P90X and Chalene Johnson’s Turbo Fire. That is right up my alley!
When the program arrives, I will review the workout schedule and get a better idea of how I can mix my two favorite programs without over exercising. When you get a new Beachbody work at home fitness exercise program, it is important to review the whole program before starting your first workout.
Rev Abs is a 90 day ab solutiona that has nine workouts on seven dvds. One of the techniques Brett uses is Capoeira. I was first introduced to Capoeira in Turbo Jam with Chalene Johnson. From what I hear, Brett specializes in the development of sizzling six pack abs by attacking them from six angles and teaching you how to engage your abs when you are doing other exercises such as squats.
With workouts such as Mercy Abs and Merciless Abs, I think I might be looking forward to some P90X Ab Ripper X. Oh, my. Like many people, working the abs is not my favorite thing. If I miss a workout during the week, it is probably an abdominal session. Maybe that is why so many people do not have the flat, sliced abs they want.
Can ordinary people get abs worth bragging about? Can we get abs worthy of a digital camera? We are about to begin a Rev Abs journey sure to answer these questions.
By the way, if you have not heard of Brett Hoebell (hoe – bell), watch The Biggest Loser this season. He is one of the new trainers. I think I will tune in to get to know him a little bit better as a trainer. In the meantime, I have some Turbo Fire to do today. Stay tuned for more updates on Rev Abs.
ChaLean Extreme Ab Burner & Recharge
I had a slower workout tonight. I needed it following the brutal leg routines I did yesterday. I started with ChaLean Extreme’s Ab Burner and followed up with the Recharge routine.
I expected Chalene Johnson, also know as Chalene the Machine at my house, to be a little more challenging in her ab routine. Maybe…just maybe, my abdominal muscles are getting stronger in my quest for flatter abs. I have not tried any of her more advanced ab workouts, yet.
Prior to Beachbody, I tried just about every ab exerciser, machine and piece of equipment I could find in the gym. I have found that the variety of ab exercises in Beachbody workouts simply amazes me and I don’t need to go to the gym or buy any extra home gym stuff.
I think I would probabaly compare Ab Burner to either Ab Ripper 100 or Ab Ripper 200 in Power 90. It is not in the same burn level as the P90X Ab Ripper X. This a beginner level ab routine that lasts just over ten minutes. The next time I do abs, I think I will switch to Extreme Abs or I’ve Got Abs. Maybe I will alternate these two workouts with Extreme Core. I think Chalene has some challenging moves coming up in these workouts. I guess I should be happy that it is time for me to move on to a harder ab program.
Recharge was a short (less than 21 minutes) stretching and yoga combination. How could you not love that? This workout gave a lot of attention to stretching your back and hamstrings. I really enjoyed the stretch. It reminded me somewhat of P90X X Stretch. You know, that day when it just feels so good to work out? (I am not referencing the 92 minute P90X Yoga X. Now, that’s torture! A true love/hate relationship.)
The next time I do a stretching routine with ChaLean Extreme, I may try the Dynamic Flow Yoga. I can see myself staying with this one for a while though. It felt so good to have a nice slow full body stretch. The short duration of the workout also allowed me to fit in abs tonight.
The Recharge workout could be done by any fitness level, including beginner. Chalene does a great job demonstrating how to modify different moves and positions to make the stretch either more challenging or less intensive to fit your current capabilities. I enjoyed the stretch. I think you will, too!
Ten Minute Crusher Pack
Since I knew October’s One on One training session came with a jump rope, I was expecting the 10 Minute Crusher Pack to use a jump rope to do cardio intervals. I didn’t expect the workout inside. Tony Horton is a crazy trainer who will keep you entertained, motivated, and pushing forward.
The 10 Minute Crusher Pack is actually divided in three 10 minute segments. The first segment is called 20-12 Abs and appropriately works your abdominal muscles. Tony put together a series of ab exercises that alternate between hanging from a chin up bar and work on the floor.
The ab routine is a nice variation to through into your P90X Extreme Home Training workout plan if you get tired of Ab Ripper X or just need a change. It is more challenging than Ab Ripper 100 and Ab Ripper 200 which are both ab routines from Power 90. The 20-12 Abs is more comparable with Ab Ripper X but you will be using the chin up bar a lot to isolate and work those tough abdominal muscles.
The second workout session packs ten minutes full of extreme exercises for legs. It is called Legs of Gold. If you know Tony, then you know that regular squats and lunges will never do. He likes to “mix it up” with any and every variation he sees or can dream up.
If you are new to fitness or to Tony Horton, this leg workout will give you a challenge and probably remind you that you worked legs a day or two later. I cannot compare the intensity of Legs of Gold with the P90X Legs and Back exercise routine. The P90X version is butt burner in my book.
The downside of the P90X Legs and Back workout is the length. You don’t always have an hour to exercise or you might want to just work legs or add them to something besides your back routine. That’s where I think Legs of Gold belongs in my fitness routine. I never thought I would ever be happy with a ten minute leg routine. I guess if you know how, you can get an effective workout in ten minutes.
The last exercise segment is Shadow Boxing. This is a cardio segment that uses the familiar jab, cross, hook, uppercut, kick, block…. It’s like graduating from P90X Kenpo X or Chalene Johnson’s Turbo Jam and then, putting it all together in a fun, playful way.
So, what’s the big deal about a jump rope? The jump rope is used as a warm up and for cardio intervals between segments. Jumping rope is an excellent aerobic activity. I never was very good at jumping rope as a kid. Now, I have a reason to practice. I know I don’t have to be perfect. I just have to do my best. All I have to do is keep my body moving. I can even “jump rope” without using a rope.
