Rev Abs Power Intervals Full Body Workout
If you want to lose weight and tone your entire body, RevAbs might be the Beachbody workout for you. Trainer Brett Hoebel, one of this year’s additions to The Biggest Loser, designed RevAbs as a cardio and strength training program that works the abdominal muscles from six angles. But, this program isn’t just about abs. You’re going to work your entire body and not even realize it until…perhaps the next day?
Take the Rev Abs Power Intervals workout for example. The workout is only thirty minutes in length; however, it packs a punch! Brett uses two exercises in particular that really put a workout on my body. The first exercise is the Squat Thrust.
Basically, you squat down to the floor and place your hands on the floor. As your hands hit the floor, you push your legs back into a plank position (top of a push up). Then, you reverse the motion into a standing upright position and raise your arms straight above your head. This is repeated several times.
Squat thrusts work your arms, legs, butt, abs and core. It’s also somewhat aerobic. I was out of breath in no time.
Crossovers are the second exericse in this Power Intervals that put a good workout on my body. Crossovers are basically modified jumping jacks. In crossovers, the arms start in a position held straight out from the side of your body at shoulder length. Your legs start spread apart. Now, comes the fun part.
Your arms will come together in front of you and cross one over the other and then return to the side position. The goal is actually to move your arms back as far as you can. While you are changing your arm position, your legs will come together and cross one in front of the other before returning to the starting position. This is a fun version of the common “jumping jack”.
I like it because not only is it aerobic, it works the chest, inner and outer thighs, and abdominal muscles pretty well. At least that’s what my body was telling me for the two days following this workout.
What’s the intensity level of this workout? It is not an extreme workout designed for sports and athletic performance. It’s more of a let’s get in shape and flatten our abs type of workout. I would feel comfortable doing this workout with anyone who exercises regularly equally with someone who is considerably overweight and has mobility or breathing issues that discourage other forms of exercise.
HIIT 25 High from TurboFire
I’m feeling pretty good right about now. I finished HIIT 25 from TurboFire about ten minutes ago. This is one of the high intensity interval training workouts from Chalene Johnson’s latest release. If you are not sweating and out of breath during this workout, you just aren’t giving your full effort because it is designed to do both.
Like her other HIIT routines, Chalene takes you through all the moves of a “round” before the siren of the fire drill sounds. When the fire drill sounds, it’s one minute of full effort throughout the series of exercises. Then, you get one minute of rest to get a drink, dry off your sweat and get your breath back to normal before you repeat the sequence.
HIIT 25 consists of a warm up period, four rounds done twice, and a cool off period. Expect to do a lot of jumps, jacks, burpees, and high lows as well as high knee running, skiing, and side lunges. It felt like all the moves of Turbo Fire excluding kicks and punches.
Was it a challenge? I thought it was a mental challenge me because I wanted to give up a few times…you know, cut the minute short a little. I felt like I couldn’t do one more burpee. Then, we were done. Were we actually in cool down? Did that workout really go that fast?
That’s what I really like about the HIIT workouts. You focus so much on a short period of time. Then, you forget about it as you focus on a new set of exercises in another short block of time. Before you know it, you’re done. I feel a great sense of accomplishment after a HIIT workout, probably because I tried to push myself and refused to give up.
TurboFire HIIT workouts are easier for me than any other form of cardio. I tend to get bored with cardio if it is constant repetitive movements like walking on a treadmill or elliptical machine. I think that’s what was appealing about the cardio in P90X, too.
Although the cardio in P90X was somewhat limited in my opinion, Plyometric X, Cardio X, and Kenpo did mix it up and keep it fun. Ok, so maybe plyo wasn’t fun, but Kenpo makes up for it. And what about P90X Yoga X? Yeah, I think parts of that 92 minute power yoga workout could be considered cardio. It’s too bad P90X didn’t include a HIIT workout though. It makes me wonder what type of cardio we’ll find in p90xMC2 when the new PX90 is released.
My endorphines are on fire! I’m feeling good. I love those TurboFire HIIT workouts!
Post Activation Potential (PAP) in p90xMC2
I’ve been reading about a fairly new and forward thinking type of sports training called post activation potential (PAP). If you thought “muscle confusion” was hard to understand when you first hear of it in P90X, then you’re in for a ride with PAP which will be introduced in the final phase of p90xMC2.
Beachbody is working hard to complete MC2. The finishing touches on phase three are in progress, and the test groups are currently experiencing the love and hate physical and mental challenges of PAP. I’m not a very scientific person, so I’ll try to explain it in simple terms. Muscle load and explosive movements lead to improved performance that is better than strength training or plyometrics alone. It’s going to be the workout from….anyway, if you want to read the scientific description of PAP, you can read the P3 Applied Science Blog.
As for MC2, it is a program designed for very fit athletic people like those who engage in bike racing, rock climbing or multiple rounds of P90X, Insanity, or Turbo Fire. It will be the extreme of the extreme. Whoever takes on this challenge will have to work harder, dig deeper, and stay committed. The reward? P90X MC2 will take you higher, further, faster, and stronger.
Are you done xp90? What about Insanity? Have you dared to try the five month high intensity interval training program, Turbo Fire? You still have time to get one of these extreme training programs under your belt before P90XMC2 is released.
TurboFire Day 41 Results and Review
Day 41. TurboFire still rocks! Weeks 5-8 have workout schedules that do not include high intensity interval (HIIT) workouts. I never thought I would say this, but I miss those crazy heart pounding workouts!
I did sneak in one HIIT 15 workout this week for a friend. I had talked to her about the HIIT workouts so much that she wanted to try one. It was kind of special because this friend has asthma.
She has trouble doing cardio workouts because of her physical condition. Let me paint you a better picture. This is a person who would live at the gym if she could. She is an avid weight lifter and makes sure she gets in some form of cardio a coiuple of times per week.
I remember going for a walk with my friend some ten odd years ago. She had trouble making it around a two mile track because of her asthma. Over the years, she has increased her cardio endurance and can now go about 30 minutes on a trail or teadmill.
I challenged her to try the HIIT 15 workout for two reasons. First, she has a little layer of belly fat that she cannot seem to lose. She works hard to get the muscles she has – stored fat just hides her hard work. It is a frustration felt by many gym rats who know how to pump iron but seem to struggle on the cardio side.
The second reason I wanted her to try it is the way HIIT workouts are designed. I told her that she would learn a sequence of drills like you would see on an athletic field or high school gym. The trainer, Chalene Johnson, would go through them slowly. Then, she would hear a siren and perform the sequence of exercises with as much intensity as she could push out.
The catch? The drills only last for about a minute. Then, she would get a one minute break. This pattern would continue until the cool down period. The whole workout is only 15 minutes.
It worked! Because of the short duration of the high intensity cardio, my friend was able to push herself and then, recovery in the minute that followed. HIIT workouts are supposed to burn up to 9X more fat than the traditional cardio she was trying to do despite her asthmatic condition. Maybe this is the answer to shredding out the belly fat for my friend? Maybe I can give you an update in the months to come. She is a new fan of Chalene Johnson’s TurboFire HIIT workouts.
I am sharing this experience because I am thrilled to see one of my friends benefiting from the Beachbody workouts I love so much. I must advise each and every reader to check with their doctor before starting this or any workout program. This article is not intended to suggest that if you have asthma or a similar condition that HIIT workouts are suitable for you.
TurboFire Day 2 Results and Review
I got up early today to do my Beachbody TurboFire workout. I knew that I had a full day planned because a close friend of mine was celebrating her birthday. I did not want to take the chance that I would buy into an excuse of “being too tired” to workout after a day of festivities. What I learned is the HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts are awesome in the morning!
Day 2 of TurboFire has HIIT 15 and Stretch 10 on the workout schedule. I could hardly believe that the routine was going to be so short. Was I really going to get anything out of it?
Chalene shows you how to do a series of moves. Then, you go through them at a faster, higher intensity. Then, you rest. Repeat a couple of times and then, she moves on to the next series of moves. Poof! Before you know it, you are done. Cooling off. Stretching. Enjoying the rush.
I never cared for cardio classes at the gym. It seemed like I could never quite keep up. I wondered if people were staring at me. I felt a little slow when I did not quite get a move right or was a little behind. One of the key differences between a class at the gym and TurboFire classes? TurboFire allows you to be at your level and progress at your own pace. As I mentioned previously, I cannot jump like the participants on the dvd, but I sure do give it my all.
I am doing well with the nutrition plan. Yes, I did have some birthday cake and get a little off track because of the day’s festivities. Chalene would say to go ahead and enjoy a little decadence if you want, but make sure you adjust your caloric equation somewhere to account for it. I think I did ok. I am hoping I can still reach my one week goal of losing one pound.
Hey, I know one pound per week does not sound like a lot. I want to watch it go slowly and see it stay off. I want to say I lost twenty pounds with TurboFire and kept if off for a year…or ten. Keep pressing play, and thank you for joining me on my Turbo Fire journey.
