Review: Focus T25 Total Body Circuit

**These reviews are for anyone interested in doing T25, and are at times compared to Insanity.**

This review will be much shorter than the others so far.

Alright, so I made it through the first two days, and my glutes hurt even more today that they did yesterday. That being said, I'm looking forward to waking up in the morning to everything hurting, because this workout is BRUTAL.

This particular T25 workout is packed full of squats, push ups, hops, and different planks that, again, never stop during the full 25 minute workout. The footwork was not nearly as fast as before, but there is so much plank work that I see very few people making it through this without having to stop for a quick rest at least once. 

This is by far the most challenging workout so far, and I am hoping it doesn't get any more difficult. I found myself looking at Tonia envying every single move she was doing, because I could give up enough to do the modified moves she was doing for some.

Overall, this is the exact definition of a "Total Body Circuit" workout.

I give T25 TBC a 10/10. This pushed me to new extremes, kept me slipping on my sweat, and made me feel like I really got my ass kicked.

Review: Focus T25 Alpha Speed 1.0.

Again, this is for anyone interested in these workouts, but don't want to spend the money in the off chance you don't think this beast is for you.

T25 Day 1 was definitely a fresh breath of air compared to Insanity. You are going at a constant fast pace, but in only half the time you spend doing exercises, and in my opinion, you are getting about the same workout.

I didn't know what to expect waking up this morning, but man, my ass hurts! After doing Alpha Cardio, it was apparent to me that the glutes get heavily worked in Day 1.

Today however, you are using your glutes, so those are going to be sore until you get worked into about ten minutes in, but your legs are going to see a very large increase in the amount of activity you do in Day 2.

Shaun T. starts Day 2 off by calling it "Speed, Stretch, and Stability" which is exactly what it is. You will start out with the former of the three, and, in order, reach the last of them. The video starts with jogging it out, and then you go into a hop hop turn. Very simple to do after just seeing the move once. You will then go into a hop hop hook, then a hop hop hook squat; these are simple moves compared to what comes later, but is still quite enduring after two and a half straight minutes of these leg busters.

You will then go back to jogging it out, and then what he calls "Up + Over". This move is when I realized that I have no coordination or dance skills. I spent the entire time not being able to do this move correctly, so I will probably go back later and watch this part a few times til I can get it down.

Then comes the quad stretch. THANK GOD! By this point I was exhausted, and it definitely gives you a little bit of time to breathe.

After that you are going to do some more leg work, some more stretching, and the stability (which is mainly just things like prayer hands with one leg on the other knee, so a little bit of yoga).

Overall, during the actual workout I was a lot more beat than I was yesterday, but the stretch and stability parts of the workout helped to keep me going throughout. I did have to stop once during the burnout, which by the way, starts about the 9:30 left mark, and carries you all the way to the end of the video. So I would suggest keeping that core tight, and maintaining your breathing to the best of your ability, because you will need every ounce of energy you have left to make it to the end of this one.

You are also going to get a two and a half minute optional cooldown stretch with this one. I did the stretch again today, because as you might know from Insanity, that stretch makes all the difference, and I think the same goes for Focus T25.

This workout flies by. Although the whole thing is full of sweat and large gasps for oxygen, you will be so engaged in footwork and speed that you won't be able to catch how far you are in to it.

I would give Alpha Speed 1.0 a 9.5/10. Better than day one, and extremely engaging. Only reason this doesn't get a 10 from me is because of the Up + Over; I felt embarrassed doing it and I was alone at home at the time.


**Here is a full list of the workouts from beginning to end:**

* Jog It Out

* Hop Hop Turn

* Hop Hop Hook

* Hop Hop Hook Squat

* Jog It Out

* Up + Over

* Quad Stretch

* Burpee + Alternating Front Kick

* Prayer Hands Knee Bend

* Side Hop Uppercut

* Side Lunge Stretch

* Low Crossjack

* Hip Flexor Hold

* Zigzag Hop

* Control Knee Hold

* Squat Thrust + Crisscross

* Leg Crossover Stretch

* Heisman Crossword

* Heisman Crossword + Clap (Under Knee)

* Flat Back Roll-Up

* Crisscross Hop

* Crisscross + Half-Tuck Jump

* Hip Flexor Calf Stretch

* Slow Quick Jab Combo

* Chest Opener Stretch

**Burnout Begins**

* Up + Over

* Burpee + Alternating Front Kick

* Side Hop Uppercut

* Low Crossjack

* Zigzag Hop

* Squat Thrust + Crisscross

* Heisman Crossword

* Heisman Crossword + Clap (Under Knee)

* Crisscross Hop

* Crisscross + Half Tuck Jump

* Slow Quick Jab Combo

* One minute stretch that includes plank and downward dog.


**If you have any questions about anything in this workout, feel free to ask, and I shall answer.**

Review: Focus T25 Alpha Cardio

I will be reviewing these workouts daily as I go along. This was my first day with this workout, and it was honestly quite enjoyable and fun.

So I finally got started on Focus T25 this morning, and let me tell you, I. Am. BEAT!

This is a completely different setup from Insanity for anyone else who has done it. I did Insanity for the first time in February, and as anyone who has began that workout, after the first day you are sore all over. I did a two week stint of no working out between my rounds of Insanity, and was already sore again just from two weeks. After I finished the second round, I started running, and after two weeks of that, I am back to Shaun T kicking my ass on a daily basis.

So here we go: I wasn't really sure what this was going to be like whenever I pressed play, but it was definitely in a way similar to Insanity, but at the same time, extremely different. Over the 25 minutes of working out, you will do the exercises in 30-second spurts, which definitely helps to keep the monotony at an all time low.

There isn't a warm-up. There are, however, workouts in the beginning that steadily progress into the sheer force and power of this workout. You will start at a very mild pace (bringing knees up for example) and moving faster into different variations of the workout (high knees, etc.).

In the middle of the workout, about ten minutes in, there is a "Burnout" I believe it was called, where you do a selection of the workouts you just did, only much more intensely. You do this again near the end of the workout.

One thing that I was NOT expecting was the hand/foot coordination during some workouts. One in particular was left foot forward/right foot back, then bring to the middle, then swap the foot placement, and then bring your feet and hands outward twice, then repeat. I'm sure after a few go-arounds, it will become much easier. For me, this particular move was comparable to the side-attack move from Insanity (took me weeks to get it down right without messing up constantly). By the end of the workout, I had to make 5, 5-10 second breaks.

I have done two rounds of Insanity, as I said earlier on, and I didn't have to make as many stops in that workout. This particular workout from the Alpha month is a definite workout on the legs, I was extremely sore by the end of it, and hoping that soreness doesn't resonate into tomorrow.

There is also a 2-minute cooldown stretch after the 25-minute beatdown. I would suggest to anyone that has to take even the slightest break during this behemoth to use the cooldown stretch to your advantage.

Overall, I feel as if I got exactly what I would've gotten from Insanity in a much shorter amount of time, maybe even a little more. This is much more of a muscle work than the cardio that it says it is called.

I would give this particular workout an 8.5/10