Today's work-out: T25 - Total Body Circuit

I hate oblique push-ups. Honestly, I hate push-ups of all kinds, even though I know they're good for me. Trying to lift my knee to my elbow while (attempting) to push my chest to the floor is not something my body does without a fight.

The Total Body Circuit is a solid workout, and it really does work you from top to bottom. It's packed with lunges and squats, frog jumps, push-ups - all kinds of things that create a good burn. Like all T25 Alpha workouts, Tanya Baron, who is head of operations for Shaun T Fitness, demonstrates modifiers for most of the moves. Even if you're a fitness novice, T25 can work for you.

SUMMARY

Total Body Circuit starts like most of the Alpha workouts do, with a run progression (standing  knee lifts, then knee lifts on your toes, progressing to a slow high knee jog, then a high knee sprint.

Shaun T then moves to hop squats with hooks, followed by shoulder taps in plank position combined with push ups. During the next cycle, front lunges progress to a lunge squat progression (lunge left, center squat, lunge right). At this point in the video, my quads are were on fire.

Next come a series of jab moves, culminating in moving jabs. I'm definitely not a boxer, so at times I felt like I had two left feet.

After the jabs, Shaun T turns back to plank work. Starting with a plank hold, you incorporate plank walks that combine in-out abs.

Plank work is followed by a series of power squat moves. Because you're using the large muscles in the lower body, you build up a great sweat throughout this section.

Towards the end of the workout, Shaun T incorporates spider lunges, which are combined with push-ups. The end of this section includes the dreaded oblique push-ups, at which point I question whether I'll ever be able to do them like the people in the video.

Most of the last five minutes are known as the "Burnout", which goes back through the most challenging sections of each progression. At this point Shaun T is pushing everyone to give it their all, since there's less than 5 minutes left in the video.

GENERAL THOUGHTS

I like the progressions in this video. That said, I'm having a hard time maintaining the same pace as the people the video, and sometimes my coordination is not what it could be. I'm surprised, because through two rounds of Insanity, as tough as it was, I never had any real problems with the footwork. I appreciate the fact that T25 has revealed a real weakness (agility) and will hopefully help me improve.

I'd like to see more stretching incorporated into the workout. After the 25 minutes are done, there's a 3 minute stretch section built in. While this works for me as a cool-down, it seems a little thin (though you can only accomplish so much in 25 minutes). I think the answer could involve incorporating the Stretch video or a couple of yoga class into the week. Particularly for people who are new to working out, its important not to shortchange yourself on stretching. This can lead to injury, which will knock you right out of your workout program.

Tomorrow morning's workout is Speed 1.0, which I love...