Thursday, August 15, 2013

Focus T25: Rip'd Circuit

When Seth and I previewed the Rip'd Circuit workout earlier this week, Seth was worried. He was concerned about not being able to finish the workout or not doing it well. However, come today, he nailed it!


Rip'd Circuit is the first T25 workout to incorporate the use of hand weights or bands.The program comes with a resistance band in case you need one, but we have plenty of dumbbells, so Seth decided to use those. (I encouraged him to opt for dumbbells over bands because I think it's easier to have good form with weight.)

Rip'd Circuit is a great total body workout with a focus on resistance training. Shaun T has you start with some cardio with a slow jog, followed with a stretch called squat push-up (where you basically get into a squat and then with hands on knees do a push-up motion). To warm up the legs more, Shaun T has you do a squat thrust and alternating straight leg kicks.

After this brief warm up, it was time for the circuit. Shaun T stared with the cardio move, Speed + Agility, Seth's favorite. Then it was time to pick up those dumbbells for bicep curls for the arms. People in the workout were using anywhere from five to twelve pound weights. Next up was pulsing lunges on the left and right for the legs using the weights for resistance. The final move of this set was straight leg lifts for the abs.

The next circuit started with cardio again with fast speed knees. Almost all of the cardio moves in this workout seemed familiar from other workouts. Rip'd Circuit is a total body workout for sure, but, like I said before, the focus is definitely more on toning with resistance training instead of cardio, so it makes sense to keep those moves familiar. For the arms section of this segment, Shaun T had Seth doing what was called the Arnold Press, a move similar to a shoulder press but starting from a position where your elbows are in an L-shape with your arms together in front of your chest. For the legs move, Seth had to do squat pulses holding the weights. The ab move of this segment was dual heel taps, familiar from the Ab Intervals workout.

Back up for cardio, this time high switch kicks. Seth used to modify this move with Tanya, but not anymore. He's definitely getting lots stronger. Next with single arm lawnmowers for arms followed by air plank + one-legged burpees for the legs. This was Seth's first time trying a one-legged burpee and this move proved the biggest challenge of the workout for him. I tend to agree -- it's hard to coordinate which leg you need to burpee into on each given rep. Seth and I plan to practice this move a bit so that he can get the hang of it. The last move of the circuit was, of course, for the abs, hip-ups into a v-hold. Seth nailed this like a champ!


Shaun T started the next circuit with jumps with a twisting ab (where you jump then squat down and twist to touch your arm to the opposite toe). I remembered this move from Asylum 1's Vertical Plyo "warm up". It was then one-legged tricep dips for the arms, deadlifts with a curl and squat for the legs, and plank work with knees in and out and tap knees up and down.

Only one circuit left to go! The cardio move was half-tuck jumps, familiar from a few other T25 workouts. Seth was really working it on this move. He'd been working hard all workout and with only a few minutes left was still going strong. The next move for arms was definitely the hardest of the workout, 4-count push-ups. Slow push-ups are killer. I know I would have had to do these all on my knees. For legs, it was time for weighted moving squats. The final two moves were for the abs. First was a 4-count dual leg lift. Second was something Shaun T called 5-count power abs, which featured c-sit, butterfly one leg in, switch legs, reverse crunch, and a v-sit. To end the workout, Shaun T had Seth holding the v-sit for extra time.

Seth reports that he found the work with the weights to be a bit of a challenge, mostly because this was the first T25 workout that used weights, and he's not as familiar with them. Overall though, he found it easier than the Total Body Circuit from Alpha, mostly because there was less floor work in plank position. He thought that the floor work from Total Body Circuit that used body weight as resistance was somewhat harder for him.

Still Rip'd Circuit was definitely a challenging workout. Seth was gratified to find he could do it well and completed the workout feeling successful. He especially liked getting to do Speed + Agility and also the deadlifts with a squat and curl.

This workout is definitely different from the T25 workouts that came before it. Using weights gives it a different feel. It had more of a defined circuit feel than some of the other workouts because each of the sections (cardio, arms, legs, abs) of the circuits were so pronounced.

Tomorrow is the Dynamic Core workout. Let's see how it goes.

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