Saturday, October 15, 2016

Focus T25 Program Review

Today Kyle and I finished up 10 weeks of Shaun T's T25 program. It's a Beachbody cardio/slim & tone program that is split up in three levels and really focuses on your core strength. We started with the Alpha workouts, moved onto Beta, then we ended with strength/weight focused workouts in Gamma.



We had originally planned to do 8 weeks, 2 weeks of alpha and beta then a 4 week hybrid of all three. At the end of eight weeks we decided we should do the full ten weeks and added a week of beta and week of alpha in the end. It was interesting going back to the 'easier' workouts to finish it out. They are by no means easier but they do build upon each other. We sweated just as much finishing up with beta and alpha as we had the first go round or in gamma.



The awesome thing about this program was that each workout was indeed only 25 minutes! You can't  beat that and they were pretty hard core workouts so I know I couldn't get any more calorie burn in that short amount of time. There was a 2-3 additional minute cool down after each one, bringing the total time to less than 30 minutes, usually 28 min.




I'd have to say my favorite workout in the whole thing was Speed 3.0. I think because it was such an INTENSE cardio workout, it was rather hard to forget. It was more of a routine workout with Rounds and Levels. Two routines of moves that you do for a minute-ish then each level you completed it in less time. I loved Speed 1.0 right off the bat, which was really nothing like 2.0 or 3.0, but incorporated stretching into the 25 minute workout.



There was no equipment needed in the five alpha round videos and these seemed to be very much lower body focused. Lots of leg work and jumping/hoping for cardio. Beta had two of the five workouts using weights and seemed to be core and upper body focused. Lastly three of the four gamma used weights and was very much strength focused, full body.



Results

So I took measurements about halfway through to give me a gauge and boy was I disappointed. My measurements had increased as well as my weight and that was my smack in the head to get my nutrition on point. So for the second half I did just that, we ate according to the fix nutrition, continued drinking our shakeology, and halfway through I knocked my container counts down to the 1500-1800 category range. I finished with two days of countdown to competition which eliminates fruit, reduces carbs, and heavily increases protein. I felt good after eating like this but it wasn't easy.
In the end my measurements were exactly the same as my starting point. My photos did show a little more ab definition but the numbers were all the same, even my body fat percentage (I did increase in age during that time, but I ran the numbers both ways and it didn't have an effect). I'm not completely sure how I feel about that. I don't really feel happy about my results but I also wasn't really trying to lose weight either. I was hoping to lower my body fat percentage a little, but then again the first 4-5 weeks were not on track nutritionally. That just goes to show how big of a role that nutrition plays. I think with the workouts being so short at 25 minutes that you have no room to fudge your diet. When I did Insanity Asylum the workouts were a little longer and 6 days a week vs. the five days that T25 was. I think this allowed me for a few more cheat meals and still end up with results with Asylum. I had also just come out of fix extreme so was eating better then than I feel like I have been.

Kyle's results showed some difference, he lost weight as well as inches in his chest which he isn't too happy about. He missed the weights from hammer & chisel and is going to be doing Body Beast next. I am excited to try out body beast as well but I also have Insanity Max 30 to do so I'm not sure if I will do a little of both or commit to one completely. Body Beast has a much different nutrition plan, which I think will be GREAT, but also more work because you have to plan and learn a new style of eating. Fix nutrition is just so EASY! And it works I mean I got to my goal weight fast and have stayed there since last spring.




No comments:

All images are copyright of Daisy Simpson. It is unlawful and illegal to copy, scan, alter or edit the images in any way. This depreciates the photos value as well as my reputation, I take great care in capturing and editing each image and they are each important to me. Thank you for respecting my passion and my copyright.