Day 17 was the second lower-body workout of the week. This one is a burnout workout, so it has four blocks doing the same exercises for three one-minute sets and then a burnout exercise that is either a band or bodyweight exercise. The first two blocks do not use the 3 x1 tempo, but the final two blocks do. This workout includes lunges, front-loaded squats, swings, and bridges. It is another challenging, but not impossible (especially if you modify when needed) routine.
Reviews, Health, and Other Stuff
Here you will find things about fitness and nutrition, mainly (but not exclusively) in relation to the Beachbody programs like P90x and Insanity. And, I will start adding reviews for Books, DVDs and Blu-Rays, and other products. All views and opinions on this blog are my own.
Welcome
Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.
I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.
I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time. As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree.
Friday, September 5, 2025
Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Black Sails: Season 2
Thursday, September 4, 2025
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 18
Day 18 was the second upper-body workout of week 3. It is a superburnout workout, so you do three regular blocks, each consisting of two exercises, one of which will use the 3x1 tempo, and then a burnout block that includes pushups, and then two band exercises. It is another challenging workout, and I found myself having to do drop sets on a couple of the exercises and modifying others. So, it is another one that, while short, will wear you out by the end.
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 17
Day 17 was the core cardio day for week 3. It has a very similar format to the workouts from weeks 1 and 2. You alternate between a plank (or bear stance) exercise to a core exercise. So, the entire workout is on the floor. You do need light weights for a couple of the core exercises. There are four regular blocks and then a burnout block where you do four of the eight exercises from the regular blocks of work for 45 seconds each with no rest between them. While the workout is hard, I can definitely tell I am getting stronger as I can do more of the plank-based exercises on my toes than I could in weeks 1 and 2.
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 16
Day 16 was the first lower-body workout of week 3. It was a super burnout workout, so the burnout was at the end of the workout as a final block. In each block, you did a single exercise for three one-minute-long sets, with a minimal 15 seconds of rest between the sets. This is again a challenging but not impossible workout. It focuses on squats, lunges, and calf raises. The burnout block used bands for front and rear standing leg lifts.
Monday, September 1, 2025
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 15
Day 15 marks the start of week 3 of the program, which brings a new tempo and a slight adjustment to the order of the workouts. Today was an upper-body workout (weeks 1 and 2 started with lower-body on the first day of the week, then upper body on the second day). It was a burnout workout with four blocks. Each block had a weighted exercise, followed by a band or bodyweight burnout move. The first block targets the back, the second biceps, the third chest, and the fourth shoulders. The tempo this week is 3x1, so three counts to raise the weight and one count to lower it. That tempo was used for all the weighted exercises except biceps curls; however, in that block, you perform one-arm biceps curls for two sets (one arm for the first set and the opposite arm for the second set), followed by both arms for the third set. It was another very intense workout, despite its short duration. If you select weight correctly, you will have to drop the weight by the second or third set for most of the weighted exercises, and you will feel a burn even if you are using very light weights.
Sunday, August 31, 2025
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 14
Day 14 is another flexibility and mobility day in the 25 Minute Speed Train workout. This one has a good selection of stretches that, by the end of the 25 minutes, work your entire body, with a huge focus on hip, glute, hamstring, and lower-back mobility.
Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Cheers: Season 7
The blu-ray set is a three-disc set. As of this writing, the individual seasons have only been released on DVD. The blu-ray set is only available as a complete series set. As with the previous few seasons, this one does not have any bonus content; however, the episodes can be played with English captions. The show continues to be funny, but some of the comedy is very dated. If it were made today, the character of Sam would probably be written much differently than he was back then, since he is basically a "lovable" pervert who sexually harasses every hot woman he meets. The writers do a good job of balancing the storylines for the large ensemble cast, giving each character at least one episode devoted to them. This season, both Cliff and Woody get love interests, Frasier and Lilith have a significant storyline, and Norm finally finds his calling career-wise. Ultimately, if you liked the prior seasons, you will probably like this one, as long as you are not easily offended by non-politically correct humor.
Saturday, August 30, 2025
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 13
Day 13 was the total-body workout for the week. It is a bit of a misnomer, since nearly every workout is a total-body workout, as you are always using your core in every routine. But this one does chest, back, arms, and legs (and some core). As Joel explains, the total-body workout is an endurance workout designed to exhaust your body at the end of the week. This accomplishes that. You do not do any of the tempo lifting that you do in the other workouts during the week. It is just time under tension, minute-long sets. There are four blocks in the workout, with each block containing two exercises, and each is a compound exercise that will work multiple body parts at once (e.g., biceps and shoulders).
Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Big Bang Theory: Season 12
The show continues to get a great slate of guest stars. There are some old favorites (Will Wheaton, Christine Baranski, Bob Newhart, etc.) and some new faces, like Kevin Smith and a great cameo by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the series finale. They also figured out a clever way to do a crossover with Young Sheldon via the magic of VHS.
The Blu-ray set is a two-disc set that is almost identical to the prior releases. The 24 episodes are spread out across the two discs, as are the extras. This season, the bonus content includes a feature on the scholarship fund the show set up for STEM students in the UC system of colleges, a portion of the Comic-Con panel, and several behind-the-scenes features and retrospectives on the show's impact. Much more extras than you get from most shows DVDs or blu-ray releases these days.
By now, pretty much everyone knows what the show is and is not. If you are a fan of the show, then you will likely enjoy this season. If you hated it, then there is nothing about this season that is going to change your mind. The writers do a good job of continuing to develop the characters, even after 12 years, and manage to balance the large ensemble cast well. Yes, the show uses a laugh track as well as genuine reactions from a studio audience, which will turn some people off, but it is pretty standard sitcom fare. It was, after 12 years, definitely getting "long in the tooth" as a show, and I think it was a good time to end it, even though it could have likely gone on for as long as the main actors wanted to return. However, when Jim Parsons indicated, going into the 12th season, that this one would be his last on the show, it was right to end it instead of trying to keep it going without the most popular character, especially with the spinoff series going strong. Ultimately, it is worth the pick-up, especially if you have the prior season releases on the physical discs and worth watching to see how the series wraps up.
Friday, August 29, 2025
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 12
Day 12 was the second upper-body workout of the week, which is a burnout workout. So, you do four blocks, each with one weighted exercise (chest presses in block 1, lateral raises in block 2, rotating rows in block 3, and biceps curls in block 4) that you do for the 2x2 tempo for three sets, with 15 seconds of rest between the sets. Then, after the third set in each block, you do a band exercise that works the same muscle group.
It is another very challenging workout. I had to do drop sets on a couple of the exercises, as even light weights were getting heavy by the third set in each block. The heaviest weight I used for this workout was 17.5 lbs (on the chest presses), and the lightest was 3 lbs on the third set of lateral raises.
Thursday, August 28, 2025
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 11
Day 11 was the second lower-body workout of the week. This workout consists mainly of lunges and calf raises, but it also includes a deadlift exercise. It is another super-burnout workout, consisting of three blocks, each containing two exercises, one of which utilizes the 2x2 tempo. Then, the fourth block is the burnout block. You use bands for front-loaded lunge pulses and then do bodyweight pigeon and duck calf raises. Like the other workouts, there are very minimal breaks so you do get some cardio effect even though you are not doing traditional cardio.
DVD.Movie Review: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny
Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 10
Day 10 was the second core-cardio workout of the program. It was another challenging workout, but I would say it is more focused on core than it is on cardio. Because the breaks are extremely short, you will experience a cardio effect, but it is not comparable to a traditional cardio workout (such as those in Lift 4). This workout has three regular blocks in which you do two exercises, then a burnout block in which you do four exercises, back-to-back with no rest for 45 seconds each.
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 9
Day 9 was the first upper-body workout of week 2. It was a super burnout workout, meaning all the band exercises are in the fourth block at the end of the workout, and for one of the two exercises in each of the three regular blocks, you use the 2x2 tempo. This workout includes exercises for the chest, back, shoulders, biceps, and triceps. I did have to drop weight between sets for a couple of the exercises, but I actually did increase the amount of weight on one of the shoulder exercises between the first and second sets. It is another challenging, yet doable workout, and there are modifications for every exercise if needed.
CD/Music Review: Paula Abdul: Head over Heels
Monday, August 25, 2025
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 8
Day 8 is the first workout of week 2, and the first lower-body workout of the week. This is a burnout workout. So each block has one weighted exercise that you do three times for one minute each, and then one band exercise that you do for 45 seconds. This workout also introduces tempo training into the program. In two of the four blocks, you perform the weighted exercise for two counts going down and two counts coming back up, or a "two and two" tempo. In this workout, the weighted exercises are deadlifts, front-loaded squats, front-loaded lunges, and bridges. The band exercises include band deadlifts, pulse squats, leg pulses, and bridges, where you lift one leg up after entering the bridge position.
Like the week one workouts, it is challenging even though it is short. I still think this is a perfect program to transition into Joel's other programs, Lift 4 and Lift More. I haven't done Lift More yet, but I have completed Lift 4 multiple times. Almost every exercise we have done so far, especially those that use weights, is included in Lift 4.
Book Review: Star Wars: Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear
Sunday, August 24, 2025
4k-UHD/Movie Review: The Crow (1994): Limited Edition Steelbook
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 7
Day 7 is the first "rest" day of the program, which is a flexibility and mobility routine. It incorporates some yoga poses, such as downward dog and pigeon, along with more dynamic hip and shoulder mobility exercises. You do not use any weight or bands in this one, and if you have done any of the other Bodi workouts that have a stretching routine, you will recognize all of the exercises in this workout.
Saturday, August 23, 2025
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 6
Day 6 was the first full-body workout day in 25-Minute Speed Train. Like the other workouts, especially the core-cardio workout, this one has some exercises that use weight and others that rely solely on your bodyweight. This one has four blocks of work. You work chest, back, legs, core, biceps, and shoulders. Some of the exercises are compound moves that work two body parts in the same rep, like hammer curls into narrow shoulder presses, and lunges into single arm rows. It is another very challenging workout, and even though it is short, you will be tired by the end, even if you modify the exercises that have modifications.
Friday, August 22, 2025
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 5
Day 5 was the second upper-body workout of the program. This had the same burnout format as the first workout, consisting of four blocks of work, each with two exercises. Then, after the fourth block, you have a burnout round in which you only use bands, and you do four exercises (actually three exercises, but one is a single-arm exercise that you do on one arm and then switch to the other) for 45 seconds with no rest. In this workout, you work your chest, back, shoulders, and triceps. Again, because you are going for time and not reps, you will probably have to use very light weight. The heaviest weight Joel used was 30 lbs on the one-arm rows. But, on the shoulder exercises, he was down to 10 and even 7.5 lbs.
Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Big Bang Theory: Season 11
The 24-episode 11th season of The Big Bang Theory aired during the 2017/2018 TV season. It would be the second-to-last season of the show. It was announced over the summer, after the 11th season aired, that season 12 would be the final season when Jim Parsons decided he would not return to the show. Ultimately, I think it was a good decision, as the show was getting long in the tooth.
The Blu-Ray set is a two-disc set. The A/V quality is excellent, and the episodes look and sound very good, much like the prior seasons. The set includes about an hour of bonus features, including part of the Comic-Con panel discussion, a couple of behind-the-scenes features, and a gag reel. Ultimately, the season was good, but the show was getting stale at this point. While there were some funny moments during the season, it wasn't as funny overall as it was in the beginning. That said, the season was still enjoyable, was worth watching, and provided a good setup for what will now be the final season.
Thursday, August 21, 2025
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 4
Day 4 was the second lower-body workout of the week. This one was a burnout workout, similar in format to the upper-body workout. There are four blocks of work, each with a "main" exercise that you use a dumbbell for, for two or three sets (depending on the exercise), then there is a burnout exercise that you use a resistance loop for.
Again, the workout is challenging, but not impossible. The hardest exercise in the workout is the negative lunge, in which you start in a lunge position with your knee on the floor and then raise up to what is a starting position for a traditional lunge. You can do the exercise with or without weight (and if you use weight, it will be very light; Joel was only using 15 lbs). You can also do what are essentially pulsing lunges if it is too hard on your knees.
Even though these workouts are short, you absolutely feel them the next day. So, they pack a lot into 25 minutes, and because the breaks are very short, you are getting a cardio effect as well.
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 3
Day 3 of 25-Minute Speed Train is the first core-cardio workout of the program. It again has four blocks of work (after a short warm-up), each block consisting of two exercises. One that has a cardio (and core) component, and the second, which is mostly core-focused. You do each exercise for 45 seconds, with 15 seconds between exercises for the transition.
If you have done Joel's Lift 4 program, you will recognize many of the exercises from the cardio and core portions of that program. There are exercises like twisted mountain climbers, knee to elbow, and flutter kicks, among others. A couple of the moves require a light dumbbell. In the workout, Joel used 7.5 lbs. I used 5 lbs. After you do the four blocks, there is a burnout round in which you do one exercise from each block for 45 seconds, back-to-back without rest.
This workout had a lot of plank work, which I personally don't enjoy. It was not as exhausting as the cardio workouts in Lift 4, but it is a challenge, especially if you are working yourself back into shape. But, if you are in better shape, you can go faster for longer, so you will be working. Joel was dripping with sweat by the last block, and he is in excellent shape, so you know it works.