Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 55

Day 55 was the last "real" workout of the 25-minute speed train program, which was core-cardio. This week, the workout uses the Give Me Five format. So, in each of the four blocks, you did a pre-fatigue exercise for 60 seconds and then four 40-second sets of the second exercise. I actually prefer this to doing four blocks and a burnout round, even though you do every exercise for a longer overall period of time. 

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 54

Day 54 was the last lower-body workout of the program. It uses the Dirty MOFO format. The four exercises in this workout are front-loaded squats, sumo deadlifts, alternating front-loaded lunges, and calf raises. With the five sets, you increase the weight as the time decreases, and then stay with the heaviest weight you can as the time increases again. On some of the exercises I had to step the weight back down, and on others I was able to keep using the heavier weight for the 40 and 60 second sets. 

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 53

Day 53 was the final upper-body workout of the program. It used the burnout format, which meant doing three sixty-second sets of a weighted exercise followed by a 45-second burnout set that used a band or bodyweight. This workout used most of the tempos that we have used throughout the program, including 4x4, 3x1, and 2x2. Joel encouraged starting with heavier weights and drop setting as needed, which I did in each of the four blocks. 

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 52

Day 52 was the total-body workout for week 8, which utilized the "Give Me Five" format. In this workout, you use a band move to pre-fatigue one of the muscle groups worked in the specific block, and then perform a compound exercise for four 40-second sets.  Ultimately, it was a good but challenging workout.

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 51

Day 51 was the first lower-body workout of the final week. Surprisingly, it was a superburnout workout, not the Dirty MOFO or Give Me Five, which is what I was expecting. All of the exercises in the workout were ones we did before, but there were a couple of twists on them. For example, this week, while doing swings, you used two dumbbells instead of one. And, Joel has you do variations of deadlifts in each of the first two blocks.  

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 50

Day 50 was the first upper-body workout of the final week of the program. It used the Dirty MOFO format and worked the chest, shoulders, back, and triceps. The weighted exercises each used one of the tempos (4x4 for chest press, 1x3 for front raises, and 3x1 for back flys). The final exercise was negative triceps push-ups in which you start with one of the modified versions, progress as far as you can (hopefully to an unmodified version for at least part of the 20-second set), then modify again. The workout was challenging, but I can tell I'm making progress with my muscular endurance and strength gains. I could do the entire 20-second set of negative triceps push-ups unmodified, which I could not do at the beginning of the program. It will be interesting to do Lift 4 again after this program since many of the exercises in this program are in that one, but without the tempos (or mostly a 2x2 tempo). 

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 49

Day 49 was the first of the two flexibility and mobility routines. This is still the one I like better, mainly because it features a mix of standing, seated, and prone stretches, while the second routine has mostly seated stretches. The plan is to finish week 8, then do another round of Lift 4, then try Lift More, then go either to Power 90 and then P90x or jump right into P90x. 

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 48

Day 48 was week 7's core-cardio workout. The format is the same, four blocks with two exercises that you alternate and then a burnout block doing four of the eight exercises for 45 seconds, back-to-back. There are a couple of new exercises in the workout, one new variation of the bear plank and a lunge chop with the dumbbell. Every other exercise is one that has been in the prior workouts.  

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 47

Day 47 was the second lower-body workout of the week, and it was, as predicted, the second "Give Me Five" workout of the week. So, in each of the four blocks, you do a pre-fatigue band exercise for 60 seconds, followed by four sets of a weighted exercise. Three of the weighted exercises use tempos (4x4, 3x1, and 1x3), and one (alternating lunge pulses) does not. You may need to use lighter weights than you did in previous weeks, given the format, but even if you do, it's still a good workout.

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 46

Day 46 was the second upper-body workout of the week. This one is a regular super burnout, so you do three blocks alternating between two exercises, doing each exercise for two sets, then doing a burnout block at the end. This workout focuses on the chest, shoulders, back, and biceps, so you hit all the upper-body muscle groups. Of course, that means tomorrow's leg day will be that pre-burnout format, which should be interesting. 

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 45

Day 45 was the week 7 total-body workout. There was another switch-up with this one, in that it uses the Dirty MOFO format. So, you do four exercises (all of which are compound movements, however) using the 60-40-20-40-60 time intervals. On the weighted exercises, you do the increasing and decreasing weights. On the bodyweight exercise, which is a high-plank to low-plank to triceps push-up to downward dog, you start on your knees, then start moving to your toes for some of the exercises, and eventually (hopefully) all of them.  

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 44

Day 44 is the first lower-body workout of week 7. It is just a "regular" burnout workout in which you have four blocks consisting of a weighted exercise that you do for three one-minute sets and a band exercise that you do for 40 seconds. In this workout, you do sumo deadlifts, front-loaded lunges, side lunges, and calf raises as the weighted exercises, and the band exercises are things like pulse kicks, deadlifts, and pigeon calf raises. Some exercises use the various tempos, and others do not. So, it is a good workout that definitely tires you out by the end.

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 43

Day 43 was the start of week 7. It switched back to upper-body to start the workout and introduced both a new tempo (4x4) and a new format. This week, you pre-fatigue the muscle group you will be working in the block with a burnout exercise, and then you do four forty-second sets of the weighted exercise. So, in the first block, you do 60 seconds of push-ups at the 4x4 tempo, and then four sets of chest presses, doing a 3x1 tempo.  In block 2, perform the arrow pulls with the bands for 60 seconds, followed by four sets of rotating rows with no tempo. In block 3, you do shoulder raise pulses with the bands for 60 seconds and then four sets of weighted lateral raises. In the final block, you do w-bicep curl pulses with the band for 60 seconds, followed by biceps curls with the 2x2 tempo. So, in each block, you do five total reps. You will be using very light weights in this workout because doing the burnout exercise at the beginning of the block instead of at the end will definitely wear you out. 

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 42

Day 42 was back to the second flexibility and mobility workout of the program. Again, I can tell my flexibility is getting better and my range of motion is improving, ever so slightly.  

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 41

Day 41 was core cardio, so the entire workout was done on the floor, alternating between plank-based exercises, such as mountain climbers, and prone exercises, like dumbbell crunches. The format is the same as the prior weeks. You do four blocks of work, with each block consisting of two exercises that you do back-to-back for 45 seconds, twice. Then you have a burnout block in which you do four of the exercises from blocks 1-4, each for 45 seconds back-to-back with no rest between them. So, again, this is not a traditional cardio workout from programs like P90X, Insanity, or even Lift 4, but it does get your heart rate up, and every exercise works your core. 

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 40

Day 40 was the second upper-body workout of the week. It is a burnout workout, so you do three sets of the same exercise in each block (front raises in block 1, pullovers in block 2, chest presses in block 3, and W-triceps kickbacks in block 4), followed by a band or bodyweight exercise to burn the muscle group out. It is another challenging workout in which I had to drop-set many of the exercises.  

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 39

Day 39 was the second lower-body workout of the week, and unlike the first, this one follows the Dirty MOFO format. Today, the four exercises are alternating front-loaded squats, goblet sumos, swings, and bridges. Of course, the idea is to increase the amount of weight you use for the first three sets and then stay with the heaviest weight you can for the final two sets. I found that my range of motion was much better for all the exercises, and the only exercise in which I had to drop the weight back down to what I started with was the swings. For the others, I was able to stay with either the heaviest weight or the medium weight. 

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 38

Day 38 was a total-body workout. Like the other total-body workouts in the program, this focuses more on cardio and muscular endurance, so only a few of the exercises use weights. Most of them rely solely on your body weight. And, for the couple of exercises for which you do use weight, it is a single light dumbbell. The first two blocks in the workout have a lot of squats and lunges, and the other two use more plank-based exercises.

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 37

Day 37 was the first upper-body day, following the Dirty MOFO format. So, you do four exercises (narrow chest presses, back flys, push presses, and hammer curls) for the 60, 40, 20, 40, 60 time intervals, increasing the amount of weight as the time goes down, and then trying to stay with the heavy weight as time goes back up. Each exercise uses one of the tempos (either 3x1, 1x3, or 2x2). Even Joel was using lighter weights and dropped to a weight lighter than what he started with a couple of times. So, this one was definitely no joke. 

Workout Update: 25 Minute Speed Train: Day 36

Day 36 was the first workout of week 6. It was a lower-body workout to start off this week, and Joel hinted that this week will be a mash-up of what we did throughout the prior five weeks. This workout was a superburnout workout that utilized all the tempos we had used during previous workouts. So, some exercises use the 3x1 tempo, some use the 1x3, and some use 2x2. This workout has squats, deadlifts, lunges, and calf raises, and works quite a bit on balance. Overall, a very good workout.