Product Review: Inno Supps Night Shred - Night Time Fat Burner and Natural Sleep Support - Appetite Suppressant and Weight Loss Support

 

This worked as an okay sleep aid, basically did as much or as little for me as the much less expensive melatonin supplements. As far as any kind of fat-burning or thermogenic effects, I definitely did not see any of that. So, ultimately, for me, this is just a very expensive sleep aid and not at all worth the price.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 8

Day 8 was the sweat 1-2 workout and ab-ripper 100. The workout went really well again, and I got through everything without stopping or even pausing, and was able to modify the cross hops a bit less. I still did the skips but would jump so one foot was off the ground as I did them. So, I am getting closer to doing the unmodified version where both feet are off the ground at the same time. 

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 7

Day 7 was the CE recharge workout. In this round I tried to do it without any modifications. I did have to go into child's pose a couple of times in the downward dog segments but got closer to holding myself up for the entire minute each time. 

Study Aid Review: The Engineering Circuit Analysis Tutor: Volume 1

 

This volume covers what takes up about the first month, give or take, of a Circuits Analysis (or Circuits I) class. It starts off with a discussion of the main units that you deal with, voltage, current, and resistance, discusses the basic circuit components, and Ohm's Law, which is the equation that pretty much everything that you do in circuits is based on. Then it touches on power calculations and then the meat of the lessons are Kirchhoff's current and voltage laws, which are the first techniques that are taught for "solving" a circuit. Jason then goes through a discussion of dependent sources, resistors in series and parallel (which is another vital topic that is necessary for later lessons), and ends on voltage and current divider circuits. In all, this material is likely to take you through the first exam in an introductory circuits class.

This DVD set has basically the same format as Jason's various math tutor videos. He introduces a topic and then goes through a bunch of example problems. He spends the bulk of his time on the most important topics, especially those that get built upon. Whether you will find this helpful very much depends on your learning style. If you are an audio and/or visual learner and learn by watching the problems worked out, this will be perfect for you. If you learn by reading and your own trial and error, then this is probably not going to help much. It is also important to note that this volume only covers circuits that use direct current (DC) sources, which is what students learn first. Later volumes cover the circuits that have alternating current (AC) sources, which are the focus of a Circuits II class. Learning this material is indispensable for anyone looking to get an Electrical Engineering degree as circuits is going to be one of the first engineering classes you take. Even if you are not getting an EE degree, you may still be required (depending on your school's requirements) to take a basic circuits class, and this will definitely help in that class as well.

Product Review: Bath and Body Works BLACK RASPBERRY VANILLA Super Smooth Body Lotion

 

This is a great lotion. It is one that because it has a strong scent, a little goes a long way, but it smells very good and does a good job moisturizing dry skin. You could use it as a hand lotion, but personally, I like to use it on my wrists, around where the bands from my Fitbit and Apple watch can irritate and dry out my skin. That works well and keeps the scent from getting too overpowering.

DVD/TV Series Review: Nashville - Season 1

 

Nashville is a prime-time drama that definitely leans toward the prime-time soap opera category centered around the characters of Rayna James, played by Connie Britton (of Spin City and Friday Night Lights), who is an aging country music star whose career is on the downswing, and Juliette Barnes, played by Hayden Panettiere (best known for the series Heroes) who is the up and coming young star whose life is kind of a train wreck. The first season is really all about developing the characters and establishing storylines for the various characters. For Rayna, it is trying to inject new life into her career and dealing with her husband Teddy (played by Eric Close) who is resentful of her fame and decides to run for mayor on the back of her fame, and her ex-flame (and ex songwriting partner) Deacon (played by Charles Esten). Juliette is trying to make it big while dealing with issues in her personal family life that she tries to hide. The big appeal of the show is the musical numbers. Nearly every episode has one or more musical numbers with members of the cast actually singing. Even if you are not a country music fan, which I am not, the music is arranged in such a way that it is not tailored just to a hard-core country music fanbase. And, while not all the actors are great singers, some of them have a lot of talent, especially Sam Palladio who plays Gunnar Scott, and Clare Bowen who plays his girlfriend, and songwriting partner Scarlett O'Connor. Lennon Stella and Maisy Stella (who play Rayna's daughters Maddie and Daphnie are a real music duo out of Canada and are great singers who get a few chances to sing on the show.

For those who get the DVD set, the supplements are okay. There are a few behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and a blooper reel. What was included was okay, but the featurettes could be longer and it would be nice if at least some of the episodes included a commentary track.

Overall, the series is well-written and very well acted. The plot definitely gets a bit soap-opera-like when it involves the various character relationships. There is some sexual content, but nothing you do not see on any other prime-time dramas. Even so, the rest of the storylines are very good, and all of the actors, including the strong supporting and recurring cast which includes actors like Powers Boothe, Robert Wisdom, Jonathan Jackson (who came from the Daytime Soap Opera world), and Chris Carmack (from The OC). The season ends on a pretty large cliffhanger and does a good job setting up the second season. I definitely recommend this if you are looking for a good serial drama.

Study Guide Review: Absolute Beginner's Guide to C

 

This was a book that was required for my intro to programming class, but it can also just be used as a study guide in conjunction with a regular textbook. It is what it says, a beginner's guide to C. If you are anything other than a beginner, then this is going to be way too easy for you. But, if you have very little or no experience with programming in general, and C specifically, this is a good primer. It does have some mistakes in it, that most beginners would need a teacher or someone experienced to point out. That is what knocks it down a couple of stars for me. But, otherwise, it is a good starting point for learning C programming. C is at least somewhat, if not entirely, outdated now, but it is the programming language upon which many other programming languages are built so it is still good to have familiarity with.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 6

Day 6 was the sculpt 1-2 workout again. I was able to max out at 10 reps on a couple of the exercises.  I definitely made some strength gains just within the week as "heavy pants" was much easier, even with 35 lb dumbbells than it was the first day. I was also getting a little bit deeper on the push-ups (although still not as deep as I would like). So, progress is being made.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 5

Day 5 was the sweat 1-2 workout and ab-ripper 100. I made the mistake of doing the workout too close in time after eating so it was definitely not as good as the prior two workouts earlier in the week. I made it through but I definitely had to pause a couple of times and slow things down for fear of puking. I generally try to avoid workout out right after I eat (at least cardio workouts). I thought I had given myself enough time, but apparently not. 

Textbook Review: Karel++: A Gentle Introduction to the Art of Object-Oriented Programming

 

This book is essentially a follow-up to the book Karel The Robot: A Gentle Introduction to the Art of Programming. Where that book was focused on introducing students to C programming, using a much pared-down programming language, this one introduces students to the concepts used in C++ and other object-oriented programming languages. Like the first book, this is tailored specifically to the Karel world and instructions. The programming language used is more complex here, as you would expect. That said, the information in the book is very basic, and it is really intended to be used in an intro to programming class. So, if you have pretty much any programming experience (and still remember it), you will be way beyond what this book will teach you. That said, if you have only done a little programming and do not remember much of it, this will definitely help refresh you on the basic concepts.

Textbook Review: Karel The Robot: A Gentle Introduction to the Art of Programming

 

This is a book that will most likely be used in an introductory programming class. It is really an introduction to the method of problem-solving that programmers face and how to solve those problems without getting bogged down with complicated programming code. Basically, this involves writing simple code to move a robot around a screen, avoid walls, and pick up, or put down beepers, which are something like location beacons. You essentially program the robot to move around the world, avoiding walls, going into rooms, etc., and either placing beepers or picking up beepers. The instructions are written in computer code which tells the robot how to move when to pick up a beeper, and where to put a beeper down.

The book is a very good introduction to programming and computer science as a whole. The material in it is nowhere near as complex as what you will be exposed to if you decide to take classes beyond an intro class, but if you learn this it will give you a good idea of whether you want to continue on learning more complicated material.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 4

Day 4 was the Sculpt 1-2 workout. This time I was able to hit the ten rep max on four of the exercises which will mean an increase in weight next time. I can do more push-ups but still cannot go very deep on them. I have a feeling I will need to drop about another 10 lbs to be able to go as deep when I am doing push-ups on my toes as I can on my knees. 

Product Review: ASICS Men's GEL-260 TR Cross-Training Shoe

 

This is a good, affordable, comfortable pair of workout shoes. They are great for high-impact workouts like HIIT, plyometrics, or interval training, and can also be used in a variety of cross-training workout classes. While they are not running shoes per-se, you could run in them if you wanted to. I do not think they would be great for trail running, but they are certainly running on a track or a treadmill.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 3

Day three of the hybrid workout was the sweat 1-2 workout and ab-ripper 100. This was the second time doing the workout and again, I was able to get through it without stopping or pausing (just modifying the cross hops) and could do all 100 reps of the ab-ripper workout without stopping. So, the workout went well. I do think that I am better at it the second time around than the first round of Power-90 I did. So, even though I am still not in the kind of shape that I want to be in, I am getting better. 

Streaming Series Review: Obi-Wan Kenobi - Episode 3 (Spoilers)

                                 

Episode 3 of Obi-Wan Kenobi sees the first (of what is likely going to be two) confrontations between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader (again voiced by James Earl Jones). The episode starts out with Obi-Wan and Leia on the transport to the planet Mapuzo, having narrowly escaped Reva. When they land and go to the designated meeting point they find no one there and Leia flags down a miner named Freck (voiced by Zach Braff) who is making his way back to town and agrees to give the two a ride. Being a good member of the Empire, Freck also picks up a group of Stormtroopers who begin to question Obi-Wan and Leia. When he slips up and calls her by her real name, the most touching moment in the episode happens when Obi-Wan says he sees her mother when he looks at her. Of course, Leia figures out that Ben knew her mother and asks if he is her real father. Both Ewan McGregor and Vivien Lyra Blair do a great acting job during those sequences. 

The group is stopped at a checkpoint where everything unravels until Obi-Wan and Leia are saved by Tala, played by Indira Varma posing as an Imperial officer, who was the person they were sent to meet. She basically runs a Jedi underground railroad helping Jedi and force-sensitives disappear to prevent them from being captured by the Inquisitors. The real meat of the episode happens when Vader arrives on Mapuzo. Vader and Obi-Wan sense each other and Vader starts randomly torturing and killing the locals to draw Obi-Wan out. Obi-Wan tells Tala to get Leia to safety while he draws the Imperials away. Vader follows Obi-Wan who freaks out and runs away when he sees Vader in all his glory. When Vader finally corners Obi-Wan, to say he hands his ass to him would be an understatement. Obi-Wan is no match for Vader, and the only reason Vader does not kill him is that Vader wants him to suffer. During the confrontation, Obi-Wan asks Vader what has he become, to which Vader replies he is what Obi-Wan made him. In the end, Obi-Wan is barely saved by Tala, which of course leads to Leia being in danger at the end of the episode.

Overall, I thought the episode was good but has some glaring plot holes. The good was the name dropping of Quinlan Voss, who is a character you will know if you watched the animated Clone Wars series or read the novels. He could potentially show up to help at some point. I think the confrontation between Vader and Obi-Wan went the way it should. Vader is at the height of his power and Obi-Wan has been cut off from the force for a decade. Granted, I think having Vader have a wall of fire stop him was silly when he put the same fire out a few seconds earlier, but they needed a way to get Obi-Wan away from him. The end with Reva being at the end of the tunnel that she entered long after Leia was just dumb. Even if she use force speed she would have caught Leia in the tunnel, but this implies that she passed her, killed the pilot, and waited for her to catch up, all without Leia seeing her. 

The series is definitely setting up the fact that Vader and Obi-Wan are going to have a real rematch after Obi-Wan opens himself back up to the force, likely with Qui-Gon's help. We also know Leia is going to be fine and Reva is probably not going to make it out alive given that she was not a character in Rebels. Even knowing all that, the show does a good job ratcheting up the tension to make how they are going to get there a mystery.

4KUHD/Movie Review: The Batman

 

The Batman is yet another live-action take on Batman, yet one that is much different than what has come before. This film forgoes doing the origin story that has been done multiple times and jumps into Batman's second year as a vigilante. He is working with Lieutenant Gordon who brings him in to investigate a series of murders involving high-ranking Gotham officials, with the killer leaving riddles for Batman at the scene of each kill. The story is much more of an origin story for the rogue's gallery of villains and is adapted heavily from the year one and year two comics.

The casting of the movie was (as always) controversial with Robert Pattinson playing Bruce Wayne/Batman, Zoe Kravits playing Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Paul Dano playing The Riddler, Collin Farrell playing Penguin, Jeffrey Wright playing Jim Gordon, Andy Serkis playing Alfred, and John Turturro playing Carmine Falcone. Of course, Pattinson's casting was a subject of much debate (as has most every casting choice for Batman since Keaton landed the role in the late 1980s). Pattinson was best known for his roles in the Twilight series (which even he admits were not that good) and as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter. I think most people complaining about his casting either were not aware of his other work, in which he has shown his acting chops or just liked to complain. But, he, and the rest of the cast, did a great job with their characters. Farrell was unrecognizable both in look and voice as Penguin (he was really just a secondary character in the movie) and Dano, who to this point was probably best known as a side character in the movie Girl Next Door and from his role in There Will be Blood, was awesome as The Riddler. And, Barry Keoghan was great in his minute or so at the end clearly playing an early version of The Joker (but credited as being the unseen Arkham inmate).

The movie looks and sounds great in UHD. The 4K set is actually a three-disc set. The UHD disc and one of the regular Blu-Ray discs just has the movie itself, and the second regular Blu-Ray disc has all the special features and extras. The extras include several short behind-the-scenes featurettes that range from a couple of minutes to about 10 minutes in length. The main feature is an almost hour-long making-of documentary which spans pretty much the entire filming process and shows how the covid pandemic really impacted how the film was made. Then there are a couple of deleted scenes that you can watch with or without director commentary.

Overall, the movie is great. I do think it is a bit long and could have been cut down for time. That said, I think most of the scenes that did end up in the final cut of the film worked, so aside from a couple of scenes at the very end of the film, I think it would have been hard to pick what to remove. I like the fact that Batman is not yet fully formed in this movie and he is still trying to figure out how to be Batman, without really caring about being Bruce Wayne. It is also interesting to see him operate out in the daylight while literally carrying the Batsuit around in a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. The movie has a feel that is much more similar to Nolan's trilogy of movies than it does to the Burton or Schumacher movies, without being a carbon copy of what Nolan did with his. The movie has an old-school film noir crime/detective story feel to it and is extremely well-acted. Definitely worth watching and investing in the disc for those who still get the physical discs.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Love & Other Drugs

 

Love and Other Drugs is a romantic comedy about a pharmaceutical salesman played by Jake Gyllenhaal, who is on the verge of getting fired until Viagra comes along and reignites his career. One day while pushing Viagra at a clinic, he meets and falls for Anne Hathaway's character and they start in what is supposed to be an NSA relationship, mainly because she has Parkinson's and does not want to get into a long-term relationship. Of course, feelings develop and the two have to figure out what they want. It has a strong supporting cast including Judy Greer, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria, and Josh Gad.

For those who get the blu-ray, the A/V quality is very good, and it has a handful of extras, including deleted scenes, character profiles of Maggie (Hathaway) and Jamie (Gyllenhaal), a feature on Jamie Reidy, the real salesman on whose book the movie is based, the theatrical trailer, and a BD live feature on Gyllenhaal's favorite scene.

Overall, the movie is good, but not without its flaws. The movie does at times seem like a schill for big Phrama, with Pfizer getting a ton of product placement, and just kind of glossing over many issues that the drug companies create (which could easily be more of a theme, because of the character of Maggie and her predicament). There is a lot of sex and nudity in the movie, moreso than in other rom-coms. While it does follow some of the traditional rom-com formulaic notes, it does diverge from that at times. While it is definitely not a family-friendly movie, it is worth watching if you are looking for an adult rom-com.

DVD/TV Movie Review: The Death of The Incredible Hulk

 

This was the third of the disconnected TV movies that aired after the Incredible Hulk series starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno went off the air. The title gives away what happens, so it is not a spoiler (especially after 30+ years) to say that the Hulk dies, but I think how it was done was kind of dumb, especially given what the Hulk's real powers are (as opposed to what is portrayed in the series).

The crux of the story is that David is still trying to find a way of curing himself of the Hulk metamorphosis. He ends up working as a janitor at a top-secret government lab where a doctor, played by Philip Sterling, is working on an experiment that may help cure David. In the meantime, an Eastern European spy played by former Miss America (and alleged Bill Clinton one-night-stand) Elizabeth Gracen is tasked to steal Dr. Pratt's research. I will not spoil the rest of the story from there, but needless to say, the Hulk finally dies in the end, finally bringing a resolution to the storyline that was never finished in the TV show because it was canceled after the fourth season, and only aired a few remaining yet to be aired episodes as a very short fifth season.

The DVD just has the movie itself. I think there are multiple versions running around out there, but the version I got was an import from the UK (the US version seems to be out of print and very hard to track down) So, on this version, there are no extras. Of course, Bixby died a few years after making the movie so having any meaningful commentary track was impossible, but there was no making-of or behind-the-scenes material included either. Overall, the movie is better than the two other movies (The Incredible Hulk Returns and The Trial of the Incredible Hulk), but that is not saying a lot since those were pretty awful. It does give a nod to the super-soldier program that was the basis for the comic book story but does not go too deeply into it. Unfortunately, Jack Colvin either did not come back or was not brought back for this so there was really never a resolution for his character, which is too bad. He was horribly underused in the tv series and was only on screen for a few minutes in The Incredible Hulk returns never to be seen again.

Chances are, most of the people who are going to watch this are those who are fans of the TV series. It is definitely not like the superhero series of today by any means, both in being faithful to the comics, or the special effects. Of course, in this, they were still painting Lou Ferrigno green and using cutaways during the Hulk-outs. The handful of special effects that were used (mostly at the end) was very basic and fake-looking. I cannot say that everyone will love this, but if you like the series it is worth watching to see the full story arc.

DVD/TV Series Review: Burn Notice: Season 6

 

+++Warning, this contains a minor spoiler from season five, but no major season six giveaways.+++

Season six starts out with Michael back working for the CIA having been officially reinstated, and Fiona in jail, confessing to a crime she did not commit in order to protect Michael. At this point, the series has gone far afield from where it started, and what made it as good as it was in the first couple of seasons. Namely, it is not about using his skills to protect "regular" people, but is mainly Michael on a rampage to get Anson, the leader of the organization that burned Michael). Obviously, Fiona does not remain in jail, but I will not spoil how she ends up getting out. There are, again, a lot of twists and turns and characters whose intentions and motivations are sketchy to say the least. The show does not end on as much of a cliffhanger this time, but still does set up the storyline for the final season.

The extras on the DVD set are lighter than in past seasons. There is just one commentary track, a gag reel, and some deleted scenes, as well as a humorous short with the series creator Matt Nix. What was included was fine, but it is definitely not as extensive as in prior DVD releases.

Overall, the show is good, but I think shooting its shot and revealing who burned Michael and then continuing the story long past the reveal hurt the show a bit. Plus, I think Michael and the team as freelance dogooders is what made the show as popular as it was at the start, and getting away from that also has hurt the show. That said, it is still very well acted (Bruce Campbell still steals every scene) and has good episodes.

DVD/TV Series Review: FBI Season Two

 

Season Two of FBI followed pretty much the same format as the first, with a story of the week, that usually involves some crime like a murder or a kidnapping in the first act before the title and main credits roll, and then the team picks up the case and has to solve it by the end of the episodes. The episodes are, for the most part, all stand-alone and there are not really any ongoing story arcs or threads that go throughout the season.

There are a couple of cast changes. At the end of Season 1, Sela Ward's character Dana indicated she was going to retire. She was replaced by Alana De La Garza, playing Isobel Castile, the new head of the division. John Boyd (probably best known for his work on the last couple of seasons of Bones) joins the cast as agent Stuart Scola and Catherine Haena Kim joins as Emily Ryder, who fills in as a field agent. Of course, anyone who is a fan of Law and Order knows that Alana De La Garza's casting creates a big continuity error as she had also played a main role in the later seasons of the original Law and Order series, which is in the same universe with all the other Wolf produced shows. This is further cemented by the fact that Tracy Spiridakos from Chicago PD (which crossed over with Law and Order: SVU multiple times) made a guest-starring appearance as detective Upton at the end of the season when Missy Peregrym went out on maternity leave. The season was also cut short due to the start of the Covid pandemic so it just has 19 episodes instead of the regular 22.

For those who prefer to get the show on DVD, it has only been released on disc in Europe, so you have to buy an imported version (which means you also need a region-2 or a region-free DVD or Blu-Ray player to watch the discs on). They are basically MOD discs, with just the episodes and no extras. Also, depending on what country your particular set was manufactured for, you may have to change the audio settings to hear the English language audio. My set defaults to playing in German. Not a big deal, just something to be aware of. The one thing that did irk me about this set is that even though there is a crossover episode with the spin-off series FBI Most Wanted, only the first half of the crossover is on the disc. Unlike the Chicago-based shows, which include all episodes of the crossovers on the DVD sets for each show, if you want to see the Most Wanted episode that finishes the storyline, you have to either get that DVD set or stream it separately.

Overall, the show continues to be well-acted and well-written. It is kind of odd that even into the second season we do not see more of the personal lives of each character to see how they are outside of work. I think for the action-based series like this one, that is less of a big deal than it is for the legal dramas, but it definitely helps with character development, which will keep the fans invested in the show. I think not showing characters outside the work setting was definitely something that tanked the show Chicago Justice, which was one of the few Wolf-produced shows that failed after one partial season. That said, the format does seem to be working well for FBI, and thankfully the show does not focus on just the two main characters to the exclusion of all others, so it balances the ensemble cast well. It is a good season that is worth watching.

Product Review: Eden Foods Seaweed Wakame

 

I got this to try and make a batch of Miso soup with, only to discover I was not all that fond of Miso or seaweed. It was very salty, and I think it was salty on its own as opposed to getting that from the Miso. So, if you like that, it is worth it, if not you may want to try something else.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 2

 Day 2 of the Power-90/CE hybrid was Power-90's sculpt 1-2 workout. This was a fairly easy workout after having done a modified version of P90x and CE. I decided to keep the reps range in the 8-10 range as opposed to 10-15, but for the push-ups, I did as many reps as I could, all on my toes, except for the wide, close, standard set of 21. I did the 7 wide and 7 close on my toes but had to do the last 7 on my knees. I estimated the weights well for all but a couple of the exercises so, those will have the weight increased on Thursday, but otherwise, the weights will be the same. 

DVD/Movie Review: The Limits of Control

 

The Limits of Control is an indie movie written and directed by Jim Jarmusch starring Isaach De Bankolé as "The Lone Man" a character who says almost nothing the entire movie and receives instructions from a bunch of oddball characters including Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, and the hot, yet seemingly batshit crazy Paz De La Huerta (check out her social media pages) whose character The Nude Woman is, as is pretty obvious, is naked every time she is on the screen. She is, honestly, the best part of the movie. There is a plot in there somewhere, but it is really incomprehensible what is going on until the end. I think the movie tries so hard to be edgy and offbeat that it goes too far and just comes across as weird and boring.

For those who get the DVD, the movie does have great cinematography, and even on DVD that looks great. It is set in different locations around Europe and some of those location shots really do pop, especially if you have a large screen TV. As far as extras, there is an almost hour-long making-of documentary that shows a lot of the filming process but is not all that insightful. Then there is a short feature on some of the cinematography shots which is worth watching.

I can definitely not say that everyone will like this movie. If you are a fan of offbeat indie films it is probably right in your wheelhouse. However, I think it could be a lot better, especially given the acting talent the movie did have available.

Supplement Review: SSG Universal Nutrition Animal Cuts

 

The first couple of days I took this I was feeling kind of jittery, especially about 20 minutes after I took it. After that, really the only noticeable effect it had on me was to make me pee a lot. That definitely may be helpful if you are really in a cutting phase trying to get ready for a competition, but for most people, especially if you do not have a body fat percentage low enough to see your abs where all you really need is to get water off to get a really cut look, this will not be all that helpful for you.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 1

Day 1 of the Power-90/CE Hybrid was the Sweat 1-2 and ab-ripper 100 workout. It had been months since I have done either of these workouts, but I was able to get through everything without stopping, and without pausing (except one time) on the ab-ripper reps. The only thing I had to modify at all was doing the skipping cross hops instead of the jumping version. So, overall, it was a good workout. My body definitely liked the change-up in the workout after doing three months of CE.  Basically, I plan to do the 1-2 workouts for four weeks, using CE's recharge on Sunday as a yoga workout. Then I am going to do the CE Push phase for four weeks, and then I will do the Power-90 3-4 workouts for four weeks. Then decide (depending on what kind of shape I am in) how I want to proceed from there.