Round 5: Day 1: 30-15, 10 Minute Trainer Abs

30-15

This is fast becoming my favourite workout. I love the feeling of pounding my chest and arms until they can't take any more. I love the feeling of being in a chataranga position near the end of the workout, and willing myself to push back up into plank. This is the workout where you really find out what you're made of, when you push yourself to the brink, and sometimes over it, challenging yourself to continue, or even just to complete an exercise. This is the workout where you go to failure, take a short rest, then try to go again. It's basic and primal: pushing and pulling, until you can't push and pull.

If you're getting the idea that I'm a cheerleader for this workout, you would be correct. I actually enjoy this workout more than P90X's Chest & Back, because Chest & Back deviates from the pushups to do heavy pants and other exercises. With 30-15, there's no deviation, there's no modification, there's no mercy. What can you do? What are you made of?

10 Minute Trainer Abs

I haven't done this workout in over a year. I first purchased Tony Horton's 10 Minute Trainer as a way to start my fitness journey, back in late August, 2008. I did 10 Minute Trainer for about 3 months, then got into P90X, and since then, 10 Minute Trainer has sat on the shelf, collecting dust. Until this workout. I had forgotten how challenging this workout is. There are 20 moves, each 30 seconds in duration. Some of the moves are more difficult than others, but the challenge in this workout is pacing. The pace is unrelenting. Immediately upon completing a move, the next one commences. There's no time for recovery, no time to catch your breath, no time to stretch out you abdominal muscles, no time for anything. It just never stops. Well, after 10 minutes, it stops. This workout, while different from Ab Ripper X, is still a good workout to include in a fitness program. It still targets the right muscles, in a different way from ARX. In that respect, it fits perfectly into the concept of muscle confusion, and it's going to be a nice addition to this Round.