Round 3 / Day 24: 2K5 Turbulence Training Workout B + RKC Man Maker + Insanity Cardio Abs

I was scheduled to do Workout A from the 2K5 version of Turbulence Training, but being the idiot that I am, I flipped to the wrong page of the manual and ended up doing Workout B instead.

Workout B starts with a quick warm-up sequence (done twice) of Prisoner Squats, Elevated Push-Ups, and Stability Ball Leg Curls. And then it's on to the main event:

Superset One:

• Pull-Ups (8 reps): No description needed.

• Dumbbell Floor Presses (8 reps): I did Dumbbell Bench Presses instead. (Our garage floor's a little dirty.)

Rest a minute, and then repeat the superset twice, for a total of three times.

Superset Two:

• Chin-Ups (8 reps): You know -- Chin-Ups.

• Dumbbell Incline Presses (8 reps): Nothing you haven't seen before.

Rest a minute, and then repeat the superset twice, for a total of three times.

Superset Three:

• Dumbbell Rear Deltoid Raises (15 reps): Holding a pair of dumbbells, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Lean your upper body forward so that it's parallel to the floor. Let your arms hang vertically. Laterally raise the dumbbells up and out to the sides. I did these a week ago, but today's workout requires upping my reps.

• Decline Push-Ups (20 reps): Nothing out of the ordinary for fans of P90X Chest & Back.

Rest a minute, and then repeat the superset twice, for a total of three times.

Workout B was pretty damn tough, but then I started my 12 minutes of Man Maker practice. Swinging a kettlebell puts things in perspective; there are few other exercises that kick my ass quite as much. I'm getting (slightly) better at it, but it's one heart-pounding, leg-burning interval workout that still intimidates the hell out of me.

As for Insanity Cardio Abs, I ran out of time this morning, and still haven't done it (yet). But mark my words: I will squeeze in a core workout before bed tonight.

Maybe.

Round 2 / Day 24: Back & Biceps + Ab Ripper X

So after almost four months of P90X workouts, I finally tried the "Silence and Cues" feature on the DVDs. And I'm kicking myself for not checking this out sooner. It's the best thing ever.

With "Silence and Cues," there's no grating music. There's no commentary by Tony, other than a sentence or two at the start of each exercise to let you know that we're moving on. (It's astonishing how little time Tony spends on verbal instruction, and how much of his constant blabber is pointless and unnecessary.) Best of all, in Back & Biceps, you don't have to hear Katie's deranged giggling at all.

Another plus: You can listen to music on your iPod or soak in the silence during your workout. Or, if you're like me, you can turn on the other TV in the garage and catch up on old episodes of "Survivor" that are about to disappear from your TiVo -- all while doing Corn Cob Pull-Ups.

"Silence and Cues," I think I love you.

P90X Day 24: Kenpo X

Kenpo X is the weakest, least "EXTREME" of the P90X routines I've completed thus far (not counting X Stretch). I usually approach my morning workouts with a mix of fear and giddy anticipation, but I haven't been able to muster up any excitement for Kenpo X. Fed up with the half-assed nature of this workout, I went to the teambeachbody.com message boards to scare up some advice on how to crank up its intensity.

The two best pieces of advice I got were to: (1) use weights -- light dumbbells or weighted gloves/ankle weights -- while performing the Kenpo X moves; and (2) add focus, intensity and speed to the workout -- even during the short breaks between circuits.

I incorporated both approaches into this morning's Kenpo X session, and I'm happy to report that with these modifictions, this workout has finally joined the more intense of the P90X cardio routines. I used 3-pound dumbbells through most of the moves (very effective when performing the jab/hook/uppercut combos), and during the breaks, I substituted fast high-knee jumps, front kicks, squat-jacks and X-jacks, and tried to do them at a faster pace than Tony and his on-screen minions.

At the end of the hour, I was drenched in sweat.

One more side benefit of using dumbbells during Kenpo X: it forced me to be more vigilant about maintaining proper form, because I really wanted to avoid injuring myself. (I'd hate to have to explain that I got hurt lifting 3-pound weights.)