Round 3 / Day 3: Original Turbulence Training Workout A + RKC Man Maker + Insanity Cardio Abs

From my long-winded title for this workout, it sounds like something that's off-the-charts crazy and complicated. And I admit to being a little nervous about trying to cram so much into an hour.

But in the end, it worked out great. Workout A from the Original Turbulence Training routine took just 20 minutes to complete, and the Man Maker kettlebell routine is limited to 12 minutes. That left Cardio Abs, which clocks in at just over a quarter-hour. Add 'em all together and my entire workout this morning took about 50 minutes -- shorter than most of P90X workouts.

I loved mixing up three different programs in one session; as they say, variety's the spice of life. (That, and MSG.) And as an added bonus, I got a great full-body workout that incorporated intense resistance and interval training. This one's a keeper.

Round 2 / Day 3: P90X Shoulders & Arms + Ab Ripper X

"Squeeze that thang! SQUEEZE THAT THANG! I wanna see the VEINS pop out of that THANG!"

Ah, Tony. I've missed you and your double entendres.

I didn't break a sweat this morning, but it's not that my arms and core didn't get blasted by Shoulders & Arms and Ab Ripper X. (The two sets of Deep Swimmer's Presses certainly were no cakewalk.) It's because this time of year, our garage gets icy cold in the early a.m. hours, and I feel like I'm exercising inside a walk-in fridge.

P90X Day 3: Shoulders & Arms + Ab Ripper X

Today's workout seemed a bit less strenuous than Plyo or Chest & Back, but only because the moves were limited to my shoulders and arms, giving the rest of my sore body a much-needed break.

Initially, I was surprised that I couldn't lift as much weight as I normally do when I work my arms, but quickly figured out the reason: P90X's Shoulders & Arms program quickly marches through 15 different exercises targeting the same cluster of muscles, all performed to exhaustion, while my normal, pre-P90X routine was to sleepwalk through 3 to 5 different exercises, all performed while watching TV between sets (and sometimes even between reps). With P90X's Shoulders & Arms program, groupings of two to four exercises form a circuit, performed with little to no rest in between. Even after lifting lighter weights, I was pretty much spent (and a dripping, sweaty mess) at the end of the hour.

Lesson learned: This is circuit training, not traditional weight training.

Here's what I did this morning:

First Circuit:

• Alternating Shoulder Presses
• In & Out Bicep Curls
• Two Arm Tricep Kickbacks
• Repeat

Second Circuit:

• Deep Swimmer's Presses
• Full Supination Concentration Curls
• Chair Dips
• Repeat

Third Circuit:

• Static Arm Curls
• Flip-Grip Twist Triceps Kickbacks
• Repeat

Fourth Circuit:

• Seated Two-Angle Shoulder Flys
• Crouching Cohen Curls
• Lying-Down Triceps Extensions
• Repeat

Bonus Circuit:

• In & Out Straight-Arm Shoulder Flys
• Congdon Curls
• Side Tri-Raises
• Repeat

And after Shoulders & Arms were done, I had to get through yet another session of Ab Ripper X. I'll detail this particularly torturous workout in a future post, but for now, let me just say that I fucking dread the 300+ reps of ab exercises contained in Ab Ripper X. After an hour of huffing and puffing, the last thing I need is another 15 minutes of gut-wrenching twists and crunches.

Bye for now.