Okay, having now battled my way through it twice, I can categorically say that in a tough field, Phase 3 Total Body Core is the toughest of all the 80 Day Obsession workouts. And I say that as someone who is definitely better at strength workouts than cardio ones and who loves a good total body workout.
Throughout Phase 2 – and even more so in Phase 3 – Autumn has been really quite cunning in the way she’s created both full-blown compound moves and little add-ons to isolation exercises to really work you all over. As well as in the way all the strength workouts are structured to both keep your heart rate up and burn out your muscles. All of these things are taken to extreme here, and they meet their absolute high point in the glorious horror of, wait for it, Half Turkish Get-Ups to Push-Ups, either half of which would be enough to challenge me. Just that one move, repeated a few times, feels like it would give you a fairly solid full body workout. And then there are things like Triceps Push-Ups with Knee Tucks on Sliders or Surrenders to Shoulder Press. That’s before you get onto the core moves, which were also very challenging, particularly on top of the core getting hit quite hard in moves predominantly focused on another body part.
Honestly, on my first run-through, I was struggling to keep up with the choreography, never mind the physical challenge, and I got a bit frustrated. This time, I’d got the hang of it a bit more, so though I was still screaming at the screen at times, I could at least appreciate its cleverness. And it’s one of those workouts where, once you get through, you feel very pleased with yourself and like every inch of your body has been worked and you’ve burnt a million calories, so that’s nice!
Other than the ever more complex and compound moves, the structure is the same as in previous phases: 5 rounds, focused on the shoulders, back, chest, biceps, and triceps respectively. Each round involves two moves focused on the specified body part, then one core move. As with all the strength workouts, the rep pattern changes week to week: today involved 10 reps of each move, with each series completed 3 times back to back before moving onto the next.
MOVES LIST
Series 1: Shoulders
Surrender to Shoulder Press
Quad Ped Crawl
Burpee Sliders (actually a lot more fun than they sound!)
Series 2: Back
Bent Over Row Tap Back
Squat Tabletop Row (ie. holding a squat and with a band on the wrists, pulling the arms back to the chest)
Saw on Sliders (sliding back and forth on the sliders. Never did such a small movement cause so much core work!)
Series 3: Chest
Half Turkish Row to Push Up (I would attempt to explain this but I’m trying to block out the memory!)
Side Reach Push-Up
V crunch to Scissor Crunch
Series 4: Biceps
Runners Lunge Curl (using a band for the curl)
Static Sumo Hammer Curl
Slider Crawl Outs
Series 5: Triceps
Triceps Push-Up, Knee Tuck
Squat Hold Kick Backs
Weighted Windmills (one weight in each hand, one arm in the air, one by your side, bend to the side)
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If you don’t currently have access to BOD, you can get a year’s subscription, a month’s supply of Shakeology, and all the accessories you need for 80 Day Obsession for just £180 here
If you’re already a Beachbody on Demand customer, you can get everything you need for 80 Day Obsession (workout calendar, resistance bands, strength sliders, portion fix containers) with Shakeology here, with performance supplements here, or with both here.
There are a variety of different combinations of BOD access, 80 Day Obsession accessories, Shakeology and performance supplements available. Do drop me a line if you’re not sure which is right for you or if you’d like more information about this programme or anything else.
This is basically the same principle as Phase 1’s Total Body Core. 5 sets, each of which involve two strength moves targeting the same area, followed by one core move. Over the course of the 5 sets, you work all key body parts – the upper body directly, the lower body in a supporting way.
The main different between this and the Phase 1 version is that the moves are much more complex. Not necessarily more difficult (though on the whole that’s also true) but more compound and involving either several steps or two different moves at once. Many of them took quite a bit of getting used to. Crab Position Tricep Dip to Sit Through, for example, mostly defeated me, not because I lacked the core or triceps strength, but because I lacked the coordination.
It was pretty ingenious in how it got lots of total body work into each move and I felt well worked out and pretty exhausted afterwards. I think on balance I prefer my workouts just a touch simpler though.
As with the other strength workouts, the moves stay the same each week but the structure varies. Today, it was 15 reps of each move in the first series, repeat, then on to series two, and so on, which on balance, though exhausting, is one of my favourite rep schemes.
SERIES 2: CHEST
Chest Press to Half Turkish Get Up
Spider Man Push-Ups
Frog Sliders
SERIES 3: BACK
“T” to Single-Leg Hip Hinge
Lat Pull Over w/Leg Raise
Weighted Plank Hip Drop
SERIES 4: BICEPS
Low Twisting Lunge Hammer Curl
Press Out to Curl
Weighted Standing Torso Rotation
SERIES 5: TRICEPS
Crab Position Tricep Dip to Sit Through
Alt. Skull Crushers with Bicycle Legs
French Twist
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If you don’t currently have access to BOD, you can get a year’s subscription, a month’s supply of Shakeology, and all the accessories you need for 80 Day Obsession for just £180 here
If you’re already a Beachbody on Demand customer, you can get everything you need for 80 Day Obsession (workout calendar, resistance bands, strength sliders, portion fix containers) with Shakeology here, with performance supplements here, or with both here.
There are a variety of different combinations of BOD access, 80 Day Obsession accessories, Shakeology and performance supplements available. Do drop me a line if you’re not sure which is right for you or if you’d like more information about this programme or anything else.
Not too much to report today, but I’ve been very lax about keeping this blog up to date over the last few days, so checking in quickly lest I lose momentum.
To summarise the days I’ve missed from the diary:
Friday (Day 19) – Legs – a workout that killed me in week 1 and that I missed in week 2 (still the only workout I’ve skipped). Mindful of just how much my legs ached after week 1, I went slightly easy on myself in two ways : doing the week 2 version rather than jumping straight to week 3, and using relatively light weights throughout rounds 1 and 2.
The first of these was definitely the right call. I’ve found the 10 by 3 by 3 rep pattern much more challenging than either the 15 x 2 or the 10 x 3, even on workouts I struggle with a lot less.
The second was probably a bit of a cop out if I’m honest. I used 7.5 ilb weights right through rounds one and two, which is really quite light for legs. I still felt it, but I could have tried a little harder. I changed tack in round three, still using 7.5s on some of the trickier ones (Buddha squats, diagonal lunges) but going up to 15s on things like squats and sumos. Overall, I felt like I got a decent workout, that worked me out but didn’t burn me out. I’ll try to go a little heaver throughout next week though. I stuck to my standard nutrition all day and made an amazing thai stir fry that fit with the plan but was a lovely Friday evening meal.
Saturday – Day 20 – Cardio Flow– I was up unusually early on Saturday for no particular reason. I smashed through Cardio Flow, had a healthy breakfast, and felt very smug. I felt less smug when I ordered a take away pizza in the evening, and consumed it with most of a bottle of wine. Yes, the less said about that the better. Moving swiftly on…
Sunday – Rest Day – I did Roll and Release, which is definitely becoming a mini-favourite. Then I followed it up with some very gentle restorative yoga (nothing to do with 80 Day Obsession or Beachbody. Gasp!) focused on soothing the ankles and knees, which are always weak spots of mine and are starting to feel the effect of daily exercise. I went out for a meal with friends, managed to stick to fairly healthy options, but once again, abused my wine privileges.
I deliberately agreed with myself that I’d have some wine at the weekend while doing the programme, but I’m conscious that what’s meant to be basically one glass on each weekend day has crept up each weekend of the programme, so I really need to get stricter with myself, as it’s the one main way I’m not properly sticking to the programme (that random pizza aside – foods not been a problem usually).
Monday – Day 21 – Total Body Core – After that slightly hit and miss weekend, I started week 4 strong. Perfect nutrition (so much easier during the week, somehow) and got my exercise in. If you’ve read this diary before, you’ll know that usually on Monday’s, my husband takes the living rooms and the weights to do Body Beast, leaving me in the hallway with pathetic weights. Today, he decided to skip it. If I was a good coach, I’d probably have encouraged him to do it. Instead, I selfishly rejoiced in my opportunity to do Total Body Core in luxury. Having mostly done this workout with 5ilb weights, I was over-excited to have more of a range to play with, and between that and the 15x3x2 patterns (three moves of 15 reps, repeat, then move onto the next set of three) I absolutely exhausted myself, but it went pretty well.
Phew, that’s everything up to date. Hopefully I’ll be better behaved about daily updates again this week.
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If you don’t currently have access to BOD, you can get a year’s subscription, a month’s supply of Shakeology, and all the accessories you need for 80 Day Obsession for just £180 here
If you’re already a Beachbody on Demand customer, you can get everything you need for 80 Day Obsession (workout calendar, resistance bands, strength sliders, portion fix containers) with Shakeology here, with performance supplements here, or with both here.
There are a variety of different combinations of BOD access, 80 Day Obsession accessories, Shakeology and performance supplements available. Do drop me a line if you’re not sure which is right for you or if you’d like more information about this programme or anything else.
So, that’s day one successfully over and done with. The first instalment of Total Body Core successfully completed. The correct number and combination of boxes consumed in more or less the right order.
I’m intending these posts to be partly a review of/guide to individual workouts, partly a record of what I ate, and partly a genuine diary where I can reflect on how the day went from a fitness perspective. Today’s is longer than I expect most of them will be, as on Day One, there’s a lot to say. I hope that me being honest about both my successes and my failures and everything in between will help keep me motivated, but also be inspiring but reassuring to people reading this. That said, if you’re just hear for the workout review, you can scroll down. I’ll be copying them all over onto a separate page at some point too.
Clearly, I started today with the benefit of all the excitement and enthusiasm of starting a new programme, which I’m not going to have in my favour for the entire 80 Days. On the other hand, it was horrid weather, a hectic day at work, and (sorry for oversharing) my time of the month, all of which would normally conspire to make me have some treats during the working day and collapse in a heap once I got home, so I was pretty proud of myself for managing to stick rigidly to the plan.
FOOD
I’ve done portion fix lots of times before, but the timed nutrition aspect was new to me and made everything a little confusing, though I’m sure I’ll get used to it with practice and refine my meal choices. I’ve got to admit, I didn’t 100% stick to the structure. I wasn’t far off, but lunch and the pre-workout meal should have been the other way round, and one of the greens from the latter should really have gone with the afternoon snack. But I thought I’d get a bit faint if I didn’t have any carbs till after 5, and I didn’t feel like tomatoes, pecans, and blueberries all together as a snack. I want to stick to the design as accurately as I can, but I’m going to have to play around to find the meal combos that work for me.
I was sceptical about whether it would make a difference, but despite the fact I was eating the exact same number of each type of box, something about the design of the different meals made me feel like I was eating an extraordinarily large amount of food. I struggled to get through my final meal of the day – post-workout meal, aka dinner – when I’m usually like a ravenous beast after exercise. It was the pre-workout meal I found most bizarre though. I had a chicken salad, and my entire team asked me why I was having lunch so late or why I was having a second lunch. It worked well though. I’m normally starving by the time I get home from work, but I was fine today, and I’m sure it helped me power through my workout.
breakfast
meal option 1
8.30 am
red, purple, spoon
shakeology, almond milk, tangerines
lunch
meal option 3
12PM
green, red, yellow, orange, spoon
pepper, chicken, olives, oil, rice)
snack
meal option 2
2.3PM
purple, blue
tomato, berries, pecans
pre-workout
pre-workout meal
5.30pm
green, green, red,
spinach, tuna, rice, tomato
workout
7.30pm-8.30pm
dinner
post workout
8.30pm
green, red, yellow, spoon
oil to cook, chicken, kale, rice and red beans mix
WORKOUT INTRO
The first problem with today’s workouts (apart from the fact that stomach cramps were not making me overly enthusiastic about something with “core” in the title) is that my husband also does home workouts. As we both work full time, there’s really not time for us to work out consecutively. And as we have limited space and only one set of adjustable weights, it’s not very practical for us to work out at the same time, so we alternate days. Monday is generally considered to be one of his workout nights, and Body Beast Bulk Chest was up on the TV before I had chance to argue my (entirely unjustified) case.
Not to be defeated on Day One, I slunk off to what I jokingly like to call Studio Two. Actually, it’s my very narrow hallway. Do a jumping jack, and your hands and feet will hit the walls. I took with me a set of five pound weights, which are the only things I have apart from the amazing adjustable ones. Autumn suggested using a set of eights and a set of tens, and while she didn’t explicitly say to find somewhere that actually allows you to move, it seemed heavily implied. So I wasn’t off to the best of starts.
Truly the world’s greatest workout space
In the end, while the lack of space was a bit of a pain, the enforced light weights were a blessing in disguise. It’s a long time since I’ve gone as light as 5 pounds for anything much, but it’s also a long time since I’ve worked out solidly for 60 minutes – I’ve got used to intense 30 minute blasts. I could definitely have gone heavier on certain exercises, but if I’d have gone heavier consistently, I think I’d have burnt out before the end. There were more band-based exercises than weight-based ones anyway, so it didn’t hugely matter.
WORKOUT REVIEW
The format was 5 rounds, each focused on a different body part, though with a strong core focus throughout, 3 exercises each round, 15 reps per exercise (some repeated on both sides), performed straight through then repeated.
There was quite a bit of variation. Some exercises, such as tricep kickbacks, were completely standard. There were some interesting compound exercises, such as a squat with a shoulder press and a twist, that neatly worked two body parts plus the core. And there were some nice little add-ons to make some moves a little harder or keep the core engaged, like one where you had to bend and straighten your knee (with a band round your thighs) while doing bicep curls. Finally, there were some really challenging floor moves, with a more straightforward core-focus, that hugely challenged both my abs and my balance. This side plank with knee pull (with the extra fun of a band) was a particular favourite).
Body Beast was over and I’d snuck back into the main room in case you’re wondering what happened to the hallway!
I felt like I was getting a good all over workout and an excellent core blast, while also keeping my heart rate elevated. But, although some individual exercises were killers, for the first half, I didn’t feel quite as challenged as I was expecting. The pace seemed slightly gentler than the similar workout in A Little Obsessed. But then, at the thirty minute mark – ie. where I’d be finished if I were doing ALO or 21 Day Fix or something – the whole thing started again. And it was quite amazing how much harder most of the exercises felt second time around. About ten minutes from the end, I was starting to feel like my endurance was close to its limits, though I pushed through. That said, the hour went much faster than I was anticipating. While it was a challenge, I have a sneaky suspicion that Autumn went easy on us for day one.
Squat rotating shoulder press
Lateral bear crawl
Spider loops
Bent over row
One hand renegade row twist with loop
Boat pose lat pull
Push up leg lift with loop
Chest fly with leg lift
Side V loop kicks
Staggered stance bicep curl (this is the thing I tried to describe that involves bending and straightening the knee)
C-curve crunch with weights at 90 degrees
Side plank knee pull (see wobbly picture!)
Tricep kickbacks
Single-arm loop extension
Tricep push ups (exactly what you want at the end of a long workout, obviously!)
And as I’ve made him look like the bad guy for exiling me to the hallway Studio Two, I should conclude by pointing out that my husband’s workout finished twenty minutes before mine, and he used the intervening time to cook me my healthy post-workout dinner, so I can’t complain too much!.
I’m now looking forward to tomorrow and “Booty”.
If you’re interested in doing 80 Day Obsession, comment below or contact me here. And if you’re already up and running, let me know how your day one compared, below.
If you don’t currently have access to BOD, you can get a year’s subscription, a month’s supply of Shakeology, and all the accessories you need for 80 Day Obsession for just £180 here
If you’re already a Beachbody on Demand customer, you can get everything you need for 80 Day Obsession (workout calendar, resistance bands, strength sliders, portion fix containers) with Shakeology here, with performance supplements here, or with both here.
There are a variety of different combinations of BOD access, 80 Day Obsession accessories, Shakeology and performance supplements available. Do drop me a line if you’re not sure which is right for you or if you’d like more information about this programme or anything else.
Munday Morning Fitness 