10 Rounds Review – Does it Work?
10 ROUNDS™ is the first ever 6-week boxing, lifting, and core program from Beachbody Super Trainer Joel Freeman that can be done at home or the gym. The workouts were filmed with a live audience around the United States including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Dallas, Miami, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia. Joel is the force behind the LIIFT4 and Core De Force programs I have previously reviewed here at HowDoIGetRipped so you know he will BRING IT based on my reviews!!
With 10 ROUNDS, Joel takes you through 3 days of boxing training and 2 days of weightlifting each week that will leave you shredded with a sculpted physique. The boxing is based on the fundamental training pillars for fast fat-burning: power, speed, and endurance. Each workout is broken into 10 three-minute rounds with 45 seconds of rest in between. The two 30-minute lifting workouts per week—one for upper body, one for lower body—focus on building strength and lean muscle.
BOXING: The boxing workouts will focus on combinations of punches and footwork that build in complexity along with conditioning drills that build power using body weight to increase lean muscle mass, speed/agility with fast footwork that will push you into high-intensity spikes of fat-burning, and endurance to boost performance so you burn more calories faster.
LIFTING: Joel will take you through 2 weightlifting workouts each week—one day of upper body to build strength and power, and the other day concentrating entirely on lower body/legs, because every punch you throw explodes from the ground up.
- Upper: You will do Lift Upper Body each week to increase strength and power and help tone your triangle (chest, back, shoulders, biceps, and triceps). This is when you really hit the weights to make sure there’s strength, force, and power behind every punch.
- Lower: You will do Lift Lower Body each week to build your base (legs), because every punch you throw explodes from the ground up! Punching power is generated by the strength in your legs. That’s your foundation and it’s where everything starts.
And, there is flexibility in the program for your lifestyle and schedule. You can do the 5 workouts ANY day of the week, as long as you do them in the order they appear on the calendar. And be sure to take your two rest days a week. Let’s do this!!
10 ROUNDS is only available as a streaming option on Beachbody On Demand (many great options to get started today!)
(VIP early access for 10 ROUNDS on BOD is for anyone. Team Beachbody Coaches first get the opportunity for access on March 16, 2020 while everyone else can unlock access April 6, 2020 using the link above. If your region allows, you can sign-up to become a Coach if you would like to get 10 ROUNDS access beginning March 16. Coaches get a 25% discount on products and income potential. Here is a link for the 10 Rounds Accessory bundle including resistance loop and 10 Rounds towel used in the workouts!)
My goal with this detailed 10 ROUNDS Review is to both try the program AND create perspective for you to make a decision on leveraging 10 ROUNDS for your health and fitness goals. I am personally excited to do this program since it is the first ever Boxing program from Beachbody that can be leveraged at home or gym. Boxing is a very popular and fun way to incorporate HIIT results. Let’s do this! Be sure to join my PRIVATE SUPPORT TEAM for daily motivation and accountability, the slight edge, for your success. Check out my TESTIMONIALS! Click the JOIN TEAM RAGE button below with any questions to get started with TEAM RAGE!
Again, given that I am a Science guy, I will leverage heart rate analysis for each workout to draw conclusions and comparisons including the data in my perspective. This approach is similar to my popular reviews for P90X3, Insanity Max:30, Hammer & Chisel, 22 Minute Hard Corps, Body Beast, Country Heat, Core De Force, Shaun Week, Shift Shop, LIIFT4, Transform :20, and 6 Weeks of THE WORK. I have a Polar H7 Bluetooth enabled heart rate monitor (chest strap) synced to my iPhone using the free Polar Beat Mobile App and Polar Flow. Warmup and cooldown time is typically included in the heart rate analysis. Add additional time to stretch if needed. Nutrition is CRITICAL for getting the results you want with this program and the targets are aligned with the 10 ROUNDS clean eating system based on your stats and goals (see 10 ROUNDS nutrition guide, oh, and “rewards” are built in!). My supplements include Beachbody Performance Ultimate Stack of ENERGIZE pre-workout, HYDRATE during workout, RECOVER post-workout, CREATINE , RECHARGE casein protein before bed with Shakeology and Beachbar snacks. I hope you enjoy my 10 ROUNDS Review!!
The Workouts
Beachbody on Demand (BOD) Sneak Peek
Cooldown and Stretch
10 ROUNDS Boxing Cooldown and Stretch
10 ROUNDS Lift Cooldown and Stretch
Week 1 (Los Angeles)
Boxing 1 Power Jabs and Crosses
Week 2 (Las Vegas)
Week 3 (Dallas)
Week 4 (Miami)
Boxing 1 Combinations Body Shot Crusher
Boxing 2 Combinations Full Body Conditioning
Boxing 3 Combinations Full Body Burnout
Week 5 (Brooklyn)
Boxing 1 Combinations Sparring Pivots
Boxing 2 Combinations Speed and Agility Pivots
Boxing 3 Combinations Pivots and Power
Week 6 (Philadelphia)
Boxing 1 Advanced Combos Into the Ring
Boxing 2 Advanced Combos Total Body Knockout
The Data Analysis Summary
I will get to my data summary shortly, however, overall 10 Rounds is the most fun program I have completed to date! The boxing is fun and empowering while getting a strong workout. Below I will share my pros/cons for 10 Rounds in addition to summary graphs and charts for the program heart rate analysis (and relative to other leading Beachbody programs!)
PROS of 10 Rounds
- I will always remember the 10 Rounds program for the rest of my life. Why? Because 10 Rounds was launched during an unprecedented Global pandemic from the COVID-19 virus that has most people in the World quarantined in their homes for month(s). People are not allowed to go to gyms and people are scared. As of this writing we are still on stay-at-home orders here in Minnesota (April 2020). With all of the uncertainty, many people including myself took on 10 Rounds to control the controllable to stay healthy and fit despite the troubling circumstances. It has been a great “distraction” for me and it has been a GREAT program to do from home (and on the road for when I can travel again). 10 Rounds is not just another health and fitness program you will find on YouTube. Besides just having the fun factor from boxing and the cast traveling the country to shoot the workouts in 6 different U.S. cities, 10 Rounds is all about technique and it is EMPOWERING. There is something about fighting for something and with the pandemic we are all fighting for some control… fitness can give us the power back! Also, 10 Rounds instructs self-defense and I would not be surprised if this program teaches people skills that could someday save their life. These comments should age well since there is always a fight or challenge that must be overcome. 10 Rounds can help. The timing on the program could not have been better to help power people through the challenging times in front of us today.
- 10 Rounds is a 10/10 for fun factor. The trainer Joel Freeman nailed it (you nailed it, Joel!). Every workout is different during the 6 weeks and you get so many different boxing variations. The format of 10, 3-min rounds works well. The workouts are engaging and over before you know it. I also enjoyed the change of scenery each week in a different city from coast-to-coast United States. My favorite locations were the iconic Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn and the “Rocky Steps” in Philly. Awesome stuff. Further, I really like the music in 10 Rounds. I feel Joel missed the music aspect in his previous program LIIFT4 (the concept was no music so you can use a preferred or trainer playlist), but the 10 Rounds music is perfect and helps keep the TEMPO with boxing sequences (e.g., burnouts). The addition of the resistance loop for boxing and lifting workouts is awesome.
- I absolutely loved that Joel added in two days of lifting each week for 10 Rounds. He is correct that using weights to build and condition the muscles will help with the boxing performance. The lifting workouts have some similarities to LIIFT4, but they are different. However, they are short in the 30-35 min range on average. I really like the loop burnouts in the later weeks of the program. I was able to go to muscle failure more than once with the correct weights to challenge me while staying safe, no doubt. With all of this said, for those with more mass build goals a hybrid of 10 Rounds may be the best approach to get in more lifting in the round. As such, I created a Body Beast 10 Rounds hybrid schedule that will be a great combo for those that want to add some extra (fun)ctional HIIT cardio and core to their lifts!!
- After 6 weeks of 10 Rounds I am officially a fighting machine. You can be too! Seriously, it takes time and practice to nail all of the punches, defensive moves, and footwork. It may be ugly in the beginning, but just keep moving. You will get it and feel amazing while empowered. You got this!
- This is not necessarily a negative, but 10 Rounds will definitely be more of an intermediate program for many of those with strong fitness already. The program begins fairly slow as Joel teaches the fundamentals and then the workouts ramp intensity, especially Weeks 5 and 6. My detailed heart rate analysis in this blog review demonstrates 10 Rounds was certainly intermediate level for me. A few of the workouts really pushed the intensity, especially the final weeks, but most of the program had my heart rate in the mid- to lower workout zones. Regardless of actual heart rate measured I definitely felt challenged in this program and had to be dialed in with mind-muscle connection to hit all of the punch combos, defensive moves, and cardio footwork. This program is no joke. I wonder though what 10 Rounds could have been if amped up more like Core De Force. Perhaps a 10 Rounds v2.0 will be in the pipeline.
- As mentioned in my reviews for the individual workouts, Beachbody missed out by not having a cooldown for each workout. As a Team Beachbody Coach I was among the first wave with access to the program on BOD and we provided feedback that not having a cooldown session is a major miss here. Even knowing better as a Coach, I found myself not doing a cooldown stretch after finishing up the 10 Rounds workouts many of the days in Weeks 1-4. The feedback from Beachbody was that they wanted to leave flexibility in using other cooldown/stretch workouts already on BOD in order to keep the workout length between 30-40 min. For example, Joel has some great cooldown/stretch routines that I could have used from LIIFT4 (Range and Repair) and Core De Force (Relief), but I didn’t use them. To their credit around Week 5 of the initial launch of 10 Rounds Beachbody released two cooldown sessions (Boxing and Lifting). To be honest they are very short at 5-min but they will work and I certainly appreciate Beachbody going the extra mile to make this happen during a Global pandemic. They were creative and filmed the cooldown sessions virtually with Joel and others joining via video streaming!
- The agility and conditioning rounds in the boxing workouts could have been harder. I recently completed programs such as THE WORK and Transform :20 so I am not surprised. The 10 Rounds conditioning movements are not easy, however, I was not challenged by these particular rounds until the last week of the program when plyo lunges were introduced (Insanity Max :30 like in some ways). Again, this is an intermediate program. I think the conditioning rounds will be challenging for many people that press play on 10 Rounds.
- Another drawback I discussed in my reviews is Joel’s scheduling of the lifting workouts. In this program you lift with weights two times per week around 30-35 min each on average. The lifting days are generally on Day 2 and Day 4 of the week. However, I do not like the way Lift Upper Body and Lift Lower Body are scheduled. The problem is that you can go up to 10 days between working the upper or lower body with weights.
With all of that said, overall, I definitely recommend 10 Rounds!
Moving on to my final analysis, the table below demonstrates the VERY detailed results from comprehensive heart rate analysis for all primary 33 workouts for 10 Rounds including the sample workout and prep workouts (click to expand for easier reading, excludes cooldown sessions). The data includes calories burned, average heart rate, max heart rate, time in each of 5 workout zones plus the percentage of time in max zones 4 and 5. Normalized calories are also shown (calories/workout time). The data is sorted by week for the program since there are 6 weeks of unique workouts. I added the sample and prep workouts at the end of the table. The subsequent graph also summarizes the workouts with regard to heart rate analysis (calories burned, average heart rate).
I feel really good about the data set and the regression analysis below indicates a very strong correlation to the data set for normalized calories and heart rates, which is a good sign (very close to perfect correlation R2 = 1). Although not shown in graphical format, max heart rates vs. average heart rates for all primary 33 10 Rounds workouts provide a less ideal fit, but is directional with y = 0.7911x + 62.753 (R2 = 0.55905).
You can see from the data set that 10 Rounds provides a range of intermediate level workouts that challenge in different ways. (By the way, I know that you are not actually “burning” calories, ha, it is just a term.) In general and consistent with previous studies my heart rates were lower for many of the lifting workouts vs. boxing workouts. Although the pace of lifts is fast and heart rate elevates, the boxing workouts keep us moving with more cardio focused punches, defensive moves, footwork, and agility/conditioning rounds. However, the lifting workouts typically provide more “afterburn” for sustained calorie burn longer after the workout completes. Another trend that is obvious from the data is the program ramps intensity over the course of the 6 weeks as you are basically spoon-fed the punch, defensive, and footwork combos the first 3 boxing weeks (this is important though). Weeks 4-6 focus on better simulations of actual fights with advanced combinations and pacing to the movements as the boxing becomes natural with mind-muscle connection. A similar trend is found for the lifting workouts where you end up lifting heavier in later weeks along with the addition of resistance loop burnouts!
Clearly by heart rate numbers alone Week 6 Boxing 2 Total Body Knockout was the most challenging workout for me in the 10 Rounds program with normalized calories approaching the averages for some of the hardest Beachbody programs such as The Work. A few of the Lift Lower workouts approach general numbers of the boxing workouts as you work the large lower body muscle groups. Only Lift Lower Body Week 3, 10 Rounds Lifting Prep, and Boxing 2 Total Body Knockout Week 6 had >20% in the Upper Workout Zones. This is really surprising and much lower than most Beachbody programs, likely related to all of the instruction and 45-sec breaks between rounds in the boxing workouts, for example. Overall, the average time in the upper workout zones for the entire 10 Rounds program was low at 5.1%. I did find my cardio boxing performance and endurance improved dramatically throughout the program such that perhaps my heart rate numbers would have been even higher in later weeks if I did those same workouts at the beginning of 10 Rounds.
Check out the comparison below to some key performance indicators relative to other top Beachbody programs P90X3, Insanity Max:30, Hammer & Chisel, 22 Minute Hard Corps, Body Beast, Country Heat, Core De Force, Shaun Week, Shift Shop, LIIFT4, Transform :20, and 6 Weeks of The Work (click to expand for easier reading). Numbers shown are averages of all 16 Insanity Max:30 workouts, all 20 P90X3 workouts, all 19 Hammer and Chisel, all 13 22 Minute Hard Corps workouts, all 15 Body Beast workouts, 11 Country Heat workouts, all 14 Core De Force, all 7 Shaun Week workouts, all 11 Shift Shop workouts, all 34 LIIFT4 workouts (excluding B4 LIIFT4), and all 51 Transform :20 workouts relative to all 33 10 Rounds workouts. Workout times generally average in the 30-35 minute range for most of the programs…
The data comparing 10 Rounds to other Beachbody programs is very interesting, and perhaps a little surprising. The comparison results indicate the 10 Rounds heart rate data comes in near the bottom of my Beachbody program comparison, but it is not the easiest based on these criteria alone. Keep in mind I focus my reviews on the most challenging Beachbody programs so there are MANY beginner/intermediate programs that would fill in below 10 Rounds in the table. The average heart rate, normalized calorie burn, and percentage of workout in the upper zones are some of the lowest on average in comparison. The max heart rates and calorie burn are similar to Joel’s other programs, LIIFT4 and Core De Force. To be transparent my fitness level is currently very high coming off 6 Weeks of THE WORK so my heart rates will be lower than when my fitness is not as dialed in. I was not in my best shape when I started Max:30, for example, so those numbers will always seem relatively high for me. 10 Rounds is clearly more of a technical and fun approach to raising your fitness level while getting in some lifts to help power boxing results.
So, Does 10 Rounds Work?
YES! As I always say, I am not going to lie, most if not all of these programs will work if you follow them, especially the nutrition guide and discipline. I know this from my personal experience as well as the experience of thousands on my Team across the World 11+ years as a Team Beachbody Coach. 10 Rounds is ANOTHER tool in the toolbox for achieving your health and fitness goals. I am a huge fan of the boxing approach in this program as mentioned in the “Pros” above, but I still gravitate toward Body Beast for my primary mass gain goals at the present time. As such, I have created a Body Beast 10 Rounds Hybrid that leverages 10 Rounds workouts as the framework to enhance my overall core, cardio and functional performance development along with the muscle hypertrophy focus of Body Beast. I hope you enjoy my 10 Rounds Review !!
Favorite Workouts: Boxing 2 Total Body Knockout Week 6, Lift Upper Weeks 5-6, all Week 5 Brooklyn workouts at Gleason’s gym, and Boxing 3 The Final Fight Week 6
Least Favorite Workouts: Lift Lower Body Weeks 1-3, Boxing 1 and 2 Weeks 1-3
Hardest Workouts (for me): Boxing 2 Total Body Knockout Week 6, Lift Lower Body Week 6
Easiest Workouts (for me): Boxing workouts Weeks 1-3, especially Boxing 1 and 2 (usually Boxing 3 ramps intensity each week)
The Reviews
10 ROUNDS Sample Workout
And here we go. Another detailed workout review from HowDoIGetRipped.com. I only take the significant amount of time for these reviews for programs I am excited to personally try to achieve my own health and fitness goals. As such, I was pumped to press play on the sample workout for 10 ROUNDS!!
Described as,
“Step into the ring with Super Trainer Joel Freeman as he gives you a taste of his latest program with 10 rounds of boxing, strength training, agility work, and core conditioning that will leave you sweaty, breathless, and ready for more.”
Heart rate analysis data…
The 10 ROUNDS sample workout was filmed in Los Angeles and is loaded with instruction for the program and specifically targeting boxing moves (mostly power jabs and crosses). You need dumbbells, loop, and a towel (yes, towel) for resistance in the workout. The loops are low impact, but provide deep muscle burn. The workout consists of 10 3-minute rounds in the boxing workouts for this program with Boxer’s bounce for typically 45 sec transition between rounds. The boxing is shadow boxing (no partner) and is focused on POWER to help build lean muscle mass, SPEED AND AGILITY for fat burning, and ENDURANCE for sustained calorie burn. The moves are designated by numbers Joel calls out during the workout including 1/2 for right/left jab, 3/4 for right/left cross, and 5/6 for right/left upper cuts.
Round 1 of the sample workout is focused on warmup including standing raise with loop, lat pulldown with loop, double hand taps with loop, stance set-up for boxing, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 consists of 1-2 jab combination, 1-2-3 jab-jab-cross with hip rotation, and 1-2-3-2 combo. Round 3 involves 5-6-3 combo (with uppercuts), 5-6-3-4 combo, and 30-sec burnout of stand and throw (jab-jab). Round 4 is LIFTING endurance including front loaded goblet squat for max reps time under tension using dumbbell followed by side sweep side-to-side lunge knee over toe dumbbell, repeated two times. Round 5 is also 3-min of LIFTING with controlled dumbbell curl followed by standard pushups then single side tricep skull crusher on ground each side. Round 6 involves CONDITIONING using the towel behind your neck including double out-in forward-back 4-4 followed by low triple side walk and then a combination of the two moves. Round 7 is the same sequence with resistance loop around ankles (I used heavy loop, ouch!). Round 8 is back into BOXING with 2-5 combo hip rotation and then 2-5 step forward-back, 2-5-2 step forward-back and 2-5-2-3 step forward-back. Round 9 involves 1-4 combo, 1-4 combo side-to-side, 1-4-3 combo side, 1-4-3-2 combo side, and then all-out burner 5-6 then 1-2 for 1-min. Round 10 is all CORE with loop including loop side crunch each side and loop static leg drop each side. Every 10 ROUNDS workout finishes up with one CORE round.
I REALLY enjoyed this workout and pushed pretty hard as I learned the moves. I used 20-40 pound dumbbells and heavy resistance loop. The workout felt like a mix of LIIFT4 and Core De Force, which should not be a surprise with Joel Freeman leading the charge. If you enjoy boxing you will love this program! I burned a little over 300 calories in 38 min for the 10 rounds of boxing, endurance and agility, weights, and core. Average and max heart rates were 126 and 170 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in the lower zones with all of the instruction. The sequence with heavy resistance loop around ankles for the agility section had my legs on fire! I also liked the core work at the end with loop. The boxing moves were basic and will evolve during the program. Overall great stuff and I had a good sweat going. I KNOW it will get harder as these sample workouts are usually low key. Enjoy the sample my friends! Today I had my Energize pre-, Hydrate during, Recover post-workout with Recharge last night. Chocolate Shakeology with creatine and Power Greens boost plus Beachbars ready for the day healthy snacks. I am ready for 10 ROUNDS! Are you?!? Rage. Become a Machine.
[My lats and shoulders were really sore days later from throwing all of those punches. Success!]
Boxing 1 Power Jabs and Crosses
Described as,
“Work up a sweat with 10 hard-hitting rounds of jabs (1s), crosses (2s), agility drills, fast-paced footwork, and intense core conditioning. Your total-body transformation begins now.”
Heart rate analysis data…
10 ROUNDS Week 1 Day 1 of my 10 Rounds Review with Power Jabs and Crosses, which is focused on cardio boxing with agility and endurance. All about the basics in this first workout. Per usual, the workout consists of 10 3-minute rounds in the boxing workouts for this program with Boxer’s bounce for typically 45 sec transition between rounds. The boxing is shadow boxing (no partner) and is focused on POWER to help build lean muscle mass, SPEED AND AGILITY for fat burning, and ENDURANCE for sustained calorie burn. The moves are 1/2 left/right jab, 3/4 left/right cross, and 5/6 left/right upper cuts. Today was mostly focused on 1s and 2s.
Round 1 is the typical warmup including standing raise with loop, lat pulldown with loop, double hand taps with loop, stance set-up for boxing, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 consists of 1s jab punch back to guard, 2s jab punch back to guard, and 1-2 reset. Round 3 involves 1-2 stand and throw, 1-2 step forward 1-2 step back, 1-2 step side-to-side, and 30 sec all out stand and throw 1-2 jab burner. Round 4 is conditioning with towel including 4 stance-stance side-to-side (heels do not touch ground), squat lunge single side 30 sec each side, and side-to-side stance-stance-squat-inside leg lunge. Round 5 is 1-2 stand and throw (power from lower body with hip rotation), 1-2 step forward 1-2 step back, 1-2-1 step forward 1-2-1 step back, and 1-2-1-2 step forward 1-2-1-2 step back. Round 6 involves 2-1 stand and throw, 2-1 side-to-side, 2-1-1 side-to-side, 2-1-1-2 side-to-side, and 30 sec all out 1-2 jab burner. Round 7 is 60-sec stance-stance side-to-side, squat alternating lunge, and stance-stance with squat lunge inside leg side-to-side. Round 8 is 1-1 stand and throw, 1-1 step forward 1-1 step back, 1-1-2 step forward 1-1-2 step back, and 1-1-2-2 step forward 1-1-2-2 step back. Round 9 involves 1-2 reset, 1-2-2 side-to-side, 1-2-2-1 side-to-side, and 60-sec 1-2 all out jab punches. Round 10 is all CORE including slip crunch 50-sec and scissors 50-sec, repeated two times each. There is no cooldown/stretch in these workouts, but it is recommended. Beachbody later launched two 10 Rounds cooldown and stretch routines – Boxing Cooldown and Stretch plus Lift Cooldown and Stretch.
Oh man, this workout was so much fun and the 38 min went fast. This program is intermediate but I can tell I am working my muscles so much differently than other programs. The combo of HIIT boxing, lifting, and core is awesome. Today was all about boxing with some killer agility/endurance moves plus core to finish up. With the boxing you have to be sure to stay safe and not overextend your punches. What a workout. I burned 300 cals in 38min with ave. and max heart rates of 126 and 169 bpm, respectively, and most of the workout in zone 2. My heart rate spikes during the burner sets, as expected. Rounds 8 and 9 were my favorite with the multiple 2s punches! The heart rate analysis numbers are similar to the 10 Rounds Sample Workout. I am looking forward to throwing around some weights with LIFT Lower Body tomorrow!
Lift Lower Body Week 1
Described as,
“Hammer your bottom half with five exercises that target your legs while torching fat all over in this intense AMRAP (as many reps as possible) workout.”
Heart rate analysis data…
I was definitely excited to press play on the first lifting workout from 10 ROUNDS – Lift Lower Body Week 1. I think the addition of two focused lifting days each week strengthens the overall program and individual performance in the explosive boxing movements. Lower body is key since all boxing moves start from the ground up. This is a shorter workout coming in around 28 min, but my heart rate ramped in the dynamic reps in sequence. There are 5 blocks with 3 lower body sets per block at 50 sec per move. There is only a 15-sec break between sets for each block and dumbbells are leveraged throughout. Pace is key with constant movement to provide muscular endurance gains. If it is too easy you need more weight (done safely)!
The workout begins with a short 3.5-min warmup including torso rotation, hip circles, quad stretch, dynamic hamstring stretch, and alternating runner’s lunge with twist. Block 1 consists of Goblet squat (heavy weight), Block 2 is alternating reverse lunge holding dumbbells (medium weight), Block 3 involves deadlift (one heavy or two medium weights), Block 4 is hanging side sway with dumbbell (heavy weight), and Block 5 is weighted bridge (heavy or medium weight). The workout finishes up with the core section of weighted scissors and weighted circle crunch (light weight for each), repeated two sets each. The core movement is also around 50 sec each for time under tension.
My heart rate definitely ramped up with Lift Lower Body and the timing of lifts was challenging. I especially liked the AMRAP (as many reps as possible) lower body lifts today with 3 sets x 50-sec each move. I was pushed with my muscles burning by the last set of each round (you have to select the proper challenging weight!). I used 20-50lb dumbbells throughout. I burned 210 cals in 27min with ave. and max heart rates of 125 and 164 bpm, respectively, with most of the workouts in zones 2-3. Overall, good stuff and I look forward to the Upper Body Lift versions in my 10 Rounds Review!
10 ROUNDS Boxing Prep
Described as,
“Start building the speed, stamina, agility, and power you’ll need to crush 10 Rounds with this intense, boxing-focused routine that leaves no muscle untouched.”
Heart rate analysis data…
The Boxing Prep workout was 30-min and hit many of the combinations for jabs, crosses, and uppercuts as a prep for the program. The agility and endurance rounds were good and critical for boxing. The Boxing Prep also finished up focusing on core with the loop. There are only 8 3-min rounds in the prep vs. 10 rounds for the main program, which makes it about 8-10 min shorter overall. There are the usual 45-sec breaks between rounds. The workout includes Round 1 warmup including standing raise with loop, lat pulldown with loop, horizontal air taps with loop, stance-guard, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 begins the boxing work consisting of 1-2 jab sequence, 1-2-3 with rotation, and 1-2-3-2 (jab-jab-cross-jab). Round 3 involves 3-2, 3-2-3 combo, 3-2-3-6 with uppercut, and finish up with all out 1s-2s jab combo burner! Round 4 is conditioning using the towel including double out-in 4 squares forward-back for 60-sec, reverse step alternating lunges 60-sec (later in the program it will be plyo lunges 60-sec, ouch!), and then a combo of the two moves for 60-sec at double out-in forward back to alternating lunges. Round 5 involves uppercuts 5s and 6s, 5-6-3 combo, and 5-6-3-4 combo with hip rotation (be sure to breathe!). Round 6 is 1-6 front-back combo, 1-6-3 rotation, 1-6-3-6 punch combo (awesome!), and 30-sec all out uppercut burner. Round 7 is back to conditioning with double out-in 4 squares forward-back for 60-sec, reverse step alternating lunges 60-sec, and then a combo of the two moves for 60-sec at double out-in forward back to alternating lunges. Round 8 finishes up with core including looped side crunch and circle reach, repeated two sets at 45-sec range each.
I burned 255 cals in 30min with ave. and max heart rates of 128 and 157 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zones 2-3. The overall heart rate numbers will be lower for this program compared to some of the other Beachbody programs due to the instruction to teach the moves safely and transition timing. Good stuff though and I highly recommend 10 ROUNDS for a fun challenge!
10 ROUNDS Lifting Prep
Described as,
“This total-body strength session will introduce you to many of the moves you’ll perform during the program. Push hard, stay strong, and make every rep count.”
Heart rate analysis data…
The 10 Rounds Lifting Prep workout was 30-min and focused on both lower and upper body challenges. This was a good overview of the lifting workouts found on the schedule each week in 10 Rounds (one lower, one upper each week). I love how this workout stacks sets of moves with very limited breaks. I often do this when running low on time to really maximize the impact. This allows the heart rate to elevate while keeping your body moving. The workout consists of 3 blocks of multiple moves that alternate between lower and upper body moves. Each move is 40 sec to engage time under tension (usually 50-sec in the actual program) with 15-sec break between moves. In this workout you need light, medium, and heavy dumbbells. I used 15s for light, 20s/30s for medium, and 50s for heavy. Others in the cast used around the same range or lower weights such as 7.5s, 10s, and 20s.
The workout begins with a 2.5 min warmup including torso rotation, arm swing, one arm shoulder rotation, alternating cross arm shoulder stretch, and tricep stretch (we could have used some lower body stretch too Joel, just saying!). Block 1 includes dumbbell goblet squat (heavy weight), shoulder press (med), deadlift (single heavy dumbbell or two medium dumbbells), bicep curls (medium), alternating reverse lunge (medium), tricep extension (light), bent over row (heavy or medium), and dumbbell chest press (heavy). Block 2 is goblet squat, lateral shoulder raise (light), deadlift, hammer curls (medium), alternating reverse lunges, single dumbbell overhead tricep extension (medium), wide row (light), and chest fly (medium). Block 3 involves goblet squat, shoulder front raise (medium), deadlift, wide dumbbell curl (medium), alternating reverse lunge, tricep pushups, bent over reverse fly (light since the arms are longer levers), and dumbbell rotating press (heavy). The workout completes with the weighted core sequence of weighted flutter kicks and single arm weighted oblique crunch (light, I used 20lber), repeated two sets each at 40 sec. Again, no cooldown in the 10 Rounds workouts as that is on you to cooldown and stretch. Beachbody later launched two 10 Rounds cooldown and stretch routines – Boxing Cooldown and Stretch plus Lift Cooldown and Stretch.
I burned 298 cals in 31min with ave. and max heart rates of 138 and 170 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 3. For a weighted workout these numbers are impressive and a result of the constant movement between dynamic lifting sets. This will be a go-to total body workout for me in the future when short on time. Time for some rest and then on to HIIT boxing again tomorrow. I hope you are enjoying my 10 Rounds Review as much as I am enjoying sharing my experience with the new program. Let’s do this and be sure to use the CONTACT button below to reach out to me with any questions or support!
Boxing 2 Speed and Hooks
Described as,
“Add front and back hooks (3s and 4s) to your boxing arsenal as you continue to master essential footwork and increase endurance and muscle definition.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Continuing my 10 Rounds Review with Boxing 2 Speed and Hooks (3s, 4s). Another fun workout! I am actually surprised at my calorie burn for these workouts. You can get your heart rate elevated with the boxing no doubt and the intensity will increase as the program progresses. The core round at the end today was hard with the loop around ankles for crunch and scissors. I will definitely be doing more of those moves, very cool. Burned close to 300 cals and feeling good. The workout consists of the usual 10 3-minute rounds in the boxing workouts for this program with Boxer’s bounce for typically 45 sec transition between rounds. As a reminder, the moves are 1/2 left/right jab, 3/4 left/right cross, and 5/6 left/right upper cuts. Today was mostly focused on 3s front (left) hooks and 4s back (right) hooks.
Round 1 is the typical warmup including standing raise with loop, lat pulldown with loop, double hand taps with loop, bent over rows with loop (great exercise), stance set-up for boxing, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 consists of 2-3 reset, 2-3 step forward 2-3 step back, 2-3-2 step forward-back, and 2-3-2-3 step forward-back. Round 3 is 3-4 combo (turn hips with rotation), 3-4 side-to-side, 3-4-3 combo side-to-side, 3-4-3-2 side-to-side, and 30-sec all out stand and throw jabs 1s and 2s! Round 4 involves agility conditioning with towel around neck and stance-stance, squat lunge leg lift (core engagement) each side, and stance-stance to squat inside leg lunge lift. Round 5 is boxing with basic 1-2, 1-2 step forward 1-2 step back, 1-2-3 step forward-back, and 1-2-3-4 step forward-back. Round 6 consists of 1-guard-3 reload, 1-3 side walk, 1-3-4 reset side walk, 1-3-4-3 side walk, and 30-sec all out 3s-4s stand and throw. Round 7 conditioning includes towel around neck stance-stance, squat lunge lift in squat one side 30-sec followed by other, and stance-stance to squat inside lunge leg lift. Round 8 is 2-reset-4-guard step forward-back, 2-4-3 step forward-back, and 2-4-3-2 step forward-back. Round 9 is 1-4, 1-4 side walk, 1-4-3 side walk, 1-4-3-2 side walk, and all out burner 3s-4s 30-sec followed by 1s-2s 30-sec. Round 10 is all core WITH LOOP around ankles to create tension including slip crunch 50-sec and scissors 50-sec, repeated two times each. Tough! As I have mentioned, there is no cooldown/stretch in these workouts, but it is recommended. There are many options on BOD including Core De Force Relief. Beachbody later launched two 10 Rounds cooldown and stretch routines – Boxing Cooldown and Stretch plus Lift Cooldown and Stretch.
I burned 283 cals in 38 min with ave. and max heart rates of 122 and 152 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 2. This is a relatively low calorie burn, but my body was worked. The agility and conditioning was challenging and core work with resistance loop was killer. My core and legs were on fire. I am ready for some Lift Upper Body tomorrow!
Lift Upper Body Week 1
Described as,
“Hit your chest, back, bis, tris, and shoulders with a combination of unilateral (single limb) and bilateral (two limb) exercises that will help you iron out muscle imbalances and sculpt a ripped upper half.”
Heart rate analysis data…
So excited for this workout today! I am a big fan of working the large upper body muscles and compound total body movements. Working the upper body will significantly benefit the boxing performance and endurance. This particular workout focuses on “unilateral” training to hit one side of the body at a time to pre-fatigue (hello, balance and core engagement) and then to “bilateral” reps hitting both sides for burnout. The two days of lifting each week for the 10 ROUNDS program are shorter than the boxing workouts and this one clocked in at less than 26-min (approx. 23-min actual lifting). Lift Upper Body Week 1 includes 5 blocks of movements with 3 upper body exercises per muscle-specific block at 50 sec per move using light, medium, and heavy dumbbells. Short 15 sec breaks between moves.
The workout begins with the warmup of torso rotation, arm swings, full shoulder rotation both sides, shoulder stretch, and tricep stretch. Block 1 CHEST consists of single arm chest press (heavy weight) each side followed by double press rotation. Block 2 BACK involves single arm row (heavy) each side followed by double wide row (light to medium). Block 3 SHOULDERS involves single arm lateral raise (light) each side followed by double overhead press (medium). Block 4 BICEPS includes single arm hammer curl (medium) each side followed by double bicep full curls (medium, keep arms pinned to your sides). Block 5 is TRICEPS single side crusher (medium) each side followed by tricep pushups finishing move. As usual, every workout finishes up with CORE including weighted scissors and weighted circle crunch at 50-sec each move, repeated two times.
I used 15-50 pounds in this workout including 20-lb dumbbell for the core work. Strong muscle pump today! I burned 192 cals in 26 min with ave. and max heart rates of 122 and 159 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 2. The unilateral pre-fatigue to bilateral burnout approach is awesome. This workout is now on my list for go-to lifts when short on time along with Lucky 7 from Body Beast. By the way, I love the music in the 10 Rounds program! Back to boxing to finish up Week 1 tomorrow. BRING IT!
Boxing 3 Power Uppercuts
Described as,
“Feel the burn—and watch the sweat fly—as you throw front and rear uppercuts (5s and 6s) in this heart-pounding, total-body workout.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Boxing 3 Power Uppercuts (5s, 6s) was my favorite workout of Week 1! A lot of power total body moves with core engagement plus agility, conditioning, and core work. As a reminder, the moves are 1/2 left/right jab, 3/4 left/right cross, and 5/6 left/right upper cuts. Today was mostly focused on 5s front (left) uppercuts and 6s back (right) uppercuts. 10 rounds of work, 3 minutes per round with 45 sec Boxer’s bounce between rounds. Tip: Calling out the number combos while punching helps stay on track and create the mind-muscle connection!
Round 1 is the typical warmup including standing raise with loop, lat pulldown with loop, double hand taps with loop, bent over rows with loop, side-to-side stance set-up for boxing, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 consists of 2-5 combo, 2-5 combo step forward-back, 2-5-2 step forward-back, and 2-5-2-3 combo step forward-back. Round 3 is 1-6 reset, 1-6 combo side-to-side, 1-6-3 side-to-side, 1-6-3-2 side-to-side, and all out 6s-3s for 30-sec burnout. Round 4 involves agility conditioning with towel around neck and stance-stance, squat lunge leg lift knee drive (core engagement) each side, and stance-stance to squat inside leg lunge lift knee drive. Round 5 is 6-3 combo, 6-3 step forward-back, 6-3-4 step forward-back, and 6-3-4-5 step forward-back. Round 6 includes 5-6 throw combo, 5-6 combo side-to-side, 5-6-3 side-to-side, 5-6-3-2 side-to-side, and 5s-4s burnout for 30-sec. Round 7 conditioning again includes towel around neck stance-stance, squat lunge lift knee drive into squat one side 30-sec followed by other, and stance-stance to squat inside lunge leg lift knee drive. Round 8 is 1-5 combo, 1-5 step forward-back, 1-5-4 step forward-back, and 1-5-4-3 step forward-back. Round 9 is 2-6 combo, 2-6 step forward-back, 2-6-5 step forward-back, 2-6-5-2 step forward-back, and 60 -sec burnout all out of 5s-6s 30-sec and 1s-2s 30-sec. Round 10 is all core WITH LOOP around ankles to create tension including full sit-up alternating side crunch 50-sec and scissors 50-sec, repeated two times each. Tough! As I have mentioned, there is no cooldown/stretch in these workouts, but it is recommended. Beachbody later launched two 10 Rounds cooldown and stretch routines – Boxing Cooldown and Stretch plus Lift Cooldown and Stretch.
I burned 326 cals in 38 min with ave. and max heart rates of 131 and 168 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zones 2-3. These are some of the highest numbers from Week 1 of my 10 Rounds Review. I really enjoyed the uppercut combos, which require significant rotation and core engagement. I feel all of my punches are consistently on track with good form except the 4s (crosses from back foot). They just look funny in the mirror. Ha, I will keep practicing. I have to say a few of the 3 minute rounds with 5s and 6s combos were tough and the 3 minutes seemed to last forever. Boxing is a GREAT workout. This is a fun program and I can imagine by Week 6 of 10 Rounds I will be a fighting machine… Rest day before pressing play on Week 2!
Boxing 1 Core Defensive Slips
Described as,
“Stay light on your feet as you throw combos and master a key defensive skill in this sweaty boxing workout that will work your entire body—especially your core.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Let’s do this, Week 2 10 ROUNDS on the road in Las Vegas this week with Day 1 Core Defensive Slips!! All about adding the defensive moves to the punches learned in Week 1 as the program evolves for total body fighting. The defensive moves really target the core muscles. The boxing workouts in Week 2 are still 10 rounds of 3-min challenges with 45-sec break between rounds.
The workout begins with Round 1 warmup with loop including standing raise, raise to lat pulldown, double hand taps, external rotation, squats with loops around ankles, side steps, penguin walk forward-back, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 involves 1 jab-slip to avoid punch, 1-slip step forward-back, 1-slip-3 step forward-back, and 1-slip-3-2 step forward-back. Round 3 involves 2-slip, 2-slip side walk, 2-slip-6 side walk, 2-slip-6-3 side walk, and all out 1s-2s stand and throw burnout 30-sec. Round 4 is conditioning with towel including step out-out-in-in (imagine using agility ladder), alternating stance step squat 45 degrees, and out-out-in-in alternating step out squat. Round 5 consists of 1-slip-slip-reset, 1-slip-slip step forward-back, 1-slip-slip-2 step forward-back, and 1-slip-slip-2-3 step forward-back. Round 6 includes 2-slip-slip, 2-slip-slip side walk, 2-slip-slip-5 side walk, 2-slip-slip-5-2 side walk, and all out 30-sec 3s and 4s burnout. Round 7 is speed and conditioning with out-and-in, alternating stance step squat 45 degrees, and out-out-in-in alternating step out squat. Round 8 consists of power shots with slip of 4-3-reset, 4-3 step forward-back, 4-3-slip step forward-back, and 4-3-slip-3 step forward-back. Round 9 includes 1-2-slip-reset, 1-2-slip side walk, 1-2-slip-6 side walk, 1-2-slip-6-5 side walk, 1-2-slip-6-5-2 side walk, and 30-sec all out 5s/6s and 30-sec 1s/2s. Finally Round 10 is 3-min of CORE including circle crunch and leg extension one leg alternating drop, repeated two times each.
I burned 245 cals in 38 min with ave. and max heart rates of 114 and 152 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zones 1-2. Yes, zones 1-2. This is a slower paced workout with all of the defensive variations since there is less overall punching for the boxing workout. I really enjoyed this workout though since adding the defensive posture and slips makes the boxing more realistic and challenging to stay on track. The defensive slips definitely engage the core more, especially obliques, with significant total body rotation. I had some soreness throughout Week 1 and will likely have more this week from the change in boxing focus and angle of impact. That is why this boxing stuff works. Fun workout and very effective. I am ready to bring it for lifting tomorrow. Thanks for joining me in this detailed 10 Rounds Review! Are you doing the program? Are you considering pressing play on 10 ROUNDS? Click the CONTACT button below to drop me a note, let’s connect!
Lift Upper Body Week 2
Described as,
“You’ll need dumbbells for this intense, upper-body workout that uses supersets to pack on muscle above the waist.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Excited for the lifting today with 10 ROUNDS! Lift Upper Body Week 2 includes 3 blocks of upper body supersets (two different muscle groups each superset) at 50 sec per move using light, medium, and heavy dumbbells. Short 15 sec breaks between moves. The workout begins with the warmup of torso rotation, arm swings, full shoulder rotation both sides, shoulder stretch, lat pulldown, and tricep stretch. Block 1 CHEST and BICEPS consists of chest press (heavy weight) followed by standing bicep curl (medium), repeated for three sets. The second set of BICEPS was a hammer curl variation (medium) and third set wide curl (medium). Block 2 BACK and SHOULDERS involves dumbbell row (medium or heavy) followed by overhead shoulder press (medium). The second set of SHOULDERS is shoulder front raise (medium) and third set involves lateral raise (light). Block 3 is CHEST and TRICEPS including chest fly (medium) and tricep double skull crusher (light). The second set of TRICEPS is standing tricep kickback (light) and third set is tricep pushups. The workout finishes up with CORE including weighted dead bug dumbbell crunch and weighted single arm oblique crunch at 50-sec each move, repeated two times.
I used 15-50 pounds in this workout including 20-lb dumbbell for the core work. GREAT workout today! The 50-lb dumbbells for chest press was difficult by the third set. I burned 223 cals in 29 min with ave. and max heart rates of 124 and 160 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 2. The numbers may be deceiving. This was a tough workout but I usually find a lower burn and heart rate for lifting vs. cardio HIIT. However, the “afterburn” is typically greater for the lifts so I will be feeling this workout for awhile! The 3 rounds of supersets is challenging with a lot of time under tension with limited breaks and you definitely can fatigue the muscles if you select your weights properly (go lighter as needed to maintain form in second/third sets of each superset). The tricep pushups for 50 sec at the end of the workout is a good burner to close out the upper body fatigue before core work. I am a big fan of these lifting workouts in 10 ROUNDS and they help facilitate performance in boxing. Back to boxing tomorrow with Week 2 Boxing 2. Let’s do this my friends!
Boxing 2 Core Defensive Rolls
Described as,
“Your legs will burn and your core will be on fire as you learn to roll with the punches in this sweat-inspiring boxing workout.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Next up on my 10 Rounds Review is Boxing 2 Core Defensive Rolls! Again, punch combo variations are used with defensive moves to better simulate fighting sequence. The defensive moves really target the core muscles and require proper engagement of hip rotation to maximize results and safety in boxing. As usual, boxing involves 10 rounds of 3-min challenges with 45-sec break between rounds.
The workout begins with Round 1 warmup with loop including standing raise, raise to lat pulldown, double hand taps, external rotation, squats with loops around ankles, side steps, penguin walk forward-back, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 involves 1-front roll, 1-front roll walk, 1-front roll-3 walk, and 1-front roll-3-2 walk. Round 3 involves 2-back roll, 2-back roll side step, 2-back roll-2 side step, 2-back roll-2-3 side step, and 30-sec all out burnout 1s/2s. Round 4 is speed and conditioning with towel plus resistance loop around ankles single out-in, alternating stance step, and combination of single out-in with alternating stance step. Round 5 consists of 1-front roll-back roll (this was tough for me to get form proper), 1-front roll-back roll walk, 1-front roll-back roll-6 walk, and 1-front roll-back roll-6-5 walk. Round 6 includes 4-back roll-front roll, 4-back roll-front roll side step, 4-back roll-front roll-3 side step, 4-back roll-front roll-3-2 side step, and all out 3s/4s for 30-sec. Round 7 is speed and conditioning again with towel plus resistance loop around ankles single out-in, alternating stance step, and combination of single out-in with alternating stance step. Round 8 consists of 3-front roll-3, 3-front roll-3 walk, 3-front roll-3-2 walk, and 3-front roll-3-2-back roll walk (awesome combo). Round 9 includes 2-back roll-6, 2-back roll-6 walk, 2-back roll-6-3 walk, 2-back roll-6-3-front roll walk, and 30 sec all out 5s/6s and 30-sec 1s/2s! Finally Round 10 is 3-min of CORE with resistance loop including circle crunch with loop around ankles and double leg extension holding loop with the end around the bottom of feet (tough move!), repeated two times each.
I burned 274 cals in 38 min with ave. and max heart rates of 120 and 157 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 2. The defensive slips definitely engage the core more, especially obliques, with significant total body rotation. You really have to be careful on doing the rolls properly to stay safe, especially lower back. Most of these moves are powered through the legs and hip rotation. Good stuff. The conditioning and core work was awesome and I used heavy loop. My legs and core will be sore this week! Let’s do this. Rage. Become a Machine.
Lift Lower Body Week 2
Described as,
“It’s back to supersets in this comprehensive, lower-body strength session. But Joel has a surprise in store: Each exercise block ends with a burnout that will leave your legs quaking.”
Heart rate analysis data…
SO many goblet movements in Lift Lower Body Week 2! My legs were on fire by the end of this workout and there is a killer burnout with resistance loop at the end. As mentioned, the addition of two focused lifting days each week strengthens the overall program and individual performance in the explosive boxing movements. Lower body is key since all boxing moves start from the ground up.
The Week 2 version of Lift Lower Body is about 7 min longer than the Week 1 version with a total time of 35 min range. This may be attributed to the burnout series with resistance loop at the end of the weighted supersets. There are 3 blocks of supersets with 2 lower body exercises per block at 50 sec or 30 sec per move, repeated for 3 sets each block. There is only a 15-sec break between sets for each block and dumbbells are leveraged throughout. Pace is key with constant movement to provide muscular endurance gains. If it is too easy you need more weight (done safely)!
The workout begins with a short 2-min warmup including torso rotation, hip circles, quad stretch, dynamic hamstring stretch, and alternating runner’s lunge with twist. Block 1 consists of deadlift (medium weight) and alternating front lunge with weighted twist (light to medium), repeated for 3 sets. Block 2 is Goblet squat (heavy) and side sweep with dumbbell (medium), repeated for 3 total sets. Block 3 consists of Goblet WIDE squat (heavy) and lunge burnout 30-sec each side with one dumbbell (dumbbell on side of front leg), repeated for 3 total sets. Joel added a resistance loop burnout after the weighted supersets including one arm loop balance back leg extension (both sides, one side at a time), one legged back extension with loop, and one legged side extension. The workout finishes up with the same core section as Lift Upper Body Week 2 including weighted dead bug crunch and weighted one arm oblique crunch (light weight for each), repeated two sets each. The core movement is also around 50 sec each for time under tension.
Pretty good burn in this one. I was over the Goblet squats by the end! I used 20-50lb dumbbells throughout today. I burned 275 cals in 35min with ave. and max heart rates of 125 and 152 bpm, respectively, with most of the workouts in zone 2. The calorie burn was higher than Week 1 due to the longer workout time. The balance loop work in this workout is fantastic. I used a yellow loop consistent with the cast but will go for heavy loop next time. The one legged variations really make you engage your core and total body to stay balanced. Time to recharge and get ready for the last day (already) of Week 2 of 10 ROUNDS – Boxing 3. I’ve got the eye of the tiger!!
Boxing 3 Defensive Shred
Described as,
“Focus on form as you continue to master two key defensive skills that will help you evade punches and sculpt a stronger core.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Last day of Week 2 in Las Vegas of my 10 Rounds Review with Boxing 3 Defensive Shred. This one is awesome since it basically combines everything learned in week 1 (punch combos) and week 2 (defensive slips and rolls). Of course the core is engaged throughout for a great total body workout. I came into this workout with lower body soreness after Lift Lower Body yesterday! This workout is another 10 rounds of quick movements at 3-min per round and 45-sec Boxer’s bounce between rounds to keep the heart rate elevated.
Defensive Shred begins with the usual Round 1 warmup with loop including standing raise, lat pulldown, horizontal taps, external rotation, body weight squat with loop around ankles, side step, penguin walk, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 is 1-slip front, 1-slip front walk, 1-slip-roll back walk, and 1-slip-roll back-2 walk. Round 3 involves 6-slip back, 6-slip back side step, 6-slip-roll forward step, 6-slip-roll forward-3 step, and all out burner 30-sec 1s/2s. Round 4 is agility and conditioning with towel around neck and resistance loop around ankles (I picked heavy) for single out-in, alternating stance jump (45 degrees), and combo of single out-in and alternating stance jump (challenging with the heavy loop!). Round 5 is back to boxing with slip front-slip back-6, slip-slip-6 walk, slip-slip-6-3 walk, and slip-slip-6-3-2 walk. Round 6 involves 2-3-slip front, 2-3-slip side step, 2-3-slip-roll back step, 2-3-slip-roll-4 step, and all-out 3s/4s for 30-sec. Round 7 is back to conditioning with towel and loop single out-in, alternating stance jump, and combo of single out-in and alternating stance jump. Round 8 includes 1-2-slip back-slip front, 1-2-slip-slip walk, 1-2-slip-slip-roll back walk, and 1-2-slip-slip-roll-2 walk. Round 9 is 2-5-slip front, 2-5-slip step, 2-5-slip-3 step, 2-5-slip-3-6 step, and all-out burnout 5s/6s for 30-sec and 1s/2s for 30-sec. Round 10 is CORE with loop including circle sit-up reach one side, single leg drop extension with loop under the bottom of foot and other leg a few inches of the ground, repeated two times (second time is opposite direction/leg).
I burned 308 calories in 39 minutes with average and max heart rates of 126 and 161 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 2. Cool stuff with a lot of combos of punches and core slips/rolls. The boxing sequences are getting more challenging already in Week 2 and I find I really need to count my punches and defensive moves to establish that mind-muscle connection to stay on track. The pace is getting faster! The conditioning work with heavy resistance loop and plyo was awesome. I really like that you have to hold a towel around your neck for these rounds of agility since it forces you to engage the core while keeping your upper body under tension. The 10 rounds of Defensive Shred finishes up with core as usual. My core has really tightened up these past 2 weeks and the obliques have been challenged. Definite thumbs up for 10 Rounds. Bring it on Week 3 in DALLAS!
Boxing 1 Cardio Footwork
Described as,
“Maintain your focus as you learn to throw combos and perform defensive moves while moving forward, backward, and side-to-side.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Week 3 DALLAS begins with Boxing 1 Cardio Footwork. Let’s go! Pretty cool stage in Dallas for the cast at Stockyards Station. This week will include a lot of footwork challenges for boxing. This includes the usual 10 rounds of work at 3-min per round and 45-sec between rounds.
Round 1 begins with loop including standing raise, double window wash, external rotation, single arm lat pulldown, hip circles, reverse lunge arm twist, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 involves 1-2-3, 1-2-3 front-back walk, 1-2-3-front slip walk, and 1-2-3-slip-5 walk. Round 3 involves 1-4-back roll, 1-4-roll side step, 1-4-roll-6 step, 1-4-roll-6-3 step, and 30-sec all out burner 3s/4s stand and throw. Round 4 is conditioning with towel including 60-sec triple icky 1-2-3 side-to-side front-to-back (think Heisman type move from P90X) followed by 60-sec alternating reverse single step lunge, and combination of the two moves to finish up the 3-min round. Round 5 consists of 2-3-6, 2-3-6 L-drill walk (step forward-back then side-to-side after each punch combo), 2-3-6-slip back L-walk, and 2-3-6-slip-6 L-walk. Round 6 includes 4-5-front roll, 4-5-roll L-walk, 4-5-roll-3 L-walk, 4-5-roll-3-2 L-walk, and 30-sec all out 5s/6s. Round 7 is speed and conditioning again with 60-sec each triple icky 1-2-3 side-to-side front-to-back followed by alternating reverse single step lunge, and combination of the two movements. Round 8 consists of 2-back slip-front roll, 2-slip-roll L-walk, 2-slip-roll-3 L-walk, and 2-slip-roll-3-6 L-walk. Round 9 includes 6-3 L-walk, 6-3-2 L-walk, 6-3-2-5 L-walk, and all-out burnout for 90-sec (!) of 3s/4s, 5s/6s, and 1s/2s. Round 10 is 3-min of CORE including crunch driver with loop and high plank hand taps, repeated two sets each. These core moves really worked the shoulders!
I burned 306 cals in 38 min with ave. and max heart rates of 126 and 161 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 2. These numbers are a little higher than compared to many of the Week 1 and 2 workouts as the program ramps up in intensity. The L-drill walk is the big addition to this workout for the boxing discipline, although I wouldn’t characterize the L-walk as “cardio footwork” (cardio footwork is mostly in the agility and conditioning rounds). The cardio work in rounds 4 and 7 was good and my heart rate was most elevated during these rounds and then the burnout moves. Great workout though! I am enjoying putting all of the punch, defensive, and footwork moves together in the boxing format. Looking forward to Lift Lower Body tomorrow!!
Lift Lower Body Week 3
Described as,
“Keep a towel and water handy—you’re going to need them as you power through three sweaty circuits of intense, lower-body exercises before ending with a core-focused burnout.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Week 3 lifting begins with Lift Lower Body. To be candid, one issue I have with the scheduling in 10 Rounds is related to the lifting workouts. More specifically, for the 2 lifting workouts per week Joel has you do lower body lifting first one week and then has you do lower lifting second the next week (and alternates as such the rest of the program). The problem is that you can go well over a week at times between lower body lifts (and similarly upper body lifts). I feel a hybrid schedule will ultimately end up being my focus to enhance the lifting more consistently with my goals. The good news though is that the 10 Rounds Lift workouts are SOLID! My legs were sore for a few days after the Week 2 lower body lifts.
The Week 3 version is 30 minutes and includes circuit style training with three sets of six successive circuit moves at 50-sec each using light, medium, and heavy weights. Short 15-sec breaks between sets. The moves should be familiar from previous Lift workouts so the goal is to safely add more weight or do more reps for each set.
The warmup includes torso rotation, hip circle, quad stretch, dynamic hamstring stretch, and runner’s lunge twist. The main workout circuit involves front loaded weighted Goblet squat (heavy weight), single leg static lunge (medium) each side, dumbbell deadlift (single or double dumbbell, medium or heavy), front loaded alternating front lunge (medium or heavy), side sweep hanging dumbbell (heavy), and weighted bridge (heavy). There is a full 45-sec break and then repeat the circuit two more times. Another full 45-sec break and then weighted core section (light weight) including dumbbell overhead extension with alternating leg drop followed by oblique dumbbell press on side, repeated two times (second set on oblique press is on other side). The oblique press move is awesome.
I used 20 to 50-lb dumbbells including 20-lber in the core work at the end. I tried to increase weight for the moves over Weeks 1 and 2. It was tough and I think I sweat the most in this workout so far in the program. The breaks are few and far between! Overall I burned 273 cals in 30 min with ave. and max heart rates of 136 and 171 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zones 2-3 (a good amount in zone 4 too!). These numbers are all higher normalized compared to the Week 1 and 2 Lift lower workouts as the program ramps up in intensity. Love it. I can’t wait for Lift Upper Body later this week in my 10 Rounds Review!!
Boxing 2 Footwork Agility
Described as,
“Keep up with Joel as you advance your footwork, moving at 45- to 90-degree angles as if you were following an opponent around the ring.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Here we go – Boxing 2 Footwork Agility! Punch combo variations are used with defensive moves and footwork focused on better simulating the overall fighting discipline. This workout leverages the “half fan” footwork in leading and reverse directions to change the angle of boxing with hip rotation. As usual, boxing involves 10 rounds of 3-min challenges with 45-sec break between rounds.
The workout begins with Round 1 warmup with loop including standing raise, double window wash, external rotation, single arm lat pulldown, hip circles, reverse lunge with twist, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 involves 1-2, 1-2 half fan lead (step forward punch combo step back turn to 45 degrees, step forward punch combo step back turn to 90 degrees, step forward punch combo back turn to start), 1-2-5 half fan lead, and 1-2-5-6 half fan lead. Round 3 is 2-5, 2-5 half fan rear (opposite direction as half fan lead), 2-5-4 half fan rear, 2-5-4-3 half fan rear, and all out burnout 5s/6s for 30-sec. Round 4 is speed and conditioning with towel 1-2-3 triple icky from Week 3 Boxing 1 for 60-sec followed by alternating reverse stepping pulsing lunge 60-sec and then a combination of the two movements for 60-sec. Round 5 consists of 5-2, 5-2 half fan lead, 5-2-3 half fan lead, and 5-2-3-2 half fan lead. Round 6 includes 6-3, 6-3 half fan rear, 6-3-4 half fan rear, 6-3-4-5 half fan rear, and 30-sec all out 3s/4s. Round 7 is speed and conditioning again with towel 1-2-3 triple icky followed by alternating reverse stepping pulsing lunge and then a combination of the two movements. Round 8 consists of 1-2-slip back, 1-2-slip half fan lead, 1-2-slip-6 half fan lead, and 1-2-slip-6-3 half fan lead. Round 9 includes 2-3-roll forward half fan rear, 2-3-roll-3 half fan rear, and 90-sec all out burnout of 30-sec each 3s/4s, 5s/6s, and 1s/2s. Finally, Round 10 is 3-min of CORE with loop including crunch driver and loop high plank hand taps, repeated two times each.
I burned 309 cals in 38 min with ave. and max heart rates of 128 and 162 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 2. This was actually a challenging workout from a mental perspective trying to stay focused on point with the punch combos, defensive moves, and footwork sequence. The half fan footwork moves really make you concentrate. I felt that this particular boxing workout pushed me the hardest thus far in the program. I am excited to see where Joel takes us for boxing in Weeks 4-6. I also liked the addition of pulses to the conditioning rounds and loop to core plank to enhance difficulty. On to my one of my favorite workout days of 10 Rounds… Lift Upper Body! Bring it!
Lift Upper Body Week 3
Described as,
“Build strength above your waist—and melt fat from head to toe—with a rapid-fire circuit of 14 muscle-burning moves.”
Heart rate analysis data…
As always, I was looking forward to Lift Upper Body. The Week 3 version consists of 5 blocks of 3 upper body exercises per block at 50-sec per move using light, medium, and heavy dumbbells. Short 15 sec breaks between moves. The focus this week is progressive load to failure (if possible) in supersets for each upper body muscle group.
The workout begins with the warmup of torso rotation, arm swings, full shoulder rotation both sides, shoulder stretch, lat pulldown, and tricep stretch. Block 1 is CHEST with chest press rotation (heavy), chest fly (medium), and decline chest press on floor in bridge (heavy). Block 2 is BACK with bent over double row (heavy), reverse back fly (light), and wide row (light). Block 3 SHOULDERS involves overhead press (medium), lateral raise (light), and bent over back shoulder extension (light, works lats). Block 4 BICEPS includes rotating curl up/down (medium, also hits forearms), hammer curls (medium), and full dumbbell curl (medium). Block 5 TRICEPS is overhead extension (single dumbbell, heavy), kneeling tricep kickback each side (light), and tricep pushups. The workout finishes up with CORE including weighted overhead extension with alternating leg raise followed by weighted one arm oblique crunch on side, repeated two times each where the second set of oblique crunch hits the side opposite set 1.
I used 15-50 pounds in this workout including 20-lb dumbbell for the core work. The 50-lb dumbbells for chest press rotation and decline press were a challenge and I nearly went to failure on the last set of decline. I was able to hit 35-lb dumbbells for the shoulder press and that is where my heart rate mostly spiked in the analysis. I used 30-lbers for hammer curls. The kneeling tricep kickbacks and back shoulder extension (lat burner) were awesome moves. Good stuff. I was using slow controlled movements for all exercises and averaged around 10 solid reps for each move in the 50 sec sets. There is a lot of time under tension with long sets and limited breaks. I burned 213 cals in 28 min with ave. and max heart rates of 124 and 167 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 2. These numbers are mostly comparable to Weeks 1 and 2, although Week 1 was easier for me. These upper and lower body Lift days from 10 Rounds will be on my go-to list for shorter burnout workouts. Boxing 3 is up next to complete Week 3 of my 10 Rounds Review!
Boxing 3 Endurance Footwork
Described as,
“Combine all of the movement patterns you learned earlier in the week into an intense, total-body workout that will leave you dripping in sweat.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Last day of Week 3 in Dallas for my 10 Rounds Review with Boxing 3 Endurance Footwork before the cast heads to Miami for Week 4! As usual for the boxing workouts, Endurance Footwork is another 10 rounds of total body boxing movements at 3-min per round and 45-sec Boxer’s bounce between rounds. There are a lot of overall punches combined with footwork focus so you need to concentrate!! You also need to make sure your lower body is engaged in the punches. Great challenge, love it.
The workout begins with the Round 1 warmup with loop including standing raise, double window wash, external rotation, single arm lat pulldown, hip circles, step back reverse lunge with twist, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 is 1-2-5, 1-2-5 half fan lead, 1-2-5-6 half fan lead, and 1-2-5-6-3 half fan lead. Round 3 involves 1-slip front-3, 1-slip-3 half fan rear, 1-slip-3-4 half fan rear, 1-slip-3-4-5 half fan rear, and 30-sec all out 5s/6s. Round 4 is agility and conditioning with towel around neck including triple icky 1-2-3 forward and back, alternating lunge with pulse plyo jump, and combination of the two sequences (lunge pulse plyo jumps are challenging!) Round 5 is back to boxing with 2-roll back, 2-roll full fan (lead fan to rear fan), 2-roll-2 full fan, and 2-roll-2-3 full fan. Round 6 involves 1-6, 1-6 full fan, 1-6-3 full fan, 1-6-3-4 full fan, and 30-sec burnout 3s/4s. Round 7 is back to conditioning with towel including triple icky 1-2-3 forward and back, alternating lunge with pulse plyo jump, and combination of the two sequences again. Round 8 includes 6-5, 6-5 full fan, 6-5-6 full fan, and 6-5-6-3 full fan. Round 9 is 1-2-1-2-5-6-5-6 full fan, 1-2-1-2-5 fast-6 fast-5 fast-6 fast full fan, and all out 90-sec 3s/4s, 5s/6s, and 1s/2s. Round 10 is CORE with heavy loop (green or heaviest is blue) including loop crunch driver followed by high plank loop hand taps, repeated two sets each move.
I burned 333 calories in 38 minutes with average and max heart rates of 132 and 162 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 3. The total calorie burn and workout zone are the highest in the program for me to date. I used the heaviest blue loop for core work and my shoulders were ON FIRE (especially high plank). Round 9 is my favorite sequence of the entire program thus far with a rocker of an accelerating punch sequence and footwork at the end of the workout. Just like that I am half way done with the 10 Rounds program!! Let’s go Week 4 Miami!! Just a reminder my friends I am here for you so be sure to click the CONTACT button below to reach out to me if you could use personal and team support. It can be a game changer, let’s do this! Rage. Become a Machine.
Boxing 1 Combinations Body Shot Crusher
Described as,
“Learn to land body blows with force and precision as you continue to shed fat and build muscle with fast-paced boxing drills.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Miami Beach let’s go! First day of Week 4 kicks off with Combinations Body Shot Crusher focused on performing various “levels” while enhancing footwork. Think of levels as adding low punches and leg work to the high level punches typical from Weeks 1-3. As such, you end up really hammering your legs with the low squats and hip rotation throughout the workout.
Round 1 begins with the warmup with resistance loop including standing raise, lat pulldown, loop drive full rotation, external rotation, hip circles, runner’s lunge with twist, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 is 1-2 low, 1-2 low step forward-back walk, 1-2 low-3 walk, and 1-2 low-3-2 walk. Round 3 involves 2-3 low, 2-3 low-side step, 2-3 low-6 step, 2-3 low-6-5 step, and 30-sec all out 1 low/2 low stand and throw (works legs more!). Round 4 is agility and conditioning with towel including double out-in 60-sec followed by triple side walk in squat position 60-sec and then combine the two movements for the balance of the 3-min round. Round 5 consists of 1-1 low, 1-1 low L-drill, 1-1 low-4 low L-drill, and 1-1 low-4 low-3 L-drill. Round 6 includes 2-back slip-4 low, 2-slip-4 low L-drill, 2-slip-4 low-5 L-drill, 2-slip-4 low-5-2 L-drill, and 30-sec burnout 3 low/4 low. Round 7 is agility and conditioning again with towel including double out-in followed by triple side walk in squat position and then combine the two moves. Round 8 involves 1-front slip-3 low, 1-slip-3 low L-drill, 1-slip-3 low-3 L-drill, and 1-slip-3 low-3-2 L-drill. Round 9 is 1 low-1 L-drill, 1 low-1-2 L-drill, 1 low-1-2-5 L-drill, and then all-out 90-sec burnout with 1 low/2 low, 3 low/4 low, and standing 1s/2s. Round 10 CORE consists of resistance loop crunch followed by single side loop oblique crunch (loop around foot), and repeat both two sets.
I burned 316 calories in 38 minutes with average and max heart rates of 129 and 170 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zones 2-3. It appears moving forward most of the boxing workouts will be 300+ calories for me now that the punches and defensive moves are combined with footwork. Pretty good, actually (and fun)! Adding the levels to Body Shot Crusher today was a new challenge and you must have good form. My legs were burned out by the end, especially with the agility and conditioning rounds incorporated. I imagine the resistance loop will be added for the conditioning rounds later in the week similar to the sample workout. Tomorrow will be one of my favorite days each week in my 10 Rounds Review with LIFT UPPER BODY! Let’s do this!!
Lift Upper Body Week 4
Described as,
“It’s back to unilateral and bilateral training, but this time Joel adds a “looped burnout” to the end of each exercise block, using a resistance band to optimize fatigue.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Lift Upper Body Week 4 includes 5 blocks of movements with 3 upper body exercises per muscle-specific block at 50-sec and 25-sec per move using light, medium, and heavy dumbbells. Short 15 sec breaks between moves. The unilateral and bilateral moves are back, my favorite. Single-single-double plus burnout with loop for each muscle group!
The workout begins with the warmup of torso rotation, arm swings, full shoulder rotation both sides, shoulder stretch, and tricep stretch. Block 1 CHEST consists of single arm chest press (heavy weight) each side followed by double press rotation and then looped chest fly with heavy loop (cool move!). Block 2 BACK involves single arm row (heavy) each side followed by double wide row (medium or light) and heavy loop lat extension. Block 3 SHOULDERS involves single arm lateral raise (light) each side followed by double overhead press (medium), and single upright rows with heavy loop. Block 4 BICEPS includes single arm hammer curl (medium) each side followed by double bicep full curls (medium, keep arms pinned to your sides) and then alternating bicep burnout with heavy loop. Block 5 is TRICEPS single side crusher (medium) each side followed by tricep pushups and overhead side tricep extension with loop each side. As usual, every workout finishes up with CORE including weighted fluttering flutter kicks followed by straight leg dumbbell reach at 50-sec each move, repeated two times each.
I used 15-50 pounds in this workout including 20-lb dumbbell for the core work and blue heavy loop. I burned 227 cals in 34 min with ave. and max heart rates of 116 and 159 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zones 1-2. Zones 1-2 is deceiving as I felt challenged throughout. The unilateral pre-fatigue to bilateral burnout approach is awesome. What I like about this workout is the incorporation of the heavy resistance loop last set for each muscle group after the dumbbell work. Killer, what a burnout! The loop moves will be great for travel workouts. This is my favorite Lift Upper Body workout of the 10 Rounds program thus far! Time for some rest before Boxing 2 in Miami. We got this!
Boxing 2 Combinations Full Body Conditioning
Described as,
“Prepare yourself for one of the toughest workouts yet. You’ll aim high and low with nonstop punches while moving and attacking in all directions. Stay focused and keep up with Joel and the cast. You can do it!”
Heart rate analysis data…
More levels (leg heavy!) and fancy footwork. Enough said. Round 1 begins with the warmup with resistance loop including standing raise, lat pulldown, loop drive full rotation, external rotation, hip circles, runner’s lunge with twist, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 is 1 low-2 low-reset, 1 low-2 low half fan lead, 1 low-2 low-3 half fan lead, and 1 low-2 low-3-2 half fan lead. Round 3 involves 6-5, 6-5 half fan rear, 6-5-4 low half fan rear, 6-5-4 low-3 half fan rear, and 30-sec all out burner 1 low-2 low. Round 4 is agility and conditioning with towel and heavy resistance loop including double out-in with loop followed by triple side walk and then a combination of the two agility sequences. This is basically the version in Week 4 Boxing 1 with loop (similar to the sample workout)! Round 5 consists of 1 low-2-slip back, 1 low-2-slip full fan, 1 low-2-slip-2 full fan, 1 low-2-slip-2-6 full fan, and 1 low-slip-2-6-5 full fan. Round 6 includes 2-slip back-2, 2-slip-2 full fan, 2-slip-2-5 full fan, 2-slip-2-5-4 full fan, and all out burnout 30-sec 3 low/4 low. Round 7 is agility and conditioning again with towel and resistance loop including double out-in with loop followed by triple side walk and then a combination of the two agility sequences. Round 8 involves 2-slip front-front roll, 2-slip-roll full fan, 2-slip-roll-3 full fan, and 2-slip-roll-3-2 low full fan. Round 9 is 1-2 full fan, 1-2-3 low-4 low full fan, 1-2-3 low-4 low-5-6 full fan, and 90-sec all out 1 low/2 low, 3 low/4 low, and 5s/6s. Round 10 CORE consists of slow controlled full sit-up with arms up (takes out momentum) followed by single side loop oblique crunch (loop around foot), and repeat both two times each (switch sides on the second oblique crunch set).
I burned 301 calories in 38 minutes with average and max heart rates of 125 and 161 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 2. This workout increased the complexity of combination moves and I have been trying to keep up with Joel’s queues on punches, defensive, and footwork. If you can keep it up with proper form I feel like it is easier to stay on track with the moves by counting the sequence with Joel. The low moves really challenge the legs. My heart rate did not elevate as much in agility and conditioning today even with the loop since it is more of a resistance agility circuit. My highest heart rates were during the burnouts as usual. I was able to hit the core variations no issues so I know I am getting STRONGER! Progress, not perfection. Next up is Lift Lower Body Week 4 in my 10 Rounds Review. If you would like to join us click CONTACT below and let’s get started! The workout is one lever to achieve your results, but dialing in the nutrition is critical and team support can be a game changer. BRING IT!
Lift Lower Body Week 4
Described as,
“Joel doubles down on looped burnouts in this insane, lower-body workout that will have your legs and lungs burning.”
Heart rate analysis data…
The Week 4 version of Lift Lower Body is 30 minutes with five blocks of 3 lower body moves per block at 50-sec and 30-sec per move using light, medium, and heavy weights. Short 15-sec breaks between sets. The same move is performed 3 times for each block followed by a loop burnout! The moves should be familiar from previous Lift Lower workouts but different structure so the goal is to safely add more weight or do more reps for each set.
The warmup includes torso rotation, hip circle, quad stretch, dynamic hamstring stretch, and runner’s lunge twist. Block 1 is Goblet squat (heavy weight) for 3 sets followed by loop squat body weight burnout. Block 2 consists of weighted alternating single leg reverse lunge (medium) for 3 sets followed by static lunge loop burnout both sides 30-sec each (tough). Block 3 involves dumbbell deadlift (heavy or medium, one or two dumbbells) for 3 sets followed by reverse heel kicks loop burnout one side at a time 30-sec each. Block 4 is dumbbell side sway (heavy) for 3 sets followed by side leg lift loop burnout one side at a time 30-sec each. Block 5 includes dumbbell weighted bridge (heavy) for 3 sets followed by alternating step out-in while in bridge entire time (no loop, challenging!). As usual, every workout finishes up with CORE including weighted fluttering flutter kicks followed by straight leg dumbbell reach at 50-sec each move, repeated two times each.
I used 30 to 50-lb dumbbells including 20-lber in the core work at the end. I leveraged the super heavy blue loops for the burnouts (wow, tough!). I tried to increase weight for the moves over Weeks 1-3 or go at a faster pace with good form. Overall I burned 267 cals in 33 min with ave. and max heart rates of 126 and 163 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 2. These numbers are consistent with Weeks 1-3 mostly, however, the added loop burnouts tend to lower overall numbers since you don’t ramp heart rate as much on those moves. As such, Week 3 Lift Lower Body had higher burn average and max heart rates. However, only the Week 4 version made my legs sweat, which is a good sign! Also, the blue heavy loop is no joke on the burnout moves at the end of each block. Great design to the workout and 10 Rounds program. One more day for Week 4 before heading into the final 2 weeks of my 10 Rounds Review! Thanks for hanging in there with me. I hope you are enjoying 10 Rounds as well and if you are thinking about the program be sure to click the CONTACT button below to connect with me to see if this is a good fit for your goals. Let’s do this!
Boxing 3 Combinations Full Body Burnout
Described as,
“Today’s focus is on fast footwork as you add the boxing shuffle to your skillset. Punch hard, move quickly, and give every round your all to build speed, agility, power, and a rock-solid core.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Last workout in Miami before heading to BROOKLYN! Let’s do this my friends. This one is all about a full body burnout and a new footwork move with speed is introduced with Boxer’s Shuffle (to simulate active engagement with your opponent). Round 1 begins with the warmup with resistance loop including standing raise, lat pulldown, loop drive full rotation, external rotation, hip circles, runner’s lunge with twist, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 is 1-2, 1-2 Boxer’s Shuffle step forward-back, 1-2-3 step Boxer’s Shuffle, and 1-2-3-2 step Boxer’s Shuffle. Round 3 involves 2-5, 2-5 side walk Boxer’s Shuffle, 2-5-2 side Boxer’s Shuffle, 2-5-2-3 side Boxer’s Shuffle, and all-out burnout 30-sec 5s/6s. Round 4 is agility and conditioning with towel and heavy resistance loop including double out-in, triple side walk with jump, and combination of the two moves! Round 5 consists of 5-6, 5-6 L-Drill Boxing Shuffle, 5-6-3 L-Drill Boxing Shuffle, and 5-6-3-2 L-Drill Boxing Shuffle. Round 6 includes 2-reload back-6, 2-reload-6 L-Drill Boxing Shuffle, 2-reload-6-5 L-Drill Boxing Shuffle, 2-reload-6-5-2 L-Drill Boxing Shuffle, and all-out burnout 1 low-2 low 30-sec. Round 7 is agility and conditioning again with towel and resistance loop including double out-in, triple side walk with jump, and combination of the two moves. Round 8 involves 3-slip back, 3-slip half fan shuffle lead, 3-slip-3 half fan shuffle lead, and 3-slip-3-2 half fan shuffle lead. Round 9 is 6-3-4 half fan shuffle rear, 6-3-4 half fan shuffle rear, 6-3-4-5 half fan shuffle rear, and all-out 90-sec burnout 1s/2s, 5s/6s, and 1s/2s/5s low/6s low. Round 10 CORE consists of blue loop full sit-up with arms up followed by single side blue loop oblique crunch (loop around foot), and repeat both two times each (switch sides on the second oblique crunch set).
I burned 280 calories in 38 minutes with average and max heart rates of 121 and 154 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 2. The Boxer’s Shuffle is a great addition to the workout to help ramp intensity and heart rate. With that said, my calorie burn was not as high as some of the other 300+ cal efforts in recent weeks, perhaps related to my fitness level improving. There are a lot of punches thrown in FULL BODY BURNOUT. It is a good workout. 4 weeks down and 2 weeks to go in my 10 Rounds Review! The first 3 weeks started fairly slow as you learn the punches, defensive work, and footwork. Intensity ramps end of Week 3 into Week 4 so I am pumped to continue to put it all together into a challenging fight in Weeks 5-6. Bring it!!
Boxing 1 Combinations Sparring Pivots
Described as,
“Learn to attack in multiple directions from the same spot. It’s Pivoting 101, but it’s going to burn. By the time you throw your last jab, you’ll be begging Joel for mercy, and he’ll give it to you—after you complete a diabolical, core-crushing finisher.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Brooklyn, New York here we come for Week 5 of my 10 Rounds Review! Excited for this week and it looks to be all about adding multi-directional pivots for footwork drills. The pivots allow for faster punches and combinations while engaging the core even more (hello, shred). The iconic Gleason’s boxing gym in Brooklyn is an amazing backdrop for Week 5 where Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Roberto Duran, and others have trained. It is by far the best set for this program. Inspiring, let’s do this!
Round 1 begins with the warmup with resistance loop including standing raise, lat pulldown, double air taps, bent over loop row, body weight squats with loop around ankles, side step with loop, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 is 1-2 front pivot, 1-2-pivot-1, and 1-2-pivot-1-2. Round 3 involves 2-3-back pivot, 2-3-pivot-2, 2-3-pivot-2-5, and 30-sec all out burnout 1s/2s. Round 4 is agility and conditioning with towel half circle stance-stance 60-sec followed by squat-pivot out-squat-pivot out other direction 60-sec, then a combination of the two moves for 60-sec (legs are on fire from the squats!). Round 5 consists of 1-front slip-front pivot, 1-slip-pivot-3, and 1-slip-pivot-3-2. Round 6 includes 6-back slip-back pivot, 6-slip-pivot-6, 6-slip-pivot-6-3, and burnout 30-sec 3s/4s. Round 7 is agility and conditioning again with towel half circle stance-stance followed by squat-pivot out-squat-pivot out other direction, then a combination of the two moves. Round 8 involves 3-front slip-front pivot, 3-slip-pivot-1, and 3-slip-pivot-1-6. Round 9 is 1-2-3-back pivot, 1-2-3-pivot-2, and 2-min burnout 1s/2s, 3s/4s, 5s/6s, and 1s/2s. Round 10 CORE consists of loop (I picked blue) around wrist straight leg overhead reach followed by one-sided knee crunch to elbow (outside, same side) in high plank with loop, and repeat both two times each (switch sides on the second high plank knee crunch set).
I burned 279 calories in 38 minutes with average and max heart rates of 121 and 156 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 2. The numbers may not reflect how challenging this workout can be if you nail the pivots and keep up your punch/defensive combos with the crew. I sweat more in this workout than any other up to this point in my 10 Rounds Review due to the faster punch combos. Really good stuff! The burnout punches in Round 9 went from 60-sec at the beginning of the program to 90-sec in Week 4 to now 120-sec in Week 5. The core work had my abs (and legs) on fire (I used blue loop). The conditioning work was also a good challenge with so many squats and I expect the loop will be added at some point this week or next. Should be an exciting finish to the program! Overall, 10 Rounds started fairly slow/intermediate for me, however, it is DEFINITELY ramping intensity. Bring on the lifting tomorrow!!
Lift Lower Body Week 5
Described as,
“This legs-focused workout uses supersets and looped burnouts to hammer your lower half and incinerate calories. Embrace the burn and make every rep count!”
Heart rate analysis data…
From Gleason’s lifting room in Brooklyn, Lift Lower Body involves 3 blocks of 3 lower body supersets per block at 50-sec and 30-sec (loop burnout) per move using light, medium, and heavy dumbbells with looped burnout. The warmup includes torso rotation, hip circle, quad stretch, dynamic hamstring stretch, and runner’s lunge twist. Block 1 is deadlift (heavy) 50-sec followed by weighted alternating single leg front lunge with twist (medium) for 3 total sets and then side leg lift loop burnout one side at a time 30-sec each. Block 2 consists of front loaded Goblet squat (heavy weight) followed by hanging side sway (heavy) for 3 total sets then single leg deadlift burnout with loop 30-sec each side. Block 3 involves hanging Sumo squat (heavy) followed by static lunge with weight (medium) 30-sec each side for 3 total sets then reverse loop heal lift burnout 30-sec each side. The CORE finishers include weighted straight leg full sit-up 50-sec (so tough) and dumbbell driver, repeated two times each.
I used 40 to 50-lb dumbbells including much lighter 10-lber in the killer core work at the end plus blue heavy loop for burnout sessions. I mostly increased weight for the moves over Weeks 1-4 and went at a faster pace with good form. Overall I burned 265 cals in 34 min with ave. and max heart rates of 124 and 159 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zones 2-3. These numbers are fairly consistent with Weeks 1-4. Since I pushed heavier weights this time I found myself also getting a good upper body workout holding the dumbbells for all of these moves. My grip was exhausted by the end! I am looking forward to Lift Upper Body later this week. My friends, I hope you are enjoying my 10 Rounds Review and if you are thinking about the program or others be sure to click the CONTACT button below to connect with me! Let’s do this together!
10 ROUNDS Boxing Cooldown and Stretch
Described as,
“Add this quick, total-body stretching routine to the end of your boxing workouts to help ease muscle tension and kick-start your recovery.”
Heart rate analysis data…
The 10 Rounds workouts have short, effective warmups, however, none of the workouts have a cooldown! As a Team Beachbody Coach I was among the first wave with access to the program and we provided feedback that not having a cooldown session is a major miss here. Even knowing better as a Coach, I found myself not doing a cooldown stretch after finishing up the 10 Rounds workouts many of the days in Weeks 1-4. The feedback from Beachbody was that they wanted to leave flexibility in using other cooldown/stretch workouts already on BOD in order to keep the workout length of 10 Rounds between 30-40 min. Now into Week 5 (of 6) of my 10 Rounds Review, Beachbody just launched two cooldown sessions based on this initial feedback specific to the muscles used in the program. Thank you Beachbody!
10 Rounds Boxing Cooldown and Stretch is short at only 5 minutes. It does the job though. Just find this session under “Cooldowns” in the BOD workout list after completing any of the Boxing workouts in 10 Rounds. The cooldown was filmed in Joel’s backyard (I think) with live video feeds from others doing the cooldown simultaneously across the country. Why? Well, as of this writing we are in the midst of unprecedented times with the Global COVID-19 pandemic (2020) so most of the World is on order to stay-at-home. As such, the cooldowns have a much different look and feel relative to the rest of 10 Rounds (e.g., audio quality). I give Beachbody major credit for making this happen though after listening to the feedback!
Boxing Cooldown and Stretch includes 8 exercises at approx. 10-20-sec each targeting glutes, legs, and lower back. The moves include supine stretch on back followed by each side of knee pull stretch, straight leg hamstring stretch, and leg back stretch. The cooldown finishes up with butterfly, cross leg/twist stretch each side, quad stretch, and straight leg back calf stretch. Finally, torso rotation and shoulder roll to complete the cooldown. Overall, it is a good stretch. Clearly we could benefit from more time in each movement to maximize the stretch as it feels a little rushed. 10 minutes (e.g., 10 x 1-min stretch rounds) would have been perfect. Of course the calorie burn (10 cals), heart rates, and workout zone are all very low since this is not a challenging routine!
10 ROUNDS Lift Cooldown and Stretch
Described as,
“Perform this five-minute cooldown after each lifting workout to help rejuvenate tired muscles, enhance mobility, and keep performing at your peak.”
Heart rate analysis data…
As discussed in my Boxing Cooldown and Stretch Review, the 10 Rounds workouts have short, effective warmups, however, none of the workouts have a cooldown! As a Team Beachbody Coach I was among the first wave with access to the program and we provided feedback that not having a cooldown session is a major miss here. Even knowing better as a Coach, I found myself not doing a cooldown stretch after finishing up the 10 Rounds workouts many of the days in Weeks 1-4. The feedback from Beachbody was that they wanted to leave flexibility in using other cooldown/stretch workouts already on BOD in order to keep the workout length of 10 Rounds between 30-40 min. Now into Week 5 (of 6) of my 10 Rounds Review, Beachbody just launched two cooldown sessions based on this initial feedback specific to the muscles used in the program. Thank you Beachbody!
10 Rounds Lift Cooldown and Stretch is short at only 5 minutes and focuses on movements worked in the lifting workouts. Just find this session under “Cooldowns” in the BOD workout list after completing any of the Lift workouts in 10 Rounds. The cooldown was filmed in Joel’s home gym (I think) with live video feeds from others doing the cooldown simultaneously across the country. Why? Well, as of this writing we are in the midst of unprecedented times with the Global COVID-19 pandemic (2020) so most of the World is on order to stay-at-home. As such, the cooldowns have a much different look and feel relative to the rest of 10 Rounds (e.g., audio quality). I give Beachbody major credit for making this happen though after listening to the feedback!
Lift Cooldown and Stretch includes 10 exercises at approx. 10-20-sec each targeting the entire upper and lower body. The moves on each side include shoulder stretch, overhead tricep stretch, behind back shoulder pull, forearm bicep stretch, quad stretch, and runner’s lunge cross body reach torso twist to hip flexor push back to hamstring stretch. The cooldown finishes up with modified pigeon pose with chest drop each side (glute stretch). Overall, it is a good stretch. Similar to Boxing cooldown, clearly we could benefit from more time in each movement to maximize the stretch as it feels a little rushed. 10 minutes (e.g., 10 x 1-min stretch rounds) would have been perfect. Of course the calorie burn (10 cals), heart rates, and workout zone are all very low since this is not a challenging routine. Happy to now have these cooldown and stretch routines in the 10 Rounds program.
Boxing 2 Combinations Speed and Agility Pivots
Described as,
“You’ll add the shuffle to your pivots, progressing your footwork as you jab, cross, roll, hook, and uppercut your way to a ripped boxer’s body.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Next up in my 10 Rounds Review is Boxing 2 – Combinations: Speed and Agility Pivots! Boxing 1 Pivots was a good one so I expect the pace to ramp up here even more with some defensive moves! Should be fun after nailing Lift Lower Body (still some soreness). Round 1 begins with the warmup using resistance loop including standing raise, lat pulldown, double air taps, bent over loop row, body weight squats with loop around ankles, side step with loop, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 is 2-back slip-roll forward-front pivot-reset, 2-slip-roll-pivot-3, and 2-slip-roll-pivot-3-6. Round 3 involves 1-front slip-back roll-back pivot-reset, 1-slip-roll-pivot-2, 1-slip-roll-pivot-2-3, and 30-sec all out burnout 1 low-2 low. Round 4 is agility and conditioning with towel half circle stance-stance 60-sec, squat low pivot jump 60-sec, and combination of the two movements 60-sec. Round 5 consists of 5-2-front pivot-reset, 5-2-pivot-shuffle (amped up pace like in a fight!), 5-2-pivot-5-shuffle, and 5-2-pivot-5-2-shuffle. Round 6 includes 6-3-back pivot-reset, 6-3-pivot-shuffle, 6-3-pivot-6-shuffle, 6-3-pivot-6-3-shuffle, 30-sec all out 3 low-4 low. Round 7 is agility and conditioning again with towel half circle stance-stance, squat low pivot jump, and combination of the two movements. Round 8 involves 5-4-front pivot-reset, 5-4-pivot-shuffle, 5-4-pivot-5-shuffle, and 5-4-pivot-5-4-shuffle. Round 9 is 6-5-6-5-pivot-6-5-6-5 for 60-sec and then 2-min burnout of 1s/2s, 3s/4s, 5s/6s, and 1s/2s. Round 10 CORE consists of loop (I picked blue) around wrist with arms overhead to straight leg crunch raise followed by one-sided knee crunch to opposite elbow in high plank with loop still around wrists, and repeat both two times each (switch sides on the second high plank knee crunch set).
I burned 283 calories in 38 minutes with average and max heart rates of 122 and 161 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 2. These numbers are similar to previous boxing workouts. I do believe the intensity has ramped, but so has my progress in boxing endurance. I really liked the addition of the shuffle after pivots to pick up the pace in these workouts. The workout felt much more like an actual fight. It can be challenging to maintain strong footwork in the boxing movements in later rounds as your legs tire. Awesome stuff. I have mentioned it before, but 10 Rounds starts fairly slow/intermediate in the first 3 weeks as you learn the moves, however, the INTENSITY is HERE Week 5!
Lift Upper Body Week 5
Described as,
“It’s back to supersets in this strength-training workout that targets your chest, back, bis, tris, shoulders, and core to build a chiseled upper body that packs a serious punch.”
Heart rate analysis data…
I was looking forward to Lift Upper Body Week 5 as it has been far too long since the last Lift Upper (approx. 1.5 weeks) — 3 blocks of upper body supersets at 50-sec and 30-sec per move using dumbbells and resistance loop. There is a lot of muscle isolation focus! The workout begins with the warmup of torso rotation, arm swings, full shoulder rotation both sides, shoulder stretch, and tricep stretch. Block 1 consists of chest press (heavy weight) followed by bicep curls (medium) for 3 total sets. The chest press move stays the same all sets, but the biceps change with set 2 hammer curls (medium) and set 3 wide curl (medium). Block 2 is dumbbell bent over row (medium) followed by overhead shoulder press (medium). Sets 2 and 3 for shoulders include front raise (medium) and lateral raise (light), respectively. Block 3 involves chest fly (medium) and tricep skullcrusher (light to medium). Set 2 triceps is kickback (light) and set 3 is tricep pushups. Joel then adds a looped burnout superset hitting lat pulldown, upright row, bicep curls, and overhead tricep side extension! The CORE round finisher includes straight leg weighted sit-up and the dumbbell driver, repeated two sets each for 50-sec each.
I used 15-50 pounds in this workout including 15-lb dumbbell for the core work and green loop for burnout. I used the 50s for chest press and was exhausted by the last set. Success! The rest of the workout I leveraged mostly 25-30lb dumbbells and then light for the core work. I burned 282 cals in 34 min with ave. and max heart rates of 128 and 168 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zones 2-3. These numbers are quite a bit higher than previous weeks of Lift Upper. The pace is fast, I lifted heavy, and there is little time to recover during the first 25-min or so (up until loop burnout). I like how this workout starts with the chest and ends with the chest while hitting the rest of the upper body in between. Lift Upper Body Week 5 is my favorite lifting workout now after 5 weeks of 10 Rounds. One more boxing workout and then I am on to the final week of my 10 Rounds Review!
Boxing 3 Combinations Pivots and Power
Described as,
“It’s time to start putting things together—punch combinations, levels (head and body shots), defensive skills, pivots, and shuffles—for a true total-body burn.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Here we go! Last day of Week 5 of 10 Rounds. Almost the last week of the program. Time flies! Boxing 3 Combinations: Pivots and Power is all about bringing it all together with levels and shuffles for defensive/offensive combos. Joel says this is THE most complicated workout of the entire program! Round 1 begins with the warmup using resistance loop including standing raise, lat pulldown, double air taps, bent over loop row, body weight squats with loop around ankles, side step with loop, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 is 1-2-front pivot-reset, 1-2-pivot-3 low, and 1-2-pivot-3 low-4 low. Round 3 involves 2 low-3 low-back pivot-reset, 2 low-3 low-pivot-6, 2 low-3 low-pivot-6-5, and all-out burnout 30-sec 1s/2s. Round 4 is agility and conditioning with towel half circle stance-stance 60-sec, squat low jump right/center/left 60-sec (ouch!), and combination of the two movements 60-sec. Round 5 consists of 2-slip back-4 low-reset, 2-slip-4 low-shuffle, 2-slip-4 low-pivot front-shuffle, and 2-slip-4 low-pivot-6-shuffle. Round 6 includes 1-slip front-3 low, 1-slip-3 low-shuffle, 1-slip-3 low-pivot back-shuffle, 1-slip-3 low-pivot-5-shuffle, and burnout 30-sec 3s/4s. Round 7 is agility and conditioning again with towel half circle stance-stance 60-sec, squat low jump right/center/left 60-sec (ouch again!), and combination of the two movements 60-sec. Round 8 involves 3-front roll-pivot front, 3-roll-pivot-shuffle, and 3-roll-pivot-3-shuffle, 3-roll-pivot-3-6-shuffle. Round 9 is 2-roll back-back pivot-6-5-6-5-reset for 60-sec and 2-min burnout of 1 low/2 low, 3 low/4 low, 3s/4s, and 1s/2s. Round 10 CORE consists of loop (I picked blue) around wrist with arms overhead extension straight legs to arms crunch raise followed by one-sided knee crunch in-out rotation to opposite elbow in high plank with loop still around wrists, and repeat both two times each (switch sides on the second high plank knee crunch set).
I burned 328 calories in 38 minutes with average and max heart rates of 131 and 161 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 3. Sweat everywhere today and my numbers agree with Joel that this is the most complicated workout so far in the program. The heart rate data is fairly aligned with other Boxing 3 workouts in previous weeks, but Pivots and Power was the most challenging for me. The squat jumps in the agility and conditioning rounds is brutal, legs of fire! The high plank core knee rotation with loop is also really challenging. We will see if this workout is harder for me than the upcoming Week 6 boxing sessions. Week 5 complete! Time for some rest and then on to the final Week 6 of my 10 Rounds Review!! Thanks for joining me and be sure to click the CONTACT button below to connect with me! Let’s do this!
Boxing 1 Advanced Combos Into the Ring
Described as,
“This intense boxing workout will challenge your speed, stamina, and grit as you execute complex combos and conquer advanced footwork. You only have five workouts left, so hold nothing back.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Welcome to the final week of 10 ROUNDS!! I hope you are enjoying my 10 Rounds Review and THANK YOU for joining me here at HowDoIGetRipped.com. 10 Rounds is an awesome program and I am finishing up my reviews including overall data summary and pros/cons of 10 Rounds relative to other programs (see the data analysis section at the top of this blog article when complete). In short, 10 Rounds is a lot of fun. It is a very effective and empowering intermediate program (often moderately intense) for total body workout!
Week 6 in Philadelphia (“home of Rocky”) is supposed to be the most challenging week. We will see now that I am FASTER and STRONGER! Time to put it all together from Weeks 1-5 including fans and defensive moves in this workout – Boxing 1 Advanced Combos Into The Ring. Round 1 begins with the warmup using resistance loop including standing raise, lat pulldown, loop driver, double window washer, penguin walk, hip circles, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 is 1-2-roll back, 1-2-roll-shuffle half fan lead, 1-2-roll-2-shuffle half fan lead, and 1-2-roll-2-3-shuffle half fan lead. Round 3 involves 3-roll front, 3-roll-shuffle half fan rear, 3-roll-3-shuffle half fan rear, 3-roll-3-2-shuffle half fan rear, and 30-sec all out burnout 5s/6s. Round 4 is agility and conditioning with towel fast speed forward double out-in back 60-sec followed by squat lunge alternating step lunge 60-sec, and combination of the two moves for 60-sec. Round 5 consists of 5-front slip-5-shuffle full fan, 5-slip-5-front slip full fan, and 5-slip-5-slip-3 full fan. Round 6 includes 6-back slip-6 full fan, 6-slip-6-back slip full fan, 6-slip-6-slip-2 full fan, and 30-sec burnout 3s/4s. Round 7 is agility and conditioning again with towel fast speed forward double out-in back followed by squat lunge alternating step lunge, and combination of the two moves. Round 8 involves 1-2-roll back-2 full fan, 1-2-roll-2-1 full fan, and 1-2-roll-2-1-2 full fan (adjust timing to speed up the 2-1-2 combo after roll). Round 9 is 1-2-back slip-front slip-3-4 for 60-sec and then 2-min burnout 1s/2s, 3s/4s, 5s/6s, and fast 1-2-3-4-5-6. Round 10 CORE consists of triple punch crunch (great move) followed by cross leg arm overhead extension reach with other leg on floor, and repeat both two times each (switch sides on the second cross extension reach set).
I burned 345 calories in 38 minutes with average and max heart rates of 136 and 171 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 3. This was a great workout. I found the speed and intensity slightly ramped over Week 5. I pushed hard and my heart rate analysis numbers agree with the highest calorie burn yet in 10 Rounds. A few of the combos were my favorite in the entire program, especially the adjustment to punch combo timing in Round 8 and the 1-2-3-4-5-6 burnout at the end of Round 9. I found the agility and conditioning rounds easier than all of the squats/jumps in Week 5 Boxing 3. I am sure Boxing 2/3 this week will be tougher and maybe add a loop to agility/core if we are lucky. The core work in this workout was very challenging and my obliques were on FIRE, but I made it through. I still have a tough time straightening my legs, which is nothing consistent yoga and stretch can’t fix! I am ready to finish 10 Rounds STRONG and bring it for Lift Upper Body tomorrow!! Let’s do this my friends. Rage. Become a Machine.
Lift Upper Body Week 6
Described as,
“Fight the burn as you power through 14 exercises in this killer upper-body circuit. This week, Joel adds five looped burnouts to torch even more calories—and amplify your results.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Last Lift Upper Body workout of the 10 Rounds program. So sad! Ha. This workout is 5 blocks at 3 upper body exercises per block at 50-sec and 30-sec per move using dumbbells and resistance loop. There is a looped burnout between every single block. The workout begins with the warmup of torso rotation, arm swings, full shoulder rotation both sides, shoulder stretch, and tricep stretch. Block 1 CHEST consists of rotating press (heavy), chest fly (medium), decline press (heavy), and looped burnout chest press with heavy loop. Block 2 BACK involves bent over row (heavy), reverse fly (light), wide row (medium), and lat extension looped burnout with heavy loop. Block 3 SHOULDERS involves shoulder overhead press (medium), lateral raise (light), front raise (medium), and looped burnout upright row with heavy loop. Block 4 BICEPS includes rotating curl (medium), hammer curls (medium), full curl (medium), and alternating curl looped burnout with heavy loop. Block 5 is TRICEPS overhead extension (heavy), kneeling kickback (medium), and side tricep extension with heavy loop each side. The CORE round finisher includes sit-up with overhead press with dumbbell followed by dead bug dumbbell twist (awesome oblique move!), repeated two sets each for 50-sec each.
I mostly used 15-50 pounds in this workout including 15-lb dumbbell for the core work and green/blue loops for burnout. This workout is as good as just about any upper body workout I have done. Pick the weights properly while maintaining good form and you WILL go to complete failure for each muscle group in only 33 min. The dumbbell work usually averages 10-15 reps per 50-sec depending on move. The loop burnout pushes you over the edge. Awesome stuff. I burned 260 cals in 33 min with ave. and max heart rates of 126 and 170 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 3. These numbers are a little lower than the Week 5 version, however, I felt like I went to failure on more movements this week. As a side note, if you are missing pull-ups in this program you can consider subbing in pull-up variations in the back block. Personally I would sub them for reverse fly and wide row. My upper body is spent. Time for some orange RECOVER then back at it tomorrow for Boxing 2 as I push through this final week of my 10 Rounds Review!! Click the CONTACT button below to connect about any of these programs, nutrition plans, team support, and/or income opportunity from home. Let’s do this!!
Boxing 2 Advanced Combos Total Body Knockout
Described as,
“The emphasis is on fast footwork, powerful pivots, and quick combos in this lung-busting workout that combines all of the skills you’ve learned so far.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Week 6 Day 3 Boxing 2 Advanced Combos Total Body Knockout is next up! Second to last boxing workout in the program. Another strong workout from Joel here with more focus on pivots (quick transitions to change direction), levels, and defensive footwork L drill. It is important to use the legs to work the levels. Round 1 begins with the warmup using resistance loop including standing raise, lat pulldown, loop driver, double window washer, penguin walk, hip circles, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 is 1-2-1 low-reset, 1-2-1 low-shuffle, 1-2-1 low-2 low-shuffle, and 1-2-1 low-2 low-5-shuffle. Round 3 involves 2-3 low-6-reset, 2-3 low-6-5 side shuffle, 2-3 low-6-5-2 shuffle, and 30-sec burnout 1s/2s. Round 4 is agility and conditioning with towel fast speed forward double out-in back 60-sec followed by squat reverse lunge jump reset one side 60-sec, and combination of the two moves for 60-sec. Round 5 consists of 3-6-slip front-reset, 3-6-slip L Drill, 3-6-slip-2 low L Drill, and 3-6-slip-2 low-3 low L Drill. Round 6 includes 1-slip front-5-reset, 1-slip-5 L Drill, 1-slip-5-6 L Drill, 1-slip-5-6-3 low L Drill, and all-out burnout 30-sec 5s/6s. Round 7 is agility and conditioning again with towel fast speed forward double out-in back followed by squat reverse lunge jump reset other side than Round 4, and combination of the two moves. Round 8 involves 5-4-pivot lead, 5-4-pivot shuffle, 5-4-pivot-3 low shuffle, and 5-4-pivot-3 low-2 low shuffle. Round 9 is 2-3-pivot rear-1 low fast-2 low fast-1 low fast-2 low fast 60-sec and then 2-min burnout of 1 low/2 low, 3 low/4 low (leg burner!), 3s/4s, and 1s/2s. Round 10 CORE consists of triple punch crunch in reverse tabletop followed by cross leg arm overhead extension reach while floating other leg, and repeat both two times each (switch sides on the second cross extension reach set).
I burned 382 calories in 38 minutes with average and max heart rates of 143 and 176 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zones 3-4. Okay, this is by far the toughest workout in the program for me to this point in Week 6 with the highest calories burned, heart rates, and time in the upper workout zones. I nailed the combos and footwork today. This program has turned me into a boxing machine! However, I imagine if I take a few months off from 10 Rounds it will take some effort and practice to get my boxing coordination and endurance back. All about mind-muscle connection here. The rounds with various levels and pivots was brutal on the legs, especially with all of the plyo squat lunge jumps in the conditioning rounds. The core work was extra challenging too with the tabletop and floating leg variations. Really awesome stuff. One more lifting workout and then THE FINAL FIGHT boxing routine to finish up STRONG. I imagine that will be a killer way to complete my 10 Rounds Review!!
Lift Lower Body Week 6
Described as,
“Prepare to sweat buckets as you box your way through three circuits of six muscle-burning exercises that hit your lower half hard.”
Heart rate analysis data…
Week 6 Lift Lower consists of circuit training with 3 sets of 6 consecutive lower body exercises per set at 50-sec and 30-sec per move using dumbbells and resistance loops. The warmup includes torso rotation, hip circle, quad stretch, dynamic hamstring stretch, and runner’s lunge twist. The main workout circuit involves hanging dumbbell Sumo squat (heavy), single leg static lunge each side (medium), front loaded weighted Goblet squat (heavy weight), dumbbell deadlift (single or double dumbbell, medium or heavy), front loaded alternating front lunge with twist (medium or heavy), and weighted bridge (heavy). There is a full 45-sec break and then repeat the circuit two more times. Joel then adds a circuit loop burnout at 30-sec per move (heavy loop) including single leg deadlift each side, reverse leg lift with loop around ankles each side, and side leg lifts each side. The workout finishes up with the weighted core section (light weight) including dumbbell into overhead press full sit-up followed by dead bug dumbbell twist, repeated two times each.
I used 20 to 50-lb dumbbells including 20-lber in the core work at the end plus blue loop for burnout moves at the end. Overall I burned 296 cals in 34 min with ave. and max heart rates of 131 and 170 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zone 2. These numbers are all higher normalized compared to all other Lift Lower workouts in this program. I pushed the weights heavy with slow controlled proper form and a lot of sweat was generated as the efficiency of my body’s cooling system has enhanced in this program. Great workout! And we are now down to one workout left in my 10 Rounds Review… THE FINAL FIGHT!!
Boxing 3 The Final Fight
Described as,
“This is your last workout, so attack it with everything you’ve got. Give every punch, roll, slip, shuffle, pivot, and combo your all as you fight your way to the final bell—and a body that’s fighting fit.”
Heart rate analysis data…
It’s the final countdown!! Here we go, the last workout of the 10 Rounds program after 8,000 miles from coast-to-coast…. Boxing 3 – THE FINAL FIGHT was filmed live at the top of the “Rocky steps” famously in Rocky III at the Philadelphia Museum of Art overlooking Philly. Epic stuff. The goal of this workout is to throw so many combos you can’t lift your arms. I was so looking forward to this workout and graduation!!
Round 1 begins with the warmup using resistance loop including standing raise, lat pulldown, loop driver, double window washer, penguin walk, hip circles, and Boxer’s bounce. Round 2 is 2-reload-6, 2-reload-6-shuffle half fan lead, 2-reload-6-5-shuffle half fan lead, and 2-reload-6-5-2 shuffle half fan lead. Round 3 involves 1-2-slip back, 1-2-slip-shuffle half fan rear, 1-2-slip-6 shuffle half fan rear, 1-2-slip-6-5 shuffle half fan rear, and 30-sec burnout 3 low/4 low. Round 4 is agility and conditioning with towel fast speed forward double out-in back 60-sec followed by squat reverse lunge jumps 60-sec (leg burner!), and combination of the two moves for 60-sec. Round 5 consists of 3-slip front-roll back, 3-slip-roll shuffle L Drill, 3-slip-roll-4 shuffle L Drill, and 3-slip-roll-4-3 shuffle L Drill. Round 6 includes 1-slip front-pivot front, 1-slip-pivot shuffle, 1-slip-pivot-3 shuffle, 1-slip-pivot-3-2 shuffle, and all-out burnout 1s/2s. Round 7 is agility and conditioning again with towel fast speed forward double out-in back followed by squat reverse lunge jumps, and combination of the two moves. Round 8 involves 2-slip back-pivot, 2-slip-pivot shuffle, 2-slip-pivot-6 shuffle, and 2-slip-pivot-6-5 shuffle. Round 9 is a full 3-minute BURNOUT (!) of 5s/6s, 3 low/4 low, 1 low/2 low, 5s/6s, 3s/4s, and 1s/2s! Round 10 CORE consists of full triple punch sit-up followed by cross leg arm overhead extension reach with loop (I used blue) while floating other leg, and repeat both two times each (switch sides on the second cross extension reach set).
I burned 337 calories in 39 minutes with average and max heart rates of 132 and 168 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in zones 2-3. I was expecting this workout to be the most challenging in the entire 10 Rounds program given it was graduation day, but like many other programs the last workout is not always the hardest. The plyo squat lunge series in the conditioning rounds was just brutal as my legs were on fire, but otherwise I did not feel as exhausted with The Final Fight compared to Boxing 2 Week 6 Total Body Knockout. This is reflected in the heart rate analysis. The Final Fight was still a great workout and the core work with heavy loop at the end was tough. Joel had a motivating message for graduates at the end as well!
I hope you enjoyed my 10 Rounds Review and be sure to check out the data analysis summary at the top of the blog including overall pros/cons of the program!! Also be sure to CLICK THE CONTACT BUTTON BELOW to connect with me today so we can discuss your thoughts on the program and how I can help you achieve your goals. It takes a lot of time (and calories) to prepare these detailed reviews for you so if you do not have a Team Beachbody Coach reach out so we can join forces!! BRING IT!
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10 ROUNDS Review
10 ROUNDS Review
10 ROUNDS Review
Thank you for checking out my 10 ROUNDS Review!
Love this! Thank you for sharing!
I appreciate this detailed review and all the graphs/charts and additional results you provided to go along with it! You rock, I will definitely becoming back to read more of your posts.
Jenna