Week 2 - Day 1 (Day 8) RevAbs

Yesterday was a day of rest, or as Brett Hoebel calls it, "Mercy" for RevAbs. I was going to start Week 2 yesterday since I already had taken a rest day during the weekend, but was so busy with work that I skipped the workout.

Anyways, so today I started Day 1 of Week 2 (Day 8 of 90). The workout was Fire Up Your Abs. Here's my RevAbs review of the Fire Up Your Abs workout as well as what I did today. I do admit, at one point today, I was debating skipping the workout as it was getting late, but my determination to reach my fitness goals kept me going and I'm really glad I did the workout.

I love how Brett demonstrates the moves and explains how to do it but also has one person for each workout do modifications of each exercise in case you are not able to do the exercise as is. I did have to the the modified versions for the jumping jacks and most of the striders today because my bad knee was acting up. I swear, one day I'll get knee surgery, but until then, all I can do is stretch and modify my exercises to not strain the knee so much.

My favorite exercise in the Fire Up Your Abs workout routine is probably the Dumbbell Jack Knives. You lay on the ground flat on your back and extend one leg while bending the opposite knee. Holding one heavy dumbbell with both hands, exhale as you simultaneously lift the dumbbell and your straight leg (to about a 45 degree angle) and press lightly towards your shin, all while flexing and engaging your abs. As Brett says, half the effort is going up. The other half is on the way down.

I love all of the RevAbs abs workouts as Brett targets six different areas:
1) Upper Flexion
2) Lower Flexion
3)Side Flexion
4)Double Flexion
5)Twist
6)Extension.

The Fire Up Your Abs workout routines include:

Warm-up with marches (bringing knee up to chest), skips and then a jog. He also has you do jumping jacks and more skips and kicks to get your muscles ready for the workout.

The ab routine starts with the forearm plank for 1 minute, then he has you do the cobra to work your back muscles where you lift just your upper body off the floor and bend your elbows forming a "W". The third exercise is the dumbbell jack-knife, as described above. He finishes the ab routine with the side plank, having you hold on each side for 30 seconds.

Brett mixes in cardio with the striders. He has you do 2 sets with a 30 second "Mercy" break in between. For the striders you are in a lunge like position with your arms pumping in the opposite direction as you constantly switch your stance as if you are cross country skiing.

The second round is the same except he wants you to push harder. In the third round, the spice round, Brett gives you variations to make each exercise more challenging.

1) Plank - Lift 1 arm for 2 seconds and alternate, or you can just lift your elbow for 4 seconds. For a real challenge, you can do the windmill where you bring your entire arm out and sweep down to your legs like a windmill all while balancing and maintaining a straight body position and engaging (or firing as Brett calls it) your abs.
2) Cobra - Form a Y with your arms
3) Dumbbell Jack-knife - Switch Grip on dumbbells - cup the dumbbells with the back of your hand towards yourself.
4) Side Plank- stack your feet instead of the staggered stance
5) Striders are done with hammer fists to bring more power and tension to the move