Workout: Chest, Back, Abs/Core – New workout program
Posted on January 25th, 2010 in Workout Log | 6 Comments »
In lieu of my P90X Chest and Back workout, I took my newly designed workout out for a spin. Man, it was a butt kicker. In my opinion, it is every bit as intense as the P90X Chest and Back workout (maybe more).
Ok, so the basic premise of the program is that I do 30 second intervals of exercise back to back with a thirty second rest. So I do a chest exercise for 30 seconds followed by a back exercise for 30 seconds and then plyo for 30 seconds. This is considered 1/4 of a round. After each quarter round I take a 30 rest period. I do 5 rounds of this. Actually, it is probably better if I lay it out as a table (see below)…
| Chest | Back | Plyo/Cardio | Rest |
| 30 secs | 30 secs | 30 secs | 30 secs |
| Push ups or bench press | Pull ups or lat pull downs | Run in place | Rest |
| Wide push ups or wide grip bench press | Wide pull ups or wide grip lat pull downs | Split lunges | Rest |
| Diamond push ups or close grip bench press | Close grip pull ups | Squat Jack ups | Rest |
| Flyes | Rows | Jump knee tucks | Rest |
What you see above is 1 round. I do a total of 5 rounds (40 minutes). Of course, this does not include the 5 minute warm up and the 5 minute cool down. So in total the workout lasts 50 minutes.
I was very inspired by the Tabata training that Steve does. In fact, I was going to just go ahead and do Tabata training, however, I was curious if I could create an extreme, yet effective program myself.
You can read the details of the program and the workout schedule by clicking here… i30x5 Fitness Program. The program is a work in progress and I will be tweaking it as required. The abs/core routines need some work. I still have to post the shoulders, arms and legs workouts. I try to post those workouts tomorrow. At some point I would like to add pictures and videos of the exercises.
Anyway, back to the workout. It is nearly 4 hours since I did the workout and I am worn. I am sure that I will get acclimated to the intensity of the workout at some point. If you perform this workout at full intensity I guarantee you will get your butt handed to you. That means that you must do as many reps as possible with good form for each exercise. Heck, your looking at 20 sets of chest, 20 sets of back and 20 sets of plyo. 5 rounds may be a bit much, but it is do-able. I will admit that after 3 rounds I thought to myself, “man, 4 rounds of this is probably enough”. However, I wanted to give this workout a go with 5 rounds.
Oh, btw, since the workout is composed of 5 rounds of 30 second intervals I call it the “i30x5″ (prounounced “i” “thirty” “by” “five”). Is that corny?
If this works out, I may have to sell it to Beachbody… LOL!!!
I could use a laugh. Today’s video pick of the day…

6 Responses
Wow Boomer. I mean, WOW! Resting every 4th interval. I bow to thee! I will carry your water wherever you’d like!
Now, do you find as you transition from one exercise to the other that you’re losing time, that you’re getting only 20 seconds of work since it’s taking 5-10 seconds to set up for the next move?
That is pretty dang intense Boomer! The variety gives it a little of a CF feel (except without the crazy CF stuff),, I like how you have incorporated more of the upper body but still kept it high intesity cardio focused – which seems exactly what Insanity was missing. Nice work buddy — It will be fun to folllow along on the i30x5 journey.
…oh yeah, what are “squat jack ups”? Is that an Insanity move? If its what I think it is, it looks like a thigh burner!
I also like how you’re doing Shoulders & Legs, which breaks up the P90X routines comfortably.
Steve… I had to make sure everything was setup prior to starting. So I had my weights and pull up bar ready. Each “station” was right next to each other. So there was minimal time going from one station to the next. I would probably say no more than 5 seconds. Coming off the pull up bar and starting plyo was almost no time lost. Oh, squat jack ups is a name I gave the exercise because I don’t really know what they are called. Its kind of like going to a low squat, feet wide, bringing the arms down then jumping up off the ground bringing the feet together and the arms come together overhead like a jumping jack. Is that lame?!?!?
Jeff… Yes, it does have a bit of a CF feel. It is kind of a cross between CF, P90X and Tabata,
Boomer – Okay, Okay, you called it, maybe … here is what I am thinking for 2011: http://www.ironmancozumel.com/
Similar Climate to where I train, saltwater swim, and we can make it a family vacation. Would be no problem getting my family and friends to want to go to this locale!
It would be 22 months away, so a lot of time to reconsider, but right now I am thinking it is a real possibility.
Jeff… it is definitely a real possibility for you. Having 22 months to plan and train is perfect. Jeff, 2011 is your year!!!