T25 Gamma is the most challenging I can think of since Insanity. It's also a big step up from T25 Beta. I can pretty much get through Alpha and Beta with no breaks, but Gamma is no joke. There is a focus on strength- particularly upper body. Some of the workouts are a bit easier than others. About Community. Subreddit for all the people that love working out to Shaun T's fitness program, Focus T25. Feel free to discuss other fitness topics including, but not limited to, Insanity, Transform:20, Shaun Week, and other BeachBody programs!
Focus T25 was the first Beachbody program I tried way back before streaming workouts were a thing and you got the workout program shipped to you in a DVD set. After two pregnancies and gaining A LOT of weight with each one (because everyone told you to eat for two), I was VERY out of shape. My sister did T25, loved it, and recommended it to me.
The Beachbody Focus T25 workout is a program that keeps you on a tight 25 minute workout schedule, and it is run by the all famous workout guru Shaun T. It is created by the company Beachbody as mentioned above, which is well known for its workout packages, weight loss trainers, and supplements to purchase. T25-Beta.pdf: 18.82 KB: T25-Alpha.pdf: 18.44 KB: T25-Gamma Hybrid.pdf: 16.21 KB: T25-Gamma.pdf: 15.69 KB: Focus T25 Get It Done Nutrition Guide.pdf: 47.11 MB: Focus.
The appeal of Focus T25 was that I only had to commit to working out for 25 minutes a day. I could manage 25 minutes to do something good for myself, right?!
Before I go any further, let me just say that I wholeheartedly love Shaun T and his energy! So doing Focus T25 meant Shaun T every day, which is a win in my book.
Now, with that said, despite owning the DVDs and starting the fitness program several times over the years, I never finished it. I never even got past the first set of workouts. Life was crazy, my business was booming, and with two little kids underfoot, my own health wasn’t exactly a priority.
I started and stopped and started and stopped. The workouts were hard and I barely got through them, so didn’t exactly follow the program. I rotated through the initial Alpha Round workouts, but often skipped the Ab Intervals and Lower Focus workouts and I was way too intimidated to try any of the Beta workouts.
With all the craziness that has been 2020, I made a commitment: This was going to be the year I tackled Focus T25 and Nailed It. And, because the popular fitness program is included in a Beachbody On Demand (BOD) subscription, it was easy to access the workouts without worrying about switching the DVDs each day!
What Is Focus T25?
Focus T25 is a 10-week workout program by Shaun T, the Beachbody super trainer who created the Insanity, Hip Hop Abs, and Cize workout programs. It’s mostly a cardio program with some strength training, that features short, intense workouts that “give you ridiculous results” by exhausting one muscle group at a time.
The premise of the program, which is based on high-intensity interval training (HIIT), is to fit an hour’s worth of exercise into only 25 minutes. The big difference between the Focus T25 workouts and typical HIIT workouts is that there are no breaks during the T25 workouts.
Yikes! This Sounds Hard! Talk To Me About A Modifier…
T25 has a low-impact modifier in case you need to dial it back a bit. When I was just getting started, I had to modify the modifier.
- Even when I had to dial back the modified exercises, I was still proud of myself for getting it done and sticking with it.
- It felt great to finally finish a T25 workout following the modifier all the way through.
- It felt even better to get through a workout only modifying some of the exercises.
- When I finally could go through an entire workout without modifying any of the exercises, I celebrated BIG TIME!
How Does Focus T25 Work
With T25, you workout six days a week for 10 weeks. Throughout the program, you’ll do one workout per day Monday-Thursday, two workouts on Fridays, and a stretching workout on Sundays. Saturdays are rest days. What’s great is that you don’t need any special equipment. A nice, thick fitness mat (like this one I snagged on Amazon) will help during core work and you can add some weights to a few of the workouts in the Beta Round… but that’s optional.
FOCUS T25 ALPHA ROUND
The Alpha Phase makes up the first five weeks of the program. There are five workouts and a lower-key T25 Stretch workout that you repeat each week in a different order.
- Cardio: Holy Moly. All the sweat pours during this workout.
- Speed 1.0: This fast-paced workout focuses on speed and stamina.
- Total Body Circuit: A butt-kicking strength and resistance interval workout.
- Ab Intervals: All the abs — upper, lower, and obliques — for 25 minutes straight.
- Lower Focus: Squats, lunges, and everything that gives you jello legs.
Because I had to modify the Alpha workouts so much at first, I kept repeating those first five workouts (minus the Ab Intervals and Lower Focus workouts at first) for quite a bit longer than five weeks! Instead of doubling up workouts on Friday, I also split them into one on Friday and one on Saturday to start.
When I could get through the Cardio, Speed 1.0, and Total Body Circuit following the modifier, I added in Ab Intervals and Lower Focus and repeated the workouts until I could get through them without modifying. Then I moved onto the Beta Round.
FOCUS T25 BETA ROUND
The more intense Beta Phase makes up the second five weeks of the program, which includes a new batch of five workouts you repeat each week, again changing up the order.
- Core Cardio: This extra fast cardio workout once again brings on all the sweat.
- Speed 2.0: Three interval rounds packed with fast cardio and jumping moves organized in blocks that are done three times each.
- Rip’t Circuit: Work your upper body, lower body, and abs, add weights, and build muscle.
- Dynamic Core: All the ab work done with non-traditional moves that work your core.
- Upper Focus: Cardio and strength training focused on your back, chest, and shoulders.
FOCUS T25 GAMMA ROUND
The more even more intense Gamma Phase takes Focus T25 one step further, but it’s a separate deal. It introduces four more advanced workouts that require weights:
- Rip’t Up: Upper body intervals
- Extreme Body Circuit
- The Pyramid: Cardio and Strength Endurance
- Speed 3.0
I haven’t done the Focus T25 Gamma Phase yet! I was a bit intimidated by that phase of the program because it’s supposed to be even harder so I put off tackling it. But I did try two of the workouts — Extreme Body Circuit and The Pyramid: Cardio and Strength Endurance — and while they definitely kicked my butt, they were doable.
I’m excited to make the T25 Gamma Round a part of my 2021 exercise plan.
The Good And The Bad Of T25
The cons of T25 — there are three things about T25 that could be considered negative:
- There isn’t a single break from the moment the workouts start to the moment they end. As someone with asthma, my chest hurts and my breathing struggles before my body does and it’s soooo frustrating.
- Because the workouts are only 25 minutes long, there really isn’t any excuse to skip it and not get it done. EVERYONE has 25 minutes.
- T25 uses the old school filming approach: A small set of workouts that are repeated over and over. By the end of the program, you’ll be saying Shaun T’s words and phrases right along with him. While Shaun T is entertaining and motivating, it’s definitely not as engaging as other Beachbody programs that are filmed in real-time like 21 Day Fix and 21 Day Fix Extreme, MBF (Muscle Burns Fat) and MBFA (Muscle Burns Fat Advanced), Barre Blend, 10 Rounds, and LIIFT4.
Now, the pros of T25 — there are five things that make this program awesome:
- 25 minutes goes by so fast! Just when I was hitting the point of feeling exhausted and totally dead, the workouts were over.
- No extra equipment is required.
- So much sweat! So far, this fitness program delivers the biggest impact in the least amount of time. The workouts are short and effective.
- Shaun T! He’s dynamic, fun, motivating, and full of energy — and he knows how to get you to push yourself harder, dig deeper, and get it done.
- Alpha and Beta workout calendars to track your progress and stamina and a nutrition guide are included, along with a 15lb B-LINES Resistance Band that you can use in place of weights during the Beta round if you want to add difficulty.
Should You Try Focus T25?
Hell yeah! I LOVE Shaun T and I LOVE Focus T25.
This program holds a special place in my heart. It’s my favorite and my go-to when I want a serious workout that will leave me exhausted and sweaty but don’t have a lot of time. Along with T25, I follow Ultimate Portion Fix off and on and drink Shakeology (with added veggies) nearly every day — I want to make sure my nutrition is on point so I see the fastest and best results from my effort!
Interested in trying Focus T25? Go for it! All you need is a Beachbody On Demand (BOD) streaming subscription. That’s it. The best thing is that access to the entire Beachbody library of workout programs is included in the subscription.
If you’re curious about Shakeology, Focus T25, what program would be best to get started with, how the nutrition programs work, or anything else, I’m happy to have a quick chat or answer questions with zero pressure, zeros sales pitch, and no obligations — I just do this for fun!
Alpha review here!
Gamma review here!
—
T25 Alpha was done and dusted so it was time to move onto the Beta round. I thought Alpha was pretty darn good, so I was looking forward to picking up the pace and continuing to get strong results.
Approach
Once again it is worth noting that I started the program in reasonable shape. I can run >10km without a break and I live a pretty active lifestyle. The goal for the Beta round was to lose a couple more pounds and hopefully improve the definition on my body.
I again stuck to the program closely and only missed one day after finishing a Tough Mudder event (fair enough I thought!). I have not been using any special diet or supplements, but I generally run a tight ship in that regard so you could consider that I’m always eating well.
General Thoughts and Results
First, final before and after shot of the entire T25 program:
It would be easy to look at that and be a bit disappointed. Of course taking a before and after shot that isn’t complete bullshit is a bit of an art, but I’m telling it like it is here. In terms of weight, I’ve dropped from 91kg down to 89 or 88 on a good day. It isn’t a whole lot but it is in line with my expectations given my starting point.
Fitness wise I am feeling a lot better cardio-wise. As mentioned previously I got through my end goal of Tough Mudder without too much difficulty, which is a great endorsement for the beachbody products. These programs will do a job for you, albeit one that could also be done elsewhere.
In short, Beta was an inconsistent program for me. There were some high points in the workouts, but also some much lower. Where as Alpha felt like it did a great job of getting the body ready for Beta; Beta really suffered from the same lack of focus and ultimately didn’t deliver quite what I was after.
Some general thoughts:
- Production is still top-notch and Shaun and the supporting cast are great. Even Tanya picks things up this round and there is a lot less modifying to be done (useful for those modifying to date).
- Like Alpha, the program is too long, if only by about a week this time. The last week in particular felt like a waste of time (more on Rip’T circuit later) so it might be an idea to wrap it up early.
- Of the five workouts, only Dynamic Core and Upper Focus are of any great value. I feel they make Core Cardio and Rip’t Circuit largely redundant, which is something that didn’t really happen in the Alpha round.
- The lack of focus on stretching is a real weakness of the program. In particular in Beta, stretches are recycled from the previous rounds. Whilst Shaun telling you that you are working your neck during lower focus makes sense, the exact same thing during an upper body workout just stands out as sloppy production.
That all sounds a bit negative. Let me be clear right now in saying the T25 Beta is not a “bad” program or a waste of time, it is just an unfocused one. You’ll get fitter, no doubt about that, but with increasingly diminished returns. For example the addition of weights into upper focus is welcome, but they are really only used for a couple of bicep and shoulder exercises that will be nothing compared to lifting real weights at the gym. Personally I’d rather do Speed 2.0 and then hit the weights before or after to get some real gains in that regard.
Similarly the cardio workouts are difficult, but don’t feel like they build on Alpha. Often they are just the hard moves all over again, the same moves you have already got used to and have mastered. What this means is that the “next level” just never eventuated. You’ll certainly keep your fitness up, but you will not be expanding too much on anything here.
Where I think T25 Beta has real value is in being inserted into other similar programs. Once you have the moves down over a few weeks, you could easily start to use one of a morning before your later workout or sport. This is because they all do a decent job in their own way, it just all doesn’t come together as a whole.
Workout Reviews
- Core Cardio: Basically this workout is air planks (ouch) and shuffle burpies (ouch, ouch) and not a lot else. You’ll barely get the heart rate up through most of it and if you can push through the two hard sets (which you should be able to after alpha) the rest is really clear sailing. To me the poorest workout in T25.
- Speed 2.0: This workout is way too easy. On the other hand? It is also the most fun of the entire T25 program. It will not change your life, but it is a keeper and one to work into other programs.
- Ript’t Circuit: Replaces Total Body Circuit as the “hard one” that you need to do three times in the last week. The catch is that it really isn’t that hard at all. You do a bit of everything, but not much of anything and it’ll leave you wanting. It isn’t terrible and is still a decent all-around set of moves, but it is nothing like the Alpha equivalent and should have been a lot tougher.
- Upper Focus: Takes the upper body moves of Ript’t circuit and really ramps it up. It isn’t a real upper body workout, but it is good enough to keep you going or as a warm-up to something a bit more intense. A good all around workout and one to keep hold of.
- Dynamic Core: The abs workout, which ironically has more cardio than core cardio. It has a lot of tough moves during the great middle section, but suffers a bit during the side plank sequence. Superman is a good move, but the added pulses just seems like adding something for the sake of adding something. Still, the ending is tough and it will leave you feeling like you put in the work. Probably the best all around workout of Beta.
To summarise all that? Upper Focus and Dynamic Core are the keepers with Speed 2.0 representing a fun little diversion to do here and there. Core Cardio and Ript’t Circuit are decent workouts, but you can do a lot better with your time in T25 alone, let alone other programs.
Conclusion
Focus T25 Beta is an enjoyable program even if the pieces don’t really come together. Beyond the lazy stretching, the production values are high and Shaun T is amazing and in even better form than Insanity. But even more than Alpha, it’ll leave you wanting to move on quickly to something more challenging or focused.
In a sense, this sums up T25 as a complete package. It isn’t an end to your fitness, or even a clear step on the path like P90X. I feel it is something you will do, enjoy and then move onto something completely different whilst adding a few good workouts to your new routines.
Focus T25 Beta Upper Focus
There are great workouts to be found here and you will get fitter, but the lack of focus is T25 … umm … focus’ major issue. If you are looking for something to fill a gap in your repertoire or to just keep your fitness up during the off season? Check it out.
Focus T25 Bitcoin
To read my other beachbody reviews and thoughts check out:
T25 Alpha Review
T25 Beta Review
T25 Gamma Review
P90X Review
Body Beast Review