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Focus T25 Review: Get Fit and Fab 25 Minutes at a Time

T25

Get fit and fab in just 25 minutes? Um, yes I like the sound of that — that is about the same duration of a Dora the Explorer episode. Plop my two kids in front of an episode, and I get 25 minutes with Shaun T! This plan could work for me! But if you’re going to work out for “just” 25 minutes you can bet your booty it’s going to be WORK. Hard work, intense work, bone-cracking, knee-aching-the-next-morning work. So if you like to sweat and work hard, Focus T25 is perfect for you.

Focus T25 is a two-cycle program: a beginning 5-week Alpha cycle followed by a 5-week Beta cycle. Each cycle has five different workouts, one for each day of the week with double days on Fridays and a Stretch DVD for you to recover on Sundays. So variety is definitely a plus of this program. I will say that there was a lot of repetition of the same moves across all 11 workouts. But I guess when you are doing an intensive speed, agility program you’ve gotta expect some of that. I did four weeks of the Alpha and one week of Beta. I didn’t notice that much of an increase in the difficulty of Alpha vs. Beta, but I guess that’s because Alpha did what it was supposed to do and gave me a strong foundation for the Beta moves! It’s always good when a program does what it says it will!

This workout is not for the faint of heart. Focus T25 is not for those who like to “have fun” and feel like they aren’t working out (you know, people like me). This workout is hard. I marked the “barely made it” more times than I’d like to admit on the included calendar. I’m a packaging sucker, and the packaging on this program is tight. You get the aforementioned calendar — perfect for putting on your wall to remind you to GET FIT and DO IT — and all nine DVDs fit in a nice slim wallet that’s small and compact enough to slip into your purse if you go out of town unexpectedly. The DVD production is clean, the stage is FOCUSed, and Shaun T’s featured exercisers each have their own testimonies of success of the program. The music is not my favorite — nothing recognizable that you can get lost in and therefore forget you are even working out — but the music samples Shaun T’s voice telling you to “focus,” so it’s not all bad.

There is no equipment needed for the Alpha cycle except for a floor mat. In the Beta cycle you add some dumbbells or resistance bands to a couple of the workouts. There is A LOT of jumping. And while I had my baby 12 months ago, I still struggle with pelvic pain and bladder control on high-impact aerobics! So I really appreciated the modifier Tania; she recently had a baby so I felt good following her on the low-impact stuff knowing she understands my pain!

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The cardio workouts lacked the fun factor of something like Hip Hop Abs or Zumba though. For me, it was a bit too much run, jump and sprint in place. The circuit workouts and ab workouts were stronger as Shaun’s coaching always corrects your form even on moves you’ve been doing forever. I swear he improved my plank form and my Pilates-style V-sits have never been better thanks to small things he said on the DVDs.

There’s nothing new or revolutionary about the program — no new moves or things that have never been done before — but if you want to make 25 minutes of your day really count, Shaun T will do that for you, looking good and smiling all the way!

FBG Rating (Out of 5):
Instruction: ★★★★★
Long-Term Likeability: ★★★★
Music: ★★★1/2
Fun Factor: ★★★1/2
Meets Expectations: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★★

Fit Bottom line: Focus T25 is 25 minutes of hard work, so if that’s all you’ve got in a day to work out, this is the program to make EVERY minute count. Even if you only give 25 minutes, you’ll be feeling it all day!

Do you like to feel every minute of your workout? Or do you want the minutes to just drift away? —Dara

FTC disclosure: We often receive products from companies to review. All thoughts and opinions are always entirely our own. Unless otherwise stated, we have received no compensation for our review and the content is purely editorial. Affiliate links may be included. If you purchase something through one of those links we may receive a small commission. Thanks for your support!