Day 9 is a punch day with a longer opener. The circuit starts with 40 side leg raises - twice the count you would expect - and then runs the punching trio from Day 3: 20 punches, 20 overhead punches, 20 punches. Four exercises straight through, 2 minutes rest, 3, 5 or 7 sets by level. Reps stay totals: 40 side leg raises is 20 per side, alternating.
Doubling the opener is deliberate. Side leg raises are a modest movement - stand tall, lift one straight leg out to the side with your hand at the hip, lower, switch - and by themselves they would not lift the heart rate much. Forty of them, one leg after the other with no rest, turns a modest movement into a sustained one, working the outer hips and the balance of the standing leg long enough for the breathing to pick up before the arms take over. From there, the punches run as before: straight punches from a boxing guard, then punches driven overhead, then straight punches again, alternating hands so each side throws 30 punches by the end of the set. It is a lower-body opener and an upper-body finish, with the heart rate rising through both.
Keep the leg raises tidy at speed - lift from the hip, do not swing, and stand upright rather than tipping away from the lifting leg. Punch from the guard every time, hands back to the chin between reps, hips turning slightly into each straight punch. Overhead punches reach for the ceiling with a straight arm and the shoulders staying down.
Forty raises and sixty punches - the legs open the account and the arms close it.
Make it Harder: Do all 40 side leg raises without letting the moving foot touch the floor between reps on the same side - 20 in a row on one leg, then 20 on the other.
Make it Easier: Split the 40 side leg raises into 20 before the punches and 20 after them, so the outer hips get a break in the middle.
