Break! What break!

I had mentioned that I was probably going to be taking a break or taking it easy because of a cold bug that was messing with me, well I tossed that thing out the door! Instead of doing an easy workout or one that's I would consider "cruise control". Nope I did the Tony Horton One on One, Thirty / Fifteen Routine and the One on One Killer Abs.

Let me tell you that was the hardest workout I've done in a long time. Thirty / Fifteen is push ups and pull ups. You do 12 sets of pushups and 12 sets of pull ups, that's 30 pushups and 15 pullups. 360 pushups and 180 pull ups! Lets just say I was TOAST!

Then add in Killer Abs, which is Ab Ripper 200 and Ab RipperX in one workout.

Great workout, felt great and will incorporate that program into my weekly rotation.

Taking a Break

Well the sickness bug is doing it's darnedest to get me, the little bastard isn't gonna get me tho, I've got way too much stuff to do before Xmas and add in some travel, well no time to be sick.

With that said, this is my recover week from my current round, and I'll be taking it easy as much as I can so as not to create a more pronounced sickness. Light cardio, YogaX and Core, other then that this is going to be an easy week.

I'm looking forward to getting my copy of ChaLEAN Extreme, from what I've heard it's a butt kicker, and goodness knows I could use a good butt kicking.

I wanted to give a quick shout out to one of my clients turned Beachbody Coach, John over at Tough Fitness he just finished his first round of P90X and has done a great job. He's a perfect example of what hard work and determination can do for you. Great Job John! Round 2 is next!

What did You Do?

I get asked from time to time what I did to get through the my first round of P90X. Here I am almost mid way through my 6th round of the program and it doesn't seem that long ago.

I've been thinking about a proper reply to the question and the answer isn't as simple as just pushing play.

Biggest thing for me was having my wife working with me when it came to nutrition. I don't think I could have done it without her there with me. Thank you, Suzette for taking the challenge with me and enjoying the success. BTW, she’s had phenomenal success thus far dropping 2 dress sizes going from a size 10 to size 6 as well as getting a ripped 6 pack! She won’t let me post her pictures but I’m working on her.

As for what did I eat? I used the P90X Nutritional guide as just that, a guide. We didn't follow each of the daily menu items, we picked items we liked and ate them depending on which meal it was. We used the guide in terms of portion size, calorie intake, etc.

I started the program weighing about 195 pounds which should have put me on Level II nutritional plan however I was unable to eat the amount of food defined in Level II. So I ended up following Level 1.5. We didn't make many of the soups etc., just didn't have the time to put them together.

The key thing for me was I eliminated ALL sugars, wheat, & rice type carbs during the majority of the first round however when it came to fruits, I ate whatever I felt like having either during a meal or snack. I did run into a stretch about three weeks in where I would run out of energy around 2pm, after speaking with my coach about it I added a couple peices of whole wheat toast with my breakfast and problem solved.

Supplements consisted of Recovery Drink, P90X Performance Bars, ActivIT Fat Burning, Slimming Formula, Whey Protein, & Meal Replacement powder.

Workouts were the "easy" thing for me having lifted weights regularly for 20 years, many of the resistance moves where familiar. It was a matter of "flipping the switch" and my body responded better than any other workout I ever did in the past. I really didn’t have any trouble getting motivated to push play and Bring It. I love the workouts, the fact that you’re doing a different workout every day and doing so many different types off workouts from Plyo to Yoga!

Finally, and most importantly, I followed the program IT WORKS! I was a true believer in the program 100% from the beginning. Decide.Commit.Succeed. If you do all three you will have success as advertised with P90X. If you go into the program thinking it might not work I think you’re much more likely to either quit early or not Bring It like you need to.

One last thing I've discovered over the last year or so is that you shouldn't go through a program like P90X or any fitness and weight loss program all by yourself. Get engaged with a support group, coach, etc. You need someone or a group you can bounce questions off of. You'll realize that you're not the only one who's had these types of issues, so don't be afraid to reach out to a Beachbody coach if you have questions, even if you're not doing a Beachbody program you can still get involved with a coach. We're here to provide Motivation, Inspiration, and Guidence.

It's Simple Just Not Easy!

Health and Fitness

Health and Fitness. The thought of working out at a gym can give many people the "shivers", as my mother would say. What if becoming fit is something you could do 20 minutes a day three to four times a week?

Getting fit isn't always about going out to the local gym either, believe me I've been a member of different gyms on and off for over 20 years, and while they're loaded with tons of the new equipment, plenty of mirrors to display all your out of shape glory (we love that), oh, and lots and lots of heavy grunting and sweating "muscle-heads" over impressed with themselves.

Joining a local gym does have its benefits such as plenty of fitness equipment to use, personal instruction on proper use of equipment (usually available for an additional fee), different types of group workouts available from Pilates, spin, kickboxing, and many, many more. It can also be a great place to meet friends and create new relationships.

Exercising at home isn't going out and buying an expensive "Stairmaster", treadmill, elliptical machine, or large multi-functioned weight machine either, if that's that you're thinking.
First and foremost something you've got to establish as a lifestyle. You have to make a decision to change and then you've got to embrace this new lifestyle by committing to eat healthy and exercise regularly.

Regardless of where you exercise, the important thing is to get started and stick with it!

Get motivation, inspiration and guidence to help. Studies have shown that people struggle with health and fitness success because they lack the support needed to help them through the difficult challenges of this new life change.

Think about it, how many times have you started a diet or started working out only to fizzle out after only a few weeks and in some cases, days! Why is that?

Becuase to truly be successful with complete health and fitness you need three things;

1. Portion control
2. An Exercise program
3. Peer Support

Now what does all that mean? It means that you must control the amount of food you eat each meal and throughout the day combined that with a scheduled fitness program AND someone or a group of people who are there to help inspire you, motivate you and guide you along the way. Success is so much easier if you're not going through this journey alone! So why struggle? Do what thousands of others have and join a team of people focused on YOUR success! What have you got to lose, but body fat?!

New Blog site to follow!

I'm following a new blog site, it's being started for those women out there who are struggling with getting fit after having a baby and or are currently pregnant. Check it out! New Mommy Fitness

ChaLEAN Extreme is HERE!

If you're a fan lf TurboJam then you're going to LOVE ChaLEAN Extreme! Burn fat by building muscle...What a concept!

Late night workouts

How many times do you get through your day busy running around or at work or dealing with the kids? Everyday right?! That was my day yesterday, especially busy for some reason I'm not quite sure.

My wife and I got done with work, dinner, getting kids ready for bed and helping them finish off their homework and then finally getting them to bed! Why is that always such a big ordeal?

Anyway, when it was all said and done it was 9PM! I still had an hour plus workout to do and to be honest with you I had very little motivation.

I'm the kind of guy who doesn't blow off a workout, never! I take the mindset to simply give it 15 minutes, "get yourself to your gym, start the warm up and if you're still gassed, bag it." That's what I tell myself every time. Once those juices get going, time doesn't matter, it's game on!

I guess the point is that we all have busy schedules, we can all say, "I don't have the time to workout" but the fact is, you've got the time...do you have the motivation to make it happen?

Last night I did my scheduled P90X Legs & Back workout, started out slow but finished strong and felt great when it was all done....10:30PM! One advantage of working out at home is that you don't have to make that drive to a gym, just drag yourself to your workout area and Press Play!

Give yourself 15 minutes, chances are you'll complete your workout and love yourself for it!

P90X Round 6 Update

I keep forgetting to get to my blog and post some updates here, I sometimes get to my Team Beachbody Coaching Thread and put up some goodies there but have been lax in getting some of that information here.

I just got back from Kauai and have had a great week of workouts. I finished off Plyometrics yesterday, no matter how many times I do that workout it never gets easy. We have a bit of a challenge going for Plyo, it goes a bit like this.

"Double-Double Time".

Here's what it is. Second time through you double time Jump Knee Tucks with Maximum height and speed in each jump, then Double Time Mary Katherines, as fast and deep as you can go.

I did 50 JNTs (white boy CAN jump) and 37 MKs. Max HR 194. I'm still alive so this 43 year old's heart made it through with flying colors.

I'm planning on doing a resistance workout today, not sure which one but it will probably be something for the "glamour muscles".

Here's a picture of me and my son Nick, we went on a kayak trip to a waterfall Thanksgiving day, good fun!

Coach Revolution

I've been waiting for this to come out and it's finaly just around the corner, December 19th is the projected release date.

Beachbody will be airing an Business Opportunity infomercial, here is the trailer!