At a charity event I attended last weekend, I was talking to a very nice girl who asked me about my business with Beachbody.  When I mentioned that P90X was one of our programs, she said…

“Oh!  P90X!  My husband was doing that!  He got to about day 45 and then stopped.  And he was doing so well!”

I hear this often, and in fact, I’ve experienced it for myself.  I must have started and stopped P90X at least 3 or 4 times.  On the other hand, I’ve also successfully completed the full 90 days.

So, what are the keys that make for a successful 90 days?  I’ve given that some thought the past few days.

• Have faith that you will emerge on the other side a better person.
• Either write down your workouts on your calendar, or automatically schedule your workouts in the Team Beachbody WOWY calendar.
• Plan on a time of day that you will do your workouts.  Stick to that time as long as it’s working for you.  But if you need to make a change, then MAKE IT!
• Have all of the equipment you need ready to go (more on that in a future post).
• If at all possible, make plans to start the program with a loved one.  You’ll need the support.  You can get additional support from your Beachbody coach.
• Make plans to improve your nutrition.  This is a larger part of results than most people realize.

I had been contemplating starting a new round of P90X anyway, so I thought this would be a good time to do it.  I decided that I would share my journey through my blog.

Today was day one and the first workouts were Ab Ripper X and Chest and Back.  I hope I can lift my arms tomorrow! 

So look for a weekly blog post from me sharing:

• Tips
• Recipe ideas and how they break down for the P90X portion plan.
• My struggles, and how I’m dealing with them.
• My successes (and I hope you’ll celebrate with me)

But I don’t want this to be all about me!  I want you to share your journey as well (it doesn’t matter if you are doing a program other than P90X).

With any luck, we’ll all learn a lot and be a LOT healthier!  I’m excited to share this journey with you!

Your friend in fitness,

Judy

Tweet This Post

You’ve heard it said over and over again…”Exercise is good for you”!  But most of the time, the articles you read about exercise focus on the benefits on your health.  Well, did you ever stop to consider that exercise may also be good for your BRAIN?  Afterall, your brain is part of your body right?  So why would the benefits of exercise exclude this all important organ?

Of course exercise affects our brains!  Those of us who exercise regularly know that to be the truth.  When I exercise, I’m happier and the world seems like a much friendlier place.  When I’m in an exercise slump, as I was until just recently, I start slipping into bouts of feeling like a slug…probably because I’ve been acting like a slug. 

We know that exercise makes us FEEL better, but can it make us smarter too?  Recent studies have linked exercise to memory, learning, and even to the generation of new brain cells.

I was introduced to this concept a few years back at the Tony Horton Fitness Camp.  Tony is a personal trainer to many celebrities, and the creator of the wildy popular home workout routine called P90X.  Obviously, he is a big proponent of exercise to improve your physical body, but he had just became fascinated about what science was finding out about exercise and your brain, and he couldn’t wait to share it with us.  He had a whole seminar at that camp that he called “Your Brain on Exercise”.

After returning home, I bought the book “Spark…The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” by John J. Ratey, MD.  In the introduction to this book, Dr. Ratey says “In today’s technology-driven, plasma-screened-in world, it’s easy to forget that we are born movers – animals, in fact – because we’ve engineered movement right out of our lives”.  So true!

Chapter one in Ratey’s book includes a case study from a school district in Naperville, Illinois.  The 19,000 students in this school district were transformed into the fittest in the nation, and also some of the smartest.  The kids hit the track or the treadmill before school starts.  They call it “zero hour” because it’s before their first period.  The PE system in Naperville focuses less on sports, and more on healthy lifestlyle habits.  The kids in “zero hour” are required to exercise at 80-90% of their maximum heart rate.  The hope is that this readies them for the learning that is to occur the rest of the day.  Academically, the students of Naperville consistently rank among the state’s top ten schools even though the amount of money it spends on each student is notably lower than other top ten Illinois public schools.

What’s really at work here?  A study headed by Astrid Bjornebekk of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden found that rodents that ran more led to an increase in new brain cells in a part of the brain called the hippocampus.  This small horseshoe shaped sheet of neurons is located in the temporal lobes and plays an important role in long term memory.  Researchers don’t count new brain cells in humans, but there have been studies showing increased blood flow to this area of the brain when humans exercise.

New brain cells are the “potential” for learning.  In “Spark”, Dr. Ratey quoted one of the PE teachers at Naperville to say “In our department, we create the new brain cells.  It’s up to the other teachers to fill them”.

In his book, Dr. Ratey talks about a protein in the brain called BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotropic Factor). He refers to this protein as “miracle grow for the brain” because it actually stimulates the growth of new neurons in the brain.  Studies have found that exercise stimulate the brain to produce BDNF.

So what type of exercise do you need to do to get these brain boosting benefits?  Dr. Ratey suggests that at a minimum you should perform a brisk 30 minute four or five times a week.  He also recommends interval training – really pushing yourself hard for 20 or 30 seconds while you are running, cycling, or swimming, so that you are momentarily exhausted.  So, for example, you can walk for 2 minutes, sprint for 30 seconds, and then go back to walking for another 2 minutes.  Do this over and over again until you’ve exercised for at least 20-30 minutes.  It’s important to wear a heart rate monitor so you can track your intensity level, and always get your physician’s okay before starting any exercise program.

I hope that this article has made you consider regular exercise as an investment not only in your health, but in your business as well!  In fact, what area of our life ISN’T touched by being more active?

What part of YOUR life has been improved because of regular exercise?  Please share them in the comments!

Together we’re better!

Judy

Tweet This Post

I thought I’d spend some time on the basics of fitness according to Tony Horton.  For those who don’t know, Tony is the creator of the P90X Home Workout Routine.  You may have seen it on TV as you were surfing through the channels on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

Tony has what he calls “The 11 Laws of Fitness”.  I first learned these at a Tony Horton Fitness Camp in New York in 2007.  They are very good, basic laws that are critical to developing a healthy LIFESTYLE.  No diets.  No temporary fixes…but a lifestyle!

Tony’s first law is VARIETY.  How boring would life be without variety?  Human beings are strange creatures.  We have a basic need for both consistency and variety.  As far as exercise goes, I’ve often said that I have exercise A.D.D.  Doing the same routine day in and day out is just too boring for me!  That’s probably why I have a library of just about every home workout routine that Beachbody has produced!  I like being able to choose the workout that will achieve the goal I’m aiming for that day, but add some variety to prevent boredom.

Adding variety to your workouts can help you to avoid the setbacks of injuries, plateaus, and boredom.  I used to work at a Wellness Center, and there was one man there who was losing weight, and then plateaued.  I suggested that he talk to the Program Manager, and have her design a new program with different exercises.  He said he was happy with what he was doing.

The only problem was that his previous routine…the one that helped him lose weight…was no longer working.  Why?  His body had adapted, and it was no longer hard.  That’s probably why he didn’t want to change.  He remembered how hard the routine was in the beginning, and he probably remembered how sore he was that first week or two.

But that’s the funny thing about working out.  When your body adapts, the best thing you can do is set up a new challenge.  Changing up the routine is a great way to do that.  That’s what I love about P90X so much.  I’m currently in week 4 of this round of P90X.  For the first 3 weeks, I had a schedule that included the same workout every Monday (chest and back), another every Tuesday (Plyometrics)…and well…you get the idea.

Now in recovery week, I’m doing cardio, yoga, and stretching.  Next week, I’ll be into another phase where I’ll have the same workout routine every Monday, another every Tuesday…etc.  Some of these routines will be different than those I did in weeks 1-3.

The point I’m trying to make is that I’ll be switching up the workouts every few weeks.  Tony calls that “muscle confusion”, and it works very well!

Other ways I add variety into my workouts?  When it starts to get a little warmer here in Pennsylvania, I’ll start running again.  I’ve been taking Zumba classes every Saturday morning.  Zumba is a Latin dance based cardio workout.  I’ve also considered taking a class at a new ice rink near here.  They call the class “icercize”.

You need to keep your workouts fun and interesting.  Will you enjoy them ALL?  Probably not.  There are some workouts that I know I need to do, but I’m just not in the mood for.  Sometimes I enjoy cardio more, sometimes resistance training is more fun for me.  I almost never enjoy yoga WHILE I’m doing it, but I feel SO good after the workout is done.

But overall, I try to keep the fun in it.  I do a lot of my workouts from home, but when I can workout with a friend, that adds an element of fun to the workout…especially if you can find a friend who is just a little better at the workout than you.  It pushes you to be better!

One of my favorite ways of adding variety to my workouts is Tony Horton’s One on One Series of home workout routines.  It’s sort of like a magazine.   A new workout comes every month.  I have no idea how Tony keeps coming up with new stuff for these, but he’s great at mixing it up.  Not to mention that he’s hilarious in them!  It’s just him and the director Mason in the room, and they film from beginning to end with no cuts.  One time, Tony ripped his pants at the beginning of the workout, and they continued to film!  Too funny!

So that’s it!  Remember to get variety in your workouts!  Be curious!  Try a new home workout routine or look for a new class in your area!  You’ll be more apt to stick with it in the long term!

Together we’re better!

Judy

Tweet This Post

Beachbody is a company that markets home workout routines that actually work!  How do I know that?  I’ve experienced it for myself.  But don’t take my word for it, over the next several days, I’ll be profiling some of the success stories who have used Beachbody products to lose fat and build muscle in a way that will blow your mind!

First, meet Carson Sanders!  Carson is a 39 year old firefigher and paramedic from Sarasota Florida who used to be a gym rat.  But he was finding that his typical weight lifting workout at the gym just wasn’t giving him the results that he wanted anymore.  He saw the infomercial for the P90X home workout routine and was skeptical at first.  How could a home workout routine give him better results than the gym?  Pushing aside his doubts, he decided to give it a shot.  He purchased P90X and committed to 90 days of workouts at home.

Carson never looked back!  He ended up losing 59 pounds and went from 21% body fat to 6% body fat.  He ended up canceling his gym membership.  Now that he is able to workout at home, Carson is able to spend more time with his family, get the results he wants, and be a role model for his children.

That’s one of the things I love most about committing to a home workout routine!  Your family members see you working out, and I hear many people saying that their kids actually take part in the workouts with them!  What could be better than that?  In fact, if you watch Carson’s video, you’ll see his two young sons doing the workout right along with him! 

I’ll have another inspiring success story to share with you tomorrow!

Together we’re better!

Judy

P.S.  All of the people in the success stories I’ll be featuring over the next several days won $1,000 for submitting their transformation story after using a Beachbody home workout routine, and now they are in the running for $10,000 in the quarterly prize.  If you want to see all of the success stories, you can get a Free Team Beachbody account by clicking here.

Tweet This Post

“I HATE pushups!”

That was me several years ago before I saw the light!  It turns out that pushups are good for me!  Who knew?    They work the muscles in my chest, shoulders, arms, upper back, AND my core…all at the same time.  Plus, since so many muscle groups are getting involved, my heart rate goes up.

I did my first round of P90X back in 2007. That summer, I went to my first Tony Horton Fitness camp in New York.  It was a BLAST (and the subject for another blog post some day), but that was the first time I got to try the pushup stands that TONY himself designed.  He called them “PowerStands”, and I never saw anything like them.  Unlike all of the push up stands I’ve seen before, these were strong, well made, heavily cushioned at the hand grip, and looked like they wouldn’t tip over if you were doing wide pushups.

They weren’t available for sale at the time, so I went on with my pushups with my hands on the floor.  I improved quite a bit, but then one day felt a twinge in my left wrist.  Afterwards, my pinkie and ring fingers in that hand were a little “tingly” feeling.  I laid off of the pushups for a while until things started feeling back to normal.

By this time, I saw that the PowerStands were available, so I ordered a pair.  Now, I rarely do a pushup without them.  I mentioned what happened to my wrist to my doctor, and I explained to him how I was now only doing pushups with my PowerStands, and I hadn’t seen any problems with my wrist.

I was REALLY hoping he wouldn’t say “Don’t do pushups anymore”.  HUH?  Did I just think that?  I used to HATE pushups!!!

It’s amazing how you can change your mind about something that you dislike once you see the benefit AND you have the proper tool.  For me, that proper tool was Tony Horton’s PowerStands.  Honestly, I couldn’t get through P90X without them!

Judy

P.S.  I just started a new round of P90X.  I was astounded to see that my first fit test showed that I could do 7 pushups on my toes.  I remember how proud I was that I could do 7 whole pushups on my toes.  How many did I do on THIS fit test?  32…and yes…ON MY TOES!!  Whoo hoo!    P90X works!

If you have wrist issues, it’s best to talk to your doctor (just like I did)!  Really, you should talk to your doctor before beginning any exercise program.  Exercise is GREAT for most people, but you need to make sure your body is ready.  Please!  Talk to your doctor!  That’s what he/she is there for! 

Tweet This Post

You may have seen the P90X infomercial and been inspired to give it a try, but in the back of your mind you know that it’s too hard for you right now. Maybe you haven’t exercised in a while, or maybe you’ve NEVER exercised!

I can relate! When I started on my journey toward a “beach body” with Beachbody, I started with Slimin6 in 2004. I knew about P90X back then. The infomercial wasn’t even on the air yet, but I was actively using the message boards at Beachbody, and I knew several people who were using P90X and getting great results!

After Slimin6, I was happy that I was in better shape, but I still didn’t feel like I was ready for P90X. So the next program I tackled was another created by Tony Horton, Power90! This is a GREAT program to work up to P90X! It’s the same trainer, so you get used to Tony’s style a little.

Watch Don’s story below to see how he lost 38 pounds since starting Power90. He also talks about the value of having a Beachbody coach helping him. That’s what I do! Don is still working his way toward P90X. Right now he’s using another great program called ChaLEAN Extreme, created by the Turbo Jam creator, Chalene Johnson. After that one, I have a feeling his next program will be P90X!

There are two levels in Power90. The workouts in the first level (called 1-2) are around 30-35 minutes long and those in the second level (called 3-4) are around 40-45 minutes long. There’s resistance training (called “sculpt”) and cardio (called “sweat”).

You start out on level 1-2, and do that until it feels too easy for you. Then you move up to level 3-4.  Power90 is designed to be used 6 days per week. You do sculpt, then sweat, then sculpt, then sweat, then sculpt, then sweat.

There are also two levels of ab routines: ab ripper 100 and ab ripper 200. While doing the Power90 program, you do those 3 days a week as well. And the same is true for the levels…you do ab ripper 100 until it’s too easy. Then you move up to ab ripper 200.

Power90 also comes with a meal plan so you can start learning how to eat better to support your weight loss and healthy lifestyle.  Check out any of the Power90 links to see exactly what comes in the program!

It’s smart to begin with Power90 before moving up to P90X! But, as with EVERY exercise program, get your doctor’s okay before beginning! That is ALWAYS smart!

If you are interested in purchasing Power90, just click here!  I’ll be assigned as your personal coach, and I’ll be here to help you around the website and answer any questions you have about the program.

Judy

Tweet This Post

Sometimes a success story on Beachbody comes along that just is over the top motivating!  Cammie’s story makes me wonder “what’s YOUR excuse” when I don’t feel like doing my workout.

She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and within a short period of time, she couldn’t move her legs and found herself in a wheel chair.  Her slow digestion caused her to have trouble getting enough nutrition and calories into her day.  But with Shakeology, that’s all changed.  She says “Shakeology made me come alive”!

With Shakeology and P90X (modified), she’s been able to drop 70 pounds, and she’s active again!

I just LOVE Cammie!  She’s a long distance friend, and I hope to be able to meet her in person one day VERY soon!

THIS is what Beachbody is all about!  Sure, we all love the great products, but it’s friends inspiring friends that makes it all work!

Judy

Tweet This Post