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

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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

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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

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Well, today is the day that the voting will end in the Beachbody quarterly transformation contest! One man and one woman will each win $10,000. They’ve already won $1,000 in the monthly contest. All of these people changed their lives with Beachbody home workout routines!

Look through my blog posts to see just a few of the stories, but if you want to be inspired by all 24 of these people, create your own account and have a chance to vote too! It’s very easy, and it’s free! Ask me how!

Judy

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