Xtreme 90 Days
My P90X Journey
My P90X Journey
Mar 7th
Thanks for checking out my P90X blog. I finished my first round of P90X on 4/22. It was an incredible jump start to my fitness and nutrition. I went from a flabby 174 and 21% body fat to a lean 159 and 14% body fat (according to my digital scale). I’m currently doing Insanity with two days a week of P90X resistance training.
If you’re interested in joining me, click on the link to below to get P90X at a discount. I can help you with free coaching and online support. I’m going to be adding some more resources to this site to help people get started with P90X and Insanity. Please feel free to contact me with any questions about the programs.
The P90X Recovery Drink
Aug 13th
If you can afford to buy only one supplement from Beachbody, the P90X Recovery drink is the one. It tastes great (even my wife loves it), it helps you with soreness, and most importantly it helps your muscles recover and grow. Beachbody offers a great 30 day money guarantee so there’s nothing to lose in giving it a try.
It’s Official P90X:MC2 Coming in 2011
Jul 2nd
I received an official confirmation from Beachbody that the next P90X – P90X:MC2 (Muscle Confusion two) – will come out in 2011. If you’re a P90Xer like me, I imagine you cannot wait for this to come out and luckily Beachbody has a way for you to get a sneak peak of the program as Tony works on it – P90X One on One.
Here are the details from Beachbody -
What is P90X One on One™?
This is Tony unscripted in his personal gym—no frills, no classroom, no cast. (But plenty
of confusion.) No plateaus welcome. P90X One on One works just like a magazine
subscription: After you sign up, you automatically receive a brand-new workout every
month (sometimes they include FREE gifts). Best of all: you can cancel at any time.
How long are the workouts?
In good P90X tradition, the workouts will vary between 50 and 60 minutes.
What is the workout style and intensity?
In Volume 3, Tony experiments with different intensity levels. He mixes things up to
keep your muscles guessing. But beware! Some moves are groundbreaking and have
never been done before. In the excellently titled Disc 1, “Chest, Back & Balls”, Tony
tests his personal limits with a Plyo Push-Up while balancing his feet and hands on
stability balls. Unbelievable stuff. Don’t say we didn’t warn you…
Who is P90X One on One for?
P90X One on One offers a great opportunity for P90X grads who are
in good physical shape and looking for more trademark Tony confusion.
The 50% offer
Every subscriber who purchases all 12 discs of P90X One on One, Volume 3 gets a 50%
discount on P90X:MC2™ when it becomes available. If you don’t join Volume 3 from the
beginning (July 2010), no problem! You can still qualify for this offer. Simply purchase
your missing Volume 3 discs from TeachBeachbody.com. Once you become eligible for this promotion, we’ll notify you via email so you can claim your discount. This offer is not available online.
If you’re not already a subscriber, now’s a better time than ever to get involved.
My April Group Graduates!
Jun 30th
My April group is graduating! These guys and gals rocked! 90 days goes by in a blink of the eye. It’s truly amazing to see the changes they have made. It’s not just about the pounds, inches, and body fat %. P90X helped them get a handle on their nutrition and health. You can see the confidence they have gained in their posts. Updated photos show big smiles. They’re making plans for a second round, running 5ks, and enjoying a summer with newfound fitness.
Way to bring it!
What is TurboFire?
Jun 30th
Here’s an interview with Chalene Johnson from the P90X newsletter about her new program. The HIT (high intensity training) looks interesting and every bit as hard as Insanity.
Cardio Confusion: A History of TurboFire
An interview with Chalene Johnson by Steve Edwards
“I thought it was too hard, but it turned out to be everyone’s favorite,” says Chalene Johnson about the creation of her newest program, TurboFire®. “It sold me on the fact that people really do want something that will take them to the next level. But this isn’t P90X® for girls. It’s not INSANITY®. And it’s not just harder Turbo Jam®. It’s my answer to the question, ‘What would work best for me?’”
TurboFire, the latest offering from Beachbody®, is next-generation in more ways than one. It’s the hardest workout series to come from Chalene Johnson, but it’s set up so anyone can do it. It’s like cardio class at the gym, but it also has core and strength workouts. It’s High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), but it’s also traditional cardio. It’s a structured program, but it changes dramatically over time. “If P90X is about Muscle Confusion™,” says Chalene, “TurboFire is about cardio confusion.” Today we’ll talk with Chalene to help you decide if TurboFire is the right program for you.
“I’m 41, and because of that, I (like everyone else) can wake up with aches and pains, so it was critical for me that this program be something that everyone could do,” Chalene begins, dispelling the rumor that TurboFire was intended to be the next INSANITY. However, it’s not the lack of high-end difficulty she’s referring to, because the program is ultimately very intense. What makes TurboFire more versatile is that it comes with an optional preparatory schedule for those who lack the fitness base to jump right in. For them, each workout also offers a low-intensity option. “In every single video, we have modified moves with little to no joint impact,” adds Chalene.
The creation of TurboFire was a long process, says Chalene. “It began in my Turbo Kick® classes. Health clubs don’t care about beginners. The overwhelming majority of any health club classes are for advanced users. The mentality is sink or swim. Turbo Jam (Chalene’s original Beachbody program) was a step down from what I teach; a starting point for what I was doing in the clubs. It was a ramp; essentially a place to get on the Turbo Kick highway.
“I had begun to study HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training, which is short workouts that feature ultra-high intensity intervals,” says Chalene. “I was using this in my classes when we created the Fat Blaster workout as part of Turbo Jam’s continuity program. It was the hardest video we had done, and I didn’t think people were going to like it. In fact, it almost didn’t make it into the rotation. But then it turned out to be everyone’s favorite.” This meant, essentially, that TurboFire was on.
“The concept was to take the toughest Turbo Kick class ever and turn it into a program,” Chalene says. “I was trying to answer my own question, ‘What would work the best for me?’ I’d been incorporating the HIIT philosophy in my classes. But HIIT had come out of sports, where athletes will do anything they’re told. I needed to find something more interesting than sprints on a football field. I needed TurboFire to be tougher, more intense, but also more exciting and exhilarating than what I’d done in the past. Like anyone else, I get bored. I plateau. I have the same problems everyone else has. So TurboFire had to address this.”
Chalene continues, “I didn’t want to make P90X for girls. I didn’t want INSANITY. I wanted a HIIT program. I wanted short-duration intervals that killed you. You had to be maxed at the end of each interval. That was the starting point, to be consistent with the research for HIIT. But HIIT can only be done for short durations, about 3 weeks at a time, before you start to overtrain and plateau. So the challenge was creating a program that expanded on these HIIT phases with other aspects like cardio training that would keep the results coming. So I started making workouts to address this and the result is this cool periodizational program that takes you through various forms of cardio training. If P90X is Muscle Confusion, TurboFire is cardio confusion.”
What else was successful for the creation of a successful program? “Next,” Chalene says, “it had to have great music for that class atmosphere, so you’re having fun. But I also wanted the choreography to be easier to follow than Turbo Jam, even though the training was going to be more challenging. So we set it to sound effects so you don’t need to follow a beat, so INSANE-ers, X-ers, and other non–Turbo Jam people could do it.” Plus, Chalene says, “We wanted it to appeal to guys, too. And it has, especially the HIIT workouts. You don’t need to feel as though you can dance. The music is there for motivation.”
Chalene adds enthusiastically, “I think the music is 100 times better than Turbo Jam! Music is so important to me because with good music you don’t have to find the motivation; it’s there. It makes classes so fun that you don’t notice how hard you’re working out. It’s so much easier sprinting to the right song than a random soundtrack.We had more of a budget and more time with the producers so we could get the music perfect. I had more of an influence over the process and was there every day. I wrote the lyrics. I controlled where the energy needed to build for the workout. This is why it took so long to get it done. Training this hard to OK music was totally not OK. I needed it to be off the charts, un-friggin’-believable, amazing music!”
Of course it’s not all cardio. Anyone who’s familiar with Chalene knows she’s a firm believer that you need to strength-train regularly. As she says, “We wanted everything you’ll need in one box: strength training, core training, stretching. But to be honest, what’s unique is its cardio. The stretching is geared towards the cardio you’re doing in Turbo Fire, but the strength training can be swapped with anything. In fact, I think in a perfect world, you might choose ChaLEAN Extreme® for strength training.” (A ChaLEAN Extreme/TurboFire hybrid schedule comes with the program.)
“But,” Chalene sums up, “the goal of having everything in one box is important because I want to create things you’ll be doing for life. Like I said, this program was about what I would do. And I’m not stopping or slowing down. My finish line is in the coffin!”
See Chalene explain the difference between TurboFire and her other programs here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz8DJy-YGIQ
More Great advice from Tony Horton
Jun 17th
Tony Horton’s 11 Rules or Laws of Fitness
1.Variety – Variety is the spice of life and fitness. A lifetime of health and fitness is achievable when you can think outside the box. You have to mix it up all the time. Stay curious, creative, and stick with the kinds of workouts that you enjoy. A variety of exercises, workouts, and sports will allow you to avoid injuries, plateaus, and boredom.
2.Consistency – Improvement and change occur when you do things often. Stopping and starting all the time will kill any momentum you need to succeed. You must find ways to stay in the game. Moderate forms of exercise, done consistently, provide far better results than the occasional full-body pummeling. A lifestyle that includes multiple forms of exercise five to six days a week guarantees results.
3.Intensity – YOU’RE TOUGHER THAN YOU THINK. The fear of pain or injury from working out is a mindset steeped in failure. You must learn to “Find the Line.” Do the extra rep or two, increase your range of motion, and increase resistance as you get stronger. Intensity goes hand in hand with Variety and Consistency. The combination of the three work together as a triad that creates a platform for success. The programs provide variety. Your plan will keep you consistent.
4.Purpose – Your purpose is to have a better life. Exercise and eating right help you feel better. When you feel better, you do more. When you do more, you meet other people. A healthy lifestyle gives us the energy to be better than before. We want to participate, share, communicate, and build a community—have purpose in our lives. If you had never found Beachbody, you might be right back where you were—isolated, with nothing to share, no purpose, because you weren’t doing anything with anyone.
5.Reality – Why do we want life to be different than it is? Why do we think about who we were and who we’re going to be more than who we are? We certainly talk a good game about who we are now. Why do we try to predict the future with the hope that wishful thinking is enough to change it? Life is NOT the way it was. It’s the way it is. Life is not our fantasy predictions of the future or our glory days of the past. Life is that thing that is happening to you as you read this. We fall into the trap of living in the past and future because right here is not good enough. Back then and up there are keeping you from right now.
6.Sports – Take the onus off of weight, inches, and body fat percentages and put the focus on MOVING—from dancing, rock climbing, and mountain biking to table tennis. I love that ping-pong! Think in terms of “can do” instead of “look like.” Sports are fun and help develop balance and coordination—which in turn accelerates your results. Jump, kick, run, spin, throw, skate, shoot, hit, score, compete . . . PLAY!
7.The Plan – SCHEDULE ALL WORKOUTS IN ADVANCE. This creates accountability. Plan an entire month ahead of time. Try to schedule as many workouts as possible with friends who have similar goals. WOWY was developed so that we could find an easy and effective way to stay accountable and work out together. Now we’ve got people in all over the world working out at the same time. That is cool!
8.Sleep (and stress) – Stressed out, sleep-deprived people don’t eat right and exercise regularly. Stress depletes energy, strength, and desire, while poor sleep habits affect your moods and immune function along with cognitive and motor performance. Burning the candle at both ends makes it impossible to be fit and healthy.
9.Loving It – Exercise and workouts involve commitment, determination, planning, consistency, and intensity. If you don’t like what you’re doing, there’s no way on earth you’ll succeed. Enthusiasm is a very big piece of the puzzle. Get creative and stay curious. If you enjoy doing Power 90 exclusively and it works for you, then keep doing it until it doesn’t. If you get part way through P90X and it’s not your cup of tea, then stop, and do something else. Something’s got to bring you back day after day, week after week. Love it (tolerate it) or leave it.
10.Flexibility – Flexibility is the fountain of youth. Flexible people are much less prone to injury. Yoga and stretching allow you to bring more intensity to your workouts. Flexibility is the key component to becoming less vulnerable and more durable. Aging has a funny way of making everything we do harder. Staying limber and flexible is the way to prevent that from happening.
11.Food and Supplements – You are what you eat! Food and supplements are your fuel. The right fuel supplies proper energy and recovery through balanced brain chemistry. The right supplements simply fill in gaps in your diet.
Is P90X for Me?
Jun 16th
I’ve had a few people ask me if P90X was the right program for them. I think the subtext is that they’re afraid the program might be a little too extreme for them. One of the cool aspects of P90X is that you can modify the routines to match your fitness level. The caveat is that you don’t get discouraged and keep at it until you reach your goals. This is a great story of how Cammie Lusk modified P90X while in a wheelchair with MS.
Planning for P90X Success
Jun 13th
If you’re about to begin P90X, one of the keys to your success will be planning.
The first step is to look in your P90X Fitness Guide on pages 6-7 and review the workout times listed. Your first day doing classic P90X will include Chest&Back (52:50) and Ab Ripper X (16:07). Yoga X is a whopping 92 minutes!
Some will choose to do the workouts first thing in the morning. Some will opt to do it in the evening after work. The downsides to do it in the morning, include having to wake up early and that your glycogen levels will be lower which could result in “bonking”. Steve Edwards on the TeamBeachBody.com staff message boards recommends eating a banana before working out if you need something but not a full meal. The upside to working out in the morning is that you get it out of the way and are less likely to miss the workout as everyday life distractions pop-up derailing your plans later in the day.
OK so you have somehow figured out to incorporate all those workouts into your busy schedule and now you’re ready to bring it. Right? Not quite yet. The other challenging component is the Nutrition Plan. For some eating the right stuff can be as big of a challenge as the workout. Once you do the calculation on page 5 of the Nutrition Plan to determine your level, you might be surprised at how much you actually need to eat. This is not a diet and as the guide aptly puts it’s not optional if you want to succeed. Getting the right foods and supplements – see my P90X QuickStart Guide for more info – is the first step but planing for when you will prepare and consume is critical.
Traveling for work or business can definitely put a kink in the P90X schedule. Fortunately we can take the DVDs on the road or upload to our iPods and laptops. Exercise bands are light and very easy to pack. Following the Nutrition Plan can be difficult on the road but I’ve overcome this by packing bars, protein shake mix, and using the “Quick Options” on page 101 of the Nutrition Plan.
Will I better wrap this up. I need to eat again. If you have any questions please contact me or visit us on the TeamBeachBody.com message boards. As Tony says in the video – “You got questions, they got answers”.
New Meal Planner on Team Beachbody
Jun 8th
Personalized meal planning is now a Team Beachbody® reality. You can now enjoy the same plans you’ve always enjoyed, but with even more food choices, more intuitive features, and more of a reason to plan your meals. For one, there’s a superior new diet wizard that makes choosing your perfect meal plan easier than saying the words “meal plan.” Plus, you can make adjustments for many dietary restrictions, rate your favorite meals, and create completely customized plans to help achieve your diet goals. The clincher? If you’re a Shakeology® fan (jus’ sayin’), you can now easily incorporate your favorite shake into any plan.
Of course, these benefits are for Club members only. So if you’re not already a Club member, there’s never been a better time to join. If you are not familiar with the Beachbody Club, it offers a wide variety of benefits to members including a 10% discount and premium content like trainer tips from Tony Horton and Shaun T.
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Join Team Beachbody today!
Team Beachbody Club membership costs less than a daily cup of gourmet coffee at your favorite coffee house. Enjoy all the benefits RISK FREE for 30 days for only $2.99 a week, billed $38.87 quarterly in advance to the credit card you provide. When you join today, you’ll also receive a FREE surprise gift valued at $20.00.
You can cancel any time during your first 30 days and receive a full refund. Or you can cancel any time thereafter to avoid future charges, but keep your surprise gift valued at $20.00 just for trying.
