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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Looks like my Summer may be getting INSANE!

Saw this promo for one of the newer programs coming out from Beachbody this summer. This program looks crazy! I'm really looking forward to giving this program a try.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Thanks for the motivation

Just wanted to say a quick thanks to a few of you out there that responded by email to my last blog post. You guys know who you are.

So yes, I'll admit it. I've been eating at McDonalds. Its soooo close to my office. I'm in the office about 1-2 days a week. However, its so easy to slip in to the Micky D's when I get hungry. I need to get back into the habit of packing my lunch. This new office I've been in the past couple months has made it a bit harder to eat healthy during the day.

When I started P90X I was actually working out in the Detroit Michigan area and my work had me set up in an apartment that literally was a 2 minute drive from the office. Getting a healthy lunch was no issue since I'd simply just go "home" for lunch and make myself something quick and healthy.

Now, my office is a 70-80 minute drive one way in and I have to leave at 6:30 in the morning to make it in by 8AM. At least I only have to do this one day a week. However, this commute and situation has given me every excuse I want to not pack a lunch and eat healthy. I also was self-rationalizing that "its only 1 day a week."

So, thanks to those of you that gave me the nice verbal beat down I needed to squash my excuses. I brought my lunch with me today. No excuses baby!

Thanks

John

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Time to get Extreme Baby!

OK folks, forget what I may have said. The "Push" phase of ChaLEAN Extreme is no joke.

The "burn" phase focuses on synergistic moves, shooting for 12 slow controlled reps. It's a great workout, but not as intense as I was used to during P90X.

I started my first Push workout the other day not knowing what to expect. The warm-up was standard. Then Chalene says to pick a weight for 6-8 reps. First move is bicep curls. I challenged myself, set my power-blocks for 40 lbs each and got started. I've never attempted to curl more than 35 lbs an arm before. To get through 8 reps at 40 lbs an arm was a great feeling. The rest of the workout was similar. I was trying heavier weights than I had ever used before and doing great. Sweat was pouring out everywhere. When I got done with the workout, I knew I had really broken through a mental barrier in my workouts.

The one problem I've been having lately is my diet. Some really exciting things have happened at my work lately and I've been given a lot more responsibility. I've strayed a bit with my diet mainly because my schedule has been all over the place. I haven't been preparing a good healthy lunch. I've been trying to hit up Subway, but I won't lie. The Golden Arches have called my name once or twice and I've given in.

More to come soon. Sorry for the lack of time between posts.

John

Friday, April 17, 2009

BRING IT! Week

As of this afternoon I will have finished up three weeks of ChaLEAN Extreme. In the official schedule, I'd be slated to do one more week of the Burn Phase and then continue on the the Push Phase. As a P90X grad however, I've become accustomed to having "recovery weeks" on the 4th week of a program. The P90X recovery weeks are awesome, not because the workouts are easier, but the fact that they shock the system a bit with different exercises.

I'd argue that the ChaLEAN workouts, while difficult, aren't to the difficulty level of P90X. Also, I don't want to lose the amazing progress I made during P90X in one critical area; pull-ups.

So, I've concocted my own schedule for this 4th week. Instead of a recovery week, I'm going to make it "BRING IT!" Week.

Here's what my schedule for BRING IT week will be.

Day 1: Chest and Back, Ab RipperX
Day 2: Plyometrics
Day 3: Core Synergistics
Day 4: Burn Intervals and Ab Burner from ChaLEAN Extreme
Day 5: Legs and Back
Day 6: Kenpo X
Day 7: Rest/Stretch

This should give my body a good shock and keep the progress coming. It also will have 2 days of workouts with large amounts of pull-ups. I'll keep everyone posted on how this goes.

Thanks for reading.

John

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Seeing Progress Again!

This will be just a quick post from my phone this morning. I've been
trying to not be so forthcoming on this blog on how I have been
stalled in my progress for the last 6 weeks, give or take. The lack of
internal motivation and not seeing measuresble results was the
catalyst for me to stop P90X in the middle of the round and start
ChaLEAN Extreme.

I'm happy to report this morning that I've shown the first real
progress in my fat loss in a while. I haven't seen the scale below
195 since getting back from our cruise in January. I broke through the
193 barrier this morning.

Keep pushing play,

John

Sent from my iPhone

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Best part of being a Beachbody Coach!


As some of you know, Monica and I have become Beachbody coaches. Some of you probably have no clue what being a coach entails. I wasn't so sure what it meant when I started P90X and even when I started coaching.


In a nutshell, Beachbody coaches are there to help people pick a fitness plan that works for them, and provide the motivation to help people succeed. Sure, its a way to make some extra money (and some people a lot more than some extra cash!)


However, the best reward of coaching is when your friends and family start a program, rely on you for some motivation, and end up succeeding. I have to say I'm so proud of two guys in particular, Dan and Nick who both have had great success with P90X. They took the bull by the horns and kicked some serious butt at the program.


Another thing about coaching that motivates me is that it gives me one more level of assurance to keep pushing myself. How can I possibly represent fitness and Beachbody if I'm not out there working my tail off during my workouts? Being a coach helps me stay motivated. The financial rewards are starting to materialize and that makes it even better.


Keep pushing play, and keep bringing it! And if you're interested in learning more about the Beachbody coaching opportunity, email me and let me know.


Monday, April 6, 2009

My first week with ChaLEAN Extreme


So, I'm starting to get into the second week of ChaLEAN Extreme.


Let me just say I love this program. Now, as I've said and I will continue to say, I'm a huge P90X fan. But, I sure needed a change of pace to get my mind back in the game. ChaLEAN Extreme has fit the bill.


Let me start off by saying that a lot of guys will probably look at ChaLEAN Extreme, see the cute blond on the cover and think, "This isn't for me, this is for chicks." While the target audience of ChaLEAN extreme is obviously women, the workouts will get your blood flowing and muscles pumping no matter what side you take in the "seat up vs seat down" debate.


As some of my more longtime readers will know, I love the Core Synergistics workout of P90X. What I like so much about Core Synergistics is that the moves always work more than just one body part at a time. That is the philosophy of ChaLEAN Extreme. Every move in the workouts is a synergistic move. You're rarely if ever just working one body part. For example, you'll do a squat with a bicep curl, or a lunge with a deltoid lift etc. These exercise get you working hard and quickly at that.


Another good thing about ChaLEAN is that for some of you that have been working with P90X for one or two rounds may be getting a bit burned out at the time commitment required. P90X requires at least an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes a day. ChaLEAN workouts are considerably shorter. So this could be a great maintenance workout for P90X grads out there.


Take care folks, keep bringing it.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Diet vs Exercise

This video is a great visual illustration of how making mistakes or cheating on your diet can affect your results. A lot of people think, "I work out, I can afford to eat some fries, or drink a double whip white chocolate mocha."

Think about what you're doing. I know I'm not the perfect example of this. I've been struggling a lot with this lately. I'm not gaining any weight/fat. However my frequent straying from my diet has stalled my results.

Check out this video. Why I don't agree with the sentiment that Cardio isn't important. Its critical for your overall health. However, why do all the work if you're going to waste all your back breaking hard work and effort with your diet.


Thursday, April 2, 2009

ChaLEAN Extreme


From John:


This is just a short post. I'll get a more complete first week review this weekend.


I LOVE ChaLEAN EXTREME! This program is fun, and tough. Just what I needed to get me out of the funk I was going through in my workouts. Don't get me wrong, P90X is a killer workout, but any program starts to get to be a bit "blah" after six months with the same routine.


Like I wrote, I'll get a full week 1 report this weekend. In the meantime, let me just say that Burn Intervals, is an awesome workout. And its fun for Monica and I to do together!


Take care, keep pushing play, and remember:


"Hope is not an Action Plan."


John