CoachBioArt

Take a look at this video. Beachbody has another component to it’s business and that is coaching. It basically builds on the fact that the products work so well that you become a walking infomercial (as it happened to me). When people ask you how you did it, (which happens all the time to me), you have a chance to earn some money based on the referrals and word of mouth… In addition, it is important to note that beachbody actually sends customers your way… that’s kinda cool on its own…

It’s not Amway… you are not selling detergent. It’s not a pyramid scheme. The products are tangible and they work. Finally, it’s not a scam, these people are really great and just want to help you get fit!

Contact me if you want to find out more about Beachbody and the coaching opportunity!

I did it!  I survived 60 days of INSANITY!

I’m not going to surgarcoat it… it was hard!  It took my body about a week to recover at the end so that the deep muscle pain would go away… That being said, the results in my fitness level are impressive.  Check out the improvements in the fit test on my previous post.

In terms of visual improvement, check out my continuing progress… The first 6 pictures are from the first rounds of P90X and P90X+/1-on-1.  The last 2 are after 30 and 60 days of INSANITY!.

I didn’t lose that much weight (~10 pounds), but the change in my legs and arms is pretty nice (lost between 2 and 4% body fat).  I can run faster than I ever could and push-ups are a breeze .  It is important to note that I did not follow the INSANITY! diet on purpose.  I was already doing a 1750-2000 calorie diet and my goal wasn’t necessarily to lose weight, but to significantly improve my aerobic fitness.  I’m sure that if I followed the diet, I would have lost more, but again, that wasn’t the goal.

In terms of the program, it was great.  The workouts were entertaining, and didn’t take that long.  I figured that I would be spent after every workout, and I was half-right.  It was physically exhausting, but I felt great after each one.  The Intervals were very well done. My HR was up when it had to be and it was easy to do the three different levels… here’s an example workout as recorded by my Polar RS800CX monitor.

HR Max: 176, HR Avg: 146, ~880 cals in 1 hr – WOW!

The workouts really picked up after the first month.  Not only were they longer, but they were more intense… Even the warmups got harder.  I’ll admit that on more than one occasion, I really wanted to quit during the workout (even during the warm-ups a few times), but I stuck through with it and felt so much better because of it.

BTW, Shaun T’s cues are great, you can tell he is working hard and its fun to see the rest of the players push it too.

I did have to make a few changes at the end.  I was pushing hard enough that I had to take a day of rest here and there during the week, but that allowed me to continue.  In addition, once Rugby season started, I had to do YogaX or XStretch the day before the game, otherwise I would have nothing left for the games.  That “rest” day payed off, My speed and agility were unequaled… I was everywhere on the field! It felt great, I no longer had to think about pushing to get there, I just got there.  I’ve never had so much fun!

One thing I miss is the lifting, since I lost some of the P90X strength.  I am now (after 1 week of taking easy), restarting P90X as a P90X/+/1on1/Insanity Hybrid.  I will do weight training 3 days a week and a Max INSANITY workout or other interval training twice or thrice a week.  I will also do one of the Yoga workouts once a week as a recovery workout.  Stay tuned…

The fit test consists of doing each exercise for 1 minute and counting the number of reps.

For some of the exercises, a rep consists of more than one move. For example, the globe jump is 4 jump squats: right-back-left-front

The first number is how many I did on day 1 of the program (after doing P90X/+ for about 6 months). The second number is how many I did on the last day of the program, which was about 65 days later… what can I say? the program kicked my butt, but it got me in great aerobic shape!  Full review and before and after pics coming soon!

• Switch Kicks – 40:70
• Power Jacks – 40:60
• Power Knees – 85:132
• Power Jumps – 20:46
• Globe Jumps – 7:12
• Suicide Jumps – 10:16
• Push Up Jacks – 24:40
• Low Plank Obliques – 45:65

It’s funny… if I had seen the P90X infomercial before I started the program, I would not have bought it.  It’s not that the infomercial is bad (it’s actually pretty good), but as a rule, I don’t like/trust infomercials that much… Thankfully, a friend told me about P90X and after visiting beachbody.com I bought it as my Christmas gift.  My wife was skeptical, but supportive (she’s happy now though!)

What a great program!

I started Jan 1st, 2009 and stuck to the workout schedule as much as I could (a couple of recovery days here and there, but pretty good for the most part).  I tracked my workouts in the beachbody club tracker (WOWY or “Work Out With You”).  Because of family and work obligations (and not being a morning person), most of my workouts were at 10:30 or 11PM.  It was easy to get into a routine to go down the basement and work out late at night.  It was really something I started looking forward to doing… and seeing the change in my appearance (and comments from others) kept me coming back for more.

So… does it work? YES! 90 days after I started, I was down over 30 pounds, and in the best shape of my life!  I was running like a madman in the rugby fields and keeping up with college kids during their breakaways (I’m a rugby referee).  I have since started doing P90X+ and some of the Tony Horton one-on-one videos to add variety etc.  I’m down almost 40 pounds and over 7 inches of waist at the moment (size 36 pants from size 42+).  I’ll review P90X+ and the other videos later.

I really enjoyed working out in a group when I was an active rugby player.  These videos mimic some of the same experience.  If you get into them, they are fun. Tony Horton is a good instructor and his comments would often made me feel like he was watching me… things like “Get lower on the squat”, “keep it up, we’re almost at a break” were really well timed and in places I usually needed the encouragement.

Here’s my quick take on the different P90X videos (I’ll have detailed reviews in the future, this is meant as a brief summary):

Chest & Back:

A good place to start.  Hard to do too many pull-ups at first, but I had an assisted pull-up station, so I could subtract up to 80 lbs from my weight.  I stopped using the assisted by the end of the program and routinely do over 40-50 pull-ups during a session now.  Lot’s of push-ups too.  Fun workout

Plyometrics:

Scary at first, but lots of fun.  This workout is probably responsible for my increased speed and agility.  You are moving and sweating the entire time.  Love it!

Shoulders & Arms:

Good upper body workout.  Easier than Chest & Back, but I can feel it after I’m done

YogaX:

The first 45 minutes of this (all movement exercises) are intense.  This video is about 1.5 hours… when I first started I didn’t know the last half is mostly stretching, so I thought I was going to die.  I had never done Yoga before this video.  I didn’t bend the way they did at first… Now I do.  Enough Said! Great workout.

Legs & Back:

It’s a good thing this is only once a week.  Lots of Squats, but great for your legs.  Back exercises are good too.

KenpoX:

I had never done Kenpo before (or anything besides Judo).  It was great to learn the moves and it is a good workout.  It took a while to get good at many of the moves, but I enjoy it.  Highly recommended to get a full-body workout (if you get into the moves).

XStretch:

A really nice change of pace on the rest day.  You still get to sweat a little during some of the stretches, especially the warmup salutations.  Very good to do if you are sore from the previous day.  Relaxing.

Core Synergistics:

Good change of pace on recovery week, but it is hard.  I thought recovery week was supposed to be easier (it isn’t).  Some of the moves are hard, especially because you only do them once or twice every 4 weeks

Chest, Shoulders and Triceps:

Three muscle groups one after the other and then back to the first muscle group.  Different exercises every time.  Really like this one.

Back & Biceps:

Similar as above, but different muscle groups.  Lots of involment of the other muscles too.

CardioX:

Haven’t done this one, since I prefer Plyometrics or the P90X+ workouts… looks good though

AbRipperX:

339 sit-ups/reps in 11 exercises… hard to do the full thing.  I could do at most 10 of each at the beginning, probably up to 20 of each by now.  Good workout, though hard to do immediately following the resistance workouts as suggested.  Good set of exercises to do anytime you have 16 minutes to spare

As an independent BeachBody Coach, my goal is to provide you with the tools you need to achieve your personal fitness goals.

I’m a P90X graduate having recently lost over 38lbs in the past 5 months.  My goal is to share what I have learned during my (ongoing) fitness journey and help you achieve your goals

I will be sharing my journey and many of the tips I learned throughout.  Stay tunned for much more!