P90X Back and Biceps…man, what a grueling workout this can be! And that’s exactly what it was today. My goal is to do more reps from the previous time, add more weight, and push harder. I honestly had issues with all of that, but I did increase in some areas.
I pushed harder on the pull-ups as well. Even when I was using a chair, I did more reps. I’m still working on figuring out how to pace myself to do pull-ups after the bicep work.
But Ab Ripper X was a major win today. I stayed focus, I pushed myself hard, and was fully worked over at the end.
So it has been a bit over a week since I started using Shakeology as a meal replacement at lunch. So far, it has been a major success. My energy levels are staying up, which was my #1 concern. I’m losing weight, too. So far, I’m down around 3 pounds in 2 weeks doing this. I plan to do a body fat test on Saturday to see where all it is coming from.
But so far, I consider it a great trial. I know that Beachbody does not suggest it to be a full meal replacement but rather a snack, so mine is bulked up a bit. Here is what I do (from the Insanity manual):
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup cold water
1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology
1 banana
1 tbsp peanut butter
This puts it around 400 calories. I take this with 8 oz of low sodium V8 at lunch each day. I still maintain a protein bar in the morning and a 200 calorie snack in the afternoon, but I do count this as a fruit serving and do not take any additional fruits in.
My biggest pitfall with this diet may be proteins. I’ve added a shake back to my mornings which will help. I also feel like I have to make sure to take in a good carb at night or else my strength gets bad on resistance days (like today).
But, I’d say the Shakeology inside a modified meal plan is a winner!
Posted in P90X Shakeology by .
Catching up a bit from last week, as time got away from me and I did not get a chance to blog about my P90X workouts.
Friday’s was Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X. My pull-up count was up. I was able to do pull-ups throughout the routine and not just on the first round. My legs were really tired after this time. I pushed myself hard, went deep, and spent quite a bit of time sore afterwards.
Saturday I chose to do Insanity Pure Cardio. I was doing great until about the 10 minute left mark, when the Plyo portion of this workout kicked in. My glutes and thights were on FIRE!
Which brings us to today…P90X day 64. Chest, Shoulders, And Triceps was a killer this morning. In fact, I’m writing this now, and I have quite a bit of soreness in my upper body. Some things I was successful on, such as upping my weight on a few tricep exercises. I tried to up some on shoulder work and failed before 8 reps. I pushed harder on my push-ups, worked on doing more, and increased some counts.
Still think I could do better.
I was actually having a bit of a stomach issue, so I did not finish Ab Ripper X this morning, which I was NOT happy with. But there’s always Wednesday…and if I can swing the time, going to be gunning for doing the P90X One on One Ab Ripper X 2 either Wednesday or next Monday.
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Today was Yoga X in P90X. I love this workout, although I did cut a small 7 minute portion out due to time. I hated to do it…I really HATED doing it, but simply had to get it done by 7:30am so I could get ready for work.
There were a few sections today that challenged me more than most days I do this routine, but I’m okay with that. I was sweating like a crazy fool (amazing how you can move so little with Yoga and sweat like crazy). But it always feels good to do Yoga.
And today, I measured at a major milestone: Today, the scale weighed 172, which is 50 pounds under where I weighed myself at the gym at work at the start of 2009 (weighed in at 222 there). Losing 50 pounds is an amazing feeling. I feel great physically, I have a lot more energy, and it has given me the gift of being able to do more for my family.
So here’s a treat: Here is a side-by-side comparison of me when I first started P90X and what I look like now.
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Aug 10
26
Beachbody Is Not Just Crazy Fitness…
Most people seem to correlate Beachbody, and the Team Beachbody network with crazy fitness routines like P90X, Insanity, and other exercise programs.
And yes, those are important products in the company’s line-up…
But Beachbody is much, much more than just a collection of fitness tools.
Here’s the deal with fitness and health: Your diet…your nutritional intake is 70-75% of what helps get you healthy and support your fitness. The workouts are just a catalyst to help define your results. As we say, great abs are made in the kitchen, the workouts just help them be more defined.
So you are probably wondering what all Beachbody has to support my statement.
The first, and most obvious, is Shakeology. Shakeology is more than a weight loss shake. It’s more than just a meal replacement shake. It is an entire nutritious meal and essentially a multi-vitamin in one scoop. Go to the link to learn more about it. I take Shakeology as part of my daily meals now and it has increased my energy, decreased my cravings, and I believe is a big reason why the fat is melting off of me right now.
The second is the line of Activit supplements and Beachbody’s own line of supplements. These range from normal multi-vitamins, men’s and women’s health forumulations, metabolism boosting forumlations, Omega 3, immune support, joint support, and more. This is a full line of products geared towards helping you get healthier and stay healthy.
There is also the P90X nutrition line and meal replacment/protein powders. The P90X line includes the Results and Recovery formula, the P90X protein bars/meal replacement bars, and the P90X Peak Health Formula. Beachbody also has a meal replacement shake separate from Shakeology as well as a whey protein shake.
And from what I’ve heard, there are more products in the pipeline.
So if you are looking at the Team Beachbody network as a possible business, know that the nutritional products we offer are high quality and vital to gaining optimal health. The exercise routines are there to help give people the most benefit from the nutritional programs.
Posted in Beachbody Coaching by .
Today was time to really work the upper body: P90X Shoulder and Arms. Again, the goal here was to increase weight or reps. I felt really good about how this one went today. I accomplished exactly what I wanted to, which was increase on everything and work to failure (and if I did not the first round, increase weight to where I did the second round).
That’s the good news. The bad news is, I exhausted myself. By the time Ab Ripper came along I was fairly wiped. But instead of just going through the motions, I pushed myself hard on it. I took breaks, but then picked back up. I worked on getting more of the reps in.
And at the end, I was even more wiped! But I felt accomplished!
I watched a transformation video today that really got me excited. Quite frankly, it makes me want to work even harder during this last phase. So 4.5 more weeks of bringing it, and bringing it hard!
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Aug 10
24
P90X Day 58 – Plyo X
Today was P90X Day 58 (which I think I accidentally called yesterday day 56, but whatever, I get confused on what day it is sometimes). I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do Plyo X or an Insanity routine yesterday, so I opted for Plyo X after not getting to bed when I wanted and having one of the kids cry out all night.
And it was the right decision!
My heart rate stayed up nicely today. Something about when I got going in the routine, I just took off. 59 minutes and 812 calories later, I felt like I could conquer the world (sweat and everything!).
Right now, I’m experimenting with something…
Instead of a normal lunch, I’m taking in Shakeology. It’s a calorie deficit of about 200 calories from what I should be taking in. The advantage is, well, it’s Shakeology. The disadvantage is I may be cutting myself short on protein.
I’m tracking a few indicators with this:
How is my energy?
How is my weight affected?
How is my performance during the routines?
Tomorrow will be a good day to tell how I feel, being on a resistance routine. I’ll keep things updated with how I feel. And, of course, you can check out Shakeology here.
Aug 10
24
Mom Of 3 Gets Great Body With Beachbody’s Brazil Butt Lift, ChaLEAN Extreme, And Shakeology
Think once you become a mom you have to accept anything less than a great body? Think again…
This is my wife April and her before and after pictures. A little background…
We had our first child in fall of 2005. By July of that year she was back down to a size 2. Easy, right? After our second daughter came in May of 2007, losing the weight back was not nearly as easy. And with the third child in June of 2009, the weight just was not coming off.
Now…April will admit that she was never “big” and she wasn’t. But it’s that bit of fat that women often get when having a child that she knew she wanted to lose.
She tried P90X. She didn’t like it. It’s just not her, and that’s totally cool with me.
But then Beachbody released a video series called Brazil Butt Lift. I’ve talked about it a bit here. We both thought this would be a good fit for her, since she wasn’t looking for a lot of weight lifting at first and wanted to tone mainly her core areas (abs, hips, glutes, and thighs).
Here was April when she started Brazil Butt Lift.
Nothing to be ashamed of, but it wasn’t the body she was used to. She knew she could have flatter abs and more toning.
After 60 days of Brazil Butt Lift and even a couple of weeks off after it for flu, she looked like this.
She made great progress in just 2 months of work. She dropped 5 pounds and 10 inches from around her body in these 2 months.
But then we got into the “get ready for vacation” mode and made the fat loss bet. And while she did not get down to 18%, she did go from 23.5% to 19.12% body fat using a combination of ChaLEAN Extreme and Brazil Butt Lift along with Shakeology and a good nutritional diet. And this is what she looked like on vacation.
Obviously, the camera loved her, or should I say, the guy taking the pictures loves her! But she looks great, she feels great, and is very happy with her body for being a mom of 3 kids (ages 4 and under).
So what does this mean for you?
You don’t have to settle for the body you have. Just because you are a mom does not mean that the stubborn baby fat has to stick around. You control what your body looks like and you can make a change. April and I are here to help you with that.
I’ve included links in this post for Brazil Butt Lift, ChaLEAN Extreme, and Shakeology. These are two great programs that have helped April reclaim the body she had before kids. She went from a “snug 6″ (in her words) to a size 0/2. What if you could drop 2-4 dress and pant sizes? You can. We can help.
April’s next goal? Beachbody has a contest going for both coaches and the public for Brazil Butt Lift. Her goal is to win one of those contest!
Her blog is at http://www.AprilWorley.com. Expect to be reading more about her exercise and her transformation there.
Realize that day 60 just means the end of month 2 (phase 2) and not literal day 60…kinda hard to post those when I’m on day 56! But here they are…
I’m always hardest on myself, but felt this was decent progress so far. Cannot way for day 90!
If you want to get P90X for yourself and start seeing results, you can order it here. When you order through this website you get me as a personal coach to help you through the program, answer questions, and share with you what I’m doing.
I can also show you how to save 25% on P90X and the supporting supplements for the routine. You’ll get this cheaper than you will at your local vitamin shop and all products are very high quality. Email me at brent@getfitwithbrent.com and I’ll show you what you need to do to start saving today.
Today started phase 3 of P90X…where muscle confusion really kicks in.
Chest and Back, well….kinda kicked my butt today. I’m still a bit on vacation mode. I woke up early, I had a slight headache, I was still tired, but I knew…I KNEW…I had to make it happen today.
So my reps were still up there, but not nearly as high as I wanted. I struggled with pull-ups more, but I’m okay with that. I realize today was not 100% (not that I was not trying), but still pretty good, just wanted more reps.
My problem with Ab Ripper was this: I was too distracted by other things. I was thinking about returning to work, was thinking about the day, and was not focusing on what I was doing. So I was a bit disappointed with that, but now know that I need to FOCUS more during the routine.
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I have not posted in a while about P90X as I’ve been out of town on vacation (or just getting back and trying to recover!).
But I’ve only missed one day of exercise, that being the last day of week 7. I was attending the Team Beachbody Summer Of Success tour in Nashville and did not have a great place to exercise at the hotel. Of course, there was an unplanned group workout later that day after the meeting (that I wish I would have known about and I would have been prepared to do it instead).
While on vacation in Gulf Shores, Alabama I manged to do everyday but Friday (when I was traveling back), but used that as a rest day and worked yesterday and today instead.
So with that said, here are my Phase 2 P90X results.
Neck: 15.25 (15.5) -.25″
Chest: 40.5″ (42″) -1.5″
Waist: 36.75″ (38.25″) -1.5″
R Bicep: 13.5″ (13.25) +.25″
L Bicep: 13.25″ (13) +.25″
Hips: 38.25″ (39) -.75″
R Thigh: 18.25″ (20.5″) -2.5″
L Thigh: 19.5″ (22) -2.5″
Weight: 176.0 (183.0) -7 lbs
My weight has been as low as 174.6 during this phase…but vacation and less than perfect eating there caused me to retain a bit more sodium and water than what I usually do (as well as not taking in nearly enough water to flush it out), so I expect my weight to come back down.
My body fat came in at 15.58%, down from the 22% I started this round on (using a 7 fold measurment…the 3 fold measurement has me a LOT lower).
The pictures show pretty good results, and I could not be more pleased. Considering most of this phase has been a nutritional challenge (i.e. not eating nearly as clean as I like or should), I cannot complain about making progress.
Here are some P90x day 60 photos from this round, comparing to where I was at the end of last phase.
Tomorrow I hope to have some comparison pictures from day 0 of this round of P9X through day 60.
But for now, it’s off to bed to get ready for phase 3…the ultimate in muscle confusion for P90X.
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Hi From GetFitWithBrent.com
Hi, my name is Brent Worley and welcome to my fitness blog. You can follow my fat loss and weight loss progress here, learn about great routines you can do to lose weight and get fit, get new recipes, and so much more. Thanks for visiting and feel free to ask questions!
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