Bring It.....

I will be starting my fifth week with the popular DVD exercise session termed P90X. I have noticed changes in my flexibility, strength and agility already! This program was developed by world famous personal trainer extraordinaire, Tony Horton, in collusion with the CEO of Beachbody, Carl Daikeler. Tony partnered with Beachbody in 1996 and has created many workout programs prior to P90X. None of which have equalled the notoriety of P90X. It was developed in 2004, branching off of Tony's prior program called Power 90. It is an intense interval based workout program 90 days in duration. It is based upon the theory of "muscle confusion." In a nutshell, by generating muscle confusion in the body, one can avoid the dreaded plateau. Not only does plateauing occur with weight loss, it does with regards to workout programs as well. For instance, I have been an athlete most of my life and was getting restless with the two to three day per week weight lifting program I had embarked upon years earlier. I was not noticing increases in strength and any decrease in body fat percentage. I was also bored! My husband's sister had done most of P90X and told us about it at a family get together some months back. I really paid no interest to it then as I had no idea what it was all about. My husband was interested in learning more about it about six weeks ago and did some research. He then found a great deal on Craig's List, paying sixty dollars for an unopened P90X DVD set!  He snapped it up and began working out. I was slow to follow...I am about a week behind him. I hesitated due to the time requirements of the program. The yoga program is 90 minutes in duration and when I first did it I thought, if Tony says.."and raise your left foot to the sky" one more time, I will throw a brick through the T.V.! I also tailored the program to my lifestyle, which one can do as we do not all live perfect story book lives and are all pinched for time. The program can be adapted to all sorts of personal goals. Athletes wanting to get in prime shape in a short amount of time can do double workouts daily. Women wanting the long, lean muscular look, rather than bulking up, can utilize the lean training block in the DVD set. It turns out that after doing the program for one month, it is exactly what I was looking for! My goals are to decrease body fat and some weight, maybe five pounds or so, and to become stronger for biking, namely mountain biking, which is my passion (at least in the work out world)! We have had an unusual spring with tornadoes and tons of rain, thereby making mountain biking virtually impossible, frustrating, yet not as much as it could be due to having P90X to do. I have been road biking and do notice a huge increase in strength and endurance. We did a 25 mile road bike ride the other day and I was not even tired at the end. We do not have "normal" road bikes, but ride single speeds...meaning, no gears! Minneapolis/St. Paul is a haven for single speeders. I have only been riding single speed bike for two years now and can not imagine going back to a geared bike exclusively!
I anticipate the upcoming mountain biking racing season and may even try a six hour endurance bike racing event. Basically, Tony H. sums it up well in saying that P90X will prepare one for a life filled with possibilities rather than one with limitations! The choice to embark upon a program like this or a comparable program takes dedication and extra "ompa-loompa." The results are well worth the time, dedication, and initial discomfort, as I don't know about you, but I plan on being active all of my life and am happy to have found the vehicle with which to make this possible. Go to: www.beachbody.com. to research all of the programs available to get you on your way to being the best you can be!