Give the Gift of Fitness and Health

It's the holiday season. We're all thinking about what to give that friend, spouse, son/daughter, relative, neighbor, parent, special person, etc. And maybe you're thinking about what to get for yourself, too. New Year's Eve is a little more than a month away and in the Top 10 New Year's Resolutions, "getting fit" and "taming the bulge" are numbers 2 and 3 respectively. On another site, the number 1 New Year's resolution was "Lose Weight and get in Better Physical Shape." They've been on my list for years and thankfully, I finally did something to follow through on those resolutions.

If you've been reading my blog, you know I'm a disciple of P90X. I enjoy the workouts, I like what it's done for me physically and I love the way I feel now that I'm doing it consistently. I feel better than I have in years.

If you've been thinking about getting a fitness program for yourself or for someone special, go to my BeachBody website to find the right fitness program for you or that special person in your life. You can find information about P90X or Insanity on the main page, or click on the "Shop" button to browse through some of their other programs. For the price of a month or two at a gym or at a fraction of the cost of a machine you bought but aren't using, you can have a program that will motivate and inspire you to get fit and to stay in shape all year long.


I completely believe in BeachBody products and with their "no-questions-asked" money back guarantees, (e.g. P90X has a 90 day money back guarantee), you really have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Yoga Addict

Yoga is interesting. I've talked to so many people who don't particularly care for yoga when they first try it. In fact, I know a lot of people who really hate it. At first. Then, something happens. If you stick with it, focus on the moves, focus on yourself, you'll feel incredible when you're finished. It's a feeling that's difficult to describe to someone who's never done it before.

I first did yoga in college, almost 30 years ago. I remember enjoying it then, but not following through after I graduated. I picked it up again 7 or 8 years ago and again, after the first few times doing it, really enjoyed it again. But then, life happens and memberships expire and (fill in any number of excuses here).

With P90X, YogaX is one of the DVDs. I don't know the type or style of yoga it is, but it's a tough workout. It's tough, but again, if you stick with it, you really start to enjoy it. I know I do and a friend of mine who didn't care for it much has now moved on is doing yoga regularly at a local health club or yoga studio. And he still talks about how much he enjoys doing the yoga and the way it makes him feel afterwards.

I've done three classes at my health club in the past two weeks. Two were called "Power Yoga" (see my blog post below for details) and I did a Hatha Yoga session a few days ago. One thing I've learned with yoga classes, is each instructor is different. They focus on different areas, different moves, different postures. If you've tried yoga and didn't like it, don't give up on it. Yoga can be as good as the instructor leading you through it and the key is to find one that works well for you.

This morning, I went through "Power Yoga" for a second time. I was expecting the same thing as last week and that's definitely not what I got. Instead, this yoga instructor focused a great deal on the breath, on making your body was correctly aligned in each pose and I definitely got the sense she wanted everyone to feel the mind/body connection as we were going through the various poses.

I'm not sure which I prefer, but I actually like each one I've done. Still, there's nothing quite like YogaX and if you can get through YogaX without any trouble or if you just feel pretty strong all the way through, I haven't been through a yoga routine yet that challenges YogaX in terms of challenging my body.

I think all physical fitness helps keep the body young and energized, but in particular, I think yoga has more to do with overall fitness than any other exercise routine. Having said that, I don't think a workout schedule full of just yoga is the right thing to do, but I do believe everyone should add a little yoga to their fitness regimen. It'll be good for you. Namaste.

Rest

I pushed it yesterday. Hard. I did my usual P90X workout in the morning and then, decided to try a 90-minute Yoga class in the evening followed by a "Body Sculpting" class afterwards. So today, I decided to take it easy and rest.

Rest, they say, is when your muscles grow. Working out, pumping iron, running, cardio - they all work your muscles and actually, tear them down. It's not until you rest that you begin to grow muscle as your body tries to repair the slight damage you caused by exercising so intensely. It's how you build muscle and it's how you grow strong. That's why they always recommend you stagger your days and try to avoid working out the same muscles two days in a row.

So, if you've had plenty of exercise and your body tells you it's time for a break, take it. Your body will thank you in the long run.

164

164. That was my maximum heart rate this morning during CardioX. How do I know? I use my heart rate monitor during any of my cardio workouts. I never thought much about it before, but now that I'm using one, I really appreciate the instant feedback.

For me (and probably you, too), the higher my heart rate is for an extended period of time, the harder I breathe and the more I sweat. And my heart rate is a great indicator of how intense my workout is.

This is the one I use. It's the Bowflex Ana-Digit strapless heart rate monitor. I tried the type where you wear a strap across your chest and didn't like it much, so I never used it. It has a regular analog clock face and a digital read out for your heart rate. When I want to know my heart rate, I press and hold the two buttons diagonal from each other and within 10 seconds, it gives me a surprisingly accurate heart rate - almost identical to the reading I get when I'm on an exercise bike holding onto the handles to check my heart rate.

I really like the watch, but if you plan on using it outdoors, I'd fine a different one. The red LED readout is difficult, sometimes impossible to read outside. But indoors, it works very well.

Another reason to get one - to measure your overall level of fitness. One measure of fitness is to measure how how many beats per minute your heart rate drops within one minute of stopping an intense exercise routine. So, for example, if my heart rate was 164 and I rested for a minute and it dropped to 154, that would mean my heart was having a difficult time recovering. However, if it dropped to 134, that would be much better in terms of overall fitness. The faster your heart rate drops within a minute after exercise, the more fit you are.

If you're not using heart rate monitor now, I recommend you get one. There have been several times when I thought my heart rate was where I wanted it to be and then, I found it was lower, letting me know I could bump up my intensity level.

Never Expected This

POWER Yoga! Sounds intimidating, doesn't it? I thought so. I joined a health club - just a two month membership with my daughter. She broke her toe dancing and wanted to do something to keep in shape and she likes the exercise bikes. So, we joined a health club for two months.

I saw on the class schedule: POWER Yoga! and thought I'd give it a try. I haven't been to an actual yoga class in years, but I have been doing (and enjoying) YogaX - the 90 minute Yoga DVD that's part of P90X.

So, I went in this morning, not sure what to expect. The room was full with maybe 15 others and an instructor. The moves were all familiar. The instructor didn't go in the same order as Tony Horton does in P90X, but there was a lot of similarity in what she focused on.

At the end of the session, I felt great. There wasn't a single move I couldn't do and I felt great throughout. The reason for the title - Never Expected This - is that afterwards, two people came up to me and asked me how I was able to do all the moves. The other guy in the class (the rest were women) said he was surprised by how flexible I was. They asked me if I'd done a lot of yoga and I told them "not really, just what I've been doing in P90X." I never expected anyone to notice or say anything about me being able to do the yoga moves. It was really kind of nice.

So, long story short - yoga today was great. I wouldn't be able to do what I was doing without P90X and I have to say, even though yoga isn't supposed to be competitive, it's impossible not to look around to see what others are doing. And when I looked around, this 48 year old guy was doing it well enough for people to notice. And that felt pretty cool.

This Says It All

I'm a big fan of Survivor. Have been for years. In this season of Survivor, they're in Nicaragua. One of the castaways - Jane - a fit-looking 56 year old woman tells one of the younger guys, she did P90X to get ready for the show. Watch how she does on this immunity challenge.

Getting a Real Sweat

As a kid, you sweat all the time. Running, biking, playing - whatever, you're just very active. And you sweat a lot. As you get older, you find reasons not to sweat and to not be as active as you once were. So, check yourself right now: how do you feel? I mean, really. How do you feel?

If you're like me, most of the time (when I'm not in a workout routine), I feel o.k., but rarely do I feel great. A few aches and pains every now and then, but overall, just o.k. The few times a year when I would sweat (for me, that was either once every six months when I decided to workout or maybe, on the dance floor), but I noticed that I always felt great afterwards. But as I continued to get older, the times when I'd get my heart pumping and sweat flowing were becoming fewer and fewer and the time between them was growing longer. Again, I felt o.k., but not really great.

I thought maybe it was just me - that somehow the sweat thing was coincidental, that maybe it was some other reason why I felt better after a good strength or cardio workout> But then, I had a conversation with a friend yesterday. He's also doing P90X and yesterday was his "rest" day and he did the StretchX DVD. It's relaxing and you stretch a lot, but there's no cardio and there's no sweat. He said he did the DVD, but his head felt like it was in a fog all day and he didn't have the same energy as he did on the other days. For me, it's exactly the same. Days when I get in a good workout - I have energy and feel great for the rest of the day. Days when I find an excuse not to workout, I have less energy and I'm not in as great a mood as I am on days when I push myself.

So, I challenge you to try it both ways and do a little self-observation. How do you feel on the days you workout vs. the days that you don't? Do you notice any difference and if so, what are the differences? For me, I need to get my heart rate up and let the sweat flow. If I do both of those things, I know I'll have a great day. I bet you will, too.