Team Beachbody ¡preestreno!Español Guest

As mentioned in my "Bio", I was looking for a program to try that would maximize my time, tone up my mid-section, and improve energy. Guess what? It worked well beyond my expectations. I'm now playing softball, flag football, running 5k & 10k runs, and riding my bike all over the place with my family.

Here's the surprising part, my workout equipment consisted of a chin up bar, dumbbells, and a mat. My heaviest dumbbell is 35 lbs each, which can be adjusted down to 8 lbs if need be. I used to think I had to go to the gym for 2 hours a day pounding the weights, running a mile every other day, and do a thousand crunches. NOPE, NADA, NOT EVEN CLOSE. The 12 separate workout DVD's allowed me to start and finish my workout normally within an hour. That includes all my stretching and cool down. Sometimes, it may take 1 to 1-1/2 hours if I was struggling that day. But think about it, you're in your own home by yourself!!!

Okay, now the workout.... the program is set up to exercise 6 out of 7 days while alternating resistance/weight training with cardio every other day. I'll be the first to admit, there were weeks where I was only able to work out 2 or 3 days a week. I would also substitute in a cardio workout (whether it be running or another cardio DVD) if I chose to. The key to making the program effective is to focus on quality over quantity and watching your diet. Another key that I've come to realize is many of the actual workouts are balanced movements and are core focused. If I can sum what I've learned over the last 90 work out days, there would be two main points:
o The program focuses around the "muscle confusion", which shocks your usual boring routine and allows change, growth, and strength. As any trainer will tell you, that's absolutely a crucial element in seeing results.
o This program teaches exactly what to work out, how to make the correct movements and how many reps to do. When I was at the gym, it was more of a free for all and lift anything and everything. I also found that I was placing to much pressure on certain joints while trying to lift as much weight as possible.

DIET: As far as my personal diet, my wife and I don't have the time to prepare the gourmet meals that come with the program, so I basically cut out 95% of all soft drinks, sweets, and fried foods that I used to eat. I also cut my meal portions down by a third to a half and increased my carbs and protein intake. This helped me with my endurance and energy levels. Now if you read my Facebook page from time to time, you know my wife calls me out when she finds a Dairy Queen oreo blizzard cup left over in my truck. the main point is, if you need a meal plan to follow, it's included with the P90X kit, it's thorough and it's very informative.

SUPPLEMENTS: I started drinking protein shakes after my third week into the program. By this point, my body was physically worn down from all the exercise and conditioning. The added protein shakes were a boost and greatly reduced the recovery period needed for the muscles to rebuild. This made a tremendous effect on my performance while working out as well. This website offers many of the recovery products available. FYI....Just started Shakeology and love it. 140 calorie tasty shakes for meal replacement is absolutely incredible.