Week 3 Wrap Up - Insanity Max: 30 and P90

Wow, I can't believe I've completed three weeks of Insanity Max: 30 and P90!!!

Week 3 of Insanity Max: 30 brought a new workout: Tabata Strength!

Yes, slightly different than Tabata Power in that the "water breaks" now become "moving breaks." Shaun T. isn't messing around here. He even brought back Mummy Kicks from the original Insanity! I had a bit of "war flashbacks" the first time I did this workout, but my post-traumatic stress has subsided ;-)

Tabata Strength is harder than its predecessor (hello diamond jumps, abs, pushups ... anything with "diamond" in it). However, I absolutely love the end. It's exactly like a Pure Barre class with pulsing while you're in a wide squat. It felt like home to me and I was ready to take Shaun T. on!

Since I'm also doing the Ab Maximizer Calendar, I did two additional ab workouts: Max Out Abs and 360 Abs.
Do you like genie tucks? Then Max Out Abs is for you ;-)
Want some more lower back work? Then 360 Abs is your workout.
Both are 15 minutes long and fly by. They are great and I love the challenge they both give me.

P90 is doing great as well! Again, I love the fact that I can count on Sculpt A, Sweat A, and Ab Ripper A to keep me on track. When I press play, I don't have to psych myself out and pump myself up like Insanity (although I like doing that most days). I know I can complete these workouts and not have to mentally push myself.

So many things to be grateful for on this journey. Believe me, there are tough days.
There are days I don't "feel like it." But I know my commitment. As the book "The Slight Edge" said, "It's just as easy to not do the things that will get us to our goals." It would have been just as easy to stop. But that's not what I want.

The journey of health and fitness isn't about working out; it's about finding your potential and being uplifted to live your best life.

Digging Deep

 Did you read that correctly? Yes, it says that my maximum heart rate during my workout was 193.

193.

I've run two full marathons, several other races, and not to mention train for those events. I have never seen my heart rate that high. EVER.

When you're a runner, you try to stay in your target heart rate zone and work to increase how fast you can go in that zone.

But this is Insanity Max:30. There's these exercises called power jumps, plyo pushups, tricep dips, and burped lunge. They work your entire body AND your heart rate. How will I know know that I will be ready for my next marathon this year? Because I can do Insanity Max:30.

I am now in the second week of this year-long journey. Yesterday on Sweat Intervals, I had to dig deep. It was a workout that I've already done, but my mind was not in it. I'm still not sure why there was a disconnect yesterday. Nevertheless, there was one. It took everything I had to get through it. Shaun T's motivation definitely helped.

Yes, I have those days. It's okay that you have those days. That's life. It happens. Just keep going. 

That's why I've been looking forward to my P90 workouts more and more each day. I KNOW I can do them. There is no doubt. I'm liking the balance between the difficulty (both mentally and physically) of Insanity Max:30 and the levelness and consistency of P90. I've been doing the same 2 workouts of P90, Sculpt and Sweat, and I won't change those until this month. They are the "yin" to Insanity Max:30's "yang".

Speaking of yin-yang, for as hard as I had to push myself through yesterday, today was the opposite. I felt so motivated and energized, that I did what I'm now calling the "trifecta"  - I did 30 minutes each of P90 (strength), Insanity Max:30 (cardio), and PiYo (stretch and flexibility).

Yes, I did and I am still feeling the afterglow of that amazing trifecta. If only one day I could teach a 90-minute live class of those three formats ... (and now my mind starts turning with how to get there).

This is the journey of completing this project - all P90 and P90X, X2, X3 AND completing the entire Insanity series.

"It's not about exercise. It's about your life." - Shaun T.
Yes.  Yes, it is. :-)

I'm Betting on You

I spent my Saturday morning with over 400 amazing people who made a commitment to changing their lives for the better. It's why I teach clarinet and also why I'm a fitness coach - to change lives. Fitness, health, and music; a powerful combination to see the potential in you, to realize that, yes, you can achieve anything you want in your life.

We come from all walks of life - teachers, corporate CEOs, nurses, doctors, lawyers, accountants ... but when we joined this group, we became ONE - because together we are stronger.

When you join us, it means:

- You become a champion of your own goals and we will help you reach these goals.
- You are betting on YOU and WE are betting on YOU.
- You are believing in YOU and WE are believing in YOU.

I'm making a commitment to uplift others - to empower YOU to take that step on your own personal journey. This year, every one matters. You matter. Your dreams matter. Take that step and join this incredible and powerful movement of people changing other lives and changing their own lives each and every moment!

So in keeping with my goals, I'm announcing my February Love Yourself Challenge, starting Feb. 2 and now is the time to sign up! If you want nutrition made simple, 30-minute workouts, and a group of positive encouragement, then join us on this journey! 

We are doing the 21 Day Fix … yes, the program with the colorful portion control containers!  

Nutrition is well over 70% of the equation to seeing results in your weight loss journey. I did this program in November and lost 6 pounds in 21 days. My good friend lost even more pounds AND kicked her soda habit. Our relationship with food is often a key priority in learning to love ourselves. 

Eat like you love yourself.

Move like you love yourself.

Speak like you love yourself.

Act like you love yourself.

Remember, I’m betting on you. I know you can do this. Let’s connect if you’re ready to bet on yourself and join our group 

The Next Chapter

Rarely do we know when one chapter of our life ends and another begins. On those occasions where we can feel the tides change, go out and catch the wave.

I have been trying to catch that wave for a while, and I am finally riding it smoothly. I am blessed to know to this is indeed a new chapter of my life. Last year, I graduated with my Master’s Degree. I also started a long-held dream of having a full-time clarinet studio, not to mention that I finally made the dive in the deep end of the pool in my other passion of fitness. So to say that “it’s all happening” in my life right now would be an understatement.

How else do I know this is a new chapter? Because I can see the fear and doubt I have engraved for many years are starting to become a distant memory.

I’m not a quitter by any stretch of the word, but I do have fear and doubt constantly trying to make me go off course. It’s happened plenty of times. I’ve gotten off track in many journeys. But only on rare occasions have I ever given up.

This time is different. It is with bated breath I say that fear and doubt haven't woken me up in the middle of the night and told me I’m not good enough to do this. That “noise,” as I call it, has the volume turned down to a virtual 0.

It’s taken a long time to quiet fear and doubt this much. A LONG TIME. As in over a decade. In fact, it wasn’t until college that I realized that I wasn’t supposed to be hearing them all the time, constantly knocking me down. It was a silver lining that taught me that, one of the many silver linings that my father’s death has bestowed upon me.

Do you hear them, fear and doubt? You’ll know they’re there when hear things like, “You’re not good enough,” or “That’s too hard,” or even the classic “But it has to be perfect, otherwise there’s no use in doing it.” One of keys for me to get them to shut down is by stopping, taking a few deep breaths, then having a personal mantra ready to use. It’s more or less a short form of meditation. I am not a master at meditation by any means, but the stillness of a minute can happen if you work on it little by little.

These past two days, fear and doubt haven’t entered my mind about conquering my fitness project. Yesterday was Sweat Intervals for Insanity Max:30 and Sculpt A from P90.

Let’s talk Sweat Intervals first. Um … there was A LOT of sweat involved. Shaun T really put the “sweat” in sweat intervals! I maxed out at 16:45. This is a basic Insanity-like cardio exercise that are set up in intervals … shocking description, I know. Some exercises like squat lunges, power jumps, jump and cross twists will push you to your limits. Add this workout to another one of the hard cardio challenges that Shaun T offers in this program. But this isn’t about exercise, it’s about your life. Keep moving, keep pushing.

Next up was P90 Sculpt A. Hey, I had the door attachment today!!! I bought it for $8 off Amazon and had it in time for this workout (My heart goes out to the delivery men who are braving this weather to deliver things like my resistance band door attachment). 

The one move that I noticed a difference with the resistance bands versus the weights I used the first time was the tricep pulldowns … ow! My triceps were on fire (sang in Alicia Keys’ voice)!!!

Today’s workout were a repeat from Tuesday, Tabata Power and Sweat A.

Tabata Power: I. will. conquer. power. jumps.

Seriously, the amount of expletives that go through my mind the last three seconds of each exercise should be illegal. But I get through it and get it done!!!

Sweat A: STELLA!!!! I love you, Tony Horton. I also love Tony’s “H” tape on the floor. It’s good for form and helps with speed-like drills.

Ab Ripper A: I added this today because I forgot it on Tuesday (oops!!).  It’s a little over 8 minutes long and my abs will feel it tomorrow. That Plantain roller got my abs shaking. This is the “hardest” workout so far in P90 for me. Glad it’s short :-)

It would have been easy to not do these workouts. It was like the North Pole outside both days (school was even cancelled!) and fear and doubt could have popped into my mind in these ways:

“Hey, no school today, so you should enjoy this day! You don’t have to workout!!!”
“This Insanity Max:30 is too hard. You’re really going to keep doing this???”

“This P90 is really easy. You’re really going to keep doing this???”

See, when you write out what fear and doubt are telling you, it becomes a hilarious reel of craziness.

I’m so glad for this next chapter in my life. It’s unwritten, but that’s the most beautiful part. (Cue Natasha Bedingfield song ...)

The Second Step

They say that taking the first step is the hardest.

I think that’s completely false.  The second step is so much harder than the first.

The second step means you’ve made a conscious decision to move forward, to press ahead. You made the decision again in your brain to do something, thus starting the fascinating process of mapping our mind in what we’re doing.  We are aware on the second step, more alive. And it means if we stop now, the decision is ours.

Today was Day 2 of this crazy, insane journey I’m taking with my health and fitness. That means I made the same decision to get my butt moving and complete two workouts. As expected, I was a little more tired today than yesterday. The excitement is wearing off already. But I’ve taken so many journeys in my life that this no longer phases me anymore. I’ve also worked out for so long now that I know getting some exercise immediately energizes and awakens me.

I chose to do Insanity Max:30 first today, just to see if there was a difference in my energy level. There sure was! I didn’t max out until the very end (29:00) on those last dang power jumps!!! Tabata means 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. This makes the difficulty level of the exercise bearable because we all can wrap our mind around doing anything for that short amount of time. It worked for me as far as increasing my maxing out level.

I have to compare Tabata Power to another workout I did religiously for a year and a half called Pure Barre. (And when I say “religiously” it was because I treated it like a religion; it was an obsession.) If you’ve ever been to a PB class, you know how it goes: warm-up, thighs, seat, seated core, mat core, bridge, cooldown. The movements are small, isometric, and intense. The goal is to literally have you shaking as you pulse/tuck/squeeze the last 10 reps of each exercise. (Imagine a room full of women at a barre with all their thighs shaking … that’s what PB is.)

To get myself through those tough moments in a PB class, I would have a tool chest of things to get my mind around being able to finish each exercise (a lot of them were expletives!). So doing Tabata Power and getting to the end of each 20-second move was like opening back up that tool chest, dusting off the hammer, and banging away to reach the end.

My upper body is my weak link and I did do the modified push-ups, so perhaps you could say that’s really where I maxed out. But I did no other modifications and was doing fine until those last power jumps! I will get you my pretty, and your little dog too!!!

After a sea of sweat was starting to profuse from my body, I went on to Sweat A from P90. I was a little worried that my shirt was going to be completely drenched when I was done, but since this workout is geared toward beginners it felt like a nice way to slow down my heart rate and get a steady pace going.

The workout has one section of moves that is repeated all over again, taking about 23 minutes. They are cardio based and get your body moving, but they do have strength components in the moves as well. The modifications are great and Tony has simply put together the perfect first workout for anyone. I can’t say enough great things about the progression I’m seeing in Tony’s program and how it is so accessible to ALL!!!

That was my second day of this craziness. I was thinking about all the people out there that started something yesterday and may have already given up today. Per usual, synchronicity was at play because this quote popped into my world:
“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” ~ Ella Fitzgerald

To all the people that have quit or are thinking about giving in this early in the game, on day two, on your second step of the journey: DON’T.

Don’t be the old you.

Don’t be your past.

Don’t be your fear.

Take a deep breath and try again.

Press play for five minutes. Just five minutes. That’s all.

Eat one meal today that’s good for you. One meal. That’s all.

Drink one extra bottle of water. One bottle. That’s all

Don’t give up trying. Don’t give up on becoming the person you want to be. It’s a process and nothing happens overnight. Even I had to remember that today with this blog. So slow down, breathe, and put that one foot in front of the other. You can’t go wrong.

A Year of Extreme. A Year of Insanity. A Year of Miracles.

Running a 5K.
Benching 400 pounds.
Running a half marathon.
Climbing a mountain.
Running a full marathon.
Skydiving.
Completing a triathalon.

These are all goals, physical feats of men and women across the world. Even me, I’m looking to complete my third marathon this year.

But there’s another goal I’m looking to achieve, one that requires more perseverance and even more dedication than most or all of these coveted obstacles - completing the entire library of P90X and Insanity workouts.

Why does this require more perseverance and dedication? Because it will be EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I’ve trained for a marathon - it’s hard; it’s mentally taxing. There are really great runs followed by horrible, terrible runs. But you don’t have to train every single day to complete a marathon. You take days (plural) off from running. You cross train or rest your body.

Doing 90 days of four different workout series takes the ENTIRE year, 6 days a week. Doing it with the crazy and extreme cardio workout that is the Insanity series adds to the amount of perseverance and dedication it will take to make it through the whole year without getting off track.

But this isn’t the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. Not even close. I’ve had to face the passing of my father. I’ve had to overcome my own self-destructiveness. Those are much worse than anything I’ll do in any of these workouts over the next 365 days.

I am also doing this journey with some “textbooks” to guide me on my personal and spiritual growth as well. They are all daily devotionals, daybooks - whatever you want to call them - that I read every morning. I’ve read parts of the books before, but never finished any of them. This will be the year I finish.

Here’s what’s on my shelf:
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach
A Leader’s Heart, A 365 Day Devotional Journal by John C. Maxwell
A Year With Hafiz: Daily Contemplations by Daniel Ladinsky
A Year With Rumi: Daily Readings by Coleman Barks
Beautiful You: A Daily Guide to Radical Self-Acceptance by Rosie Molinary
Resonate with Stillness: Daily Contemplations by Swami Muktanada
A Course in Miracles
Holy Shift: 365 Daily Meditations from ACIM by Robert Holden
A Year of Miracles: Daily Devotions and Reflections by Marianne Williamson

I started all of these books on January 1. The list looks long and intimidating, but since all the texts are broken into 365 pieces, each daily read is short. It takes about 30 minutes total to read and reflect on all the books.

Do I find the depth of every single word of every single sentence in every single paragraph? Probably not.
Do I feel better after reading these? Heck yes.
Will enlightenment happen? God, I hope. But enlightenment has always been happening, as I’m slowly finding out.

A physical journey and a spiritual journey. Those are the steps I’m taking this year to uplift those around me.

Extreme. Insane. Miraculous. That’s what this year is starting to look like.

------------------------
Today’s Workouts:
P90 Sculpt A
Insanity Max:30 Cardio Challenge

Let me just say I have done P90X and Insanity before (see About Me). But yet, I’m still in love with Tony Horton and Shaun T. Both are motivating; both are authentic. That’s what you need in someone that’s taking you on a journey like this.

If you are doing P90 as well, then you’ll know this tip that I somehow missed before starting today - YOU NEED A DOOR ATTACHMENT FOR YOUR BANDS! After all the resistance bands I’ve received from Beachbody, I somehow don’t have a door attachment. Not sure how that happened. So instead of buying another set of bands just to get the door attachment, I went to Amazon and bought an $8 door attachment (sorry, I love you BB). I first tried using the resistance band and just shutting the door to hold it - then they immediately came down and slapped my boobs across their face. I improvised by just using weights in the same manner of the resistance bands. I’ll get my door attachment on Wednesday (thank you Amazon Prime!).

Sculpt A was the PERFECT first workout for those wanting the “on switch” to fitness. PERFECT. What this DVD does well is it shows you the move before you do it, rather than wasting the first few reps while you try to figure out what’s going on. Love that Tony Horton has this figured out. Form is key and Tony preaches it!

Sculpt A hits all the major body parts: legs, glutes, core, chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps. Your heart rate will get up as well. I didn’t sweat (which is shocking for me!) but - and I say this knowing where I was and where I am now - I’m a little beyond this workout. And that’s fine. If you’re reading this and are new to fitness, haven’t worked out in a while, or just want to try something that’s more strength than cardio, then this would be great to do.

Next up was Cardio Challenge from Insanity Max:30. I took a deep breath, put my big girl pants on, and dove in ...

My accountability kitty, who has no problem hanging out with me during PiYo, 21 Day Fix, and even during P90 (even to the point of getting in my way) immediately ran out the door, never to return. He was watching from outside the room as I was sweating profusely and jumping around like I was walking on hot coals.

The amount of movement you’re doing starts and never stops. Light jumping … okay, who am I kidding, full-on jumping, followed by exercises like burpees, push-ups, dynamic planks, dynamic ab movements … dynamic everything!!!

The whole point is that you go full out until you have to stop and gather yourself. Today, I maxed out at 8:15. I was panting like a dog in the middle of a hot summer day. My heart rate was WAY faster than it was when I ran my marathon last month or on any run I do!!! I don’t work in the extremes when I run (to remain injury-free). Shaun T ONLY works in extremes.

But even though it hurts, it hurts so good! Shaun T is so positive, empowering, and motivating that you want to just keep going. It’s only 30 minutes. By the time you’re at 15 minutes, you’re halfway done. You tell yourself you can keep going, you can do it … so does Shaun T. This DVD is also great because the modifier (another BB coach, Danielle Katz) has the option to remain in your screen the entire time! At about 16 minutes I stuck with Danielle the rest of the workout.

Modifying is not a disease. It’s called building yourself. You don’t run 26.2 miles on your first run, and most of us (or all) won’t go full out for the entire 30 minutes of this working, never reaching the max out point. That’s the whole point, YOU WANT TO MAX OUT.

Day 1 is complete, in the annals of history. I feel ready and more inspired than ever to continue this journey. I have Tony Horton and Shaun T by my side. I think I’m in good company :-)

2015 - The Year of Uplift

It's the first Monday of 2015. There are lots of people making the commitment to change their lives by changing their health and fitness routines. I hope you're one of them!!! But more importantly, I want you to do the things this year that make your light shine brightly. Don't let your "wobbly bits," as Bridget Jones would say, stop you from living your true purpose. This is your life ... and the best project you'll ever work on is yourself. Don't let your thighs get in the way of your life. 

I am starting my own journey today as well. Actually, I started part of the journey on Jan. 1 with some daily personal and spiritual growth I will be doing the next 365 days. But the other part of my journey will be completing the entire P90X series this year. I'm starting with P90, then doing P90X3, followed by the original P90X, and ending with P90X2. There is a reason for that order, but we'll get to that later. When I sat down and thought about it, I saw how amazing it was that an entire workout method can encompass an entire year. How awesome is that???

I also got on the Insanity Max:30 train that my team is taking part in. So last night, I actually had the vision enter my mind of completing all of Shaun T's workouts this year as well!!! "Insanity" really is the appropriate word to use for this grand plan. So I'll be doing Insanity Max:30 for 60 days, the original Insanity for 60 days, Insanity Asylum 1 (30 Days), Insanity Asylum 2 (30 days), and then ending with Focus T25, which is 10 weeks long. 

Yes, that's my plan! I can't believe this is going to happen, but it somehow feels right and there's no doubt in my mind that I will complete this. I finished my Day 1 P90 workout, Sculpt A, as well as Insanity Max:30 Cardio Challenge this morning, bright and early. It was a crazy, "insane," and miraculous morning. 

I want this blog to hold me accountable. However, I am a writer by nature and need time to reflect and find the appropriate words to express my experiences each day, so my blog will likely run a day behind where I actually am in the workout programs. I will post small updates, but the actual experiences will most likely be posted the next day.

WHY?

Why am I doing this? Simple. This isn't for me. This isn't for my health. This isn't for my family and friends to see what I'm doing. This is so much bigger than that. This is for a community ... for you, the people I don't know, to inspire, empower and uplift YOU to feel and do the things that inspire, empower and uplift you. Sometimes it will be by reading my story. It may be that you join me and we work together to get you on the right path to live your potential. Or one day, it could even be that this community will help uplift each other to live the life you always wanted.

So here's to 2015 - the year of X, the year of extreme, the year of insanity, the year of light, the year of uplifting.