Posted by FitLifeSFRob in Contributors Thursday, 17 May 2012 23:48 No Comments
Please check it out. Especially everyone living in New York State.
-FitLifeSF Team
Posted by FitLifeSFRob in Fitness, Rob Terlizzi Tuesday, 15 May 2012 00:19 No Comments
We all go through the daily trials that life throws at us, and it can be VERY frustrating. This isn’t a “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” comment. It is a simple fact. LIFE GETS IN THE WAY OF TRAINING. Be it work stress, family stresses, frustration with current training habits, or any of the other litany of reasons we can lose our motivation, it is our mental fortitude which will get us through it. I am not saying it is easy to make up your mind to kick ass and take names, but, it is a decision. It is a conscious decision to meet and achieve the goals YOU set.
Adjust, adapt, and achieve.
It’s not simple, but is how we move forward.
-Rob
Hey cycling and tri folks– Join three-time Tour of California winner and Olympic Bronze Medalist, Levi Leipheimer, in a webcast Monday with CLIF Bar. He’ll chat about his accident and recovery, Tour of California and Olympic hopes. And, if he likes your question, you’ll get a limited-edition signed poster!
Where: CLIF Bar’s Ustream Page
Twitter hashtag: #AskTeamCLIFBar
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/clifbar
To watch: There’s no sign-up process to watch, the webcast is completely open to the public – just click the link above to tune in.
To chat: You can create a Ustream profile or log in via your Twitter account.
Posted by FitLifeSFRob in Contributors, Fitness, P90X/P90X+, Rob Terlizzi, Weightloss Thursday, 12 January 2012 17:17 No Comments
For me, this was a much needed workout, and YES, I did feel way better after. (Tuesday I did the plyo workout and then trained Sambo. I was pretty beat up) Ft the very end of this recovery workout there are some unnecessary moves, but all in all, a very good video to do. (especially if you know how to use a foam roller)
As you can tell, Tony’s love for the foam roller has deepend almost to obsession at this point. And I must say, even though we have 2 foam rollers here at FitLifeSF HQ, I need to get the sick evil looking foam roller. My standard density white foam rollers are not doing it for me. I need more pain. (But that is me)
I like how Tony takes the extra time to rehab, and condition the body this time through. It will be a big win down the line, and even though he had a stretching/recovery workout in P90X, the use of the roller here is a big win. Where this video fails a bit is the lack of specific instruction. There are a lot more ways to use the roller than he is showing, and a lot more effective techniques. It is a good introto using the roller, but you will very quickly want more. (For a beginner it would be nice to know “what not to do.” )
It’s is a well placed workout in the program, especially if you are doing more than just the P90X2 workouts. It will definately add to your durability, and help you to keep “Bringing It” for the weeks to come. Thumbs up.
My grade for this one is a B+
-Rob
If you find this post helpful and want to purchase P90X or any equipment from Beachbody, we’d much appreciate if you use this link:
http://beachbodycoach.com/fitlifesfrob
If your Beach Body Coach isn’t helping you, be sure to tell Team Beach Body you want FitLifeSFRob as your coach! You then get the combined experience of Smurf and me.
Posted by FitLifeSFRob in Contributors, Fitness, INSANITY, P90X/P90X+, Rob Terlizzi, Weightloss Tuesday, 10 January 2012 19:06 No Comments
After documenting my workout on Teambeachbody.com today, my post workout message was, “Not a bad plyo workout, but if I was Shaun T, I’d be PISSED!”
For a beginner/intermediate level plyo workout, P90X2 Plyocide is not a bad thing to do. (If you really push yourself, it will be tough for intermediate/advanced people) None of the moves are very high impact, and it will get you sweating and your heart rate up. Though it DOES NOT COMPARE to any of the INSANITY workouts. Shaun T (I question his shelf life with BeachBody at this point. Just my feeling/opinion. No fact.) is the Video King of Cardio Hell workouts in my book. That guy kicks my ass with all his extreme fitness workouts. (And yes, I know there are only so many way the human body moves but more than 1/2 of the Plyocide movements seemed to be “inspired” by techniques featured in INSANITY and ASYLUM. I’m just say’n.)
Well, all that being said, Tony continues his love affair with his Beach Body stability ball and foam roller. It’s fine. I’d recommend doing your own warm up for this video. By the time the warm up was complete, I was anything but warm, and I could have used more stretching. They seem to be keeping the video times down, who knows, maybe people were complaining about the length of the videos.
As for the rest of the workout, it was fine. Nothing earth shattering. As I mentioned (and if you follow the blog you know), I have done INSANITY and ASYLUM. I really like both programs, and this whole video was like one long Shaun T warm up. It never really got out of first gear.
A personal issue I had with this video; I really don’t like his supporting cast in this one. They try hard enough on camera, but really have no charisma and don’t play off of Tony well. I will be replacing so I don’t have to see them, and get irked. (AND because I want a real cardio workout once a week. HELLO SHAUN T! Be seeing you next week on Tuesday. Heh.)
If I were to give this one a grade, it would be a solid C. Not bad, not good. And if you know what you are doing you can do better yourself.
Screw that…The more I write this (think about it) the more I am convincing myself that it does not hold up to P90X. It is more like an unfinished P90X+ workout, and all those were pretty mediocre.
So yeah, replace this one with a Shaun T INSANITY/ASYLUM workout.
-Rob
If you find this post helpful and want to purchase P90X or any equipment from Beachbody, we’d much appreciate if you use this link:
http://beachbodycoach.com/fitlifesfrob
If your Beach Body Coach isn’t helping you, be sure to tell Team Beach Body you want FitLifeSFRob as your coach! You then get the combined experience of Smurf and me.
Posted by FitLifeSFRob in Contributors, Martial Arts, P90X/P90X+, Rob Terlizzi, Weightloss Tuesday, 10 January 2012 15:29 No Comments
So I began a new P90X2 cycle yesterday on 1/9, which a week behind my wanted schedule…Stupid first cold of 2012! Well, at least it has begun. Starting later than I wanted allowed me the opportunity to read other people’s reviews of the X2 Core workout, and I went in not knowing what to expect. You see the other reviews were less than stellar, and I can understand why they might feel that way. Let me elaborate.
X2 is not a stand there and move weights kind of workout, it takes concentration, dedication to maintaining correct form, and patience. (All of these things should be done with every workout anyway) It is not the kind of workout that you will rock the first time through, and you for sure won’t feel its effects until the next day. Only then will you see how good this workout really was. (I was a little wiped, but it wasn’t until the next morning that I really felt sore)
So, contrary to the majority of the other reviews I have read, it is a solid core workout. It is also one of those workouts that will get tougher as you master the form and understand how to activate your muscle groups to be more effective. I actually fear the next few times I have to do this, as I know as my balance improves, the resulting burn will become awesomely brutal.
Now, I must point out, that the love affair Tony started to have with spherical objects in the “One on One” series has continued to deepen. More stability ball work (which I like anyway) and more medicine ball work (which I also like). I can also appreciate (being a sadist) Tony’s love of inflicting pain on himself and others. He has decided to bring foam roller work into his program. I think this is great we have 2 foam rollers her at FitLifeSF central HQ, as well as a number of other fun torture devices. (The stick, spiked roller balls, massage aids, but I digress) Nothing quite as fun as working out knots in your muscles. (OK there is a lot of other fun stuff to do, but I promise, the more you do it, the more you will want to do it again. Sound familiar?)
Well, have your gear handy: Mat, Stability Ball, Foam Roller, Medicine Ball, Towel and Water. (Well water isn’t really gear, but the cup/glass may be) And get ready to “Bring It” once again. For this workout, using great form and moving slow and smooth will give you the best results!
And for the record, this is a great stand alone workout for almost any fitness/sports discipline.
Enjoy & Good Luck!
-Rob
If you find this post helpful and want to purchase P90X or any equipment from Beachbody, we’d much appreciate if you use this link:
http://beachbodycoach.com/fitlifesfrob
If your Beach Body Coach isn’t helping you, be sure to tell Team Beach Body you want FitLifeSFRob as your coach! You then get the combined experience of Smurf and me.
My magical health elixir-- 32 oz of double-strength green tea, one packet Emergen-C and one tablet Airborne.
We’re officially a week into the new year, and already a little wrench has been thrown into the works here at FitLifeSF HQ– Rob got sick right after the new year, with me following in his footsteps at the tail end of this week. What a bummer to hit the ground running (or biking, or swimming, or fighting, or lifting…) and then find yourself laid up on the couch watching Jerry Springer with a box of tissue and a stick of Vicks. But, as the bumpersticker says, Shit Happens.
Whenever I’m laid up and not able to keep to my regular routine, I find the following points valuable:
- Remember that eating is really 80%, if not more, of the battle if your goals are physique and weight-related. You might not be able to go whole-hog on your workout, but you can make sure to not go whole-hog on your eating. Eat what you need to recover, but don’t use being sick as an excuse to go off your eating plan.
- Rest assured that fitness doesn’t go away in a significant way in the period of time of your average cold. In fact, if you have been working out consistently for several months or years, you’ll probably benefit from the forced break. That’s not to say that those first workouts back from illness aren’t going to suck (more from your body still being run down than from a loss of fitness), but you’ll bounce back quickly once the illness is completely out of your system.
- Just do what you can. You can head off even the small fitness losses you might experience in a one- or two-week layoff by just doing a portion of what you are used to. You might not feel up for a 5-mile run, but a brisk walk will get the blood moving and moderate exercise kicks the immune system into high gear to help fight off the nasties. Not up for a full P90X or Insanity circuit? Great time to work on your flexibility with some yoga. Don’t take an “all or nothing” approach– something is always better than nothing.
- Use the time to get/stay excited about your sport– research upcoming races, pore over gear porn on the internet, spend some time on forums talking to others who share your interests, map out your goals for the year– I’ve mentioned several times my love of stickercharts for mapping goals, workouts and to reward myself for sticking to my nutrition plan. Stickercharts rule, and and an illness-related downtime is the best time to whip up an awesome one!
And, the most important thing to remember– in the grand scheme of your fit and healthy life, one week is nothing.
Posted by Smurf in Fitness, In the News, Smurf Thursday, 5 January 2012 10:00 No Comments
I’m in awe of this article from Jason Gay at the Wall Street Journal outlining 27 Rules of Conquering the Gym. Read it off your iPad for a belly laugh while walking on the treadmill at 2 MPH and it’s quite possibly the best workout you’ll get all day!
Just make sure you get to his final rule before hopping off the ‘mill for a snack: “There is no secret. Exercise and lay off the fries. The end.”
The newest member of the FitLifeSF family, LuLu La Bonte!
It seems like ages since I’ve posted here, but that’s going to change in 2012. (I know, I know…) The accountability is a welcomed friend, and I look forward to getting back to writing about the things that interest me plus (hopefully) doing my part to build a community of like-minded people here.
2011 saw lots of changes. Not only did I start back to full-time employment, I suffered my 7th stress fracture the same week. As I last posted in June, this started me down the path of triathlon, and I finished my first in August. Not as fast or as comfortably as I would have liked, but good enough to count. We also welcomed a new member to the FitLifeSF family, little LuLu La Bonte, a rescue schnoodle who street hustled us back in July and can totally run 4 miles with the best of ‘em. I could blame all the changes and a busy life for keeping me off the blog, but there’s more to it than that.
While I often found myself wanting to blast out a quick update or observation here on the blog, I also had the specter of my commitment to Yahoo! hanging over my head. Since they had rights to my content exclusively for 30 days, and I owed them articles every week or so, every little idea got put in the “maybe for the Yahoo! blog” pile and turned into a totally watered-down, least-common-denominator and not-at-all-“Smurf” missive about whether Zumba is right for you or why the HCG diet is a scam. *Yawn!* I’ll admit that I let it suck my passion for helping people on a path of fitness longer than I should have, and that’s a huge lesson learned for me. If you don’t love it, don’t do it!
Those who spent any time around me from June-September when I was learning to ride a bike are probably getting a good laugh out of that last line. I most certainly did not love learning to ride a bike. In fact, I dreaded every ride up until the moment I crossed the finish line at that first tri. So, by my own logic I suppose I should have hung up the bike after the second ride and never looked back (as so many people we coach who “just don’t like to work out” do), but I also learned that the real joy and the reward is in the achievement; in doing something you never thought you could do.
So, what do you think you can’t do this year? How can we help you get there?
As for my goals, I plan to undertake a train-with-a-pro program to see whether I can get good enough at tri to keep the rewards and achievements coming while still keeping up with work and personal obligations– and I also promised my mother I’d do the Tahoe Trifecta with her this fall. Rob is looking for spaces to train more folks here in San Francisco and is getting ready to embark on P90X2.
That’s enough waxing philosophical for now. There’s a week’s worth of turkey breast roasting in the oven and a mountain of workout clothes that need washing… 2012 is going to be a great one!
Posted by FitLifeSFRob in Contributors, In the News, Reviews, Weightloss Thursday, 22 December 2011 23:03 No Comments