Category: Fitness
Lot of us spend our days sitting around and not being as active as we could (or should). We then add rich and fatty foods to our sedentary lifestyle, and blam, we have a few to many extra lb’s. This isn’t rocket science, and this is a story that we all can relate to. (Medical conditions not being accounted for here) So, what happens? We get fat or, we do something about it.
All of us find motivation to get fit one way or the other. Maybe it was someone mentioning that you looked bigger, maybe your favorite jeans didn’t fit, or maybe you look in the mirror one day are say enough is enough. Whatever your reason to get fit, you need to look at a method/program to follow. (Any Fitness Program will take dedication and laser focus to get great results.) And this is different from staying or being healthy.
You can lead a less active lifestyle if you choose not to overeat. This does not mean you can get by without some basic exercise. Staying healthy means doing what you need to do to feel good, and live the life you want to live. You don’t have to eat “organic” this or “natural” that, and you don’t have to join an extreme fitness gym. You have to take accountability for your actions (or inaction), and not be a glutton.
To get fit, now there is a challenge. I believe you must follow a meal plan (to the letter) and you must also increase your activity significantly. It will be a ramp up to extreme fitness training, and it will be hard, but you will get through it, and you will be better off. Home programs like P90X, Insanity, and Turbo Fire will give you great results if you follow them. As will gym based programs, working with a personal trainer, or competitive sports/martial arts. There are so many activity choices once you dial in your meal plan.
Me, I like my Beach Body videos. I can throw together a 30,60, 90 day fitness program and get back to being lean and ripped. I can target improving my cardio or just work to look better naked. (Everyone wants that) This isn’t the best way, it is my way, and a way which has been working for the last 5 years. (Plus Soccer, Sambo, and other craziness) The important thing for me is to stay active for several weeks while keeping my eating/drinking in check.
Once I am where I want to be fitness wise, well then the slow slide back to needing a fitness kick in the ass begins. It is called maintenance mode. Still not being a glutton, but having a lot more flexibility in my eating. Many people call this time, “Staying Healthy.” But even when “Staying Healthy” you may (probably will) gain weight, and need to kick it into high gear for a time. And however long you need to kick it into high gear is decided on how far you are willing to let yourself slide.
My typical reset trigger: when I reach 201lbs, and it isn’t due to heavy salt or lots of drinking. This is usually a day or 2 thing. (Bloat) When that weight remains pretty consistent for a week or 2, I know it is time to get back down to 190-195.
Do you have a trigger? Do you have a goal weight? Are you happy with how you look right now? Do you want to feel better? What is your motivation?
-FitLifeSFRob
I can’t say this is the catalyst for me to get my butt working out hard again, but it helps. I am about 6 weeks into healing my left elbow, which I thrashed on June 30th. Since that day, I have been “Taking it easy.” Healing, so to speak. And with the lower amount of fitness activity that comes with healing/rehabbing, I am now back up to 200lbs. Bah. Sure 200lbs for me is still pretty fit, but I want to get back to 192-195. I feel less soft, and more like myself. I do so hate that jiggly feeling.
So, Shakelology is back in my daily routine, and this time the special mix is Almond Milk, PB2 and Vanilla Extract. Makes it so much better!
One a day, back to hard training, I’ll be down to 195 in 3 weeks. Woot!
-Rob
I am watching the the 2011 Tour de France, and the commercial that came up was RipFire. So, for the fun of it, I went to their website, and guess what I didn’t find. ANY WAY TO CONTACT THE PEOPLE WHO SELL THIS BULLSHIT! If you are one of the idiots who spend their hard earned money on this product, you are screwed. If you are questioning your sanity and are considering buying this shit, DON’T.
When there is an “As seen for TV” product out there, that has a website and NO WAY TO CONTACT THE MANUFACTURER, STOP!!!!!
Are you kidding me? There are very few ways to get into shape. All of them have to do with eating right and training. Bullshit in a bottle won’t do a thing for you.
And hey, RipFire asshats. If you have issue with me, come on by and prove your product works. Your crappy edited photos do nothing for me. Or anyone with a brain for that matter.
For the record, I’ll hurt you for fun. (and the fact that you are lying to the general public!)
-FitLifeSFRob
This nugget of wisdom popped out at me from the background noise of Wrath of Khan on SyFy last weekend. It felt particularly prescient as I hobbled about on my crutches, moping about yet another San Francisco Marathon training cycle gone to the dogs thanks to a stress fracture—My seventh in four years, and this one the femoral neck, which is generally considered the “worst kind.”
Thankfully, I have the “better kind” of the “worst kind” of stress fracture (compression-side vs tension-side) and am cleared to swim, so it’s back to MLK pool for me. Coincidentally, about the same time I got hit with the injury, I started back to work with a company that does a lot of work with triathletes, so of course the wheels get to spinning again as they do nearly every time I’m in this situation… “Maybe I should just suck it up and do a tri…”
Nearly every year, I find myself in some ways crossing paths with the Escape from Alcatraz hullabaloo. And every year I say, “I want to do that!” Escape is this coming weekend, so I’m definitely catching the buzz again. It’s not the swim from Alcatraz that gets me worried, though, it’s that damn bike. Especially in San Francisco where cyclists and everybody else are about as friendly as the Crips and the Bloods. But, get a nice road bike and a wind trainer and I can picture myself happily whizzing away in the driveway for hours at a stretch (I do love spin classes). I wouldn’t have to ride through the city that much. There are paths I can drive to. I can join a tri club to show me the ropes. I can get over it. Can’t I?
There’s really no good reason not to take the plunge. Having three disciplines to train in vs one means I can reduce the amount of pounding and still grow my endurance and cardiovascular fitness. And, as much as it might feel like it, this move doesn’t mean that I am “giving up on running.” I can still bust out races up to half marathon on a whim or go for a long run with my running buddies—and rumor has it my running might even improve. Inarguably, it will improve beyond my top Crutch Pace.
If I make the commitment to do this, I’ll have invested in all the equipment and learning I need to swim in the bay whenever I want or hop on the bike on the wind trainer in the garage in the mornings before work, so even if I don’t like all three in a race setting, I’ve increased my crosstraining options 200%. I’ll get to geek out on learning about a whole new set of training modalities and buy all sorts of new technical crap and have a whole new set of numbers to crunch. And, have you seen a triathlete’s physique?! Not a bad endorsement at all.
So, having weighed the pros (and corresponding lack of cons– cost and aversion to cycling being the only two I can find), I am officially on the record: No more “maybe I should” or “one day I ought to…”
What I want is irrelevant. What I’ve chosen is at hand.
Before the year is through [insert all necessary prostrations before the gods], Smurf will be a triathlete.
At the very least, the journey should make for loads of entertaining blogfodder as I stumble my way through the process. I hope you’ll get at least a few laughs at my expense and maybe find the inspiration to push your own boundaries.
So, after 2 weeks of Asylum, Shaun T brings us the Game Day Workout. An assortment of sports influenced moves using the agility ladder, free space moves and a pull-up bar. This 60 minute workout was pretty brutal, and next time I’ll have the moves down more…But…I didn’t feel it was as good as it could have been and I was not thrilled by the flow of the whole workout. (Again, it may have been my lack of familiarity with some of the moves)
Even with what I said above, I was dripping by the end. (it began with a 5 minute interval run, some stretching, then BAM, non stop moving from game to game)
If you would like to find more information on this or any Beach Body Product, please follow this link: http://www.beachbodycoach.com/FITLIFESFROB
For someone who is pretty damn fit, to be getting my ass handed to me as bad as I am, it is either my own delusion of how fit I am or the reality that this program is FRIGGEN BRUTAL. Today’s fun began with a 10 minute warm up, which, by the end of the warm up I was ready to call it a day. (And yes, I was out too late last night, and I did have a bit too much to drink, but hey, I am human) Thankfully, the warm up cleared my head, and had me in a flop sweat clearing my body of some of the crap I consumed last night. (I got out of bed at noon, and did this workout) This workout is not as “hop happy” as many of the original INSANITY series workouts, but Shaun kicks up the difficulty by using resistance bands, and very focused motion. Like the rest of the videos, YOU MUST HAVE YOUR MIND IN THE GAME, or you won’t even be able to do a number of the moves. So, be prepared to bring your “A” game.
This workout is jumptastic with long jumps, hops, squats, plyo pushups, jump rope work, and my new nemisis, the one legged power squat. ARRRRGGG! By the end of this video, I was again soaked to the bone with my own sweat. Here’s how good the workout was. I woke up weighed myself, had 2 glasses of water (I was dehydrated as hell), and did the workout. During the workout I drank 2 Pint glasses of water, and then at the end dranka 2 scoop recovery drink (in a pint glass topped with water). When I went and weighed myself before my shower, I WAS 2 POUNDS LIGHTER! AFTER ALL THE WATER AND THE RECOVERY DRINK. This workout is brutal. Have your water and your towel handy. You will need it.
Equipment: Jump Rope, 2 Power Bands, Agility Ladder, High Quality H2O and a very absorbantt towel.
Prepare yourself. This one will hurt you.
If you would like to find more information on this or any Beach Body Product, please follow this link: http://www.beachbodycoach.com/FITLIFESFROB
Well, I should have know something was up as soon as the video started. Shaun T made it quite clear that there was no need for weights in this routine, and the yoga mat on the ground almost had me ready for a bit of “Kindler, Gentler” workout. Wow, was I wrong. After a deceptively difficult warm up (I don’t want to give away the fun) you begin attacking your back and core for the next 35 minutes. Even the stupid green giant rubber band that comes with the Asylum kit had me cursing. (The thing has next to no resistance, and yet it beat my back into submission.) This video is full of very tough combination and isometric moves which will have you in a flop sweat in a matter of minutes. I was dripping again. INSANE!
Have your Yoga Mat ready, a towel, and the stupid green resistance band. Also, I did this workout barefoot and I felt I was in very good control the whole time. (I tend to not wear shoes when using a yoga mat)
Enjoy this one. It is a keeper.
If you would like to find more information on this or any Beach Body Product, please follow this link: http://www.beachbodycoach.com/FITLIFESFROB
I want to start this with the proper statement to describe this workout. OMFG!!! This workout is downright EVIL! It is very different from ANY of the INSANITY workouts I have ever done, as it isn’t cadiotastic. But, your heart rate will be elevated the entire workout, and you will hit muscle groups in ways P90X, P90X+, One on Ones or INSANITY has not. Sure there are some tried and true dumbbell workouts, but there are a number of progressions I had never put together which really crushed my stabilizers and several main muscle groups. (This workout hits the core, the shoulders, the back, the quads, and a bit of glute and hamstring)
For this workout you will need dumbbells (I used dumbbells and kettle-bells) or weight bands, and a pull-up bar (Optional). Yeah, and be sure to bring a towel. (I feel like I was hit by a hose by the end of this workout) Just a quick piece of advice. If you think you can do the workouts with 35LB dumbbells, grab the 30′s. And have set of 20′s handy for some of the last few excercises. (Though I could have gone to 40′s or 50′s for part the chest workout, but only part of it) Also, this is a very fast moving workout, you have very little recovery time between sets, so keep your workout area clear and your weights handy.
As with the Speed and Agility workout, Strength forces you to keep your mind engaged the entire workout. You HAVE to know what is going on with your body the entire time, you have to focus on your form. The better your form, the more brutal the workout. If you can keep your form, you will work to exhaustion on every move, and if you don’t YOU ARE A BEAST! This workout is not for the meak, and I noticed that Shaun T DIDN’T dare me to do it again. It was that rough.
Good luck. You are going to need it.
If you would like to find more information on this or any Beach Body Product, please follow this link: http://www.beachbodycoach.com/FITLIFESFROB
So, day 1 for me of Insanity: Asylum consisted of both the Fit Test and the Speed and Agility workout. ”Speed and Agility” is SO very different from what “Insanity” brought to the table. Sure it is a brutal cardio workout, but you are forced to be mentally engaged the entire time. Form and execution are just as important as powering through the workout, and this simple change makes the moves that much more effective and that much more brutal. I completely expect to master the moves in time, but even with mastery the workout won’t become any easier. (I just wont be fumbling around as much) 
It is about a 45 minute workout, with about a 10 minute warm-up (lots of jumping rope) and a 3.5 minute cool down. This left Shaun T more than enough time to kick my ass. (for the math challenged that is 31.5 minutes of ass kicking) This program is HEAVY on Agility Ladder work, so be prepared to use your brain and your body. At the very end, just to spite me, Shaun says, “Hey, if you are tough enough, why not do it one more time.” (or something to that effect) The sad part is, had I not done the Fitness Test earlier, my ego would have kicked in and I would have done it again. (And that may have just killed me)
So, I give Speed and Agility a double thumbs up.
Side Note: The Agility Ladder that comes with the program is pretty good. It is lighter than ones I have used in the past, so you HAVE TO HAVE GOOD FORM. (else it goes flying) Also, the Jump Rope that BeachBody provided is pretty shoddy. It will work, but I like a good weighted leather jump rope. I use a leather Nike weighted speed rope. NICE! (and hurts a lot if you miss while barefoot)
If you would like to find more information on this or any Beach Body Product, please follow this link: http://www.beachbodycoach.com/FITLIFESFROB