Hey ****,

I learned about Tabata from different sources and trainers around where I play soccer and live – you can do searches on YouTube. Basically you can apply the Tabata protocol to virtually any exercise – it’s extremely intense. I puked the first time I tried it (which is now why I always workout on an empty stomach!)

The essence is this: Warmup 5-10 minutes doing whatever you do (running, biking, swimming, leaping… whatever). Then you start. I use an interval timer www.gymboss.com and set it for :20 (burst) and :10 (rest). You should cap it at 8 cycles (4 minutes). I then keep moving for 3-4 minutes and then try to add on and do 3-4 more cycles. The short rests kill you; even after doing this for years, by the 5th or 6th burst cycle, I am seeing spots and getting tunnel vision. LOL. I then do a 3-5 minute cool down (light jogging usually). When I come back in, no matter the temperature outside… I am absolutely drenched in sweat, just as if I played a whole game. Never fails.

It works. When I play, I can go full bore for two 25 minute halves (we’ve played short bench with no substitutes at all at times – not on purpose, just worked out that way) and I have some serious stamina deep into the game, even if I am not conserving energy. You don’t turn into superman or anything; but it’s highly effective and I have come to rely on that training and then strength/core training on off days. So I alternate my workouts between strength stuff one day/Tabata the next. I do three 2 day cycles with a day off and skipping one day of workout on my game days (I play once a week in season). Works for me. Been doing this for a while now, I am 44 and found out about this stuff at age 39. Been doing it since.

FWIW, I hate running. I like sprinting; because it is in the game. I cannot stand jogging for any number of reasons – so I run in the field behind my house (it is exactly 100 yards from end to end and is by a creek, so it is a slight depression – the ends are minor inclines). I wear my soccer cleats and use a stopwatch in one hand to time the session; the interval timer in the other hand to do the cycles.

Still playing, still competitive and can run with the younger guys… and it’s so cool.

Scott

I just want to say Thank you!!! I don’t post much but I read a lot on the forum and noticed your fitness page and book marked it. One day I just woke up and decided this is the day and totally changed my life, did a lot of research, trainer etc and started cardio cardio and more cardio. Started eating really clean almost complete Paleo except I do like my protein shacks, and reduce fat cheese but no diary. (I did see a thing in men’s health magazine about chocolate milk but scared to keep it in the house it’s my guilty pleasure and I can chug a 1/2 gallon.)

LOVE being healthy eating clean and I exercise about 6 days a week. Not much of a weight lift don’t want to hulk up…but I do want to be in excellent shape so I do pushups, TRX, P90X and yoga. More Cross Fit exercises and I do have a gym boss and started doing Tabata Protocal from research for intervals and boost my metabolism. Lost 102 lbs so far and going to Duke University sports center for a POD body fat test with my nutritionist in November. I am working on that last hard 40 and it’s hard to force myself to eat. Just wanted to give you a little background and tell you thanks for the recipes (I bought a Vita mix and it rocks) and the words of encouragement from your blogs. I am in the best shape of my life and realize when I see pictures how sad that old person was.

Just wanted to get your advice on 3 questions.

1) how was the Goaler-One sliding board help you and do you recommend it.

2)No supplements, ok!! your thought on fish oil omega 3 and glucosamine? I’m 42 worried about joints and swelling I do take 4 ibuprofen a day.

3) I love yoga and I really focus flexibility, balance and strength. Your sport is soccer. How much warming up do you do before a game to prepare your body?

I got burned out on spinning class and elliptical machines and started playing racquetball again. I play almost 2 hrs every morning, heart monitor peaks about 170-180 range and avg 150-160 for the games. That’s my cardio!! I don’t think I am warming up properly or playing to much. In June I torn my patellar tendon and was in a brace for eight weeks and went back playing light then Wednesday grade 1 calf muscle tear in the same leg. Bone head move because I knew I was feeling tight and just thought it would loosen up by the end of the warm up game. So I am taking a break and going to weight train my legs and build my squats back up and really strengthen my legs before I play again. Just wondering how much dynamic/static stretches you do before you start playing and feeling ready to rock? (I do static stretch at the end of the game)

Sorry so long just want to have an idea of where I was and where I am Thank you!

Sincerely,

S****** ****

S******,

Thanks for the PM, really made my day. Congrats on making a change for the better. Fight the good fight!

Some answers:

1) The sliding board is dry land training for hockey players. I don’t play hockey, but if you’ve done P90X, then you know the “speed skater” move from one of the workouts; I tore my groin up 2 years ago and rehabbing that took a long, long time. The Goaler-One was a perfect tool to add in, the move and the workout from it is fun and I have found that it enhances what I can do on the field beyond the rehab moving laterally with speed and power.

2) I take Krill Oil supplements because I do not eat enough fish. I find that when I take it my good cholesterol goes up nearly 15 points… that’s majorly good. My high cholesterol numbers are like 70-80 now.

I’ve tried all sorts of glucosamine from the Wal-Mart stuff to the mega expensive $80 a month stuff and it just does nothing for me except drain my wallet. Just my opinion and experience, YMMV.

3) I do a warm-up that takes me about 10-15 minutes. At our age, it’s essential to get ‘the machine primed’ for working hard. I do the typical P90X warmup to start (high knees in front, high knees to the side, then run in place high knees front, run in place high knees out, run in place heels up (kick your butt), then a minute of jumping jacks. Then I move to dynamic stretches and follow some of the time honored (and very functional) soccer team warmups. Being a soccer coach, I’ve been exposed to all sorts of warm up routines now from the pros, college and higher level amateur levels and have adapted a lot of those.

One of the teams we play have a bunch of guys that all jump rope for about 5 minutes before they get on the pitch to run their more soccer oriented warm up – that’s a fantastic way to do it.

Hopefully you can fully rehab your injuries and stay competing.

Thanks for the PM and peace!

Scott

What would you recommend for weight loss…..I know I need to start watching what I eat, but work-out wise what is the best thing? Should I look into P90X or TRX systems? I am 5’11 235lbs and need to get in shape…..where would you start?

Here is what I replied in answer:

I tend to break things down as simply as possible, plan the work and then work the plan.

To me, you need three things to be healthy, in shape and feel good. Removing the romance from living healthy, we are organic machines.

A) You have to eat right. This is the biggest factor by far… like it or not. Food = fuel for your machine. In order to offset and correct whatever you’ve done to your body over the last decade or more, you must over correct in the short term and then find a balance once you’ve ‘leveled out’. Use www.dailyplate.com (it is free) and really instead of just focusing at first on what you should be eating, really break down what you are currently eating. That’s a step most people skip and IMHO, you cannot do so.

B) You have to ‘rev’ your machine back up. If you have gotten older, you’ve noticed your machine isn’t running like it used to – your metabolism slows down. What’s your metabolism anyway? It’s how efficiently you break down food – both in speed and in function. If you are getting back into trying to live a more healthy lifestyle, then you need to talk to a doctor first. You need to look at where you are at, and what you enjoy (or used to enjoy) doing. Hiking? Running? Sports? Working out just to work out is grinding, boring work. Don’t force that on yourself. Use something like performing at a sport you enjoy(ed) to motivate and focus your workouts on. I approach workouts as a tripod – you need a) strength training; b) cardio training; and c) flexibility/balance training. A personal trainer or looking at professional athlete’s training regimes in disciplines you enjoy(ed) can give clues on approaches.

C) Rest and recovery. We are not factory machines that run at 100% all the time (and even factory machines that do run 100% all the time break down). We need proper rest and recovery. Get enough sleep consistently. Drink enough water – plain old water – consistently. Vary the intensity of your workouts methodically. Do not expect to push at 110% every workout for the rest of your natural born life. Have two medium weeks at 80-95% intensity, then ROCK it at 110% one week a month, and then take a week to cross train at 60-75% doing different activities. That’s a rough template, if you want to crush it for 2-3 weeks and then take a week to rest and recover… do it. The key is to vary both the activities and the intensity.

That might not directly answer your question, but it should give you a template in order to find your own balance point and get you on the road to finding a lifestyle that you both enjoy and have fun doing.

Workouts

Here’s my workout on weeks I have games (which is most weeks):

Monday: full warmup, play game.
Tuesday: TRX based full body circuit training workout (:30 minutes)
Wednesday: TRX based core workout (based off Drew Brees Core Workout) :15 minutes; run Windsprints* (in field behind my house) :15 minutes . *Details below
Thursday: TRX based full body circuit training workout (:30 minutes)
Friday: TRX based core workout (based off Drew Brees Core Workout) :15 minutes; run Windsprints (or do interval work on sliding board)*
Saturday: TRX based full body circuit training workout (:30 minutes)
Sunday: Rest

* For my windsprints, I put on my soccer cleats with a stop watch in one hand and my interval trainer timer in the other. http://www.gymboss.com/ (I LOVE LOVE LOVE this little thing). I warm up by jogging for 5 minutes at a moderate pace. I then shoot for 8 total intervals of 100% effort sprinting for 20 seconds; then rest or jog in place for 10 seconds. I then jog at a moderate pace until I hit the 15 minute mark. The field behind my house is shaped like a bowl, so there is a slight incline at both ends; one full 20 second sprint gets me from one side to the other about perfectly. It’s conveniently almost the length of a soccer field.

For a change, or if the weather is bad, I also use a recumbent exercise bike in my basement (rarely); or do intervals on my sliding board: http://www.goaler1.com/G1_10__Slideboard.html

It’s something hockey players use; I discovered it rehabbing a torn groin and it’s a ton of fun. I go for 2 sets of 8 intervals: 50 seconds full bore go and 10 seconds of rest.

I also do interval training doing burpees with and without the TRX.

- Now ‘inside all this’ I change everything up. So the TRX workouts are constantly changing; I bring in different moves, I mix up the way I do them. Sometimes I just do straight up P90X or weight workouts. I mix up the interval work as noted above. I’m not a big fan of the bike anymore; but I’ve spent many hours over the years on that damn thing whilst rehabbing injuries… so I tend to associate working out on it with injuries. Mental thing.

I tend to do 3 weeks ‘go for it’ and then take a week ‘easy’ where I just lower the intensity much. Also if I just am dragging, didn’t get proper rest or just am not feeling it… I take a day off. I am not as fanatical as it might appear.

Diet

I got this sent to me today, so asked if I could post it (anonymously) and then reply in the thread; he said go for it:

Hey there Scott: I enjoyed reading this thread, and wanted to ask what information you followed in creating your meal plans. I’m real interested in trying out your meal plan, but have some of my own “trials” to tend too…What do you substitute for protein? It appears you have most other parts of the food groups covered. Have you shopped around for your Vibrams? Is there a “best” place to purchase them? Drop me a line, and thanks!

I have always believed in doing a balanced diet. I used www.thedailyplate.com or www.sparkpeople.com to plan my eating, though I just free form it now (though I STILL plan it out).

The key to eating is simple – plan it out. Do NOT eat on impulse when hungry, you will make bad decisions and you will eat too much. That’s it.

I no longer believe in supplements or pills or vitamins. Eat food. Depending on your beliefs – not going there – human beings were created or evolved to eat food, not take pills, powders and potions. Skip it all. Just cut it out.

I need protein? I drink a glass of skim milk. Or I have a sweet tooth? I get protein, essential fats and fiber by making a toasted peanut butter (organic, no sugar added) on whole wheat bread (no HFCS). For fruits and veggies I make up smoothies, detailed on my blog and in here on the Pub. I eat a lot of plain old oatmeal – I found an organic one that is great; or plain old oats will do (I have a cup of it for breakfast and then a cup later in the afternoon as a snack… with some fruit/veggie smoothie to go with it). I drink (lots of) water, (lots of) green tea and… that’s pretty much it other than a glass of organic skim milk every day. It’s a lot easier than it all sounds. For protein I eat a lot of chicken or lean beef. I’m not a big seafood guy, though I wish I was.

I can cook from recipes – I am good following directions, though I really can’t cook. No instincts or talent for it; but there are thousands of recipes out there. I plan out what I want to eat (well, what my family eats) with my wife on Sunday and then I grocery shop for it all. It’s not hard to eat well if you PLAN it. You cannot get to 6pm and be dying of hunger and then think… hmmm, what should we eat?

Now all that said, I have two kids and a wife. They are not all on this fitness bandwagon with me – though they are not trying to sabotage it either. We just eat better because we do. We get pizza on Fridays – I just eat some oatmeal before it comes and stick to eating two pieces of pizza. Then, I’m good. I LOVE hot wings; but try to stick to getting them only once a month. I have serious control issues with chocolate, so I buy dark chocolate and have two pieces of it a day as my ‘treat’ if I don’t go off the rails with my workouts or eating; so all I’m doing is planning it and practicing portion control.

In social circles, I practice portion control and eat everything every one else does. It’s easy to gorge on stuff in those situations; so I just pay attention and make up my mind beforehand what I will be having and stick to it. I don’t pound beers anymore, I have a drink or two or the equivalent beer or two. Then I just stop. And I try to keep that to once a month or so, I don’t miss it really. I can hang out, have a great time and not drink even if everyone else is.

————————————————————————–

On the Vibram Five Fingers – I have the KSO’s and love them. As time has gone on, I find I hate having to take them off; because I love wearing them. They just feel ‘right’. I feel that working out in them has increased my balance and strength in my ankles and feet. It’s amazing how you use your toes for balance, though in shoes you would never realize that. Doing Yoga barefoot opened my eyes to that; doing that sort of thing now (and all this working out) in them REALLY makes a difference. I don’t run in them, and there’s a WHOLE movement of folks into that; but that’s not my deal. I toss them in the washer once every 2 weeks and they are just fantastic for traction. I bought them direct from Vibram; cost me the same as REI or anywhere else, and I know they are not counterfeit that way. Total thumbs up on these ninja booties.

This summer, my workouts have progressed with the TRX Suspension Trainer. I am doing circuit training on it now (for the last 2 weeks as I type this) and am back to running sprints (Tabata Protocal – 8 cycles of 20 seconds full 100% intensity sprint, 10 seconds rest) since my toe has healed (soccer injury… what else?). I am also doing Interval training (modified Tabata Protocal, 10-14 cycles of 50 seconds 100% intensity, 10 seconds rest) with my Goaler-One sliding board (dryland hockey training).

I’ve also gotten myself some Vibram Fivefingers KSO shoes, my ‘Ninja Booties’ I call them, and have found that they are absolutely ideal for working out. I still run in my soccer shoes – which seems logical to me given my goals – but these goofy shoes from Vibram are indeed REALLY cool. You get serious work using your foot as it was designed (or evolved depending on your beliefs!) and I’ve found that my balance, form and spatial awareness is improving in MUCH the same way barefoot Yoga taught me the same thing. These shoes have incredible grip, something that is often overlooked in the reviews and videos the barefoot runners all ignore. In my opinion – these are the best thing to happen to working out. They are recommended by almost all the Kettlebell and Crossfit guys you can talk to. I am loving them. I’ll post more about them after a few more weeks of using them.

The biggest change though past all that has been to finally – for the first time in my entire life – eat right. 100% no excuses right. My Achilles heel has always been a lack of vegetables and fruits in my daily diet. Forever. Now, I found my solution – I stepped up last month and bought a Blendtec blender. This thing is a rocket ship of a blender – something on the order of almost 1600watts. I am making green smoothies daily, laying off the carbs and having almost 8-10 cups daily of fruits and veggies. Add that to sensible, sane eating – yes I still have pizza once a week and such – but the vast majority of the time, I am eating really quality lean meats and smaller portions of it. Lots of plain oatmeal – which I’ve come to love; lots of water, these green smoothies, ice tea and lean proteins. No sugar, no white flour, no corn, no corn based products, no high fructose corn syrup. And if any ‘slips in’ then it’s in moderate levels. No binging.

I have also been – since June/July – totally off all supplements. All of them. No protein powders, no pre-workout, post-workout, ‘recovery’ or ‘sports’ drinks. No pills.

My goal? I want to get my bodyfat down to single digits. I started this summer at 13-14% body fat based on my Accu-Measure caliper. That is here (from June 2010):

Now up to getting past vacations and dialing in the diet more, just before starting circuit training, at about 11-12% (middle September 2010):

And finally today – 2 weeks really clean eating, circuit training hard, feeling really good and strong at about 11% (end September 2010):

So… getting there.

Soccer starts again for me at the end of October and by then I want to be in the single digits. Now that this is on the web… I gotta get it done!

My daily mantra: Earn it!

It’s humor, it’s not scientific, but it’s a message that needs to be told and learned.

I’ve my own story about supplements, but I’ll get into them later. Suffice to say, no more. Ever. No more protein drinks, ‘energy’ boosters, or anything else. Taking Creatine messed with my kidneys. Pre-workout drinks like NO-Xplode messed up my kidney function and digestive tract. My doctor demanded I stop them all. NO more. Four months clean of ALL of that… and I’m feeling fine. Workouts going fine. Recovery time is fine. I miss none of it.

The original article on Cracked.com is here: Link

Health: How to Stop Throwing Your Money Away on Snake Oil

Go to the drug aisle in your grocery store. In between the pills and the vitamins will be a huge shelf full of herbal supplements that promise to do everything from helping you lose weight to easing joint pain to making your brain work better.

And it’s all BS. All of it.

Worse, it’s BS that we spend $34 billion a year on, almost a third as much as we spend on prescription drugs that actually do something.

Just to be clear: Scientists have spent billions in government money carefully testing the effectiveness of this stuff. Their results? No, echinacea can’t cure your cold. Gingko doesn’t do anything for your brain, glucosamine and chondroitin won’t fix your arthritis. Hoodia gordonii won’t help you lose weight.

If it were good for you, it probably wouldn’t be covered in horrible spikes.

Don’t get us wrong; we completely realize that lots of the drugs we have now were once naturally occurring in plants and that it is therefore possible that out there, somewhere, is a leaf yet undiscovered by science that will cure your diabetes. But if so, these rip-off artists in the grocery aisle aren’t going to be the ones who find it.

They’re scam artists.

They’re so sure their supplements don’t do anything they don’t do any actual quality control to track how much of the supplement is in each pill. They just throw a little bit in there and shrug. Aren’t they worried about people accidentally overdosing? No, they’re not. They know you can’t overdose on a placebo.

All they’re doing is “curing” ailments that either naturally go away on their own (colds, joint pain) so you wind up falsely attributing the relief to the supplement, or they’re claiming to cure conditions that are hard to quantify (see supplements for “alertness” or “stress relief”). Snake oil salesmen have been getting away with that technique for thousands of generations.

Students, we’re counting on you to make sure that ours is the last.

Some Truths Include:

1. Pharmaceutical Companies Are Jerks, But at Least They Use Scientists;
2. Why Hippies Have Never Discovered a Single Disease Cure;
3. “Homeopathic” is Another Word for Voodoo BS;
4. Just Go See a Doctor You Big Baby.

Read more:  Original Article

I just read an article that got me thinking (which is dangerous I suppose).

The article is here: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100614/FEATURES01/6140419/1322/More-celebs-go-public-with-their-weight-struggles&template=fullarticle

It focuses on weight, which I despise, and not on ‘fitness’ which I much prefer.

But the message that really caught my interest is the final part of the article.

Why stars fail

What makes these struggles with weight even more confounding is that celebrities seem to have every resource imaginable at their disposal — trainers, nutritionists and exclusive spas — and yet they often can’t slim down or keep weight off.

Even bariatric surgery, often considered a last resort, isn’t a permanent solution. Wilson had bariatric surgery in 1999 after her weight ballooned to about 300 pounds — she even broadcast the procedure on the Internet. Wilson ultimately lost 150 pounds but has put about 50 back on.

We may connect with someone like Alley, says Dr. Naomi Neufeld, clinical professor of pediatrics at UCLA and founder of KidShape. “But I think she’s also a cautionary tale that she’s carried her weight to an extreme.”

Identifying with a celebrity about their weight is OK, Wolper says. “If they’re describing the difficulties they’re having, I think other people can relate to what they may have to say.”

What’s lacking, however, is a success story with legs.

“It would be nice if there was somebody out there doing it the right way,” she says, meaning a sensible diet and regular exercise, with pounds coming off slowly. No doubt there are celebs who have slimmed down that way, they’re just not doing TV shows.

Because it would be boring.

That is the crux of the entire fitness problem here in the US IMHO. At least here in the US, everything is about ‘weight’ – weight loss, weight control, losing weight – it’s never about just getting shape and living better. Because hard work and doing it every day along with a proper diet is boring.

That’s why, IMHO, our current Western approach to life – no focus on eating proper portions or even core foods, many folks (across racial, sex, culture) defaulting and depending on easy foods (processed); no exercise; sedentary lifestyles – has caused all of this madness leading to what many call an epidemic, etc.. of obesity.

There was a thread here that called out TGP members in group photos for all being overweight; and that OP got ripped to shreds. But it all comes back to the fact that a) there are some people, no matter what, that will be heavier. That’s just facts; b) there are more folks out of shape and overweight than at any other time in the history of mankind; c) even with all the attention and focus on this issue… it’s misplaced.

IMHO, at least here in America, it is misplaced. It’s all about weight, lbs., pounds, etc.. You never hear anything about fitness, or being in shape. It’s always about ‘losing weight’ or ‘losing that last 10lbs.’ etc..

Until we can simplify the actual reality – we have lost the knowledge about how much to eat, what to eat and made time in our day – every day – for some sort of physical activity – we cannot ‘overcome’ this issue.

One of the main reasons this is true is simply because the actual reality of it – hard work and self control – is boring.

There’s no magic diet. No potion. No magic pill. For some the work is easier, and for some the work is harder.

Folks get really interested to find out about P90X a lot, even just on this forum. It works for a simple reason – the workouts are hard work and the diet is laid out for you. I have done 4 complete rounds of P90X; I know that program pretty well. I constantly post that P90X is no big magic thing. It’s just hard work and a good diet – both in food choices and portions. Nothing more. There are a LOT of other very good approaches, there is nothing that special about P90X. It’s just an example that gets some bandwidth here and I am familiar with it.

People don’t want to do that. You’ll hear the ‘I cannot find the time to do a 1 hour workout everyday’ when the real answer is that you cannot afford not to do SOMETHING everyday in order to keep your body functioning correctly.

This is no condemnation of anyone; I’m not picking on anyone, I’m not saying I am better than anyone.

I am legitimately scared for a lot of my peers and guys even 1/2 as old as I am that just don’t focus at all on taking care of themselves. You don’t need to be an underwear model, but pay attention to what you are eating and how much of it you are eating and find something to do physically that you enjoy. And do it.

It’s NOT about losing weight. It’s NOT about some diet to starve yourself down to some goal; nor is it some liquid diet to ‘lose that last 10 lbs’. It’s about changing the way you live. Do it for REAL. Live it for REAL.

I abhor preachy diatribes like some will read this as being; I hate the ‘converted’ folks shaming others for not being like them. I do NOT want to be ‘that’ guy.

I just would like it if even one person out there sat down, pondered it and went out for a walk with their significant other or decided to take a bike ride instead of watching “CSI” tonight. Try it. Take a look at your dinner plate and see if 1/2 of it is fruits and veggies and 1/4 was protein and 1/4 is carbs. Find out how many calories and grams of fat are in that Starbucks you want so bad in the morning. Look at the ingredients of that ‘nature bar’ you have as a snack.

End of yet another of my semi-annual rants. Thanks for reading.

And check this out – this woman is an ANIMAL!

Some of the repeated attempts of getting back into shape from ages 30-37 were focused on lifting, much like my workouts were in my 20′s. I bought a Bow-flex machine and worked with that in a more traditional lifting program that I’d do for sometimes months at a time… but then would lose motivation or interest in and would fade away from. It didn’t ‘stick’ with me because I was no longer motivated to do the workouts.

When I had my fitness epiphany at age 37 (described in detail below, essentially when I did not recognize myself in a photo in the pool) I knew I had to find something that I would a) enjoy; b) be able to do for the rest of my life. I did not want to lose weight, get in shape and then fall back into bad old habits. I wanted to make a permanent change I could sustain for the remainder of my days.

I knew nothing about bodyweight exercise at the time. The very notion that you could workout with just movements, gravity and the floor seemed silly to me. I had no clue.

Here’s something to consider about bodyweight exercises. Other than humans, no other animal in the entire animal kingdom goes to the gym, lifts weights, does workouts. All other animals are playing or play-acting functional movements that are relevant to their specific existence. Ponder that a moment. Then look at boxers, wrestlers and MMA folks. Look at gymnasts. Look at sprinters (not marathoners; that’s a different universe of fitness than what I am talking about). All might also use weights, but do not focus their workouts around them. They focus on doing movements – with their bodyweight – that are relevant to their specific existence. See the corollary?

I knew that my ankles had issues and I still had shoulder issues too from years of lifting. I stumbled upon “Combat Conditioning” by Matt Furey, which is a good ‘starter’ program but far from a complete fitness regime like Furey likes to purport it is. I do recommend checking it out and/or doing it, but will also caution that Furey is a marketing tour de force that will try to upsell/oversell/push his other products on you like mad. You can do simple Google searches to seek out what the “Royal Court” consists of. YouTube can also be very helpful too.  What his program DID teach me though is that you can be pretty intense, if you choose to be, with just moving your body with gravity. I did do the 500 rep Hindu Squat challenge; and it was serious to do.  I also incorporated other moves, including his now titled “Gymnastic Abs” (when I did it, it was called “Combat Abs” or something like that).

I started to play soccer again about 4 months after I had my epiphany. I was worried – a lot – about my ankles and those doctor’s warnings from way back when. So I decided to try indoor soccer played on turf grass; which is very consistent and very ‘cushioned’ if you will. I wore some of the now available ankle braces, far more advanced than what they had available when I was in my 20′s.

Playing soccer – competitively – motivated me to ratchet up my fitness levels so I could compete. I was in my upper 30′s at that point, coming off of a long period of sedentary living, rebuilding my body and had to adjust to the game speed and my (somewhat faded) physical skills against guys up to 8 years younger than I.

That’s how I stumbled into P90X; not so much from the infamous infomercials, but from a post on The Gear Page.  Upon checking out workouts that involved Pylometrics – jump training – I found P90X.

I bought it and that journey is detailed on many posts elsewhere on this blog. By doing that – primarily focused on bodyweight exercises – I have strengthened my joints and ligaments in my ankles to the point where I no longer wear any ankle braces or supports. I attribute that mainly to the Yoga component of P90X, but the entire program works together on all levels of fitness – strength, flexibility and cardiovascular fitness.

In the last 6 months, needing a change after 3 years based on the P90X workouts, I discovered though my wife’s cousin the TRX Suspension Trainer; which again is detailed on this Blog. That has again raised the bar by not only using bodyweight and gravity (flexibility and core are in most every move), you take that functional movement with resistance through planes of movement not possible unless you ‘get your feet’ (or hands) off the ground. It is truly simple, amazing, effective, fast, efficient, fun, creative and interesting. You can craft your own programs based off established workouts you can buy;  AND you can also supplement them with your own variations, changing things up on the fly. YouTube, the TRX site and Google are again your friend here.

See my other posts here for more detail and I can assure you, I’ll be adding more and more content related to the TRX as I go.

There are some phenomial resources available on the web doing Google searches on “Bodyweight Workouts” and the like. One such place is the BodyWeight Culture Forum.

I posted in a thread recently about my theory regarding all around fitness oriented lifestyles and how important bodyweight exercises – since P90X in my case – are to me. I got a lot of questions via private messages and emails over it, so instead of just sending out long emails, I figured I’d just post about them here and take it from there.

If you know my story, I am a guy that was extremely active in my teens/twenties in the gym and active in sports and life. I was in really good shape, but got hurt when I was 27 when I blew out my ankles repeatedly playing soccer. The doctors told me to give it up. I got depressed and within 6 months was leading a sedentary lifestyle for the first time in my life. I made some well intentioned tries at getting back into shape, sometimes succeeding for 6 months or so at a shot… but not playing sports just took away my motivation to work out. My diet slipped. My wife and I started our family when I was 30 and as anyone that enters parenthood quickly realizes, that’s not exactly a time when you can eat, workout and get your sleep with any consistency. (Major understatement!)

From lifting heavy with a smaller frame like mine in my 20′s, I had issues with my shoulders, elbows and wrists. I used wrist wraps, and was extremely careful with my form and using spotters; but I was very strong for my size and frankly tore myself up. Playing soccer outside on sometimes suspect quality fields, I had issues with rolling my ankles and did so with such frequency at ages 25-27 that the doctors at the time told me to stop playing. Sports medicine was not where it is today then.

At age 37 I saw a picture of myself in the pool at my parent’s community pool playing with my kids. I asked everyone who the fat guy in the pool was because, “I thought we were all alone out there.”

I did not even recognize myself.

It was exactly that moment, that I can recall with stunning clarity, that I changed everything. I was 40 lbs. overweight. I was a mess. I was at about 205 lbs.. at 5’10″. When I was in my best shape in my 20′s, my weight always hovered around 163lbs.. I had let myself slip with a lot of self-justification, i.e. “I deserve some relaxation” and “I can get back into shape anytime I want to…” type of stuff. I had not noticed that in the 10 years between ages 27-37, that I had slipped so far. It was not a quick thing, and with two kids starting at age 30, days became blurred as time flies by. I didn’t have time to even think about it really. I ate whatever I wanted, with the constant, “It’s just one meal, no big deal” going through my head as I ordered my favorite lunch from the Wendy’s Drive-Thru: Spicy Fried Chicken Sandwich, Fries and a Mt. Dew. I was drinking about 3-4 20oz. Mt. Dew’s a day. Eating sugar charged breakfasts like Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs and the like. With whole milk. I was making up chocolate milk drinks with Nestle Quick and slamming huge amounts of it before bed every night.

It was a time for a change.

I have always subscribed to the ‘Three Pillars” of fitness lifestyle in the past.

1. Diet - the most important component. Simple formula? 6″ plate, 1/2 of it veggies/fruit, 1/4 lean protein, 1/4 complex carb. Simpler still? Smaller portions, everything in moderation. It’s essential to drop a lot of junk out of your lifestyle. Anything that comes in a box, bag or can needs to considered carefully. You need to make water, plain old water, your staple drink. You do NOT need gallons of water like you’ve read elsewhere. You just need mostly water, with other drinks – including milk – treated more as desserts. Some here and there is enough; water… you need. The rest, you do not. Fruit juices are essentially sugar water; with no pulp from the actual fruit, your benefits are minimal at best. Don’t kid yourself otherwise. “Nutrition bars” is simply codeword for ‘candy bars’. All the supplements and protein powders are not needed. Get your nutrition from real foods.
2. Exercise - this can mean a lot of things considering where you are on the fitness scale, physical capabilities, range of health. For some, a brisk walk 3X a week is just the ticket. Get out with your significant other and walk. Try it for a month, tell me your relationship isn’t stronger for it… and your physical well being. Take up yoga, play Frisbee catch with the dog, run around for 30 minutes with your kids (acting like a kid!). Take up a sport. Hit the gym. Ride your bike. Whatever you truly enjoy. That’s the key. It’s not work if you love it.
3. Rest - this one can throw you. Everyone is different, but the accepted norms are 6-8 hours a night of uninterrupted sleep. If you have small children (babies – toddler age) you are essentially SOS (simply out of luck) here; but you work around it and do what you can. If you don’t get your rest, the other ‘pillars’ will support you, but that support will be shaky.

Using that formula, I stopped fast food, dropped soda, and got active. In 3 months, I had dropped 30lbs.. I ramped up the intensity of my workouts (which I’ll cover in another blog post) and lost the last 10 lbs..

I took some flak online on various non-fitness oriented websites for the ‘sudden’ turnaround and lifestyle shift. Lots of, “Yea… great. Talk to me in 6 months after you’ve gained it all back” sort of stuff.

Here’s my “I told you so” to those folks – here I am 7 years later, STILL in better shape than I was in my 20′s.