Why I Love Beachbody

This post could easily get out of hand. There are so many reasons why I love Beachbody. Their programs, products, service, equipment, mission... the list goes on and on. They are a top notch company, producing top notch systems to help any and every type of person reach their healthy living goals. Beachbody is quality through and through. This morning, one of the main reasons I love Beachbody came up as it was taped to my kitchen cabinets... community and support!

Injuries

"Oh man... that doesn't feel normal. I mean, I know what sore feels like, but this is different!"

That was me, 6 days ago. After some really intense Asylum work, my left quad began to feel a little different than  normal. I have become quiet used to feeling tight and sore over the past month. The Asylum has worked my body in many new ways. I knew something was off and I knew something was different this time. As the day continued, and evening came, I was concerned. It was rather difficult to lift my leg higher than my waist. Walking was ok, but anything over a little lift and swing was painful. What do I do now? I am suppose to be doing some Vertical Plyo.... agh, and I need gear up to obliterate my pre-Asylum mile time (5:59 - shooting for under 5:30 - tough stuff).

At times like this you need to focus on you ultimate goals, and don't let your ego get in the way. I would have loved to stay exactly on the Asylum schedule but that was not an option. I switched some days to allow my legs to have some rest. I ran Back to Core and Strength to take the pressure off my quad. "It's about getting results, not getting hurt." Thank you Tony.... you were so right. After an extra couple days, my leg was feeling noticeably better.

That was a case where working out was still an option. I just needed to change what I was focusing on, and I changed the focus to other muscles. What if you really hurt yourself and can't do anything? For these extreme cases, you MUST focus heavily on your nutrition. Dial back your calories to compensate for a reduction in your exercise burn, and stay clean. Don't let getting down be a reason to fall off the nutritional wagon. Turn all that energy you had been directing towards tearing up your workouts and focus on eating well.

You may be a little set back from missing your workouts, but you won't be starting over like you would from disregarding your diet. You will also build up some good mental strength to stick with your new eating habits. This is about reinforcing the lifestyle change you have committed to.

Hope these words help! Look out for Asylum updates SOON! Day 30 is tomorrow (5/30/11)!!!

Blessings,
David
davidcjeffries@gmail.com

Being in the club...

Role models, coaches, and mentors are all good things. They give us an example to follow, and often have reached in their own lives a point or place that we hope to reach someday. In life, I was given some great advise about mentors from my father. He has told me multiple times to find men that I look up to that are 5 to 10 years ahead of me in life. All the while asking them and myself, "How did you get to where you are? What were the difficulties you faced in marriage, parenting, life...? How have you grown in your faith?" The same thing is good to apply to your fitness journey.

My original interest in teamRIPPED was one of plain curiosity. How did Wayne get so ripped? What did he do differently than my lackluster first round? After reading a bunch of his posts, and emailing a few times, I knew Wayne was a guy that I wanted to guide and shape my new experience with P90X.

Wayne did exactly that and more! He totally remade my idea of working out and nutrition. His posts encouraged and challenged me. Better yet, he motivated and encouraged my faith. He truly is the total package. What I didn't expect to experience was a little bit of intimidation. TeamRIPPED has some true all- stars. These are men and women that have made some amazing transformations and know what they are doing. You need to really stay inside of yourself and realize that Joe Blow's work is not mine. Frank may be further ahead in the journey. Don't get discouraged! Trust the system and it will produce results. I know this is paraphrased from someone else, but it may have taken you 5-10 years to get your body into the mess that it is in... you need to be realistic about the time it will take you to get out of it. What I can guarantee you is that after the 90 days of P90X or 63 days of Insanity, you will be in better shape than when you started. You will SEE changes. You will feel better. The only way these programs do not work is if you don't do the work (during the workouts and with regards to nutrition).

After a while, I really began to feel part of the club. I can stick with these guys and gals. I can be a little crazy like coach (backpacks for pull-ups... are you loco?) It feels really good to belong. The next transition was to contribute to the club. I had some valuable knowledge and experience... and I could back it up now! I am not just a bystander, I am a member of teamRIPPED. Part of the club.

Hook up with someone whom you respect. Ask them what they did to make the change you desire for yourself. These people can help you avoid many pitfalls and obstacles. They can also be the boost to get you over your next hurdle. If I can do that for you, let me know. I would love to help! My door, and email, is always open.

Keep pushing play and BRING IT!

Blessings,
David
davidcjeffries@gmail.com

YouTube Video! The Transformation is UP!

Come check it out! My P90X transformation video is up on Youtube.... Hope you enjoy!

Walls - Motivation for Pushing Through

At one point or another you will have to push through come barrier during a workout or during your round of P90X. It may be a lack of motivation. It may be discomfort and pain. It could be sore shoulders (HELLO! Week 1-3!!!). You may also have to push through some illness. I just came through a little sickness. I had some sort of head cold/sinus/sore throat/no voice/flem making illness. After a week of teaching and nights of parent-teacher conferences, I was spent. It is rather hard to feel motivated to dig deep and bring it. For moments like this, you need to refocus on your goals. Why are you committed to this program? Why be so different? Isn't it weird to be getting up at 3:45 am everyday to move around some iron, jump, squat, run in place? You need to be careful when letting these questions develop as they can get out of hand. You are doing this to be different! My coach, Wayne Wyatt, posted a great piece about this (a lot of this is coming from him - credit where credit is due!)... Normal is not working! I want to be weird.

What does a normal American have going on? Lousy food. Overly saturated with grease and fat. HUGE meals. Skipped meals. High blood pressure and cholesterol. Meds. New clothes = bigger pants... untucked shirt to try and hide the belly. No energy. More TV. Sound normal? It should, that is what Americans, in large part, have become. It is time to be different. It is time to be weird.

Most people looked at me and thought, some said, well you didn't have any weight to lose. Sure I seemed ok. I was 187 lbs and at almost 6'1", that was spread out. But I had moved up slowly from 32" waist, to 33", and to 34". I was getting ready to move again! I was carrying my weight in my gut. It was thanks to my love of hot wings and home brew.

Enter Round 1 this fall. I dropped 21 lbs. I fizzled out near the end and felt like I didn't give my all. I had skipped workouts. I had completely taken off the "recovery" weeks. It was a hollow victory at best. There were some rays of sunlight, I was down to 32-33" pants and I felt good.

For Round 2, I wanted to be different. I wanted to be weird, crazy, completely committed, no hollow victory this time. Sure there are times when I want to give in. You can skip this move, you could just eat some of that. It wouldn't be that bad. Get behind me Satan! But really, temptation is temptation. Now I am not saying you are sinning if you don't go crazy and see if you can get absolutely ripped. What I am saying is, if you make that commitment, it is a one time thing. You never have to go back and recommit. You are going to workout for an hour a day, six days a week, for 90 days. You will eat only things that fit into your day and fulfill your macro needs. Making that choice once and for all, you remove the thought of breaking your own covenant. Decide, COMMIT, succeed. You can do it.

With 4 regular workouts left, and a week of recovery (very active recovery = Asylum), I am down to size 30" waist. I initially dropped to 156 lbs at 10% body fat, I am back up to 159.5 lbs, with only 8% body fat. I have never seen my abs. Ever. Never in elementary school, middle, high, college.... never. I can say that now, I can see my abs. No more hiding under a layer of fat!

This post was a little all over the place, but be encouraged. Don't get caught up on only the end goals. Do it for today... in your nutrition and exercise. Bring it. You may be sore tomorrow, but we will still be moving forward. I had doubts, but as each week has passed, I noticed changes. My workout sheets showed increased weights and reps. Things in the mirror look different. My pants were loose. I bought new ones. Those got loose again. My mom got me a couple more pairs. Change is inevitable if you stick with it.

May God bless you and keep bringing it!
David

Day 60

Day 60 is finally here! I am currently 2/3 of the way through P90X. It is great. I had been feeling well, but this morning I had some weird stomach/back discomfort. Shooting through my mind was the thought of a kidney stone. I have witnessed my wife muscle through one before... and I can't have this happen. I am not sure if I am just psyching myself out, but nevertheless, I am drinking TONS of water and moving all over the place. If it is a kidney stone, it won't stop me!

The experience so far has been so rewarding. I am frequently, and pleasantly, surprised at what my body can do. For a Day 60 treat, I added a weighted back pack to my push-ups. P90X has two days of work for your back each week and I have decided to replace the YogaX days during the lifting weeks for a bonus lift day to give other areas an extra day. I am using it to hit areas that don't get enough attention and ones that I would like to focus on more. So for my morning I focused on chest, traps, and forearms.

That backpack is money! I am a little worried that it will break... I have had 20 lbs in it for pull ups and never felt worried. My routine this morning was a repeat routine (like Chest and Back). I ran through the moves the first time with 45 lbs in the pack (chest, trap, chest, trap, forearm, chest, forearm, chest, trap). It was a little difficult to get the backpack on and off, but it worked well. I was still able to pump out reps in the 15-20 range (and I was saving some for the second round). Not too bad. For the second round, I upped the pack to 60 lbs. I have done push-ups on a scale before to see what weight I am actually lifting (crude but seems to be logical). That gave me a weight of 125 lbs for a standard push-up. Add in the 60 lbs and we are at 185 lbs. Now I lifted in college, I even worked up to repping 205 lb on a flat bench. 185 was a good working weight at the end of my year of lifting, and I would do 8-10 reps for 3 sets (135 warm-up, 185, 185, 175). This morning at 185 lbs of second round push-up mass, I banged out 20 reps on standard width, 15 on incline (feet up on piano bench), and 12 on military. I don't believe I have ever felt so good! Add to that a bunch of shrugs, forearm curls, and flies! Wow what a way to start the last 30 days!

On to the pics: Here are Day 1, 30, and 60. I think something is working.  :)

Keep pushing play and keep bringing it! God bless.
David

The Man Cave

The beauty of P90X and the other Beachbody products is that you really can do them at home, in the living room, and without much equipment. I did my entire first round in the living room, in front of the family TV. It was good, but a little inconvenient for my wife. With our son getting older, and just being busy in general, I had to find a place and time to work out. I relocated to the basement and the Man Cave (PlyoX is in the garage). I also began to workout at 4 am. Yes it is a little extreme, but I have 30-40 minute commute and needed time in the evenings for my family. It was a little difficult to get up in the beginning, but I now really look forward to it. I haven't missed the sleep at all. It also sets up my eating pretty well (starts my first meal at 5:30ish).

So what does your workout area look like? Is it a specialized room or temporally converted living room? Well here is my space!

The Man Cave - Main space...

I play the DVDs on my computer and pump some of my own tunes in place of the P90X stuff. Lots of junk.










Manly Yoga Mat - Let over carpet... pad attached!

And yes that is a rifle... I ran out of cases. I had taken one from my father and he needed it back. It is a little Marlin 336 in .35 Remington. Fun lever action!

Oh and the piano came with the house... :(
I had a friend look at it once and say, "when I was working for a moving company, we called those widow makers... we always charged extra to get those out."









Mirror, Weights, and Chuck

With the adjustable dumbbells and some odds and ends, I can do it all. I had another Olympic set of weight and use it for rows (lawnmowers). Tony is right about getting strong from pull-ups. I am now pulling 75 lbs for rows.













So what does your space look like? I would love to see it! Mine is nothing glamorous... but it works. Keep bringing it and God bless.

Day 45 - Half way!

Day 45

This is a really cool point in my program. I am feeling amazing and I couldn't be happier with what I am seeing. I feel so fortunate to have the ability and time to physically train like this. It hasn't been easy, but it has been worth it. 


Discipline is the one character trait I have placed at the top of my goals for this round. My first round was good (followed the original portion guide), but this time it is serious. My men's group studied a book by Bill Heybels about character – who are you when no one is looking. The trait of discipline jumped right out at me, and equating it to delayed gratification drove the point home. As a society, we do a horrible job putting off even acceptable, good pleasure and we want everything to be here and now. I have found such peace and satisfaction in disciplining myself. It has poured over into all areas of my life. My walk with the Lord, my relationship with my wife, my career, and of course my physical training. If you are in the mood for a good read, it was really convicting. 


Keep bringing it and let your determination for your workouts and diet enter all other areas of your  life. It is also not my adaptation of a great P90x quote by a TeamRipped member, but remember, "Do your best, and don't forget the rest!" Your life is so much more than one thing. Working out is only beneficial if your priorities are straight. Serve the Lord first and foremost and do all thing as unto him. My determination and self-discipline may have got a kick start from P90x, but now it is my determination to do all for the glory of God that allows me to BRING IT!


Share the Gospel!
Here is the God that I serve. The Kings of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is what he has done. We have all fallen short of the high calling of God. There is nothing we can do on our own to put us back into a perfect relationship with him. We are all sinners, fully depraved. God loves us so much that he sent his son, the Lord Jesus, to Earth. Christ was perfect. Never sinning... the only one worthy of his Father's calling. Christ gave up his life, submitting to death on a cross. His death has paid your debt to God. He was raised from the grave on the third day. He offers forgiveness and atonement if you only accept him as your Lord and Savior. 


Many Blessings!
David 

My Coach!

New blog = lots of posts. I figure I have been sitting on these thoughts for over a month now... I have mentioned my coach a couple times now, and I thought I should share his story with you. He is the reason I am so pumped about this program. Wait until you see his transformation, you will know what I mean. I knew if he could do it, I could copy him! Again, his name is Wayne and he is awesome. He is a believer and is very open about his faith in Jesus. I love that about him. Wayne is the father of five and an orthodontist. Here he is!

As always, you can find his work at www.teamripped.com!