Make your Workout fun!

Workouts can often feel like a hassle, burden, or chore; something we force ourselves to do rather than something we enjoy doing.  Today while I was doing Back to Core from "Asylum" I had a momentary flashback of the many times I felt tasked to do my workout and how much it actually stressed me out.  Your workout should be the exact opposite.  It should be rewarding and something to enjoy and look forward to: something you can accomplish and look back on to say "I just did that!"

So during my workout, when I got to the point of "Ow, this sucks!" I looked at the screen and saw some of the people smiling.  I though, "how are they smiling during a workout like this?  They look like they're having fun."  Then I realized, you can have fun while still working hard at these exercises.  It's all a personal matter, but basically make it fun for yourself!  I decided to play a little game (because it was so damn hot out) to see how big of a sweat puddle I could make.  Gross, I know but it worked for me.  Some may want to be more serious and just try to count reps and best them each week, but you have to do what's right for you (in more than one aspect, we'll get into that later).

Just a quick one, but it's something to think about!  Thanks for reading :)

Positive thinking, Positive outcomes

Today while I was driving to work I noticed something...  But first, I need to digress a bit to better explain:

Today was one of those mornings where I meant to get up early, but instead rolled out of bed only to hit the snooze button, then again to reset my alarm for 45 minutes later.  Everyone has those days.  Somehow my alarm didn't end up going off and I woke up with a half hour to rush around and get ready to leave (one of the easiest ways I stress is by feeling rushed or late).  To make things worse, as I was driving I got stuck in a line of construction vehicles, doing 15 under the speed limit ( I'm also not a fan of slow drivers).  With the dynamite set and the fuse lit, I was about to go off and start cursing at the people in front of me when I realized something:  I have the wrong attitude.  Sure, yelling may have made me feel better but it wouldn't change the situation or make me get to work any faster.  Instead, I realized, why not enjoy the ride?  Enjoy the sunshine before it gets ridiculously hot, or enjoy listening to my favorite songs from the CD I had.  My point here is, we are often too focused on the negative: things that go wrong, discomforts, etc.  These just compound stress and make us more upset or uncomfortable throughout the day.

The same can often be said of working out.  Many times we take a defeated mentality where we "didn't do as well as last time", "didn't get as many reps", or "couldn't last as long in the workout".  I've been here plenty of times, having gotten discouraged when I seemed to have done worse in a workout than the previous time.  It sucks and it makes wanting to do another workout so much harder.  Instead, it's important to recognize that maybe today wasn't your day and you can do better next time, and more important to focus on the positive outcomes of your workout (or positive things happening in your daily life).  Maybe your form was that much better, maybe you didn't take as many breaks, maybe you saw yourself jumping higher, or maybe you dug just a little bit deeper to get that last rep out.  No matter what positive you may have, that's what should be focused on.  See the little improvements in each exercise, each week, and each month.  Working out should never put you in a worse mood than when you started.  It should be a treat for your body and mind to let the stress of the day out and to feel good about afterwards.

Take this positive attitude with you all the time!  Be an optimist, and as always: dig deep guys!  Thanks for reading.

-Alex

Insanity: The Asylum Final Thoughts

Today is it.  After 30 grueling days of the hardest work I've ever done, I've finally finished "Insanity: The Asylum."  I regret not blogging about these workouts before, but I mean it when I say the hardest work I've ever done.  Shawn T starts you off with an Athletic Performance Assessment that measures your coordination, strength, endurance, and just how far you can push yourself to achieve.  That gets done once every 30 days.  While it's the shortest of the videos, it still left me doubled-over gasping for air.  The other workouts aim to target different aspects of athletic performance while still providing a full body workout.  The first week you basically get familiar with the workouts, starting out pretty easy compared to what's coming (even though it's not easy at all).  Shawn T takes you through Speed and Agility, Strength, Back to Core, Vertical Plyo (the worst by far), Gameday, Overtime (which you don't see until around the 3rd week), and Relief (stretching, thank the Lord).  I'll do a more in-depth review of these workouts later, but if you've never heard of this program the basic jist is resistance training: using your body as a weight instead of dumbbells.  You can make your workouts as hard (or easy) as you want depending on how you want to push yourself.

Thinking back to when I first started this program, I remember how frustrating it was getting familiar with the workouts.  My first Speed and Agility I ended up swearing more than working out because I couldn't keep up and I tripped on the jump rope and ladder constantly.  But I think that's the mentality of this day and age:  We want instant  results and when we cant get those we get frustrated.  Unfortunately, that's not how it works.  In any sort of fitness routine, I've learned that being patient and letting go of mistakes and failures will yield better, less stressful results.  It's important to not dwell on the mess-ups and little set backs and instead focus on the improvements and positives, in both workouts and life.  So long as you keep pushing yourself to do the best that you can each time you put in one of these DVDs or each time you go to work or each time you play a sport, you'll improve somewhere.  I saw that happen each time I did a workout during The Asylum. While I definitely struggled every time, and some days I just did awful because I was so wiped out, I could see that I was jumping higher, enduring longer, and pushing out a few more reps each rotation.  You can do it too!! It's all about believing in yourself.

Nearing the end of the program, the last week or so, I struggled with my focus.  I was exhausted, both mentally and physically.  Mentally I had been struggling with living at home after graduating college, listening to arguing parents and not really having "me" space anymore.  The stress that compounded from this took it's toll on my workouts and made it difficult to continue.  Realizing this, it set me into an even worse spiral.  Adding the mental stress to the physical toll from this program, there were a few times I almost gave up (vertical plyo sucked my soul out, haha).  But this is the true test of The Asylum, and probably why the program was named such.  Can you overcome yourself? Can you overcome mentalities and push past barriers to improve yourself?  The answer is YES!  I did, and anyone else who is thinking of trying, or currently participating in this program, or any other program, YOU CAN.  It's body vs. mind where body normally wins but true accomplishment comes from getting back up, wiping the sweat off your face, and pushing play every day.  You can do that and you will see improvements every time.

Now that I'm done with The Asylum, the question becomes what to do next.  The program came with some suggested hybrid workouts (Asylum+Insanity/Asylum+P90X) post Asylum, and that's definitely on my mind.  However, I keep asking myself, "Could I do better?  Did I really give this everything I could?"  I definitely believe I can do better, and will most certainly do this program again in it's fullest.  There's always room for improvement no matter what fitness level you may be on.  That's another thing to take away from programs like these.  Always challenge yourself to do better.  Break down your barriers and persevere through the pain (muscle burning that is, please don't seriously hurt yourself) and have confidence in yourself.  You will see results.  But baby steps first, the recovery week seems lovely at this point....

Here are my results:
Day 1/Day30
Chest: 42.5"/43.5"
Right Arm (Flexed): 14.25"/14"
Left Arm (Flexed): 14.5"/14"
Waist: 34"/32"
Hips: 37.5"/36.25"
Right Thigh: 22.25"/22.75"
Left Thigh: 22.25"/22.75"
Weight: 188.5 lbs/181.5 lbs
% Body Fat: 12.72%/10.41%


Fit Test Results
Day 1/Day 30
Agility Heisman: 5.5/7.5
In & Out Ab Progression: 39/44
Lat Push-Ups: 20/26
Mountain Climber Switch Kicks: 60/95
Agility Shoulder Taps: 4/5.75
X Jumps: 21/21 (Height Improvement)
Moving Push-Ups: 3.5/4
Agility Lateral Shuffle: 7/11
Agility Bear Crawl: 5/8

Thanks for reading guys and as always, contact me with any questions!

My take on Shakeology

Alright, so there’s a big rave about a product called “Shakeology.”  If you haven’t heard about it, or briefly heard the name in passing, I’ll give you a quick run-down:  Shakeology is a nutritional supplement designed to replace one meal throughout the day.  It’s made from around 70 exotic ingredients from around the world, being the most healthy thing you could eat all day.  It has proteins, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants; all sorts of goodies to help you digest more efficiently and lose weight.  Not only a weight loss supplement, Shakeology is designed to give you more energy through the day, help your body stay healthy and fight disease and sickness, and bring you to a more at-ease mentality.  Basically, it’s a powder (right now in 2 flavors: Chocolate and GreenBerry) that you add to about a cup of water or milk.

I’m here to say that this stuff A) WORKS and B) tastes DELICIOUS.  I ordered the chocolate flavor, and it came with a little calender of all sorts of recipes and variations to the straight powder and liquid.  Right now my favorite is adding a banana, a few strawberries, about a cup of almond milk, and a tsp. of maple extract.  Throwing in a medium sized apple with a tablespoon of cinnamon is also fantastic. Yummm.  Now I’ve only been using Shakeology for 4 days, so I can’t sincerely vouch for it preventing disease and illness, but I can certainly say that it has given me more energy throughout the day and a clearer mind.

Convenience is also a benefit.  I’m working a labor job that’s 40+ hrs a week, anywhere from 5-7 days a week, so taking the time to sit down and prepare a healthy meal on a 30 min.  lunch break is difficult.  With Shakeology, I can literally have a ridiculously healthy meal in under 5 minutes.  Throw your ingredients in a blender and watch the magic happen.  Honestly, the hardest part is not making more because I’ve come to realize there’s a 10-15 min. lag between when I eat and when I actually feel full.  I’m always temped to throw together another shake or just grab some other sort of food before I run back to work, but that’s where self-control comes in.  If you’re also having those kind immediate, post-Shakeology cravings here are a few solutions that work for me:

• Drink your shake slower.  Even if you only have a half-hour lunch break, preparing Shakeology leaves you plenty of time to sip the shake, enjoy it (seriously, savor the flavor), and feel full.  This can be true of any meal also.

• Have a tall glass of water after finishing your shake/meal.  This will help fill you up, and water is also said to help curb food cravings (Shakeology does this also if I didn’t mention before…) as well as provide your body with much needed hydration.

Cost is often a turn-off for products like these, but let’s take a second and break it down.  Shakeology is about $120 for enough to last you a month.  That’s about $4 per day for a meal.  When you think about it, that’s just about the cost of a sub at Subway, or some meal at McDonalds (which you shouldn’t be eating in the first place), but waaayy more nutritious for you.  Especially if you consider the servings of fruits, vegetables, and other super foods Shakeology replaces for your bodily needs.  The ingredients are also organic for the more green-minded consumer.

I encourage you to give this a shot if you’re interested in losing weight, eating healthier, or just feeling better overall.  It’s definitely got the biggest bang per buck.
If you have any questions or are a bit more curious about Shakeology, please feel free to visit my Shakeology site or contact me for more info or with any questions! :)