Yoga: Strength & Stretch

The reward at the end of every sweaty week of the P90x Extreme Home Fitness workout program is 1 1/2 hours of yoga. The first time I worked out to the yoga DVD a couple of years ago, I was amazed at how quickly it turned me into a human sprinkler. It looks so easy when the yoga pros do it that you get the idea that supporting your own weight in dozens of postures on any combination of hands and feet is easy, but looks are VERY deceiving.

On the P90x DVD, professional trainer Tony Horton starts out with exercises that get you centered and limbered up. Then he starts the Vinyasa Flow -- a series of movements with breath and postures in synch -- that stem from Sun Saluations.

A Sun Salutation basically involves reaching up to the sky, spreading your arms wide and fanning them down to the floor as you bend at the waist, touching the floor (if you can), straightening your back parallel to the floor, reaching back down to the floor, putting your hands flat, kicking your feet back and performing a pushup, then performing another half-pushup with your body lowered to hover just above the floor and holding it. Then you rise out of the push-up by lifting your rear to the sky and forming an angled bridge with your body. After this, you either hop your feet back up to your body and stand or you swing a leg high in the air, bring it up near your hand and go into a more advanced pose.

Sounds easy enough -- until you actually do it. The whole time you're executing the Sun Salutation, you're struggling to support and balance your own body weight. (Maybe that's why yoga masters work to stay so lean.) You're also stretching about every muscle in your body. This is a huge challenge for me. I have the flexibility of the Washington Monument, and I'm always working at limbering up.

I'm being very descriptive about the Sun Salutations because P90X DVD makes you perform dozens of them, and they work you hard while increasing your flexibility. If it sounds too repetitious for you, it's not. The Sun Salutations are the base for all kinds of neat poses, some in lunges, some on one leg, some on a leg and a hand, that challenge muscles you didn't know you had.

The Vinyasa Flow covers the first half of the P90X yoga DVD, the second half is balance poses -- a lot of one legged posing -- stretching, and an absolute killer ab routine. As Tony Horton puts it you will stumble and you will fall, but the payoff is too enormous not to keep trying. Yoga strengthens, stretches and invigorates. On top of that, you really will have a sense of peace when you're through.

P90X Plyometrics: So Bad, It's Good

When I began the latest round of the P90x Extreme Home Fitness Program Monday, I figured I was in pretty good shape. I was for the first day's chest and back routine, which involves a lot of push-ups and pull-ups performed in a variety of ways. I include these exercises in my regular workouts, so, although I had some soreness from the sheer volume of exercises, I wasn't aching to the point of limited mobility.

(P90x is intended to take fit people to a higher level of fitness. Do not embark on the program if you are injured or ill. Seek a doctor's opinion if you are not sure this program is right for you.)

Tuesday's Plyometrics -- jump training -- workout, on the other hand, has me walking gingerly and sitting with a wince. My typical fitness routine -- running three days a week and weight training another three -- doesn't work the same muscles P90X trainer Tony Horton attacks in his Plyometrics DVD, so it's a real shock to the system when I do it.

A critical point before you try Plyometrics is to make sure you're fit enough for it. If you're not, you will injure yourself. It involves a continuous barrage of squats, lunges, leaping and jumping. It will spike your heart rate and make you sweat like a sprinkler.

Even after warming up for the Plyometrics workout, my thighs started to seize up during the first couple of exercises. Fortunately, they relaxed out before pulling into the injury zone. If they hadn't, I would have stopped and warmed up a while longer. This is a rule of thumb I use in every exercise.

The worst injuries I've ever sustained -- some requiring up to ten weeks off to heal -- came about because I didn't listen to my muscles and tendons and tried to power through -- increasing the damage with each motion. There's nothing wrong with cutting a workout short when something doesn't seem right. Improving fitness is the point, not having a grudge match with your body that leads to injury.

When you do take a break, use it to figure out what's causing the problem before re-engaging. For me, the problem is usually stems from not warming up enough, performing a motion incorrectly, performing a motion that isn't mechanically correct to begin with or that exacerbates an old injury, or using equipment that's not right for me. All of these problems can be addressed by warming up longer, adapting an exercise, or skipping it all together and finding another activity that promotes the same benefit.

The pain I feel when I start Plyometrics is regular old working muscles hard pain. My body has to get more efficient at dealing with the strain of the workout and clearing out the lactic acid that accumulates. After a week or two, my muscles will feel worked but not overly sore.

Plyometrics is so bad, it's good. It strengthens my legs and turns them into fat-burning machines. It's also a great reminder that even the most comprehensive workout routine -- involving aerobic and weight training exercises -- won't work every muscle. That's why it's good to change out exercise routines on a regular basis.

The Plyometrics DVD lasts about an hour including about fifteen minutes for warming up and cooling down. That's a small investment for enormous gains.

Click HERE to see my RuggedReviews.com review of P90x that includes a list of recommended equipment and purchasing options.

Juiced Up for Another Round of P90x

There's something about P90x that's addictive. Tony Horton and Beach Body created an extreme home workout DVD program that takes me from fit to extremely fit in 90 days. This Monday, I'm embarking on a third round in a year and a half, and you'd think I'd be dreading it, but I'm actually looking forward to the grunting, sweat and pain.

(P90x is intended to take fit people to a higher level of fitness. Do not embark on the program if you are injured or ill. Seek a doctor's opinion if you are not sure this program is right for you.)

P90x has this effect on me because it shakes up my workout routine, and, about a month into the program, I start to feel solid to the core. In between rounds of P90x, I alternate running 45 minutes every other day with working out with push-up bars, a door-mounted pull-up bar, dumbbells, resistance bands, a dip station and a kettlebell. You'd think that would keep me in good condition, and it does. But P90x, as advertised, takes me to the next level.

The cool thing about P90x is that I even though I don't have the time or money to spend on a personal trainer, it gives me access to a trainer. Even if I did have the time and money, I've never seen a trainer at a gym as motivational as Tony Horton. He and his workout buddies -- they change out every DVD -- keep me moving so fast I don't have time to get bored or distracted.

Each workout focuses on a different body area -- Chest & Back, Plyometrics (lunges and leaping), Shoulders & Arms, Yoga X, Legs & Back, Kenpo X (kick boxing), Core Synergistics, Chest Shoulders & Triceps, Back & Biceps, Cardio X and AB Ripper X. The variety of exercises is enormous and they're switched out about every minute or so. The total workouts require about an hour to an hour and a half of your time.

The equipment requirement is very basic, which is perfect for a home workout. All you need is push-up bars, a door mounted pull-up bar, dumbbells and/or resistance bands. Click HERE to see my RuggedReviews.com review of P90x that includes a list of recommended equipment and purchasing options.

Despite my enthusiasm, the program isn't perfect. There are a few exercises that I won't do, including a pull-up that involves throwing a towel over the pull-up bar. You have to grip onto the bar with one hand and the towel with the other and perform pull-ups. The awkward move is murder on my shoulders and the point of working out isn't to injure your body. I also don't like the pounding impact of push-ups with a clap in the middle. The whole kickboxing DVD doesn't get me winded, so I go for a long run instead. To his credit, Tony Horton shows a few ways to perform most exercises. You can even use a chair assist until you build up strength for pull-ups.

Over the next three months, I'll dedicate a portion or all of the weekly blog to P90x. If you're fit, give it a try and let me know what you think.

"Xeniors" -- Extremely Active Seniors -- Alive & Kick'n A**!

To live in Florida, a state that welcomes retirees with open arms, is to know the aging process -- intimately. The good news is from what I've seen: Your later years like every other stage of life, isn't a crap shoot. Unless you're struck down by an unexpected injury or disease, for the most part, what you DO is what you GET physically, mentally and socially.

As I approach the Big 5-0, I'm becoming more and more attentive to the older people around me for tips on how to age well. I see plenty of seniors who have great potential for a vibrant physical, intellectual and social life who have, for whatever reason, cashed out. It's sad. Fortunately, I see even more seniors who are still fully engaged in the world. I like to call them "Xeniors" -- extremely active seniors.

The best example of a Xenior I've encountered is a retired military officer who could perform fifteen pull-ups in the middle of a rigorous workout at a local gym. This was awe inspiring in itself. Then he went and blew me away by telling me he was 70 years old and he had Parkinson's disease. All of a sudden, my ten pull-ups seemed paltry, and I dedicated myself to trying harder.

Out on the water off my beach town, I see Xeniors surfing, body boarding, and swimming like 18 year olds. Xeniors run, jog, walk or ride racing bikes along the beach, sidewalk and roadway every morning. Xeniors golf 18 holes a few times a week without a golf cart. And Xeniors dance the old dances -- swing, salsa and ballroom, where couples actually touch each other -- several times a week. They prove activities are limitless for Xeniors who make an effort to find them.

I even see Xeniors who suffered strokes shuffling along the sidewalk with walkers with tennis balls for feet. You can tell every step they take is a Herculean effort. I applaud every step.

Xeniors are seniors who approach life with all the vigor they can muster and a sparkle in their eye. Engaging the world as their bodies and minds naturally age isn't always easy, but anything less than seizing the challenge and doing their best with what they have to work with would be -- to them -- a shameful surrender in a world full of potential. Full of potential that's too often under-appreciated by men and women a fraction of their age.

I'm absolutely nuts about Xeniors who take full advantage of every moment and invest it toward developing their potential, and, through their positive example and generosity, inspire those around them to follow a similar path.

Xeniors: Alive and Kick'n A**! Thank you for teaching us how to keep on keeping on!

(If you need ideas to pursue the Xenior lifestyle, be sure to stop by RuggedReviews.com. If you just want a Xenior T-shirt for yourself or as an encouraging gift for the Xeniors in your life, go to my new online Xenior Store. Your support is greatly appreciated.)