Category: Yoga

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Staying fit by varying your workouts

Sure, sure, Tony Horton and his P90X program have made “muscle confusion” a buzzphrase, but the fact is, as Tony readily acknowledges, that the idea of muscle confusion has been around for years.

For example, in P90X we do 3 weeks of varied workouts, a week of recovery, 3 more weeks of different workouts — same muscles, different moves –, a week of recovery, and 3 weeks of workouts that mix the 2 sets of moves.

Why is it so important? I mean, I’m not a bodybuilder, so why do I need to worry about muscle confusion?

Well, I figure it this way: If I am going to put the time into being fit, why not go ahead and get fit the best, most efficient way I can? And, let’s face it, running every day is not my style. Too boring.

Plus, I want to be generally fit. If my goal were to run fast 10k races, I would run. But I don’t need to be able to fun faster than the rest of the world, I just want to lower my fat level and have an overall stronger body.

So I’ll cross-train and keep my muscles confused.

I have told the story before of the distance runner who used to fail the fitness test when I was in the Air Force, because the fitness test was done on a stationary bike. Once he added bicycling to his distance running, he was able to pass the test.

Beyond just engaging in different cross-training activities, though, the principle of muscle confusion also tells us to switch it up by working our muscles differently.

I use muscle soreness as a test. If I get to the point where I notice I am not sore (or not as sore) as I should be, that’s a reminder to switch it up. I tend to do the same routines for 3 or 4 weeks, then take a week of recovery, then change things up for another 3 or 4 weeks.

Switching up a routine to create muscle confusion can be as simple as reversing the order of the moves.

For example, try doing Steve’s Chest and Back for 3 or 4 weeks as part of your workout plan, then, after your recovery week, keep it in your plan, but reverse the order of the moves. You’ll feel it!

Muscle confusion is the basis for cross-training, and it’s the reason I engage in resistance training, do aerobics, and practice yoga. It takes a lot of different kinds of activity to build a body, and, for me, anyway, doing the same thing all the time is too tedious.

So, relieve the tedium and reach your general fitness goals by varying your workouts on your way to a better body!

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Not feeling motivated? Do half a workout.

There are days — especially this time of year — when I just don’t feel like working out.

Sometimes it’s because I have gone at it hard for 7 straight days, and my body just needs a rest. That’s all right, I don’t mind taking — and should take — a day off in that situation.

Sometimes it’s because I am sick. Yeah, it happens. Okay.

Most of the time, though, the problem is that I

  • partied too hard
  • didn’t get enough sleep
  • have too much work to do
  • have other people pulling at my time
  • just feel lazy
  • whatever other excuse/reason I can come up with

I had one of those days recently, and, as I often do, I chose to do a less strenuous workout that day, like maybe one of those 20-minute Rodney Yee Yoga routines. That’s cool — at least it’s something — but as I looked through my calendar, I noticed that those single 20-minute Rodney Yee Yoga routines were filling more and more days.

(I am not, btw, in any way knocking Rodney Yee yoga. I love it and highly recommend it.)

It’s not like the light workouts were taking over — only one every so often — but I know the beginning of a downward spiral when I see it. Yes, this happens most often around holidays, when my schedule is disrupted by excess celebration and time off.

To combat the spiral, I said to myself, “This time, if I’m just going to go for 20 minutes, I think I’ll do half of Insanity Max Cardio.” That would provide an intense workout in a short amount of time, feeding both my laziness and need to get fit at the same time.

You know what happened, right? I did the whole thing. (Well, maybe I skipped the last 90 seconds of post-workout stretching, but, stretching is really over-rated, isn’t it? Maybe not, but screw it, go judge yourself.)

I felt great after the workout, I didn’t dog it, and I didn’t have to beat myself up for taking a day off when I didn’t need one. All good.

That worked out great for me, maybe it could for you, too. Next time you are feeling less than motivated, try doing half a workout, and you might just surprise yourself.

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What I’ve learned about fitness and nutrition over the past few years

I’ve been on my fitness quest for about four years now. I went in with with an open mind, wanting to find out as much as I could, experiment on myself, see what works and what doesn’t.

Here are a few of the things I think I know, subject to change as I learn more:

  • It’s more about what you eat than what you do. You can lose a lot of weight by eating properly. Without exercise, though, you will lose muscle along with the fat. You have to work out to build that muscle. Still, if your only goal is to lose weight, know that how you eat is responsible for about 80% of how your body looks.
  • Carbs are not evil, but sugar is, and grains are not far behind. Fruits, vegetables, those are carbs. Eat ’em up. Anything with added sugar in it, though, is just asking for trouble. Then if you add grains, wow, you are really packing a caloric punch. By removing sweets from your diet, you can much more easily find your way to healthy eating habits. Not only that, but when you get used to eating less sugar, naturally sweet foods like fruits will taste sweeter to you.
  • P90X is a great way to dive into a fitness-oriented lifestyle. It got me motivated, took me from a terrible diet to a pretty good one, and from walking/pushups/crunches to real, structured workouts. The main thing P90X did was show me that even people over-40 can get into shape. I’d just about given up, but now I am in the best shape of my adult life.
  • Insanity is a great way to continue that fitness-oriented lifestyle. I lost some of the muscle I’d built with P90X when I went through Insanity, but did I really need all that muscle? The only part I regret is that I lost a lot of pullup (back) strength, so when I am doing a round of Insanity, I add pullups. Insanity doesn’t focus enough on the back muscles and I think the body needs that balance. I add yoga, too, just because I like starting the day with yoga.
  • Insanity: The Asylum is just too much. Maybe I feel that way because I don’t have enough space to do all the moves conveniently, but….
  • You have to warm up first, no matter what it is you are going to do. Unless you are going for a walk, which is not really a workout, you gotta warm up. I have hurt myself doing impromptu pullups. True story.
  • Insanity is good for my knees! I was shocked by this. Before I started P90X, my knees were okay, presenting minor problems when I tried to run, but they didn’t pain me much. A couple months into P90X, my left knee started bothering me. Not enough to make me stop, and the pain was not there when I exercised, but it was there from time to time. The pain was bothersome enough that I mentioned it to my doctor. He took a look and told me I had arthritis in that knee. I continued on with my P90X and One-On-One workouts. I didn’t start Insanity, because I figured if my knee was bad now, Insanity would put it over the top, right? So I put Insanity off for a few months. Then I took some time off to just do yoga and walking, give my body a rest, and my knee pain subsided considerably. When I went back to working out, it came back. At that point I said to myself, “If the pain can go away, then come back, that probably means it can go away again, so I’m going to go ahead and dive into Insanity.” After I started Insanity, my knee pain gradually diminished and has now disappeared. So … I stay away from Tony Horton (P90X) leg routines and stick with Shaun T (Insanity) ones.
  • Yoga is one of the best things you can do for yourself. It is so all-around fitness-increasing, affecting breathing, balance, and strength. Your whole body is engaged in yoga moves. It inspires discipline. And, you know what? It ain’t for pussies. Yoga is hard. Don’t skip it. In fact, I added more.
  • I much prefer body weight or band resistance training to working out with weights. Weight training is cool and I know it helps build strength and balance, but it’s a hassle. I guess that’s another reason to really like Insanity. I am not about building too much muscle, preferring a lean look, so it’s all good.
  • If you can perform a fitness routine completely without breaks the first time through, it’s not a very useful fitness routine. You need something that challenges you. Any of the aerobic workouts in P90X and Insanity definitely qualify as useful, by that definition. Plus, here’s the thing, take, for example, the P90X Plyometrics routine. Man, that is a monster. I was stopping the DVD for extra breaks a lot when I first started it. Then not so much. Then, on the day I was able to get all the way through it without stopping, I had such a feeling of accomplishment. Rightly so! As for Insanity, I still have not got all the way through any of those routines. Close. But not quite. But I will.
  • With that in mind, accept the fact that Insanity is (almost) impossible.  I say “almost” because, I suppose, anything is possible. For Insanity, unlike for P90X, I say take breaks without pausing the DVD, but don’t dog it. Get back in as soon as possible.
  • You can build great abs without doing any crunches. That is a fact, and Shaun T (Insanity) knows how to do that. Insanity is great for abs.

I’m sure I’ve learned more than that, but those are a few good lessons that came to mind pretty quickly.

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What you need to know before you start P90X – Part 3

This is Part 3. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

RULE #11: DON’T SKIP YOGA!

I’m going to devote this whole post to this one rule, because I believe it’s that important.

I had never done any yoga before P90X. I had been warned by my brother that I would probably want to use an alternative to Yoga X, because that workout is 90 minutes, and who has time for that, right?

As an alternative, I got the “Fountain of Youth” DVD from Tony’s “One on One” series. The first few weeks of P90X, though, I did do the Yoga X workout, primarily because I like to make my own decisions about such things, and I like those decisions to be informed.

Yoga X is, indeed, pretty long and boring, but it was necessary to introduce me to the moves and terminology. Tony’s One on One workouts are much less formal than  P90X, and he doesn’t often take time to explain things in them, assuming — usually accurately — that we should already know what he’s talking about and how to do the moves.

Let me say this here, because you may not know this about yoga … it’s hard! At least the way Tony does yoga, it’s hard, quite a workout. I remember the first time I tried floating my leg in the air from downward dog and then trying to swing it through. Not an easy task, and it got harder from there. That is one of the reasons I like it so much. I know it’s working my body and improving it.

Anyway, when I felt pretty comfortable with Yoga X, I moved to the “Fountain of Youth” workout from One on One. It’s a 45-minute routine that covers strength, stretching, and balance. And I was only finally able to do it all the way through without stopping … last week.

There is a part in the middle where we do a sidearm balance, three slow-motion pushups, a sidearm balance on the other side, then go right into an intense downward dog routine, and it has always made me take a break in the past. But I finally made it through last week, and to prove it’s not a fluke, I made it through today, too!

And this is about 18 months since I started  P90X.

I was noticing today how smoothly I can swing my legs through from floating them during downward dog, a move I found so difficult — even wondered if it were really possible for me — when I first started. Now it’s routine.

Here’s the real point: This is not an overnight conversion. There are no magic elixirs to help you get fit. You have to work it, and yoga is a big part of not only helping you get into shape, but also helping you gauge the shape you are in.

So, when you decide to dive into P90X, don’t skip the yoga. It’s probably the most challenging part of P90X, possibly because it’s the least familiar, and you may be tempted to write it off as some throwaway stretching routine, but it’s not. You can build endurance, balance, strength, all that, with yoga.

In fact, I have considered creating a hybrid workout series based on yoga, and I may yet put that together, test it out for a few months. That sounds like it might be a good thing to do after P90X2.

Okay, next post will be more P90X tips, Part 4.

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What you need to know before you start P90X – Part 2

This is Part 2. You can read Part 1 here.

RULE #6: GET THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT.

When I started P90X, I started with basic necessary equipment:

  • yoga mat and blocks,
  • pullup bar,
  • heart rate monitor, and
  • adjustable dumbbells.

You need all those, and the latter two are important enough that I’ve covered them individually.

But there are a couple other pieces of equipment that I wish I’d had from the beginning. Even though they are not required, they sure help a lot.

The first is pushup stands. You can use dumbbells for this, but dedicated stands are really nice to have, especially if they are Tony Horton Power Stands. Those things are brilliant, because they won’t tip sideways on wide pushups. Plus they are very comfortable. They are expensive, so rest assured, you can use either your dumbbells or a less expensive stand. But I do love my Tony Horton Power Stands.

[ NOTE: I don’t pay as much because I am a Team Beachbody Coach. Become a Team Beachbody Coach and SAVE 25% on all Beachbody products. I only did this because, when I added up the savings and subtracted the monthly, this saves me money. ]

You may be thinking, “Why do I even need pushup stands?”

It’s a wrist thing. When you do a lot of pushups — and in P90X you will be doing a lot of pushups — your wrists are turned at that 90-degree angle that could be bothersome. It was for me.

Using pushup stands allows your wrists to stay straight throughout the move. Plus, as a bonus, you now have that 6 inches the stands put you above the ground to intensify the pushup by going lower than you could if your hands were on the floor.

The second piece of equipment that I consider essential, even though I worked out without it for a long time, is an exercise mat.

I work out in my living room, on the carpet. Of course, this wears out the carpet, but, also, that means I am sweating onto the carpet. That can’t be good.

An exercise mat provides a better grip for my bare feet — I don’t wear shoes during workouts — and also extra cushion.

Finding a 6×6 mat proved impossible on a budget. I considered turning my extra bedroom into a workout room and tiling the floor with foam rubber gym flooring, but, again, that ain’t cheap.

As it turned out, the answer was right in front of me.

I had bought a 2×6 exercise mat to use for Ab Ripper X. It is a really durable and comfortable mat, under $20 (when I bought mine), and I thought, “I wonder if I could buy two more and tape them together?” I did just that and it works great! The only thing I try to do when I work out is turn the mat so I don’t stress the seams too much, but this thing has held up for 10 months now, and it’s still in great shape. I used Gorilla Tape to connect them, because I had it around, but I imagine any decent duct tape will do.

The only real problem with the mat is that it does tend to slide around a bit, and I need to adjust it every so often, but the benefits of it far outweigh that small issue.

RULE #7: EVEN IF YOU DO GET INJURED, KEEP GOING!

All right, now, I don’t mean you need to be stupid about it, but even if you are being careful, when you are pushing your body, you can expect pulled muscles and some hyperextended connective tissue. You will know when it’s serious enough to quit.

I am not a doctor, but my rule is this: If it hurts when I work out, I may need to pay more attention to it as a medical condition. If not, well, let’s work out!

I have worked through many an ache and pain that, once I started moving, doing the workout, whaddayaknow? No more pain.

If you do feel intense pain when you work out, maybe you are really hurt, so give it a rest, see a doctor.

My doctor told me, though, that working through an injury, with modifications, i.e. babying the injured area a bit, but still working it, is the way to go.

That’s how I discovered using an exercise band to modify pullups, because I pulled a back muscle. Instead of saying “screw it” and quitting the program, I modified with the band and was able to keep pushing through.

Again, don’t be stupid, but don’t give up too easily, either.

RULE #8: “PRESS PLAY EVERY DAY.”

This should probably be rule #1, but that ship has sailed — I’m on #8 now. Suffice to say, this little mantra that can be heard in the P90X infomercials is important, and will help you get your workout in every day (unless you skip the 7th day each week, X Stretch, which is optional).

To be successful at anything, you have to commit to it, and the way you commit to P90X is to follow the program without fail.

Don’t think you can get that workout in because you are too busy? Find a way to work it in.

Stayed out too late last night and don’t feel like working out? Do it anyway.

Someway, somehow, get your workout in. You’ll feel better for it, especially on those days where you really need to push through it.

Make P90X part of your lifestyle.

RULE #9: NO SHOES WORKS GREAT.

When I first started P90X, I did not know which shoes to buy for it. I searched the online boards, got all kinds of recommendations, mostly for either Vibrams or some kind of cross-trainer. I bought some cross-trainers, but really didn’t like them too much, plus my feet got HOT!

So I tried the shoes without socks. Still sucked.

Then I thought, “Why not try without shoes?” Great decision.

It seems very natural to me to work out that way. Of course, it’s best on a mat, okay on carpet, no bueno on hard floors.

If you are struggling with which shoes to wear, try none — you might like it! (Just be careful about stubbing your toe on dumbbells. Ouch!)

RULE #10: GET ACQUAINTED WITH LOW-CARB PROTEIN SHAKES.

When I started P90X, I went on the 50% protein – 30% carb – 20% fat diet. I’ve already discussed why this is essential to  P90X success in Part 1, so if you are going to follow that diet, you may be surprised to find that eating that much lean protein is not easy.

That’s how I got to know low-carb protein shakes.

There are plenty of them out there. I prefer the type without artificial sweeteners, so I use Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard Natural Whey. It tastes great mixed with low-carb almond milk and mixes well with fruit, too, when I want to add some to the shake.

I’ve tried others, including premixed shakes, and some of them are really good, but I settled on Optimum’s product because it’s so much cheaper to mix them myself, plus I have more flexibility with the ingredients.

Wow, that went quick, and I can see that I’ll need a Part 3.