I decided it was time to try some new kinds of supplements from Beachbody. My girlfriend and I have gone through two rounds of the Shakeology meal replacements. They were pretty good but I was looking for more of a after workout drink and some other things. I logged into my Team Beachbody account and went shopping.

The three things that I bought were a tub of Vanilla Whey Protein, Joint Support Formula, and the Strength Muscle Mens Formula. I decided on those because we usually make smoothies every couple of days and the Protein is a good ingredient. The Joint Support Formula is for me. My knees and ankles are not so good but especially my knees. From all of the running, skiing, and snowboarding I do my knee is starting to get that stretchy grinding sound when I extend it. Not good. The Strength formula is for after workouts. The P90X recovery drink is very good but I was looking to try something new and its about $20 cheaper. With the 25% discount I get from being a Beachbody Coach I was able to save $22. Not bad.

In the two weeks that I have bought these products I am noticing the biggest difference from the Joint Support Formula. My knees, shoulders, etc. feel a bit more loose and there have not been as many sounds coming from my body when something rotates. The Strength Formula gave me quite a rush of energy after the couple P90X workouts I have done and most noticeably during my softball game. I worked out a couple hours before my game, took the stuff, and it carried me threw the game. It might be a little early to evaluate the Whey Protein but I can say that it does taste very good.

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Trying New Beachbody Supplements

Monday (6/22/09) For the first time in my life I went Kayaking. The funny thing is that I lived in a house for 15 years that had a river in the back yard. A couple friends of mine bought kayaks last summer and one of them who is a teacher asked me to go. We left behind my parents house in Sterling Heights on the Clinton River. It took a couple minutes getting use to how quick a kayak moves in the water. I am very familiar with canoes but a kayak was a whole new ball game. The water was a little bit higher than normal as there were a bunch of thunderstorms that have gone through south east Michigan in the past week. We were in the water for about 10 minutes when my first challenge came. A big tree had fallen across the river and had blocked almost the whole thing with the exception of a gap between the branches. I could not get the kayak straight and rode up onto the tree. Since I was so new to trying to steer it I panicked a little. Water starting coming over the front of the boat and there was about an inch more to go before it would start going into the kayak. Luckily I was able to pull myself up the tree and get through it. We had figured it was going to take about 6 hours to do the part of the river we expected. We ended up getting it done in about 2.5 hours. Way faster than what we expected. It was a lot of fun and cannot wait to go again. Next time we are going to try to go from my parents house all the way to Lake St.Clair. We were told it would take about 7 hours to do.

Tuesday (6/23/09) Power 90 Sculpt Phase 3-4 – I did not have a whole lot of time to get in a workout today and I really did not want to spend a hour and a half doing P90X. The Power 90 workout worked out great along with the quick 5 minute ab workout at the end. My friend Chris called me up to go twilight golfing at Maple Lanes. I played ok but not great. While I have been able to hit the ball much farther I still spray the ball here and there. This is one of those courses where you cannot do that as the Maple Trees are a hundred foot tall on both sides of the fairway. I shot 86.

Wednesday (6/24/09) Double Header Softball Game – My team put the worst beat down of all time on our opponents. Final score was 29-0. Its hard to not score a run in softball but somehow it happened. The unfortunate part of the night was we lost our second game 8-7. Seems like we used up all of our runs in the first game.

Thursday (6/25/09) Day Off- Went to the Detroit Tigers game with some friends from high school. While the Tigers did win it was the hottest day I have ever spent at a ball game. It was 93 degrees and what felt like a 1000% humidity. It was ridiculous.

Friday (6/26/09) Golf Scramble – Dad called me up and asked me if I wanted to sub for my mom in a golf scramble. Our team shot one under par and it was a fun afternoon. I did lose more balls then normal as I was trying to go for it on a lot of holes because I could hit the ball about 40 yards further than my teammates (they were retirees so there is nothing to brag about).

Saturday (6/27/09) 2 Mile Run and Boating on Lake St. Clair

Sunday (6/28/09) Day off

This past week was more of a activity week for me than a workout week. I did a lot of things over the week that kept me busy and moving and were things that I like to do.

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Workout Review For 6-22-09 To 6-28-09

Monday (6/15/09) Day Off

Tuesday (6/16/09) P90X Plyometrics – I am really liking doing this P90X workout before my softball games as it really loosens up my legs and I feel like I have an extra hop in my step the next day.

Wednesday (6/17/09) Double Header Softball Game – We won both games. I hit ok as I went 4 for 6 and played well in the field.

Thursday (6/18/09) 4 Mile Run

Friday (6/19/09) Day Off

Saturday (6/20/09) P90X Legs & Back – I decided to change the way that I do pull ups after some body made a comment on my P90X Pull Up Bar demonstration video. In the video I was swinging my legs forward instead of going straight up and down. It is a little tricky in that door way because my knees almost touch the ground when I am on the downward motion. So for this round of legs and back I decided to take this persons advice. What I noticed was that I was using my abs a lot more during the rep. It was a little bit tougher then the way that I have been doing them. My reps went down by 11 from my previous time doing the workout. From this point forward I will be doing pull ups and chin ups this way.

Sunday (6/21/09) Day Off – Went boating with some friends on Lake St. Clair

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Workout Review For 6-15-09 To 6-21-09

Monday (6/8/09) 4 Mile Run

Tuesday (6/9/09) P90X Plyometrics – It had been a couple weeks since I had done Plyometrics. This workout still kicks my butt.

Wednesday (6/10/09) P90X X Stretch & Double Header Softball Game – My legs were feeling a bit weary from doing Plyo the day before but I was able to play pretty well for both games. Our team had a off week and lost both games. We just could not hit well as a team collectively.

Thursday (6/11/09) Day Off

Friday (6/12/09) 4 Mile Run. Watched my Detroit Red Wings lose Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. How could this happen?

Saturday (6/13/09) Day Off – Was busy all day doing shopping and went to a wedding that night.

Sunday (6/14/09) Day Off – Went to the Red Bull Air Races on the Detroit River with some friends on their boat.

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Workout Review For 6-8-09 To 6-14-09

Monday (6/1/09) P90X Chest Shoulders Triceps. I pushed really hard today. My push up count was up by 10 from my previous time.

Tuesday (6/2/09) 4 mile run

Wednesday (6/3/09) Double header softball game. The team I am on is unique. We won the first game by a couple of runs and then sat around for awhile. We never seem to do well when this happens. We were down 8-2 going into the bottom of the 6th inning. I was hoping we would get 4 runs, hold them, and then win it in the 7th. We ended up batting through the order twice putting 16 runs on the board. One of the guys on my team hit a grand slam. The look on the other teams faces was one of shock. They scored no runs at the top of the 7th and it was over. On a funny note, my brother wore jeans and his friends wore jean shorts to play in. It was hilarious. My arms and chest were sore from doing chest, shoulder, tricep on Monday and I did not have a good batting performance as they were tight. Fielding was good as I am getting use to my new Demarini Softball Glove my bro bought me for my B-Day.

Thursday (6/4/09) 4 mile run

Friday (6/5/09) P90X Back and Biceps. I had a really good workout today. I was able to do 50 total pulls/chin ups during this routine. This was the most I have done for this exercise. The amount of weight I used for each exercise went up.

Saturday (6/6/09) Went for a 6 mile bike ride to a sporting goods store to replace my old Reef Sandals. Had to get another pair of them because they have the cool bottle opener feature on them that have become very handy. My knees and ankles had been starting to hurt over the past couple of months and I came to the conclusion there was not much padding left as I was wore them down over the past two years.

Sunday (6/7/09) Yard work around the house. I broke the brand new Hedge Shears we bought that morning while I was clipping some vines and branches in the back yard. Maybe I need to lay off P90X. The branch was not going to give and neither was I so the handle for the shears did.

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Weekly Workouts For 6-1-09 To 6-7-09

I get a lot of questions about what to do after completing the P90X workout. This is a very good question as it was one that I asked myself. When I completed P90X I was so pumped with the results I decided to go and do another round of it. After completing round two, P90X was starting to become a part of my lifestyle. When completing round two I went on and did one more round. Yup, 3 rounds of P90X. It was embedded into my brain that I was doing it as I had grown so accustomed to it. The one hour workouts did not bother me anymore and I looked forward to doing them.

There is something to be said about a workout program that can deliver such great results, not get boring, and can still challenge somebody after doing 9 months of it. I will say though that now when I do it, my reps, amount of weights used, and pull up/chin ups have peeked. It was bound to happen as my body has done each workout so many times now that my muscles are no longer confused. What is interesting to note is I can now go a week or two without doing a pull up or chin up, jump on the pull up bar, and crank out as many as I could do when I was doing P90X every day.

But lets step back to why you wanted to do P90X in the first place. Was it to lose weight? Get in shape? Train for your upcoming sports season? Whatever your “it” was you now need to go out and do it. Steve Edwards, who is a fitness/health guru employed by Beachbody, says that it is time to take a break and live a little. Your body should be in such great shape now that you need to use it for the purpose intended. For me it was getting in shape for the activities I do like skiing, playing softball, and golf. Between the seasons I would fit P90X into my everyday schedule. Then when my season came around I scaled back on P90X and focused on my skills for the game at hand. I was in such great shape at the start of the season that it would carry me through to the end of it. I would workout about half as much as I usually did to maintain the results I had. It was not like I was being inactive because the practices, games, and trips kept my body moving. When the season was done it was time to get back to P90X full time.

With most things in life, sometimes you just need a break. I will never knock P90X workout routine, but there is a time when a change needs to take place. It is hard to walk away from P90X as it is fun to do but I can always come back. What I like the most about being a Beachbody Coach is that the company alerts me with new workouts they have coming out and tips to keep your current workouts fun. Its as if I have my own virtual personal trainer telling me what to do without me having to go out and search for information. Even though I have not done P90X Plus yet, it looks like a great addition to the P90X series. It is 4 more cardio workouts to add into the mix. It seems like every couple months or so, Beachbody is coming out with a new 90 day workout routine. Maybe this is the time to switch it up and get a new one.

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What To Do After P90X?

Monday (5/25/09) Memorial Day. Took the day off and did some BBQ’ing with some friends.

Tuesday (5/26/09) P90X Yoga X

Wednesday (5/27/09) Double header softball game. Felt really good for both games. My swing is back after the winter layoff. We won the first game mercying the other team. The second game was exciting. We played a really good team and they were up 11-2 in the 3rd inning. I got up with 2 outs and hit a one hopper off the fence (320 feet) for a triple. My teammates followed it with 9 hits after me to get the score to 11-10. We made it the bottom of the last inning down by one run. I got up with a man on first and third. I told myself to hit a line drive between 3rd and short to tie the game up. It did not happen. What did happen was a towering drive to left center that one hopped off the 340 foot sign. Both runners scored and we won. It would have been cooler if it went down the line and cleared the fence but I’ll take that. I keep getting so close to hitting one over.

Thursday (5/28/09) P90X Legs & Back w/Ab Ripper X. I was very happy with this workout. I was able to do 15 reverse grip chin ups. This is the most I have ever done at one time. My total for the entire workout was 81. This is one short of my record for this particular workout.

Friday (5/29/09) Day off. Went up north to visit a friend of mine who is in the military. My legs felt sore from doing legs and back.

Saturday (5/30/09) Day off. Was with friends and family up north. Watched the Detroit Red Wings win Game 1 of Stanley Cup Finals.

Sunday (5/31/09) Drove back home. Exhausted from the weekend. Watched the Detroit Red Wings win Game 2 of Stanley Cup Finals.

My leg was starting to feel better from the line drive that hit me two weeks ago. I did not think it would still hurt. I did not get in that many P90X workouts this week because of it. I did feel pretty good about how my P90X legs and back workout went. Hopefully next week I should be able to get back to a full week of workouts.

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Weekly Workouts For 5-25-09 To 5-31-09

Monday (5/18/09) P90X Chest, Shoulders & Triceps w/Ab Ripper X

Tuesday (5/19/09) Day Off

Wednesday (5/20/09) P90X Yoga X – Double Header Softball Games

Thursday (5/21/09) P90X Back & Biceps w/Ab Ripper X

Friday (5/22/09) 2 Mile Run

Saturday (5/23/09) Spent All Day Walking Around At The Rochester Heritage Festival And Detroit Tigers Game At Night.

Sunday (5/24/09) Day Off

It was a fairly active week for me. I started Phase 2 Of P90X again this week. Softballwas pretty good this week but my swing is not back yet. The baseball glove I have had since the 11th grade was broken when some guy hit a laser to me at first base and ripped the web in two. The glove was hanging on by a thread and I knew it was going to be time to get a new one soon. Funny thing was that my brother picked me up for he game and gave me a brand new one as a gift. Unfortunately I left it at the house and had to use somebody elses for the rest of the game.

My knee is still hurting from the line drive that hit me two weeks ago. Of course it was my brothers doing. The 2 mile run I did felt ok but I feel as if I need to take more time off from doing any leg exercises. This kind of sucks as the weather is getting nicer and I want to get out and start running more.

It is Memorial Day today. Thanks to all of those that have and are serving in the U.S Military. Mom and Dad were in the Air National Guard for over 20 years each so I understand the specialness of this day.

Post from: P90X Workout

Weekly Workouts For 5-18-09 To 5-24-09

This really, really, really, really, really, really bothers me to even write about this. I mean really, really, really bothers me to the point that I cannot believe I am doing this. There is going to be some serious back lash from this. I logged into my Beachbody Coach site this morning and there was an update saying that Brett Favre is now doing P90X. I went to his Twitter page and there it was saying he did P90X Chest and Back that morning. Now, I am not sure that is the real Brett Favre as there are a couple different Twitter pages in his name. After doing some searching I found three other accounts claiming to be him but lets assume for now it is.

To understand why it bothers me is because I grew up and live in the suburbs of Detroit, MI. By default this makes me a Detroit Lions fan. Brett Favre has been a leading cause as to why the Lions are the worst professional (Its hard calling them pros) sports (not just football) team. I watched him simply own the Lions for over 15 years. My dad has had Lions season tickets (he still won’t give em up) since 1992 when they played back in the Pontiac Silverdome. Brett ruined so many Sunday afternoons for my dad, brother, and I. One particular day was during the 1993 NFC Divisional Playoff Game. My dad, bro, and I were at the game sitting in our old seats in Section 302 Row 17, Seats 1,2, and 3. The Lions were up by 3 with a couple minutes left and the Packers had the ball. The flashbacks are pissing me off so there is no way I can post what happened next on my site. So if you want to see it then click here.

A couple of my friends were big Packer fans and use to talk all sorts of crap to me. Then one day I just came to the conclusion that Brett Favre is the Detroit Lions daddy. This made watching the game a little bit more enjoyable because I expected him to throw for 3 TDs and 300 yards. A couple years ago I blew up at a game. The guys who have season tickets in front of us were so angry that day as Brett was having another “average” game against us. I had listened to this complaining for a couple years and could not take it anymore. I stood up and reminded every body in a 20 foot radius that this is nothing new as Favre had been doing this to us every single game for the past 12 years. My closing statement was “Brett Favre playing in a wheel chair, throwing left handed, and wearing a eye patch would still beat the Lions.” Things have not been the same since then with the people around me. I thought the picture I found of him walking off the field smiling with a Lions player in the background says it all.

I know Brett is in retirement (vacation) mode right now and if he comes back to the NFL I hope he does not come back to a NFC North team or any team that plays the Lions next year. I know the Lions cannot beat anybody right now (good job on that 0-16 season jerks!!) but if they play him they might as well not show up.

It is cool to see that more celebrities and even professional athletes are doing the P90X workout. It really proves that this program is worth trying as people who have to be in shape for a living are using it.

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Brett Favre Does P90X

I would like to welcome Jake from Fitness Dedication to the Beachbody family. He recently signed up to be a Coach with me and I wanted to tell all of you a little bit about him and why he signed up to be a Beachbody Coach.

Jake is 19 years old and hails from Buffalo, New York. Right now he is a sophmore in college and plays basketball for his college team. He told me one of his goals is to try out and make a higher division college basketball team next year.

His dad introduced him to P90X two years ago when he was entering into his senior year of high school. He did P90X here and there instead of going to the gym. Now in college he uses it to train in the off season for basketball. With being big into basketball he told me that he got so much out of the plyometrics workout and it has helped him with his game. Him and I have something in common. We do not like going to the gym and would rather have a plan laid out in front of us that is going to get results.

I highly recommend you stopping by Fitness Dedication to follow Jake. I have a feeling that there are going to be some good basketball stories coming from him and how he uses Beachbody products like P90X to help him get there.

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Welcome Beachbody Coach Jake And FitnessDedication.com