Holy Crap. I was able to hit my goal of skiing or snowboarding for 7 straight days while on my trip to Park City, Utah. I'll tell you what, I am exhausted as hell. Riding for 4-5 hours a day straight with small breaks here and there started to catch up to me on the last two days. The conditions could not of been better. We've been going on a ski trip every year for the past 7 years and this is the first year that it snowed every day. On 3 of the days it dropped 4 inches while we were skiing or it dropped 2-4 inches over night.

We got into Salt Lake City on Monday around noon. We headed right to Park City Mountain Resort before we checked into our condo for some night skiing. They only had a couple runs opened but we did not care. The couple hours we spent on the hill was a great warm up for the next couple of days.

For Tuesday we headed back to PCMR. It snowed over night and there were blue skies all day. We tried to shred as much of PCMR as possible but the place is so big and the lift lines were a little busy as people were celebrating Mardi Gras. It made for a fun day. My legs were getting a great workout on all of the Blue and Black Diamonds I went down. I've had a set of Volkl Skis for a couple years now and they worked very well with my new set of Salomon Ski Boots. Besides my feet hurting a little from breaking in the new ski boots it ended up being an awesome day.

On Wednesday we decided to get into our rental car and drive out to Robert Redford's Sundance. This place had more of a rustic feel to it. The majority of the buildings were wood and much of the attention was focused on the outdoors...as it should be. It started snowing lightly at the peaks but it was near 45 degrees at the base making the snow very soft. I brought out my K2 snowboard for the day. It ended up being a great day as the views were amazing along with the mountain having a wide open but unique feel to it. I did not get to meet Robert Redford though which would of made it the highlight of the trip.

To keep the adventure going we picked Brighton to shred on for Thursday. It snowed all day again making conditions very soft and alot of fun. What I liked most about Brighton was that all of the runs funneled down to the few lifts they had making it easy to not lose each other. Brighton might be my new favorite place as it had a little bit of everything even though it was not as big of a resort as PCMR or The Canyons. I used my Salomon Snowblades which are a lot of fun when going in and out of the trees as they are easy to maneuver. You use different muscles with them compared to normal skis so its a little bit of cross training.

We had some left over discounted lift tickets for PCMR and used them on Friday. Again, it snowed a couple inches during the day making conditions nice and soft for us to snowboard on. Fatigue was starting to set in from the previous couple of days and a little bit of late night partying.

The Canyons were calling us on Saturday. This place is huge. I snowboarded again as I'm trying to get better at it. Plus, its really good cross training as you use a whole different set of leg and core muscles. It snowed all day again. We even hiked to the top of the Expert Only lift. It was a cool site to see as there was 3 feet of fresh powder to ride on. That part was cool. The rest of the run was a little bit above my ability as there were gigantic moguls everywhere. It would have been easier on skis for me. After 45 minutes of falling, taking breaks, and waiting up for a friend who was doing the same we finally made it down.

For our last day in Utah we drove to Snowbird. I wish we would have gone there during the middle of the week as most of the runs are Black Diamonds. The blue runs were challenging too. It was snowing all day again which made visibility bad. It was not a big deal the previous days but this place was moguled out from everybody skiing on it. There were a couple moments when the nerves jumped up as I did not see a bump until the last second. I even gave myself whiplash when I hit a rut on a catwalk. My snowboard flung me around and I smacked me head. Good thing I was wearing my helmet. We took the tram up to the top and hung out on the back side bowls known as Mineral Basin. If it was not the seventh day of shredding it probably would have been a lot more fun. My mind and body were in two different places after smacking my head. I was exhausted. The runs were steep and bumpy. If it would of been day 1 on my board I would of done better. Since it was not, I did not get to enjoy Snowbird as much. If I get back to Utah in the future it will definitely be the first place I go to.

So after 7 days of skiing and snowboarding I felt whipped. We would go 4 - 5 hours each day. The afternoon pass is what works for us. We use to try to do the all day passes but we would take our lunch break, drink $40 of beer, and burn ourselves out much faster during the trip. Doing the half day saves $15 - $30 on lift tickets plus we don't drink $40 of beer saving us lots of money and energy to go all out.

There is no way I would have been able to go as hard as I did for all 7 days without getting myself in shape first. Leading up to my trip I focused most of my workouts on leg and core specific workouts. I mixed in P90X and Insanity workouts like P90X Legs and Back, Plyometrics, Yoga, and Cardio Circuit Training. The soreness didn't set in until the day after I got home. It was mainly because I have never snowboarded 3 days in a row in my life so those muscles got a much harder workout. My abs feel ripped right now because I was using my toe edge so much the last day on the steeps to make sure I would not fall head over heels and tumble off a 60 foot cliff.

I'm pretty pumped about making it all 7 days knowing that I did not eat all that well and partied all most every night. Its what we do on our trips. From what I've read I was probably burning about 500 calories per hour which comes out to almost 2500 calories burned on the slopes. So anything I was drinking or eating was being burned up. The only thing I wish I would have done differently was bring some P90X Recovery Drink packets and P90X Protein Bars. I didn't bring either because I like travelling light and there was no more space for those. I always take those after a workout to help me recover faster. They would of helped for sure. Its been two days since I got home and I can't stop eating. Next time I embark on a 7 day shred fest I will need to eat much more.

If you are big into skiing or snowboarding and really want to get the most out of your ski vacations then take the time to get in shape before you go. Insanity is probably the best workout to do because it uses your body weight as resistance and is a lot of leg and core work. Both of which are used in skiing and snowboarding. After this trip I think I might be done riding for the season. We put in almost 30 hours of shredding the gnar. One things for sure, I'll be taking the next week off from working out to let my body recover as I'm tired as hell.

Post from: P90X Workout

My 7 days of Skiing and Snowboarding in Park City Utah

Beachbody has had a contest going on for the past 3 months where you had to qualify to go to a business event meeting out in California at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel. The place looks pretty sweet. Its right on the ocean and does not look that far away from the Santa Monica Pier. The only time I have been to California is to go skiing at Lake Tahoe a couple years ago.

 The rules were you had to sponsor a certain amount of new people to be a Beachbody Coach and make it to Diamond Coach rank yourself. Well, I did it.

Beachbody is calling it their Game Plan Event. Its a weekend event with 3 different meetings talking about the business aspects of being a Coach. They are going to have Darren Hardy of Success Magazine come in and speak  along with some of the top earners with Beachbody there. From a learning point of view it should be very informative.

When I took a look at the itinerary I was excited to see that we will be doing a group workout on Friday night with Chalene Johnson to her new "Turbo Fire" program. I have never done any of the ChaLean Extreme workouts before so it should be fun. My girlfriend has been doing ChaLean for 45 days and really likes it. I can see the results shes getting from it. When I told her I would get to meet Chalene she was so jealous. I read up on Chalene and she is from Michigan and went to Michigan State. I will have to remind her that my Central Michigan Chippewas beat her Sparty's last week.

Saturday morning is what I'm looking forward to. We get to workout with the P90X man himself, Tony Horton. I am so pumped to meet him. I have told a couple of my friends already and they can't believe it either. The itinerary says we are going to be doing P90X Yoga X. I was hoping for something more intense like P90X Chest and Back so I could churn out some pull ups with Tony but this will do. Probably best as he will show me up anyways. I have not touched the pull up bar in 2 months because of the Insanity workout.

I had to sign some waiver thingy stating that I will probably be on a recording of the event so they can publish it later for people to see. Should I get new fancy workout clothes for each workout? Nah, gotta support the home town teams. Probably going to bring a CMU and Detroit Tigers shirt. Have to represent.

It will be my first time going any where with a business like this. I hope to learn a lot from it to keep the momentum going with it. Beachbody has started a new website called Coach Destinations to show people the places Beachbody takes its contest winners. I plan on having my name up there very soon and to be on their next trip.

Post from: P90X Workout

I Get To Meet Tony Horton And Chalene Johnson

Monday (8/31/09) - Insanity Core Cardio & Balance - This workout routine is a little tougher than it looks. I have been feeling sore from doing this one.

Tuesday (9/1/09) - Insanity Core Cardio & Balance - Felt sore again from doing it but its nice to do something not as intense for a couple days.

Wednesday (9/2/09) - Drove To Kentucky - Was heading down to Kentucky with a group of 12 people to do some Houseboating. It will be my first time going on one. The lake we were going down to is called Dale Hollow Lake. Its in Kentucky and Tenessee.

Thursday (9/3/09) - First Day On Houseboat - We picked up the house boat around noon and it is quite a large boat. The houseboat is 72 foot long. Its funny to think that the place we got it from just gives over the keys and sends you along your way. It only goes 4 mph so its not like you don't have time to react. Of course I got sick for the first time in two years this day. My head was just pounding.

Friday (9/4/09) - Second Day On Houseboat - What started out as a great day with doing some swimming, jumping off the back of the boat and water slide turned into being one of the most real situations I have ever been apart of. At around midnight my friend was walking down the side of the boat from the back to the front. While coming around he said he got bite by something. When he sat down we could see fang marks. It was a snake. His leg instantly started to swell up and he began puking. We had to call the Tennessee River Valley Authority to come pick him up from our boat and rush him to a dock where a ambulance was waiting. None of us had seen something like this before as Michigan does not have snakes like those.

Saturday (9/5/09) - Last Night On Houseboat - I picked up my friend from the hospital in the morning and he was in some pain. He was ok but his leg was a balloon and a little bruised. He decided to come back to the boat and spent the whole day resting. The rest of us went about our activities and enjoyed the rest of the day or so we thought. Around 9pm at night we were hanging out on the top deck playing a game. One of the girls went down to get a couple beers from the coolers. We heard a deafening scream. The snake was back. It appears that it never got off the boat and was hiding under our coolers the whole day while we sat 2 foot from them. The culprit ended up being a Copperhead. Of course he was hiding right next to the sliding door waiting for one of us to walk through it. Even worse than that was he worked his way in front of our beer coolers. We were stuck inside without our beer as we waited for the Tennessee River Valley Authority again along with the Animal Control. They came back out to our boat again to take care of it. After they got it into a jar the guy who caught it said he has been doing this for 30 years and has never handled one. We were happy when that thing was gone.

Sunday (9/6/09) - Drove Back To Michigan - Parked the boat and spent 8 hours driving back.

While I was excited for this week to be a relaxing one it ended up being a educational one. I started it with my recovery week with the Insanity workout. I still have two more days to go next week because of the house boat trip. The whole experience with the snake made things unforgettable. It leaves a bad memory in a trip that was still a lot of fun.

Post from: P90X Workout

Workout Review For 8-31-09 To 9-6-09

Monday (2/16/09) To feel ready for my vacation to Mont Tremblant I needed to get in some cardio and had to do something with Dad included. I decided to get out Kenpo X for the first time in awhile. I am not really a fan of Kenpo that much anymore because I don't feel like I get that much out of it. When I signed up to be a Beachbody Coach and bought the "Showcase Pack" there were a set of weighted gloves in there. I decided to put them on and use them. What a difference it made. Throwing all of those punches with just a little bit more weight made a huge impact. It was Dad's first time doing it so he had a little trouble keeping up and having good form.

Tuesday (2/17/09) I went to the gym and did 3 miles on the treadmill and .5 mile swimming. Dad said he was ready to workout and I was kind of tired. Since I cannot let him down we went with P90X Plyometrics. I needed this because of all the jumping involved to get me ready for skiing and snowboarding at Mont Tremblant. This was the first workout he had done twice now and was starting to remember a couple things.

Wednesday (2/18/09) I woke up sore as all heck. I think it was from doing Kenpo on monday with the gloves. The additional weight worked new muscles. The jumping, swimming, and running from Tuesday was not helping. Feeling sore and knowing I was going to be in a Ford F-150 for 11 hours with 4 other guys made me want to relax. I did not workout and instead waited for them to show up before getting on the road.

Thursday (2/19/09) We show up in Quebec at 8 am after driving in snow through the night and head right to the mountain. Conditions were awesome with fresh powder. I brought out my snowboard and did that the whole day. Surprisingly, I felt fresh while getting maybe an hour of sleep. Legs felt strong the whole time.

Friday (2/20/09) Busted out the snowblades I got for Christmas and had a great time on those for about 4 hours that day. They worked a lot of muscles around my knees and my lower back. Realized I needed to stay in a lowered crouched position to keep my balance without falling. Again, felt great after skiing.

Saturday (2/21/09) Brought out my skis today. It was my first time skiing this year and it was not as fun as yesterday because we stayed up a little bit later the night before and I was just tired out on the slopes. I still went all out and had a good time. Legs are still feeling good.

Sunday (2/22/09) For my last day at Mont Tremblant my buddy Dave and I went all day. It kept on snowing the whole time we were there so there was 2 inches of freshies out there. I enjoyed the snowblades so much I figured to end the trip with those. Didn't feel sore after getting at it for 6 hours. My knees were a little achy but this is expected because of all the banging the knees take from hitting bumps.

In summary, I did P90X twice before I left to Mont Tremblant. Took wednesday off because of the road trip at night. Skiing and snowboarding were my workouts for Thursday to Sunday. I feel a little tired from all the driving and staying up late but my body was in great shape from P90X to handle all of the skiing and snowboarding.

Post from: P90X Workout

Weekly Workouts For 2-16-09 to 2-22-09

After five days at Mont Tremblant near Montreal, Canada I am officially back. What an awesome trip it was. Mont Tremblant far exceeded my expectations. My hopes were not up because I had a feeling that it was not going to be able to compare with the places out west in Colorado and Wyoming that I have been too. Luckily for us, it snowed every day we were there. Nothing crazy, but 3 to 7 inches is plenty to soften up the runs to make a good wipe out not hurt as much. The mountain was bigger than I expected and the runs were long enough to get from top to bottom without feeling dead tired but still making it feel like big mountain skiing.

The village was a lot of fun with its cool bars and restaurants and the nightlife was not too shabby either. I brought my snowboard, skis, and snowblades there and did all of them on different days. My favorite had to be the days I used my snowblades on. They are just so much fun because I could turn on a dime. Since they were that much smaller I did feel a bit more pressure being put on my knees to stay up on them.

We decided this year to only do the afternoon ski on 3 days and a full day on the last one. The difference in price from a full day pass to a half day pass was $77 to $59 in Canadian $$. Four hours on the slopes going all out is a very good workout to begin with. In the past we have pushed ourselves all day and had nothing left for the next day. I will say that I felt like I was in very good shape and did not feel sore at all. As a matter of fact, the most muscle discomfort I had was sitting in a Ford F-150 with 4 other guys for 11 hours there and 11 hours back to Detroit. All of the P90X I had done before I left made the trip that much more enjoyable. I did the legs and plyometrics workouts more than I normally do to get the legs ready for 4 days of raging on the slopes.

I give the trip to Mont Tremblant "Two Thumbs Up" and I would definitely go back there again.

Post from: P90X Workout

Back From Mont Tremblant Canada

Its that time of year again when me and some friends of mine head off for our annual "Mancation." We have been going on this trip for about 6 years now. This will be the first year when we do not fly somewhere. Economy stinks around here in Michigan and we are all counting our pennies. Instead we have gone on the idea of driving 11 hours from Detroit to basically Montreal instead. It sounded like a lot but when you think about the hour it takes to get to the airport to be two hours there before your flight, plus flight time, then getting a rental car and driving to the hotel it takes about 11 hours anyways. Even if we spend $400 in gas, that would only be one plane ticket. With 5 of us driving in a Ford F-150 (its gonna be tight with 5 dudes) and splitting the bill its going to be about $80 per person there and back for gas...hopefully.

Mont Tremblant does not look like the mountains out in Colorado, or Wyoming that I have been to recently. This one is defintely smaller. It does keep up with our theme of no repeat trips so this will work. I decided to get a couple quick workouts in before we left. I did Kenpo X for the first time in awhile on Monday. For Tuesday I went to the gym and did 3 miles on the treadmill with a .5 mile swim and did a round of plyometrics. I am feeling sore all up and down my back today though. I think it was because I wore "weighted gloves" for the first time doing a workout with Kenpo. That little extra weight made a big difference. The plyometrics was necessary to get my legs ready for 3 full days of shredding. 

I will update next week when I get back if I did anything awesome on the slopes. Rage!!

Post from: P90X Workout

Off To Mont Tremblant In Canada For Skiing And Snowboarding

I'll be heading down to Cancun, Mexico for the next week with my folks and my girlfriend. I love the snow because I ski and snowboard. Unfortunately, here in Michigan, the mountains are hills and not that enjoyable to somebody who has lived in Colorado and been to places like Heavenly, Kirkwood, Vail, Jackson Hole, Whistler Blackcomb, and Mt. Hood to name a few. The weather has been really cold the last two weeks. A change from this:

To This

for a week should not be all that bad. I spend most of my time in the ocean boogie boarding. I should be in good enough shape from doing P90X all the time to handle the waves again this year. There is a strong under tow right in front of our resort and it takes a lot out of me every year. Swimming in the ocean for 7 days, doing some running on the beach, and a round of golf will be my workouts for the week. Hopefully I don't blind anybody with my non tanned Beach Body. Bring on the Mexican food, cervezas, and Margaritas. Will probably be a week until I update the site. Don't miss me.

Cancun Mexico

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Off To Cancun Mexico