Plyometrics Revisited

What a difference a day can make! Just a few days ago, I took my first stab at Plyo and it went amazingly well. I set my expectations for an impossible workout, but instead I found it very doable and even fun. That changed drastically today.

I had a few things working against me today — the biggest being horrific stomach cramps that started at 4 AM and kept me awake tossing and turning in agony. I never experienced the pain from a miscarriage before, but I'm betting it feels something close to what I felt this morning. After a few sleepless hours and several trips to the bathroom, for lack of any other methods of relief, it got to be 9:30 and I couldn’t put off P90X any longer. How on earth was I going to get through a work-out today? We normally do Core on Saturdays, but I wanted to switch it up with Plyo for 2 reasons: 1) my stomach was already in enough agony, and 2) I had a tougher time with the leg work-out when it immediately followed Plyo. My bad knee wasn't too happy about it. So Plyo seemed the smartest thing to do today. Well, the smartest thing to do would have been to skip the work-out all together, but I'm way too committed for that.

So I went through with it. And it was torture. So many things were working against me. Working out in the mornings is always harder, but this morning I was in so much abdominal pain. Then I had that weird phenomena where your stomach doesn't seem to be attached to the rest of your innards. Is there a technical word for this condition where your stomach makes horrible gluncking noises every time you jump? I hate that. Imagine doing Plyo with all the gluncking and sharp pains. Then there's my chronic low blood pressure. I think jumping around in the morning with no food in me is especially challenging. I was constantly dizzy and graying out.

I kept thinking that God was trying to punish me. I didn't eat any meat yesterday (Good Friday) but it felt like I must have. Maybe I swore or lied on Good Friday. There has to be some reason that I was being dragged through the firey pits of Hell this morning.

All I can say is that I'm very proud of myself for getting through it all. It wasn't pretty, but I did it. I kept thinking about how much fun I had the first time and how I made the work-out seem so easy. I even inspired a friend that doesn't really care too much for exercise to want to do Plyo. Then it occurred to me that I may have sugar-coated the routine. I had visions of my friend buying this video and attempting it . . . Then immediately driving to my house to beat me silly. In fact, I'm sure she would get a better work-out from beating me than from trying to do Plyo. If you're investigating P90X and considering taking on Plyo, just make sure you're ready for it. Don't attempt it if you are not feeling your best. It's will take everything you got to get through it, so make sure you have what it takes to start with.

Plyometrics for the First Time

Last night was our first time doing the Plyo video, which is basically "jump training." As I mentioned last week, we decided to modify our P90X “Lean” version by substituting Cardio for Plyo. There were a couple different factors that lead me to the decision to do the Lean version to begin with. One was that I didn’t want to give up my normal afternoon weight-lifting sessions, as I KNOW those are doing the trick. But also . . . Plyo just plain scared me! I thought it best to avoid it.

But after doing several Cardio sessions and not being at all challenged, I thought it was time to step it up. Tony refers to the Plyo routine as “the mother of all P90X work-outs.” He also says something like “Plyo puts the X in P90X.” (gulp) All his chatter during the warm up terrified me. But actually, when it came right down to it . . . it wasn’t all that bad. In fact, it was sort of fun! The best part is that most exercises only last 30 seconds. And as Tony says, “You can do anything for 30 seconds.” No matter how bad or hard it is — it’s temporary. There was so much variety and the hour went by pretty fast. I look forward to doing it again. The only bad part was . . . it was impossible for me to stay awake until the end of American Idol last night!

I'm very pleased that I didn’t have too much trouble with my bad knee (which was a big fear). It was sore immediately after the work-out, but today it feels fine. I’m also amazed that my muscles are not sore today. This stuff must be working! Where is my bike? I can’t wait to tackle a hill.

You can catch a sneak peek at the Plyo video here: http://www.veoh.com/videos/v1174135ZGygRz7t

Who Knew?

After last week's Chest, Shoulders & Biceps routine I made some personal goals for myself . . . one being to be able to do clapping push-ups. Since last week was our first time with this routine, I didn't even attempt to try them. I thought for sure I would break my nose.

It's funny how much braver and more confident you get the second time around on each video. The first time is terrifying. You have no idea what to expect. You are unsure what weights to try. You are lost trying to follow all the moves. You are convinced that everything is super hard and unattainable. But then the second time around, you feel like an old pro - more confident just knowing what to expect.

So today, I decided that I was going to give the clapping push-ups a shot. And to my surprise, I could do them! Who knew? I got so excited that after the entire session was over I went to grab my camera. Now please keep in mind that this video was taken after an hour of grueling push-ups and dumbell exercises. My arms felt as though they were pulled through a pasta machine. But I still managed to bust out a few extra push-ups for the camera.

Please be careful looking at the rug - may cause dizziness!

Tranquil Yoga . . . Or Not

It might have been tranquil . . . had I not gone through the entire night last night without actually falling asleep. I had one ice tea at lunch time and it did me in. The caffeine was still surging through my body after midnight and kept me awake all night. This isn't the first time this has happened to me. I can't drink caffeine at any time of day - period.

Instead of sleeping, I laid in bed and thought about WORK, of all things, for hours. What is wrong with me? I was actually looking forward to finally being able to get out of the bed and start yoga. I had a positive attitude going in, but the lack of sleep must have sent me into negativity. I didn't feel as strong as I did during last week's session. The things that I can't do (and will never be able to do because my body just doesn't bend that far or move that way) really bugged me today. I thought I have come to terms with my body's funny quirks, but apparently I haven't.

I complained out loud, "Why am I SO FAR from being able to stretch like that?" (in cobbler's pose). I’m not THAT inflexible. Why was this bothering me so much today? Then, at one point, Tony was explaining the proper form to holding your arms in the air before reaching over to sitting forward stretch. Just holding my arms up was uncomfortable, never mind the stretching. He jabbered on and on about the proper form and I felt compelled to blurt out, "Just shut up and stretch already." My husband just laughed at me and said, "OM, tranquil and clear mind." I told him to shut up too ;-)

Take Tony's "Tip of the Day" to heart and make sure you really clear your mind before doing your next yoga session. It can make or break the entire experience.

Fridays are Rest Days

And I love them! Yesterday was Kenpo, but in addition, we did a bicep blast during our lunch break. I guess I’m missing biceps since we moved into Phase 2, and no longer do that video. Which leads me to the fact that we are going to modify our routine a bit . . . We are currently doing the Lean version of P90X. The basic difference is the amount of weight lifting days. Classic requires 3 days of lifting, where Lean only requires 2 days. However, we have been supplementing by doing extra lifting in the afternoons. This means we are still getting at least 3 days of lifting per week. We concentrate on whatever muscle group is not getting hit with P90X. In addition, next week we are going to ditch Cardio and add Plyometrics (jump training). Cardio just isn’t challenging, and I’m eager to see if we can do Plyo. This one scares me, and my bad knee, but I want to give it a shot. I don’t think I can hurt my knee any more than the last time I did squats with my crazy husband/trainer. He doesn’t seem to understand the fact that my muscles can withstand a lot more weight than my knee can. I no longer trust him with my leg workouts. He’s fired as my trainer when it comes to legs!

I haven’t posted any real photos in the last few weeks. I guess this is because I have come to the realization that I’m not really going to change all that much. After looking at all the before and after photos on beachbody.com, it’s apparent that the girls don’t really transform much. Most of the girls posted in the success stories where in good shape to begin with, and realistically how ripped can a girl get? So instead of photos of my same old (hey, wait a minute . . . not literally “old”) arms, I’m going to start to post videos of me doing the P90X moves.

Here’s my first video of pull-ups. I can only do 1 or 2 pull-ups more than I could when I started, only now I can pull up from standing – without jumping up. (Please note, this is not shown in the video thanks to my husband’s slow shutter finger.) You will see that I only come down until my elbows are at 90 degrees, but my goal is to increase the angle, in addition to increasing the reps. I ultimately want to do 10 reps, with more travel. When I realized that the video didn’t start soon enough, my husband said, “Just do it again.” And I would . . . only Friday is rest day – sorry.

My Tail Was Dragging Today

I don't remember a day that I dreaded doing my P90X work-out more than I did today. Wait a minute . . . I don't think I EVER dreaded doing it before today. But this afternoon, I was exhausted. I have to blame my husband because his cell phone alarm went off at 3:15 AM and woke me out of the most blissful, deep sleep. I was not a happy camper. After that, I tossed and turned and never could fall back to sleep. That set the tone for the rest of the day.

On the 30 minute commute home from work, a sat there in the car cherishing every minute of the relaxing ride. I wished it would take just a little longer so I could catch a little longer snooze. I should make a note here that my husband and I work together, and I am the passenger during the commute. I was not snoozing at the wheel!

We got home and I let out a big sigh . . . . "uuuuuugh, do we have to work-out?" I made it flawless this far and I'm not breaking my perfect record. Luckily, I already did Ab Ripper X at lunchtime, so that would help lessen the pain. Tonight was Legs and Back and considering how stinkin' tired I was, I think I did great. I felt freakishly strong and breezed through most of the entire work-out. I did more pull-ups then ever and the only thing that killed me, as usual, was the skin on my palms (and I wore gloves today). And now that it's all over and my tummy is full from my stir-fry dinner, I'm feeling better and more awake than I did all day!

That's What I'm Talking About

I may have been getting a little too comfortable with P90X. After doing the same routines for 4 weeks, it was getting a little ho hum and not too challenging. Well, THAT changed last night.

I was very anxious to start Phase 2 and experience a brand new video. Last night was that experience. We tackled Chest, Shoulders and Triceps and my goodness, it was challenging. I was still proud of myself. Despite not being able to do everything in the routines, I still kicked the butt of the chick on video. I only had to drop to my knees on some of the push-ups, where she was on her knees for all of them.

My new personal goals:

• I want to do real one-armed push-ups.
• I want to be able to do the push-ups where you clap in between - or better yet, flying push-ups.

When I woke up this morning, it felt like I got run over by a truck. But now I'm sitting at my desk, amazed that nothing is hurting. My arms feel fine. Maybe it will take 24 hours for the soreness to kick in.

I'm eager to try this video next week just to see if and where I'm making improvements. I will never forget watching the movie G.I. Jane with Demi Moore. It inspired me so much, I was ready to join a boot camp after seeing it. I want to be G.I. Jane, but I'm not shaving my head!

Things To Note After Completing Phase 1

I'm very excited to have started Phase 2 of P90X. Here are some of things that I took note of this past week:

• My downdog has improved greatly. I can comfortable stay in down dog for as long as required in the video with very little to no discomfort. Down dog has always challenged me in the past and now I consider it a resting point.
• I just realized that I can pull myself up to start my chin ups. In the past I have always jumped up to begin. I would jump up, come down and count the next trip up as #1. Now I can just simply pull myself up from the chair (or the pull up machine in the gym). This amazed me. I still can't pull up from a dead hang, but we'll see where I am at the end of Phase 2. I still think it will take a miracle to pull up from a dead hang.
• I can now hold chatterunga (is that how you spell it?) for several seconds longer than I could in the past.
• My legs feel stronger and tighter than I dreamed they would. I feel as though I biked the day before - every day! We really only concentrated on legs one day out of the week, but apparently all the other exercises hit the legs enough to keep them tight.
• All of my kicks in Kenpo are much higher than when I started.
• I can pick up my legs higher, faster and easier in 'steam engine' after completely Phase 1. - All of the ab work is much easier than it was when I first started. My abs improved quickly and drastically.

Basically, I am better conditioned in every aspect. I feel stronger all around and my cardio came back quickly. I already feel "ready to ride" and we still have two Phases to go.

New Photo

I just realized that I didn't take my Week 3 photo. I've been 'home alone' all week with nobody to take a picture of me. So I let a MacBook do the work . . . and my bicep after 3 weeks . . .


OK, not really. Have you ever played with the morphing and distorting features? Yeah, I may have distorted my bicep a bit. Gee, that was much easier than actually doing all the lifting!

Tonight will be my last Phase 1 session. It's a yoga night and for some strange reason, I'm really looking forward to it. I guess I'm just excited to start Phase 2. The coworker who discovered P90X last year and started this whole craze is visiting from the West Coast this week. He brought with him the new P90X Plus videos. I haven't ventured to try them yet, but I heard they are killer. I guess we'll be doing that next winter. Gulp! He also mentioned that he didn't really see major changes in his body on his first run with P90X until the Phase 3. That is interesting. I guess I still have a long way to go.

One More Day of Recovery

Today was the Cardio day of my first P90X recovery week. And I have to say, it seemed really easy. At only 43 minutes total time, the whole session seemed so short. All the other days are just at, if not over, an hour. This was like cheating. I noticed that I can do everything in the video in perfect form, as fast as the folks on the video, and for as many reps. This pleases me greatly. I just wish I can one day say the same about Ab Ripper X.

Earlier today I went to BeachBody.com to visit the user forums and check out some sucess stories. It was a bit discouraging that all the before and after photos of the men are all amazing. They all look ripped and the makeovers were inspiring to look at. But the girls, however, did not have the same amazing results. The first thing I noticed was that most of the girls already looked good before they started the program. I guess that tends to end in less amazing results. I know I fall in this same category. I never really expected my looks to change much. Too bad P90X can't make my face prettier or my hair nicer ;-) I will have to resolve to the fact that, in the end, I will look the same. But I'll feel much better - that's for sure. I already feel great.

P90X Stretch

Yesterday was my first Stretching session. It was difficult with my screaming neck pain, but I have to say . . . I felt a little better when it was over. Well, not just because it was over, but because the muscles in my neck and back were a little less tight and therefore a little less painful. That was good news. The bad news is that it didn't take more than a couple of hours to tighten back up again.

Later in the day I was reading a yoga blog that I recently discovered. To my delight, the writer suggested a book that looks like it really may help. It's called "The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook". When I visited the link to the book, it showed where the trigger points are in the neck and that is the EXACT spot where most of my pain lies. From those trigger points, the illustrations showed where the pain can radiate too. Also exactly what I'm experiencing. It has gotten to the point now where the muscles are pinching some nerves causing my teeth to tingle. This is getting ridiculous and I'm getting worried. I made it this far into P90X. I can't stop now.

Trying To Be a Trooper

Yesterday was the first time I did my P90X workout in our gym at work. I wasn’t too keen on this as it’s sort of embarrassing. I much prefer the privacy of my own home. But I had something to do after work and I needed to get it out of the way. So I was on my way down the hallway from my office to the gym, carrying my small gym bag in the most awkward way. I had the handles of the bag clutched into both of my hands, both arms bent up at 90 degrees so that my hands were at face level, and the bag was hanging near my chest. I was walking like I had a board strapped to my back and a coworker asked if I was carrying a load of bricks. I explained that this was the only way I could carry the bag without too much pain . . . and then said I was on my way to the gym to work out! I got a blank “sure you are” expression and my coworker thought I lost my mind.

As if P90X isn’t challenging enough, this incredible pain in my neck (and I don’t mean my husband) is really making my life difficult. But I was a trooper. I got through Kenpo X despite the pain. I never looked in the direction of the punches and kicks like I should have, but I did the routine none the less. The hardest parts for me where jogging in place and, believe it or not, bending over into a forward stretch.

I have GOT to fix this before the start of Phase 2.

Yoga Dreams Squashed

Well, my dream of becoming a yoga instructor has officially been squashed. This weekend I came to the sad realization that it could never happen. I just have too many quirky problems that would prevent it. My biggest problem is my stupid shoulders. What is wrong with them? I simply can not move my shoulders in the proper positions for many poses. Remember my “I Hate Superman” posting? It’s very hard for me to get my arms straight out ahead of me during Superman. And side angle pose . . . forget that one. I feel as though my shoulder would shatter if I tried to move my arm from straight up toward the ceiling to pointing straight over my head in front of me. Just ain’t gonna happen.

Then there’s my post ankle surgery nerve problems. Believe it or not, I can’t properly get into Child’s Pose. Can you imagine being challenged by Child’s Pose? I just can’t do it right. How can a yoga instructor not be able to do Child’s Pose? I knew about these problems before, but for whatever reason this weekend settled it for me. I would be a terrible instructor and I’m promptly removing that dream from my dream board.

I think I might just be down. In addition to my normal physical problems, I’ve really been struggling with this neck issue. I thought I pulled something during my first (or was is second?) week of pull-ups. I have had chronic neck and shoulder issues for the past 4 years so I wasn’t sure if I really pulled something or if it was the same old thing coming back to haunt me. I’m pretty sure at this point that it’s my TMJ flaring up from stress. I’m a mess. I’m just thankful that this agony is happening during “recovery week.” I have got to fix it before the start of Phase 2. I just wish I knew how. If anybody out there has any experience with TMJ problems, please share.

Core Routine Not Getting Any Easier

Today starts our "recovery week." I'm not so sure it will be any easier than all the other weeks. In fact, it may even be harder. We are substituting the two lifting days with one extra yoga session and one stretching session. The stretching session will be new to us, but I know exactly what to expect from yoga. That's the hardest video so far, and now we have to do it twice this week. Uuugh.

This morning's Core routine was not any easier than it was 3 weeks ago. I was dragging and watching the clock. It may have been from the lack of dinner last night. No fuel in the body = body dragging and low in energy. I also struggled with my darn tights constantly slipping down. Why I was wearing tights on a cardio intense day, I'm not so sure. I guess because it's way too cold in our house to bare putting on shorts. I spend a lot of the time looking out the window to give my mind a mental escape, and all I could see was the snow falling. Just looking at that makes me feel colder. Watching all the folks on the video always cracks me up because they are dripping in sweat and I usually end some of the routines still in goosebumps. But anyway, back to my so-called "tights." Why do I always have baggy tights? Boy, there's a good oxymoron. This is not a new development and a result of P90X doing it's job. Seems I've struggled with my tights slipping down for as long as I can remember. That might have been this morning's biggest challenge and certainly very distracting. I'm going to have to suck up the cold and start wearing shorts.

After I we got through the Core session, we ventured out into the snow. First we tried to ski, but that didn't go so good and decided to snow shoe instead. This was my first experience with my new shoe shoes and wow, what a work out that was. Looking back on it, the Core session didn't seem so bad. I think I burned more calories walking in the snow.

Phase One Nearly Complete

Last night completed the first three weeks of P90X. Today is the rest day . . . aaaaahhhhh . . . and tomorrow starts our first “recovery” week. I really don’t feel like I need to recover at all. But I’m not complaining. Maybe the only thing that needs to recover is my hands. I’m finding the most challenging part of this entire workout routine to be the pull-ups and not just from the difficulty of ‘pullin up,’ but from the extreme pain it inflicts upon my hands. I feel as though my skin is ripping off. I hate it. I’ve tried using gloves, but I think our bar is too thick for that. So my next idea was to just toughen up. I figured I would grow some calluses and then maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much. But now I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll have any skin left to grow the calluses on!

Maybe just like the meditation thing – the pain in my hands redirects the pain away from my arms. But I still think the pain in my hands is worse. At least when I jump down from the bar, my arms are completely free of pain. The stinging in my hands lasts for the rest of the night. As if I don’t already have “man hands” (I guess I would prefer to call them “piano hands”), the rough and callused palms are not making me feel too girly.

And since I don’t have an amusing antidote from my last two workouts to share, I’ll share this instead. Today I had to sit through a big company meeting at work. All sorts of topics came up and one was an anonymous request from a female coworker. Somebody had requested that more ‘female specific’ weights and equipment be added to our gym. The response to this was, “Paula doesn’t have any trouble with the weights in the gym. I’ve seen her curl more weights than most guys!” I don’t think I had a prouder moment at work.

P90X – BRING IT

A Mental Break

Not just a mental break, but a break from P90X. I'm not really taking a break from the work out, of course. I'm just taking a break from boring you with the details. Last night was Cardio night and there just isn't that much to talk about. It's a fairly easy routine to get through. I can't think of anything interesting to say about it, so instead I'm going to slip in a yoga-related blog posting.

Today I attended my first real meditation class at a yoga studio. I've been trying to mediate at home and I set my goal very low. All I try to do is sit still and mediate for five minutes a day. It sounds easy, but it's really not. Lately I've been so tired from all the P90X work-outs that I fall asleep during my five minutes. I break my session into: 3 minutes of affirmations, followed by one minute of my "things that I'm grateful for list," and the final minute of calming and blanking the mind. It is during this measly ONE MINUTE that I fall asleep. Pitiful.

Because of my tendency to fall asleep during less than 60 seconds of doing nothing with my mind, I refused to let myself get too comfortable during the meditation class. Some of the ladies laid down with pillows under their heads and blankets wrapped over them. I wouldn't have lasted 30 seconds like that. So I sat on a pillow in crossed legged pose. I got through about 10 minutes when I couldn’t take it anymore. The class leader explained that we should breathe through any discomfort. Can somebody please explain this concept to me? How to you 'send breath to the pain' to make it go away? It just doesn't work for me. The more I focus on the pain, the more it hurts.

So I adjusted into a more comfortable position and after I got over the fear of having to clear my throat and the annoying tickle of my wool sweater on my face, I did manage to clear my mind. In fact, I was quite proud of myself at just how much I was able to focus on my breathing with all the things going on in my busy day. I'm excited to continue this class and hope that it helps me with my at home meditation too.

Biceps, Shoulders, Triceps (Part III)

I don't really have much to say about this P90X session. I never really liked it. It never challenged me and now its just plain boring me. I upped my weights on some of the segments to 15 pounds. That was definitely more of a challenge, but the hour still drags on. Ho hum.

And I really think that those people on the video are totally acting it up. I'm watching the chick closely as she's grimacing with her 10 pound dumbbells. NO WAY. I mean come on . . . she can do multiple pull-ups from a dead hang and she expects me to believe that she's working hard with 10 pound dumbbells - when I'm doing the set with 15 lbs. I'm not believing it!

Yoga Is Getting Easier

Today was my third yoga session, as this is the beginning of our third week. We had early morning plans so we pushed our exercise off to later in the day. This could have been both good and bad. It's good because doing yoga first thing in the morning is always more challenging. Sometimes just getting out of bed is a chore. But there is something to be said about getting it out of the way right off-the-bat so that you can go through the rest of your glorious weekend day without the task looming over your head. Getting too deeply involved with your day could get dangerous. And today proved it. As soon as we got back from our morning plans, the day was half over and I was eager to jump in and start exercising. My husband, on the other hand, had other plans. The weekends just get too busy with other things he needs to tend to. So, I hate to say this, but today was the first day he fell off the P90X wagon. That left me doing yoga on my own.

And I'm not sure what was different about today. Was it because I had the WHOLE room to myself and wasn't worried about trying to squeeze us both into the small space? Was it because it wasn't first thing in the morning and my muscles weren't tighter than normal. Or was I just in a different state of mind because I was all alone and falling into the whole mood of yoga? Or am I just plain getting stronger? Maybe it was all of the above. I just had a really good session today. There is only one part of the video that I still can't do and that's the standing on one leg, bent over, with one arm in the air poses. Killer. I'm just not there yet. But I can do everything else and keep right up with everybody on the video. And THAT is encouraging.

Overall, despite my husband slacking on the yoga session today, we had a great weekend. He did plenty of extra work as he had a few hours of snow shoveling to do Friday night and Saturday morning. After our one hour of Core work-out yesterday, we took a 2 hour cross-country ski and today we went for two separate 2 mile hikes in the snow. Even though there are several inches of snow on the ground, I'm starting to get Spring Fever. I can't wait to get back on by bike (one of my bikes, any of my bikes)!

I Hate Superman

Not the superhero, but the P90X move. My core is plenty strong to support the move, I just can't get my shoulders to comfortably go in the proper position. I can't figure out why this is so hard for me. I have to keep my arms bent out to the side like a skydiver would, rather than straight out ahead like Superman would. I also find many yoga moves hard on my shoulders. It must have something to do with the rotator cuff (is that what it's called?) Probably from too many years of hard-core volleyball.

Aside from Superman, I enjoyed the rest of this morning's Core segment. This is a fun one. Not as much fun as Kenpo, but still fun. I feel as though I'm transported back to being a kid at soccer practice. I think my husband has those same feelings, but he's at wrestling camp. There is something to be said for the adrenaline rush you get when you're with a group and the coach is yelling words of encouragement to you. Granted, our group is only the two of us, plus the four folks on the TV, but the experience is similar.

One side note, I can't believe how much better my Down Dog has gotten in 2 weeks. Not only is it easier to hold the position, but my heels are comfortably sitting on the floor and I feel incredibly strong in the pose. This really has me wondering how I'll feel 10 weeks from now. It's exciting to think about. It seems to me that there are really only going to be 3 painful weeks to the entire program. The program is broken up into 3 phases where you do the same routine for 3 weeks and then have a recovery week (with no lifting). The next phase starts up with a whole new set of routines and that first week is hard. But the second and third each get easier. Just when you got it down, you go into recovery week and then start the new phase.

Today starts the first day of our third week . . so here are some pics of me at the end of the second week.

I Love Kenpo X

I said this last week and I’ll say it again. Kenpo is my favorite of all the P90X videos (so far). It really is fun. I feel like I’m a boxer or some sort of fighter training in a real gym. I’m familiar with all the moves and that helps out a lot. The just hour flies by.

This P90X journal has already inspired a few of my friends. So far three of them are seriously considering joining me with this new training routine, one being my cousin (actually cousins – husband and wife). The biggest reason for starting this whole thing was that I thought it would be fun to do it with my husband. The two coworkers that got us into it, both trained with their spouses and had a ball. Now, I’ve been training with my husband for years, but that has been different. He has been my trainer, being mean, pushing me too hard, yelling at me. That’s not fun at all. I wanted something that we could both do together – equally. I know just having him there would motivate me. I’m not so great at pushing myself all alone. If nobody is looking, it’s too easy to cheat. But having each other there motivates us both.

So last night we were side by side kicking and punching our hearts out. Karlo is very intense, in everything he does. He works like a machine and breathes like one too. I was listening to his mechanical breathing with every punch and kick and thought, “Wow, he’s so serious.” Then I imagined how much fun it would be to work out with my cousin. This guy is a riot – always cracking jokes. I was imagining all the funny things he would say at all these moves we were doing. I was cracking myself up just thinking about it. Jamie, if you and Eileen start this program, you will have to video tape yourselves so I can watch. That could be the best P90X video journal ever.

Tonight is our rest night and this completes week two. I feel great. I have a little soreness in my neck (from the original neck pull in week one) and my butt is still sore for the Legs night. I may do the stretching video tonight, mostly because I’ll feel guilty as Karlo spends hours outside shoveling snow on his “rest” night.

A Word About Ab Ripper X

Actually two words, “it sucks.” I am seriously doubting that I’ll ever be able to keep up with all the exercises on the Ab Ribber X video. I have notoriously always had strong abs, but that is, by far, the most challenging routine I ever tried to endure. And it doesn’t help that I’m trying to do it after I’m already burnt out. From now on I’m splitting it off from the rest of the routine and I’ll tackle Ab Ripper at lunch-time and do the rest of the work-out in the evening.

Last night (Legs, Back & Abs) was by far the toughest day for me. It’s really the only day that is unpleasant. And it really bugs me too since my legs have always been much stronger than my upper body. But things are shifting. I’ve been lifting all winter and I slacked off for nearly the entire biking season last year. My legs are just not what they used to be. But that will change!

On top of having weaker than normal legs, I also have a bad knee which really challenges me, not to mention bums me out. As if all of my physical activities are not hard enough, I have to add to it the sheering pain when my bones scrape together from the lack of cartilage in my knee. I have suffered with this problem since high school and it only gets worse every year. How depressing is that?

So last night my knee was giving me problems right away during the warm-up jog. I should be wearing a knee brace, but I'm not. Then I insisted on using weights during some of the lunges, despite Tony’s advice for “people with bad knees.” I really should have listened to him! Add to that the fact that we got a new pull-up bar which is thicker than our old one. I struggled with getting comfortable on it. I tried wearing gloves, but that didn’t stop the burning feeling like my skin was falling off. Sigh. It just wasn’t a good night.

Oh, and then there’s the fact that I promised a picture of our pull-up set-up but my whining, pain-in-the-butt husband wouldn’t let me take a picture of him. So the cat is out of the bag – he doesn’t look like the guys on the video. There, now you all know! But the fact is, he still looks great and one day I’m snapping a picture when he’s not looking and posting it. So there!

Cardio – Week Two

My husband read the blog yesterday and as a result, decided to torture me with a “bicep blast” during our lunch break. He wanted to give me the challenge that I complained about not getting. Well, I got it. Uuuugh.

Before deciding to do this P90X work-out, I had a little jest going with the co-worker that ultimately inspired us to do it. She explained this whole routine and the thought of working out 60-90 minutes a day just sounded like torture to me. According to my husband, if you can lift weights for more than 15 or 20 minutes, then you are not lifting enough weight. He believes in going to failure – and quickly. So I joked with my friend Michelle and said, “You do your 90 minutes a day for 90 days and I’ll continue to lift 15 minutes a day and at the end of the 90 days let’s compare our muscles and our strength.” I still have no doubts that I would be stronger and more ripped, but I would not have the total body conditioning that P90X is giving me. So what could be better than doing both?

I’m strategically picking the lifting routines as to not burn out the muscles I’ll need at night for P90X. Since last night was Cardio and I didn’t get enough of a bicep workout the night before, it seemed like a safe bet. Karlo burnt me out in 15 minutes, but it felt good. This morning as I type this, I’m marveling at the fact that I’m not yet sore from it. Is it coming later today or is P90X helping to reduce the amount of soreness I normally feel after a torture session with my crazy Hungarian trainer? Oh, did I ever mention my husband’s background? He started wrestling at the age of 6 and wrestling was his LIFE until his mid 20s. He achieved his life long dream of making it to the Olympics at the exact same time he got his ticket to immigrate out of Hungary into Canada. It was a very hard decision, but he decided to go for the long-term better life in Canada over the gold medal (that I have NO DOUBT he would have won at the Olympics). If anybody is used to a life of training and training hard, it’s him.

OK, I haven’t said a word about last night’s Cardio session. There isn’t much to say. It’s getting too easy. My most challenging part of the last night was “Superman.” For some reason my shoulders do not like "flying." I’m looking forward to tonight’s pull-ups. We just bought a new bar and I’ll take a picture to share.

Arms and Shoulders Part II

Yesterday was our second Arms & Shoulders session of P90X and now I remember where all my confidence came from last week. I am completely unchallenged by this segment. And the kicker is that I'm doing just about the same weights and reps as the super buff chick on the video. She goes back and fourth between 10 and 12 pounds - sometimes even 8's. I stick with 10 pounds for every exercise and I barely get warm, never breathe hard, and find the whole thing unchallenging. Next week I am going to have to increase to 15 lb dumbbells. I don't have 12 pounders and I refuse to spend more money on weights. This past weekend we broke down and made a $75 investment and it just kills me that we are re-buying what we used to already own. So this means that next week (our 3rd week) I will already have by-bassed super buff chick! I'm hoping that gives me the challenge that I need. For heaven's sake, the super buff guys are only doing 20 lbs and I'll be doing 15. What is wrong with that picture?

My husband used 20 lb weights for the entire segment. That means that he's already matching the buff dudes in weights only my husband is beating them in reps! My husband is 53 and these guys look like they are in their 30s. We are kicking bootie in this particular segment.

P90X Week Two, Day Two

Today was supposed to be Cardio day, but since it was Sunday and we had more free time in the day, I decided to switch our schedule up a bit. I thought it would be wiser to do yoga on Sundays because yoga is 90 minutes long and at our current schedule, yoga just happens to fall on the one night a week where we come home from work an hour later than usual. So we are switching our 90 minute yoga day with the 30 minute cardio day. Makes perfect sense to me and I can't see why that would harm our routine.

I wondered if doing this killer yoga routine first thing in the morning would be even more grueling than doing it after work. Although I'm much better rested in the morning, I'm also much stiffer.

I'm happy to report that I got through this yoga session easier than the first time. I think mostly it was a mental thing. Last time I felt so discouraged being so tired and weak at the halfway point. I didn't think I would make it through. But today I was wiser. I knew that the really hard parts would be over at the halfway part and I was therefore in a better mental place. I felt stronger than the first week and got through most if it without too much whimpering. One thing I want to note is the difference I feel when in Down Dog. I used to feel challenged and uncomfortable holding Down Dog for too long. Now I feel like Down Dog is a welcome resting position and I'm so much more comfortable in it. That is good news for sure.

My most challenging part of this 90 minute routine right now is the one leg balancing poses. I could do Tree with no problem and the other standing poses. But the pose that requires one leg and one arm in the air - my goodness - I need a lot of improvement there. I'm finding those poses quite impossible at this point.

It feels good to have yoga behind me for this upcoming week. I'm much happier doing yoga on the weekends when I'm not so distracted by the hunger pains in my stomach as my body yearns for dinner.

First Day of the Second P90X Week

Yesterday was our first rest day from the program and to tell you the truth, I missed it. I actually snuck up to our work-out room and did the very short 5 minute Ab Ripper 100. This was a series of 10 different ab workouts - each for only 10 reps, giving you a total of 100 ab exercises. It went fast and was pretty painless. Since it only took 5 minutes, it felt like our night last night was so long and such a night of leisure. That was the great part. I have to say that committing to this program is not only hard physically, but it's a big time commitment and I'm sure we will find that to be the most challenging part of the whole deal.

So today we started our second week. It was back to the Core session and I was curious to see how it would go since we have now been through every work-out that we will face for the first 4 weeks. We would be a little better prepared. At the very least I would know what to wear for each different day!

You might find it interesting to note that today was harder than the first time! I think this is because 1) we didn't have to stop and watch a few reps of every exercise to figure out what we were supposed to do and 2) we had more confidence that we could actually do the whole thing. So needless to say, we both worked much harder. The first day, I felt intimidated and was just happy to get through the hour without a heart attack. But today, I wanted to keep up with all the buff chicks. And all I have to say is what is up with the super buff chicks getting on their knees during some of the pushups? I didn't!

And one more thing to note, and this I love. Today I wore a pair of capri (sort-of) tights. They just came out of the drier and yet they fit me looser than they did last week. Is it possible that I am already trimming down a bit? I find that hard to believe, but I got on the scale and I was 2 pounds lighter than I was 2 weeks ago. They may be because I ate oatmeal and cereal for dinner just about every night the week before starting this program (only because my husband was away and I was too lazy to cook for one). But then again, it may be from just one week of this program. I also want to add here that we are NOT doing the diet portion of this program. Losing weight is not a goal for me. I am 5'8" and I weigh 119 lbs. If anything, I'm expecting to gain a couple pounds by turning my soft legs back into the hard biking legs that I used to have.

I also decided to take pictures of myself every Saturday morning to visually track the progress. The truth is, I don't expect to change all that much from the "Lean" program, but you never know. Here's me after week one:

Kenpo X

Yesterday was our first Kenpo X session and I loved it. It was by far the most fun and I can’t wait to do it again. I had no idea what to expect, as I never heard the word “Kenpo” before. Well, it was pretty much all kickboxing. I used to take kickboxing classes twice a week for a few years. I even led my own little kickboxing class for a while. I love everything about kickboxing so I was in my element – even more so then with the yoga session. At least I’m good at kickboxing. I thought I was good at yoga, but this Wednesday night changed that feeling.

Anyway, back to Kenpo . . . it was about an hour long and no weights or other equipment were needed. We just went through several different rounds of punching and kicking the air. That may sound pretty easy, but it’s intense. If you do the moves properly and really put some uummff into it, you feel it everywhere.

I was fortunate to have experience with every move they did. If I never took kickboxing classes, I would have probably been a little lost. There isn’t really any instruction. The video just jumps right into every move at a very fast pace. But even if you do get a little lost, the following weeks will just get easier as you become more familiar with the moves.

When I woke up this morning, the first thing I felt was my entire back ache. I remember exactly how this used to feel from my kickboxing days. Muscles that you didn’t know you had start to bark at you. I love it! Despite the fact that I’m hurting a bit, I feel great.

Today is our first rest day and that means that I won’t be lifting at lunch time or doing any P90X at night. Oh, by the way, I lifted yesterday (chest) at lunchtime. I lifted to failure like I always do, but still had plenty of energy for Kenpo. I’m trying to hit different muscles during the afternoon so as not to poop myself out during P90X. When I told my other P90X friends that we are doing the “Lean” version, they called us “pansies” but the truth is, I think I’m getting an even tougher all around workout by continuing my lunchtime lifting sessions. By the time my 12 weeks are up I'll be able to kick the butts of those that called us pansies!

Day Five of P90X

I may have gotten a bit over confident during this first week. I was expecting the work-outs to be pure torture and too hard to get through. I was surprised and pleased that I was able to do most of the moves and reps. My confidence was building. Then yoga slapped me into reality. Here I thought I was a strong yogi, but I wasn't feeling too strong during that session.

Yesterday was Legs & Back, followed by Ab Ripper. Legs and Back was a series of standing leg exercises, mostly with no weights. How hard can that be? Well, it was pretty hard. I usually pride myself on having very strong legs, but we are out of biking shape. I have a bad knee and doing too much weight in squats has always been a challenge. My thighs can take much more than my knee can. I made it through all the leg stuff, but it was hard.

And in between each set of leg exercises we had to do pull-ups. Yuck. All different kinds of pull-ups: wide arm, narrow arm, hands wrapped around the bar one direction, then reverse the direction. I knew I wouldn't last very long doing multiple pull-ups so I used the back of a chair for assisted pull-ups. Even that was hard. And the worst part . . . I never tried doing a pull-up with my hands wrapped around the bar, in what I consider a backwards way. During my first pull-up I felt something snap in my back and instant pain up to my neck. Just what I needed. I've been in a lot of pain ever since that moment. The rest of the workout became doubly challenging.

After an hour of this, we still weren't done. Next it was Ab Ripper and it's called that for a reason. I have always had amazingly strong abs. I compare my abs to my greyhounds. They lounge around 99.5% of their lives and still look like buff athletes. They don't deserve to look the way they do. They don't work at it. It just comes naturally. Well, that has always been my abs. I guess I'm very lucky that way. But still, last night showed me that I have a long way to go in building more strength. There were very few exercises that I could do the full 25 reps. I think after the 15 minute blast, if you did them all, you would have done over 600 ab ripping moves. Good grief, I need a donut.

Killer Yoga

Last night was our first Yoga X session. Both my husband and I were looking forward to it because we feel "at home" with yoga. All I can say is . . . Anybody out there that thinks yoga is only a meditative bunch of chants needs to try this P90X version of yoga. It was challenging to say the least. My husband, who's name, by the way, is Karlo, pointed out the fact that he curls several sets with 125 pounds every day and yet this was more challenging. So far we've done a core workout, a cardio workout, and a weight lifting session that concentrated on arms and shoulders. Yoga was by far the toughest. And we are both very accustomed to yoga moves.

The biggest challenge for me was the length of the video. It was an hour and half long and watching the clock was very de-motivating. After 45 minutes of not stop strenuous poses I was ready to collapse and then when I looked at the clock and thought "we're only HALF WAY through," I almost gave up. But, to our delight the session shifted from agonizing variations of sun salutations to balance poses. These poses weren't terrible easy, but at least they didn't make my muscles want to explode. From there we went to some floor work and just the thought of sitting of laying down thrilled my soul.

I was expecting to be sore this morning, but I'm not. That's interesting. I am, however, always tired. Since we started this P90X program have been falling asleep at night the minute my head hits the pillow and having deep restful sleeps. It will be interesting to see how quickly my body adapts to this new routine. I would imagine everything will get easier as the weeks progress.

Day Three of P90X

Today we concentrated on Shoulders and Arms. I didn't do any lifting at lunch time and instead went to my Zumba class. I find Zumba to be just plain fun. It's not very hard and I really don't feel like I'm getting a real workout, but at least it gets my heart-rate up for 45 minutes or so.

This was the first P90X video that required equipment. I wasn't sure we were totally prepared as I didn't know what sort of dumbbell weight increments we would need. The sad part is that we had over 800 lbs of free weights that we practically gave away last year because we didn't want to move them to our new house. Seems pretty lazy for folks so interested in staying in good shape. And as a result, we only have one set of 10 lb and one set of pathetic girly 3 lb dumbbells, along with some heavy duty resistance bands. My husband used the bands for the entire work-out and I used the 10 lb dumbbells.

I have to say, I was extremely proud of myself. I'm fairly certain that the super buff chick on the video used mostly 10 pounders and I kept right up with her in every single exercise. The video leads you through every set and asks you to record how many reps you did and what weight you did them at. This is to track your own progress as you make your way through the 90 days. Day one, an hour of lifting with weights, and I'm already keeping up with the super girl on the video. This was a huge high for me! I am much stronger in my upper body than I ever gave myself credit for. I guess my husband's militant weight lifting sessions have really paid off. As a matter of fact, I never really got hot during the entire workout. The folks on the video are sweating up a storm and I literally still had goosebumps. I should add a footnote here for those of you that don't know me. I am always, always cold and almost never sweat. Plus our heat is turned way down and we live in CT so the room was pretty chilly. But STILL, I would have thought I would have been working harder.

So it looks like I'm off to the store to buy some 15 lb dumbbells. If day one of weights didn't challenge me, it's time to increase the weight. I can't wait to see how sore I'll be tomorrow. One this is for sure, no matter how sore I am, it will be NOTHING compared to the pain I've suffered under my husband's coaching rein. I'm ready for the pain. That's one thing I've grown very accustomed to. Bring it on.

Day Two of P90X

Just as I suspected . . . I'm sore. I woke up in the middle of the night and when I tried to roll over I got the first shooting pain. It was a quick reminder of our first work out. Uh oh, I haven't even gotten out of bed yet and already I'm hurting. Not a good sign.

But it wasn't as bad as I expected. Our first workout was called "Core" and strangely, none of my core muscles hurt. I was expecting my abs and obliques to hurt, but instead all my soreness was in my rear end. My entire butt and upper back of my legs felt like they have been torn apart. This made me very happy, as this is the one part of my body that I feel really needs help. I don't think I'm alone within the female population with this one.

We got right up out of bed and slowly shuffled to our work-out room. I had no idea what today's target zone would be and I was pleased to find out that it would be cardio. At least cardio doesn't rip muscles. So we started it up and the first 10 minutes were the warm up. Most of the is warm up entailed yoga and I both me and my husband were pleased because we feel at home with yoga. Only this was hard yoga. Good grief, I barely got through it and the whole while I'm thinking . . . "this is the WARM UP?" We had to go through several positions of plank, down to push-up pose, to upward dog, back to plank, another push up, up to downward dog, one leg in the air . . . Over and over. I'm lucky I didn't break my nose trying to do all those push-ups. They threw in a few warrior poses, which despite the fact that they were deep and difficult, they still felt like a relief. By the time the warm up was done, I was exhausted.

Or at least I thought I was. The minute the rest of the real cardio kicked in, I came back to life. The video is so much fun and always changing. It's exciting right now because we have no idea what to expect. I assumed it would be 30 minutes of non-stop jumping around, but all the exercises were greatly varied. There was lots of kickboxing and that thrilled me. I used to do kickboxing for years and loved every minute of it. I felt right at home with all the old moves. I really had a ball and was very proud of myself with my performance. I thought, of all the videos, cardio would be the most challenging. Now this is not to say that tomorrow I won't be twice as sore. I'm already feeling more muscles tightening and rebelling. But I'm not complaining. I do love that feeling and I'm very accustomed to it .

The Journey Begins

Today was the start of our 90 days of bootcamp-like training. I was very excited to get started and as my husband would say, I was "hungry for it." After hurting my knee last week, I've been taking it easy for the past 7 days. My husband has been on a business-trip all week, eating far too much and not exercising, so today we were both ready.

Just to give you some background, I am 39 years old and my husband just turned 53. To make him feel better on his birthday, I switched the candles around to read "35." He honestly looks and acts more like 35 than 53 and I think he's going to have an easier time getting through this program than I am.

We have both stayed in pretty good shape for the past several years. We have been together now for over 6 years and during this time we keep very active biking, kayaking, hiking, lifting, doing yoga, to name a few activities. But at the same time, we live in CT and it's just plain difficult to keep in good cardio shape in the winter time. Although we have free access to several indoor cardio machines, they simply bore me to tears. I can pedal on a real bike all day and cover incredible distances, however I think I’m gonna die after 2 miles on a stationary bike. I just can't do it. At this point in the winter, we have been trail running just about every day for the past 3 weeks, but that, and a little Zumba dancing for me, has been the extent of our winter cardio.

Our first training DVD was "Core" fitness. I have to say it started out pretty good. I was able to do just about every move, but not as many reps as the chiseled robots on the video. These people just make me sick! Yes, it's inspiring to see perfectly fit human beings, but it's a little depressing at the same time. It's hard not to mumble under my breath and call them names. But overall, I kept in good spirits.

The best part about today was that it didn't require the use of much equipment - just some dumbbells. We are trying to do this routine in a spare bedroom and space and equipment may pose a challenge. The piece of equipment that is scaring me the most right now is the chin up bar. I have to say that I'm pretty darn proud of myself, as I can already do about 7 pull-ups, but not from a dead hang. I can only come down until my arms are at 90 degrees - so it will be my goal after 90 days to do 10 pull-ups from a dead hang. Ouuch, it hurts just thinking about that . . . But we'll see.

So we got through our 55 minutes today without too much whimpering or complaining. Overall I feel pretty good about our first day. I can't wait to see how sore we will be tomorrow and the thrill of not knowing what the next video will be is very exciting. I love the format of the DVDs and the lead dude is very motivating. I know it's very early to give a rating, but after today, I give it a 2 thumbs up!

My Journey Through The P90X Work-out

I am about to begin the P90X work-out and I intend to document my journey through the next 90 days of what just might be Hell. Making the decision to commit to this very rigid work out routine was not an easy one. I have been fairly diligent with my every-day routine of either lifting weights or doing yoga at lunch time, and either trail running or doing one of my many exercise videos, (including Zumba dancing and MyFitness PS2 game) in the late afternoons. All of these things have been doing just great. I feel like my cardio is coming back and my strength has definitely been improving rapidly.

I have to thank my personal trainer for all my strength training. He happens to be my husband and we just happen to work together at a company that offers us a full gym. This is a huge perk that I'm very grateful for, and it wasn't like I felt unfulfilled and desired some different kind of routine. I just sort of got sucked into the excitement of it all. Some friends at work had started this program and just hearing about it every day ignited my curiosity and my desire to see if I could do it too. Now, I learned many years ago that I can't keep up with these nutcases that I work with. Several of them have done Ironman triathlons and they also enjoy biking up Mt. Washington. They are a bit out of my league, but still their enthusiasm is infectious. So here I am , hoping that I don't kill myself.

After the initial hurt and resentment that my husband felt when I informed him that I wanted to try this program, he agreed to attempt it with me. It took a while to explain to him that I wasn't seeking a better personal trainer and that I didn’t think he wasn't doing a good enough job. To further appease him, I decided to do this program in the "lean" version, which is just less upper-body strengthening than the "classic" version. We plan to continue our lunch time weight lifting sessions while doing this P90X program. Our ultimate goal is to jump on our bikes in the Spring as if this long cold winter never happened. Nothing is worse than that first ride of the season. The hills seem like mountains and your lungs feel like grapes. I hate it.

I'm sorry if this blog turns into a P90X journal for the next 90 instead of a place to turn for yoga inspiration and tidbits. I hope my journey through this enduring ordeal does inspire you in whatever form of exercise you do.

Have You Tried Zumba?

Recently a friend told me about a fitness dance class that she was taking at her favorite yoga studio. This friend swore I would LOVE this thing called "Zumba." This peaked my curiosity and I went to the trusty Web for more information. What I found was amazing. I had no idea that hundreds of yoga studios and dance studios across the country and around the world are offering these Zumba classes. Was I living under a rock?

This Zumba dance is rooted in latin dancing - lots of moving of the hips. It's fast and fun and I can't believe it has taken me this long to discover it. If your local yoga studio is offering these classes and you haven't already given them a try, you should. It so much fun, it really shouldn't be called exercise at all. It's like eating candy and being told that it's actually healthy and good for you.

To learn more about Zumba visit their website here: http://www.zumba.com/. If your yoga studio does not offer the classes, search for classes on the site by your town. Chances are you will find something near by. And if all else fails, you can buy the DVDs and have some fun at home.

Laughter Yoga

This has to be the best news ever! I've been reading about "Laughter Yoga" and what I've learned is astonishing. I always thought that good hearty laughing works your stomach muscles and burns calories, but the benefits seems to go much deeper than that. Not only does it provides an aerobic workout that exercises the heart, diaphragm, abdominal, intercostal, respiratory and facial muscles, but scientific studies show that laughter boosts our body's oxygen and energy levels and also boosts levels of immune cells that attack cancer, infection and virus.

Laughter releases endorphins, a natural pain killer that is responsible for the 'runner's high'. Laughter yoga sessions stimulate the lymphatic system and boost our immune system, and can reduce levels of stress poisons in our bodies by 50% or more within an hour. Laughter is used in hospitals around the world to speed healing and improve patients mental outlook. It can be especially beneficial to cancer patients. It can treat and often cure depression and improves our ability to cope with stress. Studies show that laughter boosts creativity and communication skills and also boosts our self confidence.

Can you imagine all this good can come from simply enjoying ourselves? So go get yourself a good comedy, a joke book, or watch America's Funnies Videos and know that you're truly doing by body some good.

Here's a little something to get you started:

30 Minutes to Bliss

Release stress, boost your immunity, and honor yourself by creating an at-home bathing ritual.

When was the last time you enjoyed a long soak in your bathtub? Maybe you shy away from taking baths because of time, or prefer the ease of the shower; either way, skipping your nightly bath is a missed opportunity to boost your immunity, releasing stress, and honor yourself with a little me-time.

Creating your own bathing ritual is a simple and enjoyable experience. To begin, remove any clutter from your bathroom. Cool colors like purples, blues, and whites are all inviting bathing colors; too many hot or bright colors can be distracting, so limit colors like red, orange, and gold. If you can, go out and buy some cozy and luxurious towels. Finally, find your favorite bathing essentials, i.e. bath salts, candles, and oils. Some of Find Bliss's favorites include the Babassu Milk Bath from Inara (inaraorganic.com), an organic line featuring babassu, a rich, moisturizing oil from the Brazilian Babassu palm. To maximize the healing benefits of your bath, add a scoop of bath salts from Abra Therapeutics (abratherapeutics.com). Their unique salts are designed for specific conditions and ailments varying from PMS Relief to Sleep Therapy. Need a quick pick-me-up? With its invigorating aroma the Energy Tonic blend is the perfect prelude to an evening on the town. Finally, retreat to your bathroom, turn off your cell-phone, treo, and ipod, and turn down the lights. Light some soy candles, run the bath, and gently slip away to your own private spa retreat.

Need a little more inspiration? Visit www.findbliss.com

New YogaDudes Tanks Coming Soon

Please help us pick our next tank top design. Our new blank tanks are on the way and we need to decide which design to print on them. We recently got a couple requests for black shirts so these new tanks will be black with white printing. The design choices are show above. Please case your vote by selecting your favorite design in the poll to the right of this entry.

Are You a Realist?

Take a fun online survey to see if you are a realist. I am. This is what it said about me.
Take the quiz yourself by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post.

You Are a Realist

You don't see the glass as half empty or half full. You see what's exactly in the glass. You never try to make a bad situation seem better than it is... But you also never sabotage any good things you have going on. You are brutally honest in your assessments of situations - and this always seems to help you cope.

Are You An Optimist or Pessimist?

Make a New Years "Intention" Rather than "Resolution"

I found this article on the Yoga Journal web site and I loved it. My biggest New Years resolution was to drink more water. On New Years Day I barely swallowed one glass. That is simply pitiful and it depressed me. This article made me feel better. Adopting this outlook on New Year resolutions is a much healthier and easier approach.

POSITIVE POWER A Sanskrit word, sankalpa means "will, purpose, or determination." To make a sankalpa is to set an intention—it's like a New Year's resolution with a yogic twist. While a resolution often zeros in on a perceived negative aspect of ourselves (as in, "I want to lose weight"), a sankalpa explores what's behind the thought or feeling ("I crave chocolate chip cookies when I'm feeling stressed or sad. I will set an intention to become conscious of this craving and allow my feelings to arise and pass, rather than fill up on fats").

EFFORT COUNTS A sankalpa also praises the nobility of the effort rather than focusing on what you are doing wrong. "New Year's resolutions leave me feeling guilty and mad at myself for not keeping them," says Wendy McClellan, a yoga teacher in Louisville, Kentucky. So, last year, in a conscious effort to reject the resolution rut, she taught a special New Year's Eve yoga class and encouraged students to look back and let go. Her intention, or sankalpa? To open her heart to new possibilities. "An intention has much more of a global sense than a resolution," she says. "It helps me be softer with myself." With a sankalpa, the self-loathing that comes from dwelling on past transgressions can begin to dissolve. In its place is an exercise in effort and surrender—create an intention and open yourself to the universe.

LOOK INWARD For several days, set aside time to write in a journal and meditate. Mull over your typical resolutions. How do they make you feel? Anxious? Unsettled? Incomplete? Now contemplate how you would like to feel during the coming year. Is there any way you can reframe your results-oriented resolutions into something that will make this year's journey more joyful and worthwhile?

REPHRASE IT Create a short sentence or phrase for your sankalpa. Be careful not to set limitations based on fear. For example, instead of "May life bring me only happiness and joy this year" consider "May I be happy and open to what life brings me."

BE FIRM BUT FAIR Change doesn't happen overnight. When you stray from the essence of your sankalpa, don't berate yourself. Instead, gently remind yourself of your intention. But be firm in your resolve—it's a good idea to incorporate your sankalpa into your daily routine. Use it as a mantra during pranayama or meditation practice; post it on your computer, phone, or mirror; or simply say it to yourself quietly before going to sleep.

New Yoga Bracelet from YogaDudes

This is our favorite bracelet offering to date. These black synthetic leather bracelets are a snap to get on. They are actually stretchy and roll right over your hand. They feature a sterling silver YogaDudes pendant, along with two other silver-tone charms: one says "yoga" and the other the OM symbol. You can find them in the YogaDudes shop here.

Holiday Yoga Gift Packs

Are you looking for the perfect holiday gift for the yogi in your life? Do we have the item for you! Over $39 in retail value is bundled in this YogaDudes original, satin green bag. Inside, the lucky recipient will find: a pair of stainless steel tree pose earrings, a porcelain ornament, a set of flat magnets, and two decals. And best of all, it comes with a Happy Holidays card ready for you to personalize.

Find them online here.

Holiday Specials

Looking for a gift for the yoga lover in your life . . . or maybe a little gift for yourself? Our newest YogaDudes shirt is now on sale for the holidays. Originally priced at $19.99, our ladies blue ringer-style Namaste t-shirts are now on sale for $14.99. View them online here.

In addition, our most popular Tree Pose Earrings are also on sale. Originally priced at $19.99, these stainless steel earrings are now on sale for just $12.99. View them online here.

Web Site Make Over

The YogaDudes website www.yogadudes.com, just went through a little make-over. Last night we launched the brand new site. With all computer-related things . . . there will be bugs. Please be patient while we work them out. And if you find any issues and would like to report them, we would really appreciate it. You can email any comments or suggestions to info@yogadudes.com.

Please be sure to visit the YogaDudes shop to see all the newest product additions.

Yoga Radio

Did you know that Yogamates.com has a FREE Yoga Radio? Go to the home page and scroll down, on the left side you will see a Yogaradio button. Enjoy FREE spiritual/yoga music ALL DAY. You can even have the mini browser open while you are at work on other sites! Check it out.

New YogaDudes Bracelets

Brand new to the YogaDudes line up are these silver tone cuff bracelets. Because there is no clasp to fumble with, they are easy to get on and off. They are thin and very simply stated. Show off your strength everywhere you go. They cost only $11.99 and you can find them online here.

Buy Stuff Online, Earn Points, and Get Free Stuff

Who doesn't like free stuff? With the price of gas these days, shopping online makes more and more sense. If you are anything like me, you do it often and some time last year I discovered a web site called "My Points." It's a shopping portal that includes hundreds of big name online stores. Places that you probably shop at every month. If you become a member of My Points (and it's free to do so), every one of your purchases made to those merchants will earn you points. All you have to do is first go to the My Points web site, search for the merchant, or the item you are trying to buy, and use their links to get to the storefronts. Then your purchase will be tracked and you will earn your points. I already have 15,000 which scored me a $100 gift certificate to my choice of lots and lots of stores.

You will quickly get in the habit of always checking with My Points before you make an online purchase. First see if the merchant you are about to shop with is participating. Or maybe you are looking for a particular item and are not locked to a certain merchant. For every dollar you spend with My Points participating merchants you will be getting closer and closer to free stuff! You have nothing to lose and only some free gift certificates to gain, so what are you waiting for?

Click on the graphic below to find out more.

Free Yoga E-books

I recently found a couple of free yoga e-books online at YogaMiracles.com. The books and their descriptions are listed below. Just click on the title and you will be taken straight to the e-book. Thank you to Yoga Miracles for offering these.

Easy steps to yoga
In the United States the form of yoga most often practiced is Hatha yoga. Using yoga for health improvement is now a common practice in this country. The health benefits of yoga are generally well recognized.

Practice of karma yoga
While yoga itself may not be a specific cure for any one condition there are established links between yoga and health benefits of many kinds. The practice of yoga is routinely recommended as a component of treatment for a variety of conditions ranging from weight loss to the pain and stiffness of arthritis.

Mindful Meditation

A few minutes of alone time can save your sanity. Here is a simple meditation practice called "Mindfulness." Use it when your attention is scattered. It will bring you back to a calm state and allow your brain to function normally.

Step One: Start by sitting in a way that doesn't block anything: sit with your legs uncrossed and with your hands resting on your legs.

Step Two: Become aware of the feeling in your toes. Wiggle them and feel the texture of your socks.

Step Three: Now move that feeling up to your legs and calves.

Step Four: Close your eyes and breathe in. Visualize air going into your body and traveling down into your legs and feet. This air is going to clean away all of the tension.

Step Five: As you breathe out, visualize all of your tension as a dark cloud that that you just blow out into the air.

No Ordinary Moments

I just watched "The Peaceful Warrior" and loved it. Its an excellent movie disguised as a gymnastics story when, in fact, it's more about yoga and training the mind. My favorite line from the movie is "There are no ordinary moments." The whole story is about living in the moment — something that is very difficult to do.

Missing the Moment
Trying to live fully in the present—or being in the moment is a challenging proposition. We frequently get caught up in our routines, habits and thoughts, and find ourselves feeling disconnected from what is happening around us…or even within our own bodies. Instead, we spend our time and energy creating to-do lists and dwelling in the past. These thought patterns prevent us from truly being present and from completely engaging in what is happening in our lives right now…in the present moment.

Attending to the Moment with Mindfulness
Mindfulness means that we are paying attention to everything that happens within our bodies and around us in the present moment without judgment. However, when we are on autopilot, we often act unconsciously or habitually. We just react. Even our thoughts can occur without our conscious awareness. It is human nature to categorize and evaluate everything that we think, see, hear, etc., and these evaluations typically alter our experience and are usually at the root of our stress.

By using mindfulness techniques to pay attention to our minds and bodies, we can begin to take more control and switch off the autopilot. Learning to be fully aware of our bodily sensations, thoughts and emotions—no matter whether they are pleasant or unpleasant—can help us deal with our stress more effectively.

How to Practice Mindfulness
As with any skill, mindfulness can be learned. The practice is in the repetitive act of directing attention to only one thing in this moment. No one would suggest that just paying attention is the answer to all of life's problems. All of life's problems and stressors, however, can be seen more clearly when our mind is clear.

When we begin to see more clearly how we are thinking, feeling and reacting, we can begin to learn new ways of being and responding to the things going on in our lives.

Ease Headaches Before They Happen

Are you feeling stressed? If you are anything like me, your stress causes terrible headaches. We often express stress in our necks and jaws. Without even noticing, we tense in these areas, blocking our breath, decreasing our circulation, and sometimes provoking a headache.

Luckily, we can avoid these symptoms by taking a break to relax the neck. Here's how:

While seated, interlace your fingers and place your hands on the back of your head. Allow your head and arms to relax forward and your chin to travel toward your chest. The weight of your head and arms, combined with gravity, will begin to release your neck and reduce or eliminate your headache.

Remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The Move is Over

Sorry that YogaDudes has been so low key over the past few months. We were suffering through a period of temporary partial shut-down as we moved our world headquarters (which is our home in CT). After four long months of being homeless and operating on very low inventory in a temporary office, we are finally getting settled in Eastford, CT. We found ourselves a blissfully peaceful spot with so many places to do yoga it's unreal. I think the photo above will be my favorite one.

We hope to get the business back on track real soon. This fall will begin our monthly newsletters, regular blog entries, and sales promotions. Please stay tuned and thank you for your patience.

YogaDudes Vacation Shut Down

We are taking some time off for some much needed OM. After a few months of laying low and running the business from a temporary location, with only half of our inventory, we are taking a break and shutting down for nearly two weeks. I'm sorry that this blog hasn't been updated more frequently. Once our big move is finally complete, YogaDudes will get back on track.

For now, we are off to Croatia for some sailing and bicycling - oh and lots of yoga on the ship too! Be back in mid July with more news.

Try Something New

What have you always wanted to do? Take a dance class, learn to sail, knit a sweater, sculpt—whatever you choose, your life will be enriched with fun, new friends and the pride of trying something new.

When you challenge yourself by trying a new pursuit, you affirm your belief that neither time nor fear should be an impediment to growth. You comprehend the value of learning—the interest it adds to your day-to-day experiences and the creativity it inspires within you. Being a beginner can be hard, and you may find yourself tempted to give up, but try not to let yourself become self-conscious. If you are revisiting an activity you enjoyed in childhood, you may take in information more slowly than you once did or you may pick it up again like it was yesterday. The simple fact that you are pursuing a path because you want to means that your determination will give you the strength to cope with any difficulties. Your ability to work toward an aim will be heightened by your sincere desire to grow as an individual.

Try learning something new this week. There must be something that always wanted to do . . .

I always wanted to ride an off-road motorcycle, but it always terrified me. I finally decided to ‘just do it.’ Bought myself a bike and took it off-road the first day out. Nothing feels better than accomplishing a long awaited dream. And even if success didn’t come right away, the thrill of the attempt is enough to give yourself a high.

Your Thoughts Become Your Destiny

I found this yoga-inspired poem/quote today and liked it so much, I wanted to share:

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; for it becomes your destiny.

- Upanishads