The Beach Body you've always wanted...

About eight weeks ago I gave in to my wife's addiction for infomercial exercise products (in her defense, she's a personal trainer) and we picked up a copy of P90X from BeachBody. I'm not one to promote products that don't work and I generally don't believe the hype of most exercise/diet related products.

Common sense should dictate what to do: eat right and move.

The thing that caught my attention was that the basis of this program was the pull up, the majority of the exercises rooted in the body's weight. I had no idea what to expect; it just looked intense (and pull ups look really cool).

So here it is:
- one hour a day three days a week doing strength training - chest, back, shoulders, arms and legs - with with an extra fifteen minutes afterwards doing a killer ab routine
- plyometrics (jump training) one day a week
- yoga one day a week and
- kenpo (a cardio kickboxing kind of thing) one day a week.

Three weeks of one set of strength training exercises, followed by a "rest" week of yoga, plyo and kenpo only, followed by three weeks of a different set of strength training exercises (a concept called "muscle confusion"), another "rest" week and four weeks, rotating the two varieties of strength training each week, followed by a final "rest" week for a total of 13 weeks or 90 days (thus P90X).

We are as of today just finishing week nine. I am in the best shape of my life. I have a history of weight training. Throughout most of my twenties I maintained a fairly vigorous weightlifting routine and was in good shape. But nothing like this. I can honestly say I've never felt so good. I can touch my toes for the first time in my life with ease, I can touch my heels to the ground during downward dog and the chronic pain I've had in my scapula for as long as I can remember has vanished.

A certain level of fitness is required to even consider beginning this routine. It's not for the weak or faint of heart. Without familiarity with intense physical exercise and the mental discipline required to remain intensely physical, it would be quite easy to give this up. An hour a day of intense physical exercise is both physically and mentally challenging.

My mental state has improved, my buried anger has surfaced and is being dealt with, partially through the release of the toxins anger harbors and I am physically fit. I don't care about so much about having a "beach body" (the title of the post is tongue in cheek) but the feeling, the knowing, that my health is in a good state of being is quite a rush. Rather than be absorbed in the body and its pitiful state or the glorification of it, my mind is freed up to focus on other things (though remaining focus is something I haven't mastered yet, distraction and self-abuse my general mode of being).

This is truly one thing I look forward to each day, especially the yoga, definitely a meditative experience. Turn down the lights, block out the noise and go deep, the meshing of the body and mind a near religious experience.

I am currently up to nine pull ups. I'm about to hit ten. Not too shabby considering several weeks ago I was lucky to get two.

Get it.

Bring it.