Happy Friday! And BOY am I happy that it is Friday...This has been a long week!
So I am officially 2 weeks into my own made up P90X/Insanity Hybrid and let me tell you...WOW! I absolutely LOVE it! I push myself a lot, and granted Insanity is pretty damn tough, but I am able to do more and more every time! I will share my Fit Test results once I do the second one...The first results are pretty pathetic..haha
I love the fact that I am seeing results already...2 weeks in! My tummy has flattened and I am FINALLY getting rid of those love handles that us ladies hate oh so much. Plus, my little bitty biceps are growing at a rapid pace...My Dad actually asked me to flex last night and he was impressed!
So anywho, the purpose of this post is to discuss Chalene Johnson's 30 Day Challenge. If you have not done it yet, DO IT! It has changed my life and I am only on day 10! I don't want to give too much away because I want YOU do to it, don't just piggyback on me :) She teaches that it takes 21 days to form a habit, whether it be good or bad. And make a To Do list daily! Put it somewhere accessible (pull out those iPhones, Droids, Blackberries, or whatever you have, there are free apps for this!) and check it ALL THE TIME. Make one for the day, then the week, then the month, then the YEAR. Without a To Do list you are far less likely to reach your goals...and we all want to reach our goals right?
So every Friday in this challenge we are to list our 10 goals, and our 1 Push Goal. For shiggles, I decided to post my 10 goals from today here for you all to see (what I want to accomplish in the next year)...HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE PEOPLE!!! I can't do it without you!
My Push Goal: Pay off my debt!
1. Pay off all of my credit cards.
2. Become an EMERALD coach (Nicole Morse, we can do this!)
3. Make more time for ME
4. Create a budget...and stick to it! (No more living paycheck to paycheck!)
5. Go on a weekend getaway every other month.
6. Pass the GMAT!
7. Get into grad school at RMU (can you say propelling my business???)
8. Spend more time with my "family" (I put family in " " because I consider family to be blood and those that I CONSIDER family...aka my friends)
9. Get to my new target weight of 120!
10. Become more active in the National Kidney Foundation in the honor and memory of my Aunt Karen.
Ok Guys! Your turn! Email me YOUR 10 goals...Tell me what YOU want to achieve over the next week...month...year...5 years...10 years...Then sit back and think about how you can reach them...How I can help you reach them!
xoxo
"My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment." ~Oprah Winfrey
Friday, June 10, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Random ramblings for the day...
"I promise..."
"You can trust me..."
"I love you..."
These are phrases that should not be just thrown around, they are words that pack a lot of punch and you should never say unless you fully intend on following through. Unfortuately, most of us have come to learn that not everyone can fully understand the power that these words possess. Not everyone realizes that there are still some people in the world that hold these words close to them, and do NOT just throw them around trying to make someone feel good. That is what leads to this rambling of the day.
Most of you did not know me before the beginning of this year, so you do not know exactly where I was in my life when P90X came into play. I was absolutely head over heels in love. He was the first guy that I could actually see myself being with forever. He was amazing, and so was his family. I felt like I fit right in with them and they made me feel welcome. More than anything else though, he made me feel so good about myself I could not even belive it. He helped me through my home buying process, and was even set to move in and be my roommate in December. Then, out of the blue the second weekend of December things changed. We had a great weekend, his parents were in town and they finally met my parents. We all discussed our New Years plans because we were all spending it together here in Pittsburgh. On Sunday night, all that he said was "I can't do this right now" and just like that my world fell apart. I couldn't breathe and had no idea what I was going to do. Not even my closest friends could comfort me. It was the worst that I have ever felt in my life.
I had most of his stuff until February, I finally packed it up and told him to pick it up because I needed to move on with my life. Obviously he did not care enough to even give me an explanation as to why things fell apart so suddenly like they did. He picked up the boxes that I packed and it was the most awkward 45 minutes of my life.
Well, now it is June...and I thought that I had moved on...the feelings were gone and I could finally breathe again and feel like myself. Then I found out that he is seeing someone and that waive of hurt and disappointment all came back. Way to ruin my day...
But right now, at this very moment, I am making a promise to myself. No more dwelling on the past. I am moving on with my life. I am in better shape than I ever have been, I have an amazing group of friends, and a fantastic family. I would have never gotten through today if it were not for Kati, Lacey, Kristin, Mike, and Rachel.
So from a girl that has been hurt, torn apart, and slowly put herself back together again...PLEASE DO NOT use the words "I promise...", "You can trust me...", and most of all "I love you..." unless you mean it. Because when all is said and done, it is when we think of those phrases that we hurt the most...
xoxo
"You can trust me..."
"I love you..."
These are phrases that should not be just thrown around, they are words that pack a lot of punch and you should never say unless you fully intend on following through. Unfortuately, most of us have come to learn that not everyone can fully understand the power that these words possess. Not everyone realizes that there are still some people in the world that hold these words close to them, and do NOT just throw them around trying to make someone feel good. That is what leads to this rambling of the day.
Most of you did not know me before the beginning of this year, so you do not know exactly where I was in my life when P90X came into play. I was absolutely head over heels in love. He was the first guy that I could actually see myself being with forever. He was amazing, and so was his family. I felt like I fit right in with them and they made me feel welcome. More than anything else though, he made me feel so good about myself I could not even belive it. He helped me through my home buying process, and was even set to move in and be my roommate in December. Then, out of the blue the second weekend of December things changed. We had a great weekend, his parents were in town and they finally met my parents. We all discussed our New Years plans because we were all spending it together here in Pittsburgh. On Sunday night, all that he said was "I can't do this right now" and just like that my world fell apart. I couldn't breathe and had no idea what I was going to do. Not even my closest friends could comfort me. It was the worst that I have ever felt in my life.
I had most of his stuff until February, I finally packed it up and told him to pick it up because I needed to move on with my life. Obviously he did not care enough to even give me an explanation as to why things fell apart so suddenly like they did. He picked up the boxes that I packed and it was the most awkward 45 minutes of my life.
Well, now it is June...and I thought that I had moved on...the feelings were gone and I could finally breathe again and feel like myself. Then I found out that he is seeing someone and that waive of hurt and disappointment all came back. Way to ruin my day...
But right now, at this very moment, I am making a promise to myself. No more dwelling on the past. I am moving on with my life. I am in better shape than I ever have been, I have an amazing group of friends, and a fantastic family. I would have never gotten through today if it were not for Kati, Lacey, Kristin, Mike, and Rachel.
So from a girl that has been hurt, torn apart, and slowly put herself back together again...PLEASE DO NOT use the words "I promise...", "You can trust me...", and most of all "I love you..." unless you mean it. Because when all is said and done, it is when we think of those phrases that we hurt the most...
xoxo
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
The 5 Biggest Exercise Myths
I found this article on Yahoo this morning and I found in interesting....though that I would share :)
Quick! Let’s free associate. Complete this sentence:
SETS OF _ REPS.
Did you answer 3 and 10? Of course you did. It’s the Pavlovian response. After all, anyone who’s ever picked up a dumbbell knows that doing 3 sets of 10 reps of each exercise is the quickest way to build muscle.
Except it’s not. In fact, it’s the quickest way to get nowhere with your workout routine, says Michael Mejia, C.S.C.S., a long-time Men’s Health fitness advisor.
Truth is, today’s most sacred exercise guidelines originated in the ’40s and ’50s, a time when castration was a cutting-edge treatment for prostate cancer, and endurance exercise was thought to be harmful to women. Worse, so-called fitness experts across the country are still spewing these same old conventional wisdoms, despite plenty of research indicating that they (the experts and the wisdoms) aren’t wise at all.
Chances are, these are the rules you exercise by right now. And that means your workout is long past due for a 21st-century overhaul. We asked Mejia to do just that. Here are the five muscles myths he most commonly hears. Hopefully, we're about to bust them for good.
MYTH #1: DO 8 TO 12 REPETITIONS
The claim: It's the optimal repetition range for building muscle.
The origin: In 1954, Ian MacQueen, M.D., an English surgeon and competitive bodybuilder, published a scientific paper in which he recommended a moderately high number of repetitions for muscle growth.
The truth: This approach places muscles under a medium amount of tension for a medium amount of time—it's basically The Neither Here Nor There Workout.
Here's the deal: Higher tension—a.k.a. heavier weights—induces the type of muscle growth in which the muscle fibers grow larger, leading to the best gains in strength; longer tension time, on the other hand, boosts muscle size by increasing the energy-producing structures around the fibers, improving muscular endurance. The classic prescription of 8 to 12 repetitions strikes a balance between the two. But by using that scheme all the time, you miss out on the greater tension levels that come with heavier weights and fewer repetitions, and the longer tension time achieved with lighter weights and higher repetitions.
The new standard: Vary your repetition range—adjusting the weights accordingly—so that you stimulate every type of muscle growth. Try this method for a month, performing three full-body sessions a week: Do five repetitions per set in your first workout, 10 reps per set in your second workout, and 15 per set in your third workout.
MYTH #2: DO 3 SETS OF EACH EXERCISE
The claim: This provides the ideal workload for achieving the fastest muscle gains.
The origin: In 1948, a physician named Thomas Delorme reported in the Archives of Physical Medicine that performing three sets of 10 repetitions was as effective at improving leg strength as 10 sets of 10 repetitions.
The truth: There's nothing wrong with—or magical about—doing three sets. But the number of sets you perform shouldn't be determined by a 50-year-old default recommendation. Here's a rule of thumb: The more repetitions of an exercise you do, the fewer sets you should perform, and vice versa. This keeps the total number of reps you do of an exercise nearly equal, no matter how many repetitions make up each set.
The new standard: If you're doing eight or more reps, keep it to three sets or less. If you're pounding out less than three reps, you should be doing at least six sets.
MYTH #3: DO 3 OR 4 EXERCISES PER MUSCLE GROUP
The claim: This ensures that you work all the fibers of the target muscle.
The origin: Arnold Schwarzenegger, circa 1966.
The truth: You'll waste a lot of time. Here's why: Schwarzenegger's four-decade-old recommendation is almost always combined with "Do three sets of 8 to 12 repetitions." That means you'll complete up to 144 repetitions for each muscle group. Trouble is, if you can perform even close to 100 repetitions for any muscle group, you're not working hard enough.
Think of it this way: The harder you train, the less time you'll be able to sustain that level of effort. For example, many men can run for an hour if they jog slowly, but you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who could do high-intensity sprints—without a major decrease in performance—for that period of time. And once performance starts to decline, you've achieved all the muscle-building benefits you can for that muscle group.
The new standard: Instead of focusing on the number of different exercises you do, shoot for a total number of repetitions between 25 and 50. That could mean five sets of five repetitions of one exercise (25 repetitions) or one set of 15 repetitions of two or three exercises (30 to 45 repetitions).
MYTH #4: NEVER LET YOUR KNEES GO PAST YOUR TOES
The claim: Allowing your knees to move too far forward during exercises such as the squat and lunge places dangerous shearing forces on your knee ligaments.
The origin: A 1978 study at Duke University found that keeping the lower leg as vertical as possible during the squat reduced shearing forces on the knee.
The truth: Leaning your torso too far forward, so that your knees stay back, is more likely to cause injury. In 2003, University of Memphis researchers confirmed that knee stress was 28 percent higher when the knees were allowed to move past the toes during the squat. But the researchers also found a countereffect: Hip stress increased nearly 1,000 percent when forward movement of the knee was restricted. The reason: The squatters had to lean their torsos farther forward. And that's a problem, because forces that act on the hip are transferred to the lower back, a more frequent site of injury than the knees.
The new standard: Watch a toddler squat. Push your hips back as far as you can, while keeping your torso as upright as possible. This will reduce the stress on your back and knees.
MYTH #5: WHEN YOU LIFT WEIGHTS, DRAW IN YOUR ABS
The claim: You'll increase the support to your spine, reducing the risk of back injuries.
The origin: In 1999, researchers in Australia found that some men with back pain had a slight delay in activating their transverse abdominis, a deep abdominal muscle that's part of the musculature that maintains spine stability. As a result, many fitness professionals began instructing their clients to try to pull their belly buttons to their spines—which engages the transverse abdominis—as they performed exercises.
The truth: "The research was accurate, but the interpretation by many researchers and therapists wasn't," says Stuart McGill, Ph.D., author of Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance and widely recognized as the world's top researcher on the spine. That's because muscles work in teams to stabilize your spine, and the most valuable players change depending on the exercise, says McGill. Read: The transverse abdominis isn't always the quarterback.
In fact, for any given exercise, your body automatically activates the muscles that are most needed for spine support. So focusing only on your transverse abdominis can overrecruit the wrong muscles and underrecruit the right ones. This not only increases injury risk, but reduces the amount of weight you can lift.
The new standard: If you want to give your back a supporting hand, simply "brace" your abs as if you were about to be punched in the gut, but don't draw them in. "This activates all three layers of the abdominal wall," says McGill, "improving both stability and performance."
The 5 Biggest Exercise Myths
By Bill Phillips and the Editors of Men's Health
Quick! Let’s free associate. Complete this sentence:
SETS OF _ REPS.
Did you answer 3 and 10? Of course you did. It’s the Pavlovian response. After all, anyone who’s ever picked up a dumbbell knows that doing 3 sets of 10 reps of each exercise is the quickest way to build muscle.
Except it’s not. In fact, it’s the quickest way to get nowhere with your workout routine, says Michael Mejia, C.S.C.S., a long-time Men’s Health fitness advisor.
Truth is, today’s most sacred exercise guidelines originated in the ’40s and ’50s, a time when castration was a cutting-edge treatment for prostate cancer, and endurance exercise was thought to be harmful to women. Worse, so-called fitness experts across the country are still spewing these same old conventional wisdoms, despite plenty of research indicating that they (the experts and the wisdoms) aren’t wise at all.
Chances are, these are the rules you exercise by right now. And that means your workout is long past due for a 21st-century overhaul. We asked Mejia to do just that. Here are the five muscles myths he most commonly hears. Hopefully, we're about to bust them for good.
MYTH #1: DO 8 TO 12 REPETITIONS
The claim: It's the optimal repetition range for building muscle.
The origin: In 1954, Ian MacQueen, M.D., an English surgeon and competitive bodybuilder, published a scientific paper in which he recommended a moderately high number of repetitions for muscle growth.
The truth: This approach places muscles under a medium amount of tension for a medium amount of time—it's basically The Neither Here Nor There Workout.
Here's the deal: Higher tension—a.k.a. heavier weights—induces the type of muscle growth in which the muscle fibers grow larger, leading to the best gains in strength; longer tension time, on the other hand, boosts muscle size by increasing the energy-producing structures around the fibers, improving muscular endurance. The classic prescription of 8 to 12 repetitions strikes a balance between the two. But by using that scheme all the time, you miss out on the greater tension levels that come with heavier weights and fewer repetitions, and the longer tension time achieved with lighter weights and higher repetitions.
The new standard: Vary your repetition range—adjusting the weights accordingly—so that you stimulate every type of muscle growth. Try this method for a month, performing three full-body sessions a week: Do five repetitions per set in your first workout, 10 reps per set in your second workout, and 15 per set in your third workout.
MYTH #2: DO 3 SETS OF EACH EXERCISE
The claim: This provides the ideal workload for achieving the fastest muscle gains.
The origin: In 1948, a physician named Thomas Delorme reported in the Archives of Physical Medicine that performing three sets of 10 repetitions was as effective at improving leg strength as 10 sets of 10 repetitions.
The truth: There's nothing wrong with—or magical about—doing three sets. But the number of sets you perform shouldn't be determined by a 50-year-old default recommendation. Here's a rule of thumb: The more repetitions of an exercise you do, the fewer sets you should perform, and vice versa. This keeps the total number of reps you do of an exercise nearly equal, no matter how many repetitions make up each set.
The new standard: If you're doing eight or more reps, keep it to three sets or less. If you're pounding out less than three reps, you should be doing at least six sets.
MYTH #3: DO 3 OR 4 EXERCISES PER MUSCLE GROUP
The claim: This ensures that you work all the fibers of the target muscle.
The origin: Arnold Schwarzenegger, circa 1966.
The truth: You'll waste a lot of time. Here's why: Schwarzenegger's four-decade-old recommendation is almost always combined with "Do three sets of 8 to 12 repetitions." That means you'll complete up to 144 repetitions for each muscle group. Trouble is, if you can perform even close to 100 repetitions for any muscle group, you're not working hard enough.
Think of it this way: The harder you train, the less time you'll be able to sustain that level of effort. For example, many men can run for an hour if they jog slowly, but you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who could do high-intensity sprints—without a major decrease in performance—for that period of time. And once performance starts to decline, you've achieved all the muscle-building benefits you can for that muscle group.
The new standard: Instead of focusing on the number of different exercises you do, shoot for a total number of repetitions between 25 and 50. That could mean five sets of five repetitions of one exercise (25 repetitions) or one set of 15 repetitions of two or three exercises (30 to 45 repetitions).
MYTH #4: NEVER LET YOUR KNEES GO PAST YOUR TOES
The claim: Allowing your knees to move too far forward during exercises such as the squat and lunge places dangerous shearing forces on your knee ligaments.
The origin: A 1978 study at Duke University found that keeping the lower leg as vertical as possible during the squat reduced shearing forces on the knee.
The truth: Leaning your torso too far forward, so that your knees stay back, is more likely to cause injury. In 2003, University of Memphis researchers confirmed that knee stress was 28 percent higher when the knees were allowed to move past the toes during the squat. But the researchers also found a countereffect: Hip stress increased nearly 1,000 percent when forward movement of the knee was restricted. The reason: The squatters had to lean their torsos farther forward. And that's a problem, because forces that act on the hip are transferred to the lower back, a more frequent site of injury than the knees.
The new standard: Watch a toddler squat. Push your hips back as far as you can, while keeping your torso as upright as possible. This will reduce the stress on your back and knees.
MYTH #5: WHEN YOU LIFT WEIGHTS, DRAW IN YOUR ABS
The claim: You'll increase the support to your spine, reducing the risk of back injuries.
The origin: In 1999, researchers in Australia found that some men with back pain had a slight delay in activating their transverse abdominis, a deep abdominal muscle that's part of the musculature that maintains spine stability. As a result, many fitness professionals began instructing their clients to try to pull their belly buttons to their spines—which engages the transverse abdominis—as they performed exercises.
The truth: "The research was accurate, but the interpretation by many researchers and therapists wasn't," says Stuart McGill, Ph.D., author of Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance and widely recognized as the world's top researcher on the spine. That's because muscles work in teams to stabilize your spine, and the most valuable players change depending on the exercise, says McGill. Read: The transverse abdominis isn't always the quarterback.
In fact, for any given exercise, your body automatically activates the muscles that are most needed for spine support. So focusing only on your transverse abdominis can overrecruit the wrong muscles and underrecruit the right ones. This not only increases injury risk, but reduces the amount of weight you can lift.
The new standard: If you want to give your back a supporting hand, simply "brace" your abs as if you were about to be punched in the gut, but don't draw them in. "This activates all three layers of the abdominal wall," says McGill, "improving both stability and performance."
Thursday, June 2, 2011
The Kidney Walk
This year I will be participating in The Kidney Walk in Pittsburgh. It is on November 6, 2011 at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Now, some of you may be wondering why I am walking...
On March 20, 1977, my Aunt Karen received a kidney transplant. On May 2, 2011, 34 years, 1 month, and 12 days later, she left this life to move on to a better place. She led a very difficult life, but she fought and defied all odds until the very end. I am walking to honor her memory, and recognize her life. Without that transplant, I would have never gotten the chance to meet Aunt Karen, let alone spend 26 and a half years getting to know her. She was a very special lady, and a huge part of my life. I miss her more and more every day, but I know that she is watching over me with my Gram and Pap.
Now, her passing was not due to her kidney. It was due to an abscess tooth infection that she let go for far too long. She would still be here if not for the infection, which is what makes it that much harder.
But anywho...I am walking to raise awareness and money for the National Kidney Foundation. My aunt was one of the longest survivng recipients of a kidney transplant.
Please, either donate a few dollars to help me reach my personal goal of $200, or sign up and walk with us on November 6, 2011 at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Every little bit helps raise awareness and funds for the NKF.
Please help me honor the memory and the life of my Aunt Karen...I love you and miss you...
On March 20, 1977, my Aunt Karen received a kidney transplant. On May 2, 2011, 34 years, 1 month, and 12 days later, she left this life to move on to a better place. She led a very difficult life, but she fought and defied all odds until the very end. I am walking to honor her memory, and recognize her life. Without that transplant, I would have never gotten the chance to meet Aunt Karen, let alone spend 26 and a half years getting to know her. She was a very special lady, and a huge part of my life. I miss her more and more every day, but I know that she is watching over me with my Gram and Pap.
Now, her passing was not due to her kidney. It was due to an abscess tooth infection that she let go for far too long. She would still be here if not for the infection, which is what makes it that much harder.
But anywho...I am walking to raise awareness and money for the National Kidney Foundation. My aunt was one of the longest survivng recipients of a kidney transplant.
Please, either donate a few dollars to help me reach my personal goal of $200, or sign up and walk with us on November 6, 2011 at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Every little bit helps raise awareness and funds for the NKF.
Please help me honor the memory and the life of my Aunt Karen...I love you and miss you...
R.I.P.
Karen A. Maher
1/2/1957 - 5/2/2011
God saw you getting tired
and a cure was not to be.
So He put His arms around you
and whispered “come to me.”
With tearful eyes we watched you,
and saw you pass away.
Although we loved you dearly,
we could not make you stay.
A golden heart stopped beating,
hard working hands at rest.
God broke our hearts to prove to us,
He only takes the best.
Yahoooooo
So, again, it has been a while. Life has been insanely busy and I have been neglecting you all. However, on Yahoo! this morning there was an article about Tony Horton and P90X...enjoy!
The Fitness Revolution Will Be Televised (After Leno)
IT’S 3 a.m., and Tony Horton is talking to you, couch potato.
“Get absolutely ripped in 90 days!”
Viewer, check out those abs, those pecs, those glutes.
“Guaranteed or your money back!”
This man is 52 years old — and probably buffer than you’ll ever be.
“All for three easy payments of $39.95!”
On televisions across America, Tony Horton is selling a burning-sweat vision of physical fitness, and these days, a lot of people are buying. He is the pitchman and wise-cracking star of a brutal, make-it-stop workout called P90X, and he has won converts from Hollywood to Capitol Hill. The singer Sheryl Crow, the sportscaster Erin Andrews, the former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, Representative Paul Ryan and a dozen or more of his Congressional colleagues, and the list goes on and on.
P90X fans swear by the workout, a mix of jumping, yoga, martial arts and strength training that, in fact, isn’t all that revolutionary. But the secret of P90X’s success is the marketing: Mr. Horton and his business partners say they have built a $400-million-a-year empire on what, to many, might seem like a foundation of schlock: TV infomercials.
But wait, there’s more: through these infomercials, P90X has grown into a major player in exercise DVDs, one of the few growth spots in an otherwise shrinking DVD market. Beachbody, the Santa Monica company behind P90X, has expanded into workout DVDs and infomercials tailored to particular audiences. Its Body Gospel, for instance, is aimed at Christians. There is also Tony & the Folks for seniors and TurboFire for women. On top of that is a range of supplements and fitness gear.
Mr. Horton may be the face (and biceps) of P90X, but the man behind the curtain is Carl Daikeler, who has been plying the infomercial trade since the 1980s. His first production was for an industry that isn’t exactly known for its quads: accounting. Later, he produced infomercials for all kinds of pitches, be they dating services or eight-minute abdominal workouts.
His breakout idea was to create a workout program that was so hard that he dared TV viewers to try it. In 2002, he and his business partner, Jon Congdon, took that pitch to Mr. Horton, who had starred in an exercise video called Power 90. The result, released in 2005, was P90X — X for “extreme.”
The early P90X infomercials bombed. But that changed when, at Mr. Daikeler’s urging, customers like “Dallas C.” and “Kristy M.” began sending in before-and-after pictures, now featured on the company’s infomercials and Web site. More than three million copies have been sold since then, with sales increasing every year through 2010 (they are currently running even with last year), company officials said.
Now Mr. Daikeler, 47, wants to more than double his annual sales to $1 billion. To do so, he will have to move beyond the buff clientele who have embraced P90X to an even bigger market: Americans who are overweight or nowhere near as fit as they need to be to keep up with P90X.
That, of course, is a goal that has eluded fitness gurus — not to mention public health officials — for years.
“Whoever succeeds at making the living room an effective place to get fit is going to be a billionaire,” Mr. Daikeler says.
INFOMERCIALS have been around almost as long as TV. But the genre really took off in the 1970s and ’80s, with such wonders as the Ginsu, the kitchen knife that was shown samurai-ing its way through soda cans and leather shoes.
Health and fitness have long been goldmines in this field. Richard Simmons sweated to the oldies. Suzanne Somers extolled the virtues of the ThighMaster. And Jack LaLanne urged viewers to “unlock the power of fresh-squeezed juice” with the Power Juicer.
But P90X has achieved blockbuster status with a new approach. Its infomercials are shot in a more documentary style. They feature testimonials from P90X converts, interviews with Mr. Horton and scenes from the workouts. Old infomercial lines like “How much would you pay for all this?” are not part of the pitch.
Still, P90X is walking a well-trodden path. At-home workout videos took off in 1982, with Jane Fonda introducing aerobics to millions. In the years since, celebrities, models and personal trainers have crowded in. Claudia Schiffer has her “Perfectly Fit Buns.” George Foreman wants you to “Walk It Off With George.” Zsa Zsa Gabor tells her customers, “It’s Simple, Darling.”
Many of these workout fads faded fast. A few have captured the zeitgeist, like Billy Blanks’s “Tae Bo” workout in 1999 and, more recently, videos by Jillian Michaels from “The Biggest Loser,” whose “30-Day Shred” DVD is a bestseller.
Indeed, sales of fitness DVDs are growing by roughly 20 percent a year, even as overall DVD sales decline, according to the Nielsen Company. Billy Law, director of home entertainment measurement for Nielsen, attributes the increase to shows like “The Biggest Loser” and “Dancing With the Stars.”
In 2010, videos from Ms. Michaels and “The Biggest Loser” accounted for seven of the 10 best-selling exercise videos, Mr. Law says. Nielsen tracks sales at most major retailers but doesn’t capture sales of P90X, because P90X is sold only via the Beachbody Web site and over the phone.
Harold W. Kohl, a professor of epidemiology and kinesiology at the University of Texas in Austin, says such at-home programs probably help people who stick to them. But he suspects these DVDs are more valuable to the people who sell them.
“The ideal that is being conveyed in these tapes is not attainable for many, many people,” Mr. Kohl says. “So it very quickly goes into the dustbin with the exercise equipment in the corner.”
So does P90X really work? It’s certainly a tough program. You’re supposed to work out six days a week and follow a standard cut-the-carbs-and-junk diet, which may be harder than the workouts themselves.
Congressman Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, said that he had been doing P90X for several years with colleagues and that it was tough to cheat with many people around. “It works, I’ll tell you that,” he said, but added that he was not ready to display before-and-after photos.
The guiding principle is to mix up routines and “confuse” the muscles so as to avoid hitting a plateau. So some days are devoted to dumbbells or resistance bands, in addition to old-fashioned push-ups and pull-ups. Other days are reserved for yoga or cardiovascular workouts that involve a lot of jumping and squats.
But Robert Marting, a personal trainer who sells his own exercise videos, says that “muscle confusion” is a time-tested principle of bodybuilding, and that the idea has been around since the early days of Joe Weider, a creator of the Mr. Olympia contest. Beachbody “kindly borrowed the principle and just retermed it as a training secret,” he says.
True enough, Mr. Daikeler says.
“Trainers love to give negative reviews of P90X, saying it’s not that special,” he said. “They are right. It’s not that special.”
Nonetheless, Mr. Daikeler says Beachbody has managed to package the concept into an entertaining and effective plan that leads to at-home success in — you guessed it — 90 days.
Says Mr. Horton: “I never said I reinvented the wheel. I just made the wheel faster, better.”
TONY HORTON, with nary an ounce of fat on him, sits on a leather couch in his Spanish-style house in Santa Monica. He is wearing a pair of shorts, slip-on Chuck Taylors and a U.S. Navy golf shirt that shows off the veins on his well-pumped arms.
The man sure looks fit. He can do 100 push-ups and 35 pull-ups without stopping. He can climb a 25-foot rope hand over hand — upside down.
“If I don’t look a certain way, I’m just another salesman,” Mr. Horton says.
How he got fit and then rich is a classic Charles Atlas story. Growing up in Trumbull, Conn., he was, by his own account, a “quintessential 98-pound weakling.” He also had a speech impediment.
It wasn’t until he got to the University of Rhode Island that Mr. Horton discovered fitness. He took a weightlifting class, thinking it was an easy A. He ended up loving it and getting “crazy fit.”
“It was a brand new feeling,” Mr. Horton recalls. “It changed me mentally and emotionally.”
Then one summer he and a friend set out to drive across the country. His $400 got him as far as Colorado Springs. So he dusted off an R-rated pantomime routine that he had perfected in college and eventually made enough money to reach California.
Mr. Horton ended up staying in California, waiting tables, painting houses and taking a job as a gofer at 20th Century Fox. He joined a gym to meet women. When a Fox executive asked him for training tips, Mr. Horton became his personal trainer. He worked out of his garage and charged $20 a lesson.
One client led to another. Eventually Mr. Horton was recommended to Tom Petty, who wanted to get in shape for a concert tour. It wasn’t long before he was making a good living training the likes of Billy Idol and Annie Lennox.
“I’m sitting there with the lead singer of the Eurythmics, eating fruit,” Mr. Horton recalls. “It was pretty cool.”
Ms. Lennox could not be reached.
In his free time, Mr. Horton got bit parts in a few movies, tried stand-up comedy and became a pitchman for NordicTrack. He met Mr. Daikeler through a mutual friend and ended up acting in a play, “Pizza Man,” with Mr. Daikeler’s first wife.
Mr. Daikeler’s first video starring Mr. Horton, in 1999, was called “Great Body Guaranteed.” Mr. Horton was paid $2,000. The video did well enough that a group of investors put up money for another video, “Power 90,” an unexpected success and the precursor to P90X.
These days, Mr. Horton spends his time promoting his videos — he recently appeared on the “Today” show and QVC — and conducting workouts for fans, including members of Congress and American soldiers overseas.
With his lawyer and assistants, Mr. Horton also is trying to figure out how to extend his personal brand. He has a new book, “Bring It!: The Revolutionary Fitness Plan for All Levels That Burns Fat, Builds Muscle, and Shreds Inches.” He is discussing other business ventures, including a line of sunglasses and workout clothes, a reality TV show and a syndicated radio show.
Mr. Horton, by all accounts, practices what he preaches. He and his girlfriend, Shawna Brannon, have a home with Hollywood views, where Mr. Horton works out in a tricked-out gym. He rarely eats meat or drinks liquor or coffee.
“When I stop eating broccoli, I don’t get headaches,” he said of his aversion to coffee. “If I’m going to cheat, it’s going to be chocolate.”
At Beachbody’s sleek offices on the edge of Santa Monica, Mr. Daikeler is also trying to figure out ways to extend his company’s brand. Beachbody has continued to produce videos aimed at the hard-body crowd. A current hit is “Insanity.” A follow-up to P90X will be released soon. He is also looking to extend Beachbody’s name to beauty and health products, though he insists he will not overreach.
“We are not going to do the Beachbody deep fryer or car wax,” Mr. Daikeler says.
But finding a way to expand his audience, particularly those not prone to exercise, has proved more challenging.
Mr. Daikeler recently convened a meeting at Beachbody to discuss ways to improve sales for Body Gospel, the workout aimed at Christians. The $80 price tag seemed high, and the diet was proving to be a challenge for budget-conscious consumers.
Another problem: conservative Christians were reluctant to provide before-and-after photos, an important ingredient in the Beachbody formula. The pictures typically feature men with their shirts off and women in bathing suits or workout clothes.
The group batted around ideas for how to lower the price, by offering fewer DVDs, perhaps, or taking out the resistance bands that are normally included. As for the problem of getting Body Gospel’s customers to provide testimonials, Beachbody’s employees suggested allowing written testimonials or “lifestyle photos” with shirts on.
Mr. Daikeler says that if customers aren’t willing to peel off their shirts, his product simply isn’t compelling enough.
“The needle moves on undeniable proof,” he says. “I want to know: did their body change? That’s what we have to solve.”
The Fitness Revolution Will Be Televised (After Leno)
IT’S 3 a.m., and Tony Horton is talking to you, couch potato.
“Get absolutely ripped in 90 days!”
Viewer, check out those abs, those pecs, those glutes.
“Guaranteed or your money back!”
This man is 52 years old — and probably buffer than you’ll ever be.
“All for three easy payments of $39.95!”
On televisions across America, Tony Horton is selling a burning-sweat vision of physical fitness, and these days, a lot of people are buying. He is the pitchman and wise-cracking star of a brutal, make-it-stop workout called P90X, and he has won converts from Hollywood to Capitol Hill. The singer Sheryl Crow, the sportscaster Erin Andrews, the former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, Representative Paul Ryan and a dozen or more of his Congressional colleagues, and the list goes on and on.
P90X fans swear by the workout, a mix of jumping, yoga, martial arts and strength training that, in fact, isn’t all that revolutionary. But the secret of P90X’s success is the marketing: Mr. Horton and his business partners say they have built a $400-million-a-year empire on what, to many, might seem like a foundation of schlock: TV infomercials.
But wait, there’s more: through these infomercials, P90X has grown into a major player in exercise DVDs, one of the few growth spots in an otherwise shrinking DVD market. Beachbody, the Santa Monica company behind P90X, has expanded into workout DVDs and infomercials tailored to particular audiences. Its Body Gospel, for instance, is aimed at Christians. There is also Tony & the Folks for seniors and TurboFire for women. On top of that is a range of supplements and fitness gear.
Mr. Horton may be the face (and biceps) of P90X, but the man behind the curtain is Carl Daikeler, who has been plying the infomercial trade since the 1980s. His first production was for an industry that isn’t exactly known for its quads: accounting. Later, he produced infomercials for all kinds of pitches, be they dating services or eight-minute abdominal workouts.
His breakout idea was to create a workout program that was so hard that he dared TV viewers to try it. In 2002, he and his business partner, Jon Congdon, took that pitch to Mr. Horton, who had starred in an exercise video called Power 90. The result, released in 2005, was P90X — X for “extreme.”
The early P90X infomercials bombed. But that changed when, at Mr. Daikeler’s urging, customers like “Dallas C.” and “Kristy M.” began sending in before-and-after pictures, now featured on the company’s infomercials and Web site. More than three million copies have been sold since then, with sales increasing every year through 2010 (they are currently running even with last year), company officials said.
Now Mr. Daikeler, 47, wants to more than double his annual sales to $1 billion. To do so, he will have to move beyond the buff clientele who have embraced P90X to an even bigger market: Americans who are overweight or nowhere near as fit as they need to be to keep up with P90X.
That, of course, is a goal that has eluded fitness gurus — not to mention public health officials — for years.
“Whoever succeeds at making the living room an effective place to get fit is going to be a billionaire,” Mr. Daikeler says.
INFOMERCIALS have been around almost as long as TV. But the genre really took off in the 1970s and ’80s, with such wonders as the Ginsu, the kitchen knife that was shown samurai-ing its way through soda cans and leather shoes.
Health and fitness have long been goldmines in this field. Richard Simmons sweated to the oldies. Suzanne Somers extolled the virtues of the ThighMaster. And Jack LaLanne urged viewers to “unlock the power of fresh-squeezed juice” with the Power Juicer.
But P90X has achieved blockbuster status with a new approach. Its infomercials are shot in a more documentary style. They feature testimonials from P90X converts, interviews with Mr. Horton and scenes from the workouts. Old infomercial lines like “How much would you pay for all this?” are not part of the pitch.
Still, P90X is walking a well-trodden path. At-home workout videos took off in 1982, with Jane Fonda introducing aerobics to millions. In the years since, celebrities, models and personal trainers have crowded in. Claudia Schiffer has her “Perfectly Fit Buns.” George Foreman wants you to “Walk It Off With George.” Zsa Zsa Gabor tells her customers, “It’s Simple, Darling.”
Many of these workout fads faded fast. A few have captured the zeitgeist, like Billy Blanks’s “Tae Bo” workout in 1999 and, more recently, videos by Jillian Michaels from “The Biggest Loser,” whose “30-Day Shred” DVD is a bestseller.
Indeed, sales of fitness DVDs are growing by roughly 20 percent a year, even as overall DVD sales decline, according to the Nielsen Company. Billy Law, director of home entertainment measurement for Nielsen, attributes the increase to shows like “The Biggest Loser” and “Dancing With the Stars.”
In 2010, videos from Ms. Michaels and “The Biggest Loser” accounted for seven of the 10 best-selling exercise videos, Mr. Law says. Nielsen tracks sales at most major retailers but doesn’t capture sales of P90X, because P90X is sold only via the Beachbody Web site and over the phone.
Harold W. Kohl, a professor of epidemiology and kinesiology at the University of Texas in Austin, says such at-home programs probably help people who stick to them. But he suspects these DVDs are more valuable to the people who sell them.
“The ideal that is being conveyed in these tapes is not attainable for many, many people,” Mr. Kohl says. “So it very quickly goes into the dustbin with the exercise equipment in the corner.”
So does P90X really work? It’s certainly a tough program. You’re supposed to work out six days a week and follow a standard cut-the-carbs-and-junk diet, which may be harder than the workouts themselves.
Congressman Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, said that he had been doing P90X for several years with colleagues and that it was tough to cheat with many people around. “It works, I’ll tell you that,” he said, but added that he was not ready to display before-and-after photos.
The guiding principle is to mix up routines and “confuse” the muscles so as to avoid hitting a plateau. So some days are devoted to dumbbells or resistance bands, in addition to old-fashioned push-ups and pull-ups. Other days are reserved for yoga or cardiovascular workouts that involve a lot of jumping and squats.
But Robert Marting, a personal trainer who sells his own exercise videos, says that “muscle confusion” is a time-tested principle of bodybuilding, and that the idea has been around since the early days of Joe Weider, a creator of the Mr. Olympia contest. Beachbody “kindly borrowed the principle and just retermed it as a training secret,” he says.
True enough, Mr. Daikeler says.
“Trainers love to give negative reviews of P90X, saying it’s not that special,” he said. “They are right. It’s not that special.”
Nonetheless, Mr. Daikeler says Beachbody has managed to package the concept into an entertaining and effective plan that leads to at-home success in — you guessed it — 90 days.
Says Mr. Horton: “I never said I reinvented the wheel. I just made the wheel faster, better.”
TONY HORTON, with nary an ounce of fat on him, sits on a leather couch in his Spanish-style house in Santa Monica. He is wearing a pair of shorts, slip-on Chuck Taylors and a U.S. Navy golf shirt that shows off the veins on his well-pumped arms.
The man sure looks fit. He can do 100 push-ups and 35 pull-ups without stopping. He can climb a 25-foot rope hand over hand — upside down.
“If I don’t look a certain way, I’m just another salesman,” Mr. Horton says.
How he got fit and then rich is a classic Charles Atlas story. Growing up in Trumbull, Conn., he was, by his own account, a “quintessential 98-pound weakling.” He also had a speech impediment.
It wasn’t until he got to the University of Rhode Island that Mr. Horton discovered fitness. He took a weightlifting class, thinking it was an easy A. He ended up loving it and getting “crazy fit.”
“It was a brand new feeling,” Mr. Horton recalls. “It changed me mentally and emotionally.”
Then one summer he and a friend set out to drive across the country. His $400 got him as far as Colorado Springs. So he dusted off an R-rated pantomime routine that he had perfected in college and eventually made enough money to reach California.
Mr. Horton ended up staying in California, waiting tables, painting houses and taking a job as a gofer at 20th Century Fox. He joined a gym to meet women. When a Fox executive asked him for training tips, Mr. Horton became his personal trainer. He worked out of his garage and charged $20 a lesson.
One client led to another. Eventually Mr. Horton was recommended to Tom Petty, who wanted to get in shape for a concert tour. It wasn’t long before he was making a good living training the likes of Billy Idol and Annie Lennox.
“I’m sitting there with the lead singer of the Eurythmics, eating fruit,” Mr. Horton recalls. “It was pretty cool.”
Ms. Lennox could not be reached.
In his free time, Mr. Horton got bit parts in a few movies, tried stand-up comedy and became a pitchman for NordicTrack. He met Mr. Daikeler through a mutual friend and ended up acting in a play, “Pizza Man,” with Mr. Daikeler’s first wife.
Mr. Daikeler’s first video starring Mr. Horton, in 1999, was called “Great Body Guaranteed.” Mr. Horton was paid $2,000. The video did well enough that a group of investors put up money for another video, “Power 90,” an unexpected success and the precursor to P90X.
These days, Mr. Horton spends his time promoting his videos — he recently appeared on the “Today” show and QVC — and conducting workouts for fans, including members of Congress and American soldiers overseas.
With his lawyer and assistants, Mr. Horton also is trying to figure out how to extend his personal brand. He has a new book, “Bring It!: The Revolutionary Fitness Plan for All Levels That Burns Fat, Builds Muscle, and Shreds Inches.” He is discussing other business ventures, including a line of sunglasses and workout clothes, a reality TV show and a syndicated radio show.
Mr. Horton, by all accounts, practices what he preaches. He and his girlfriend, Shawna Brannon, have a home with Hollywood views, where Mr. Horton works out in a tricked-out gym. He rarely eats meat or drinks liquor or coffee.
“When I stop eating broccoli, I don’t get headaches,” he said of his aversion to coffee. “If I’m going to cheat, it’s going to be chocolate.”
At Beachbody’s sleek offices on the edge of Santa Monica, Mr. Daikeler is also trying to figure out ways to extend his company’s brand. Beachbody has continued to produce videos aimed at the hard-body crowd. A current hit is “Insanity.” A follow-up to P90X will be released soon. He is also looking to extend Beachbody’s name to beauty and health products, though he insists he will not overreach.
“We are not going to do the Beachbody deep fryer or car wax,” Mr. Daikeler says.
But finding a way to expand his audience, particularly those not prone to exercise, has proved more challenging.
Mr. Daikeler recently convened a meeting at Beachbody to discuss ways to improve sales for Body Gospel, the workout aimed at Christians. The $80 price tag seemed high, and the diet was proving to be a challenge for budget-conscious consumers.
Another problem: conservative Christians were reluctant to provide before-and-after photos, an important ingredient in the Beachbody formula. The pictures typically feature men with their shirts off and women in bathing suits or workout clothes.
The group batted around ideas for how to lower the price, by offering fewer DVDs, perhaps, or taking out the resistance bands that are normally included. As for the problem of getting Body Gospel’s customers to provide testimonials, Beachbody’s employees suggested allowing written testimonials or “lifestyle photos” with shirts on.
Mr. Daikeler says that if customers aren’t willing to peel off their shirts, his product simply isn’t compelling enough.
“The needle moves on undeniable proof,” he says. “I want to know: did their body change? That’s what we have to solve.”
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Oy Vey...
I have been a horrible blogger lately...I do appologize for those of you that check back here on a regular basis and have been disappointed in my lack of writing as of late. I have been dealing with a lot on a personal level, and spending as much time with my parents as I possibly can. Losing my Aunt has been difficult on all of us, so we are trying to help each other through it. Thank you all for your kind words and support. I really, truely do appreciate it. And I promise that I will be back in full blogging force very soon!
In the meantime, I am going to Florida this weekend! This trip has been planned for a long time now (the FABULOUS Kiley Laughlin is getting married), and it honestly could have not come at a better time. My little shoulders had picked up a lot of weight over the past 2 weeks, and I need some time to let loose and have fun with the people that I love the most. I leave on Friday evening and I will be back on Tuesday night!So since I am leaving, I decided to avoid grocery shopping this week. I am doing my Shakeology cleanse instead! Today is day 2 and so far so good! Yesterday, towards the end of the day I was REALLY struggling, my stomach was growling and I was getting grouchy. LUCKILY I am not doing it alone! The wonder Juri Gilbert is doing hers as well, so we are helping each other with encouraging messages! I may have given in to food last night if not for her! So far today I have had 1 shake, 1 cup of green tea, and I am working on my water. I will let you know how much I lose! I can already see a difference in my tummy...the tummy fat that I gained from all of the funeral food last week has disappeared. I am ready for the beach this weekend now!
Anywho, I promise to blog again tomorrow and Friday, just to let you know about my cleanse. Then next week, expect a FULL recap of my rejuvenating weekend with family and friend in Florida :)
xoxo
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Some things are never easy...
Well, I know that it has been a few days, but this has been the longest week of my life.
I spent an awesome weekend in Chicago with two of the most wonderful ladies...and we had a blast! But my life forever changed about halfway between Chicago and Pittsburgh on Monday. I lost a large part of my life. My Aunt Karen passed away.
She was taken to the hospital last Tuesday because of an infection...She had an abscess tooth that she let go for far too long. Aunt Karen was in poor health to begin with, so the infection was a lot worse for her than it would have been for you and me. They operated on Thursday night, and she went into cardiac arrest on Friday morning. My parents didn't tell me because they wanted me to enjoy my weekend way with my friends. She was breathing through a tube and having a really rough time.
The weekend was long for Aunt Karen, but she was a fighter...she had a long, tough life in fact. She had Turner's Syndrome, and we just found out.
When she passed, my Mom, Dad, and Aunt Lynnie were with her. Aunt Karen knew that it was her time to go...she defied all odds her whole life and she is in a much better place now. She is with her Mom and Dad, her Aunt, and most of all, her best friend Norma Jean.
Aunt Karen, I may not have said it enough, or even showed it...But you are one of the bravest, toughest, most amazing women that I have ever and will ever know. You showed me that no matter what life throws at you, you can enjoy your life. I wish that I would have seen you in the last couple of days of your life, but you know how well I deal with hospitals. I will love you forever...and I will never, ever forget you.
I spent an awesome weekend in Chicago with two of the most wonderful ladies...and we had a blast! But my life forever changed about halfway between Chicago and Pittsburgh on Monday. I lost a large part of my life. My Aunt Karen passed away.
She was taken to the hospital last Tuesday because of an infection...She had an abscess tooth that she let go for far too long. Aunt Karen was in poor health to begin with, so the infection was a lot worse for her than it would have been for you and me. They operated on Thursday night, and she went into cardiac arrest on Friday morning. My parents didn't tell me because they wanted me to enjoy my weekend way with my friends. She was breathing through a tube and having a really rough time.
The weekend was long for Aunt Karen, but she was a fighter...she had a long, tough life in fact. She had Turner's Syndrome, and we just found out.
When she passed, my Mom, Dad, and Aunt Lynnie were with her. Aunt Karen knew that it was her time to go...she defied all odds her whole life and she is in a much better place now. She is with her Mom and Dad, her Aunt, and most of all, her best friend Norma Jean.
Aunt Karen, I may not have said it enough, or even showed it...But you are one of the bravest, toughest, most amazing women that I have ever and will ever know. You showed me that no matter what life throws at you, you can enjoy your life. I wish that I would have seen you in the last couple of days of your life, but you know how well I deal with hospitals. I will love you forever...and I will never, ever forget you.
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!
- Mary Frye
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