The triathlon season went pretty well.  I was able to complete the SuperFrog Half Ironman in just over 6 hours, and I was happy with that time.  Honestly, I was happy to finish!  I did not make my goal to finish the San Diego International Triathlon in less than 2 hours, but that was ok.  The Half Ironman really took it out of me and I decided to spend the last few weeks of my training period for the SDIT surfing on my stand up paddlboard, rather than running.  I had a fun day and that’s the important part.

Now we shift gears to bike racing (see what I did there? shift gears – bike racing…anyway).  The Tour de Scottsdale is a 70 mile race on a fairly hilly course that takes place in early October.  The date, combined with the weather, makes it a bit too early to start formally training here in at the end of July.  I’ve noticed that endurance training does cause me to lose muscle mass, unless I eat a lot more food than I’m comfortable with, and so I like to mix in strength training routines when I have time.  I rarely have enough time between races to do a full 90 days of P90X, or one of the other programs, but when I can I like to get back to them.  With that in mind, here’s my schedule for the next four weeks.

Monday – P90X Chest & Back/ARX

Tuesday – 30 mile fast ride (Tri-Scottsdale/Gainey Ride)

Wednesday – P90X Legs & Back/ARX

Thursday – Yoga

Friday – P90X Shoulders & Arms/ARX

Saturday and/or Sunday – Long ride. Basically looking to build long distance endurance here.  Rides will be about 4 hours long and I’ll be riding in the hills.  This is the big day of the week to be sure.

So, basically we have P90X with a twist.  That’s the basic schedule, but I’ll have to make adjustments as I go. I’ve got a few trips planned, and Monica does too, so I’ll have to adjust as I go.  That’s perfectly fine with me.  The key element for me is to have a base schedule to work with.  As long as I have that, I can make adjustments to work with what’s happening in my life.  When I don’t have any schedule it is pretty easy to just blow off workouts or waste time trying to figure out what I need to accomplish with my training.

4 weeks of strength training will do me some good while I build up some base cycling fitness.  Chest & Back starts today and I can’t wait to get back on the bike.  After a 3 week vacation with the family driving from Arizona to the Oregon Coast and back (hitting Sequoia, King’s Canyon and Yosemite National Parks on the way) I’m ready to get up early tomorrow and hit the road.  After this four week session is over, I’ll take a recovery week and then probably go to a schedule that has me riding the bike four days a week, doing yoga and doing some sort of upper body weight training, like the Insanity Upper Body Weight Training DVD.  Once I figure out what that looks like, I’ll post it here.  If you have thoughts on this schedule or anything else I’d love to hear them.

Dave

About 90 days ago I started working with David Hoyt.  David was a fairly typical P90X user.  A guy that was in decent shape, but wanted more.  He really needed a nutritional approach.  I’m not talking about a “diet” here.  I’m talking about a plan for life.  I encouraged him to look at Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint theories and he’s had great success with that plan.  David also tracked his progress over his P90X journey.  Here’s the proof that hard work pays off.  David went from 22 pull-ups per workout to 110.  His average pull-ups per set went from 2.75 to 13.75.  If you can average 13 pull-ups per set in P90X, you are bringing it. The spreadsheet he used to track his progress is attached below.

The lesson here is not to give up.  Look at David’s progress from week 1 to week 5.  By the fifth week he more than doubled his output and he showed improvement in each and every week.  I tell people this all the time and now I have to thank David for proving it.  Think you “can’t do pull-ups”?  You are wrong.  Here’s the proof.

Adaptogens were classified by the ancient Chinese as the most effective plants to increase physical and mental capacity, reduce fatigue, improve resistance to diseases, and extend lifespan.  In particular, adaptogens help the body deal with stressful situations, whether those are mental or physical.  The reason for naming these herbs “Adaptogens” resulted from the scientific discovery, which proved their effectiveness in helping the human body to “adapt” or to “adjust” to strains and changes of daily living. By adapting to changes in the environment, mankind has survived. Scientific studies have shown that both humans and other organisms that are able to adapt best survive longer. In fact, these herbs have managed to survive harsh environments for centuries due to their unique composition of biologically active substances.

The two primary adaptogens in Shakeology are Cordyceps and Ashwagandha.  Cordyceps is a fungi that includes about 300 species and is found in Shakeology’s proprietary Super-Fruit Blend.  Ashwagandha root is the ‘ginseng’ of Ayurvedic medicine, the traditional medicine of India and improves physical energy and athletic ability, increases immunity to colds and infections and increase sexual capacity and fertility.  Ashwagandha is part of Shakeology’s propriatary Enzyme Blend.

In her presentation earlier this year in Kauai, Hawaii, Isabelle Daikeler explained the role of adaptogens as going into the system and clawing out bad things.  Basically the adaptogens are able to help the body remove toxins and by doing so overcome stressful situations.  We are all under stress in our daily lives.  Much of this stress is mental stress, which causes a variety of biologic functions in the body, including the release of cortisol.  But we also place our bodies under physical stress.  If you are doing a vigerous exercise program like P90X or Insanity, your body needs the essential nutrients contained in a product like Shakeology to deal with that stress.

Adaptogens are only one way that Shakeology heals your body.  The antioxidents and phytonutrients in Shakeology also help:

• Get rid of harmful free radicals
• Help decrease inflammation
• Help boost your immune system
• Potentially decrease the risk of degenerative diseases
• May even increase longevity

These are essential functions and it is important to make sure that your body is working at an optimum level if you want to get the most out of it.  Doing a program like P90X while eating pizza is like pouring low-grade gas into a Ferrari and expecting top performance.  It just isn’t going to happen.  Addressing your body’s essential functions is the key to any sound nutritional program.  If you want more information about Shakeology, or a free sample, please CLICK HERE.

Dave

Here is the text I’m discussing in the video.  Eat well everyone.

A lot of people ask me for my thoughts on nutrition and whether I have any helpful tips. Here are what I believe are the foundations of a healthy diet. These are just my thoughts based on my experiences and my experiments with several different nutrition plans (not “diets”), beginning with the P90X Nutrition Guide.

1. Whole Foods – Avoid processed junk. Look past the nutrition facts and read the ingredients. The more ingredients, the lower the likelihood it is going in my mouth. A strawberry has ONE ingredient. So does an egg, or a chicken breast, or broccoli. Take a look at the ingredients in the foods you are eating. If you have trouble pronouncing them…keep moving. If you can get your foods from a local supplier that is preferable. Foods that are organic do make a huge difference. They are lower in toxic pesticides and generally higher in micronutrients. See if you have a local “CSA” (Community Supported Agriculture) program in your area. We pay $25 a week for a huge bag of organic seasonal veggies and fresh eggs that are raised in a real “cage free” environment and not fed corn and antibiotics. These types of eggs are much higher in Omega-3 fatty acids and generally much more nutritious. Check out www.localharvest.org.

2. Supplements – I take a multi-vitamin (super important), Shakeology (www.shakeology.com/azfitclub) whey protein, Omega-3 fatty acids and on occasion the recovery formula (sugar is an issue, but it has its place). The goal here is to give my body what it needs to process the basics. At the minimum you need a good multi-vitamin. You have to focus first on making sure your body’s basic functions are addressed. It isn’t going to do you any good to take an expensive supplement if you can’t digest it and process the ingredients. Address your base nutrition first and foremost.

3. Make carbohydrate intake correspond to activity level – Everyone has different fitness goals, and getting the right amount of carbs is key. Limiting carbs, in particular SUGAR, to the amount you need to support your goals is essential. As a triathlete training for a 1/2 Ironman, my carb intake is going to be a lot higher than someone that is doing P90X. The sugar has got to go. Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNYlI…layer_embedded. Understanding the insulin response and limiting the presence of excess insulin in your body is essential to health and fitness.

4. Limit foods that make your blood acidic. Huh? Watch this: http://www.thefitclubnetwork.com/200…makes-you-fat/. Soda…get rid of it. It is poisoning your blood. Water…drink way more of it. It helps refresh your blood.

5. Limit dairy. Tony Horton said this weekend, “cheese is a spice”. Use it that way. A little Parmesan on your food is ok, but otherwise ditch the cheese. It is high in fats that don’t help your body. Many people feel that our bodies are not conditioned to process milk from other animals. We are the only species that drinks milk that doesn’t come exclusively from our own mothers. Try to cut milk out of your diet and see how it works. I feel a lot better since doing that. Some people don’t have any adverse reaction, but if you aren’t sure, cut it out for a month and see how you feel. That’s what I did and I only have it in my coffee now. Almond milk makes a great substitute for cow’s milk.

6. Healthy fats. You’ve got to get fat in your diet. Huh? Yes, fat is good for you. There is an ongoing debate about saturated fats and whether or not they are beneficial. The generally accepted principal is that they are not. After reading Mark Sisson’s The Primal Blueprint, in which he presents the theory that saturated fats are not to blame for our society’s weight problems, and increasing my own fat intake I believe he is correct (a large number of people in this community have had similar results). My fat intake is between 30 to 45% depending on where I’m at with my carb intake. When I’m endurance training I need more carbs, and take in less fats. When I’m not, I limit carbs to my activity level and that means increasing my fat intake. I’ve found it to be a remarkably good source of energy and fatty foods really fill you up, which means you don’t need to eat so much to feel satisfied. Regardless of that debate, you cannot go wrong with increasing your intake of fatty foods like avocados, nuts, and olive oil. Take the time to understand how fats work in your diet, because they are important.

7. Quality over quantity. What you eat is far more important than how much you eat. Spend more time focusing on what type of foods you eat and less worrying about how many calories you are taking in on a daily basis. Knowing your caloric range is important, but don’t get too caught up in that analysis. If you are hungry and have something healthy to eat, then eat it. If you are not hungry, don’t feel like you have to force food down to get to some predetermined caloric count. Just go with that feels right and eat healthy.

8. The 80/20 Rule. Try to make 80% of the foods you eat be healthy whole foods that meet all of the criteria above. If you can do that, then the other 20% won’t hurt you too much. If your diet isn’t particularly good at this time 80/20 will be a huge improvement. The 80/20 rule came straight from the Tony Horton Fitness Camp seminars. Tony follows a 90/10 rule, so apply this according to your personal goals.

Hope this helps. If you are reading this, and have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me by clicking HERE I’m happy to help.

Dave

Tony was recently interviewed by a program called “Posers”, which is a yoga based show.  Here’s the interview.

Why do I harp on yoga?  Simply because I want everyone to be fit and yoga is the cornerstone of any good fitness program.  Yes, I know there are plenty of programs that get great results and don’t include yoga.  Every one of them should be modified to add yoga.  If you are not doing yoga, then you are not doing P90X.  Take the time to struggle with yoga. That struggle leads to tremendous gains.

Keep bringing it people.

Dave

Here are a few of the top reasons:

1.  Protein boosts your metabolism. It takes twice as much energy to break down proteins as it does carbohydrates.  Your body can charge through carbs pretty easily, but it has to work to break down proteins.  This means after you eat a high-protein meal your body must burn calories to break it down.  Some studies have shown people with high-protein diets burned up to twice as many calories in the hours after their meals, than those on high-carb diets.

2.  Protein flips your “satiety” switch. Huh?  That’s a fancy way of saying it makes you feel full.  Would you keep eating if you felt full?  Probably not. High fructose corn syrup has the exact opposite effect, which is why they make a 64 oz big gulp. That’s between 800 and 1,000 calories, but you don’t feel full after you drink one.  “Satiety”…important stuff.  You shouldn’t want to eat a bag of chips and a hot dog after consuming 800 calories of anything.

3.  Protein is the building block of muscle.  This is oversimplified, but true.  Lean protein helps promote muscle growth.  Muscle burns fat.  Huh?  Adding muscle mass requires your body to expend energy to sustain that muscle.  Adding one pound of muscle requires your body to burn up to 50 calories a day to maintain it.  That’s one pound folks.  Try adding 10 and you can see why people that add about 10 pounds of muscle look the way they do.  Their bodies are simply working more efficiently.

So, that’s a nutshell of the benefits of protein.  There are more, but I want to keep this simple right now.  In addition, we reduce high fat foods and reduce carbs with Phase I of this plan.  Trans fats and most saturated fats tend to be stored in the fat cells very easily.  We are trying to change that.  Some fats are healthy for you, and we’ll talk more about that elsewhere.  Suffice it to say now that we want to reduce the traditional American diet types of fats that are getting put in our bodies.  the reasoning behind reducing starchy carbs is a little more complex.  When the body takes in a lot of starchy carbs it treats them like sugars.  The body responds by producing insulin to process those sugars in your blood.  That in turn causes the body to store more fat because it just does not have any where to store those carbs.  In addition, this insulin response actually tells your body to store fat as a precautionary measure. Keep that up long enough and you are headed for diabetes.  Here’s a video illustrating this principle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNYlIcXynwE&feature=player_embedded

When you eat a lean chicken breast, you make your body work for it and it pays you back by building muscle.  It also makes you feel full when you’ve consumed an appropriate amount of calories.  When you eat a burger meal the fat gets stored as excess fat, the fries and bun create an insulin response and the high fructose corn syrup in that yummy soda keeps you from feeling really hungry even though you’ve gobbled down a huge meal from a caloric perspective.  That’s just not a good mix.  The soda also increases the acidity of your blood, which you can read more about here: http://www.thefitclubnetwork.com/2009/11/how-diet-soda-makes-you-fat/

So, given the range of alternatives and the benefits of protein is it any surprise that the P90X Nutrition Plan focuses on it so much in the first Phase of the diet?  Hopefully, all that makes sense.  If not, shoot me an email at dave@thefitclubnetwork.com.

Dave

GREAT TO SEE THE ENTHUSIASM!!!