“All alone, just the beat inside my soul
take me home, where my dreams are made of gold
In the zone, where the beat is uncontrolled
I know what it feels like come and make me feel
ALIVE!” -Krewella

Ultimate reset day 2 - I woke up this morning feeling drained and like shit.  A feeling I was expecting to hit sometime one Saturday because that’s how it happened for my last reset.  Things are happening different this time, faster.

or so it seem for two days in…

What started out as a OMG, I slept late (6:30) and didn’t want to get up turned into a strangely energy packed day.  Girls scout cookies and jelly beans have trashed my diet and this sudden influx of no sugar and only natural food is FUELING ME

I can say, that at this moment, haven’t worked out twice today (turbo and daily yoga) I feel ALIVE and L love this feeling!

Food, to me, is not a spiritual or fun experience.  It’s more of a necessary thing I have to do to keep moving.  The first time I did the Ultimate reset, it was about connecting more with your food and preparing it and appreciating it and blah blah blah.

I’m not doing that this time.  I’m making the food but things that were obnoxious to do like Miso soup or tomorrow’s sushi, I have a great store that will make it fresh for me to what I want.  This doesn’t mean i’m cutting the “Important corners” but it means I figured out how to get past the annoying hippie side of the reset.

I don’t necessarily want to spend the time putting all the spices on my food they suggest.  Plain fish taste great to me with a splash of lemon juice, so why am I gong to spend 20 minutes mixing spices to make something taste better that I already enjoy the taste?

Then another light bulb went on….

People who don’t typically eat healthy may not like the taste of fish, or raw kale or fresh veggies not smothered in butter.  I’ve gone through the reset, I like the taste of raw kale, hell, i’ll eat it right out of the fridge.  I don’t need all the spices to make it taste better until I get used to it.  end result, something that took me 45 minutes to make before, now takes me 15-20.  I like Plain food…i know it’s boring and sure chili powder and cumming spice it up a bit and nicely but I don’t always want to spend that kind of time.

So this reset for me is really more about the detox from sugar and preservatives and eating good clean food rather than needing to form a connection with my food.

I know, i know, reset purest are turning over in their graves but you know what, you heal your body your way, I’ll do it mine.

Teaching turbo,:

For as much as an energy burst that I have got, it still takes a lot of energy to effectively teach turbo-kick.  The music kicked in this afternoon and I went from a level 7 energy to a 12!  You’re not really suppose to do strenuous activities while on the rest but I’ve discovered that YOGA actually wears me down more than doing turbo or combat….go figure!

All things considered I’m having a good reset, granted, it’s only the 2nd day but you take it one day at a time, one meal at a time and enjoy the experience.  My experience this time is less about focusing on the food and focusing on the feeling I get from being healthy.

“I Know what it feels like come and make me feel
ALIVE!” -Krewella

Have an amazing night

I got up this morning determined to do Combat plyo and then go to bikram before work.  my body was sore and didn’t really want to do any jumping so this would be a feet of pure will when….

OH, Today is a combat off day!!!!

I got dressed and rushed out the house to bikram where my favorite instructor was teaching…abi

I think she was the 2nd instructor I met on my current journey thorough yoga.  I like her because she always seems happy and energetic, bright eyes and bouncy.  Some of the other instructors seem so serious it’s almost like a job.

I got a good stretching in but somewhere around bow pose, I got struck with the giggles and they got progressively worse until I was having to cover my face from laughing.

Nothing about bikram should be funny.  Seriously, my balls are sweating!  What’s funny about that?  This pose has my nose in a mat and the ghost of feet’s past came up to meet me and I couldn’t stop laughing

5:30 am, 5 people in a room and i’m a large black man laughing my ass off.  I felt like the guy from Marry Poppins floating on the ceiling.  Anyway, I survived

This evening found me teaching my last session of Turbo-kick for the next two weeks.  I’ve broken it up into 8 week session so the next one starts on April first.  Anyway, I had a long day and didn’t really feel like teaching.  I was THIS close to cancelling class when a few people showed up looking like they were having worse days than me and everyone just needed to get the stress out.

Que the music!

Round 51, Lets rock this joint!

With in 2 minutes I was feeling better and jumping around and having a blast!  I also got the flyer for the next round…check it out:

For some reason I look like a convict.

Anyway that’s all I got.

Laters baby!

#P90X  #turbokick

This morning was supposed to be Plyo-X but I wanted a little more cardio and a little less trama to my groin pull.  (Got it confirmed yesterday that I have a groin pull).  One out of two aint bad.

I never realized how hard Turbo is when you have a key muscle group hurting!  I was thinking I would avoid all the “tire tire and jump knee tuck” in P90X but I forgot that Turbo-KICK throws tons of front and back kicks with squat upper cuts and leaps and blah blah.

On a healthy day, Turbo is less JARRING than Plyo-X but today this was another experiment in pain.  This was also my first time doing round 52 so that made it more fun, I like this round, i’m loading the music up on my Motoactv so I can run to it tomorrow and see how I like it.

I have a new plan to treat this injury, Icey hot strips!  I’ll strap one on before my run and let the heat do it’s work.  I’m not going to pretend that doing 20 miles on Saturday will be easy or pain free and i’m a little annoyed at this.  I’ve trained so hard all summer and right now I know the only thing that’s slowing me down is an injury….SERIOUSLY?

Anyway, it’s all part of the game, I wanted to get fit and I wanted to start doing activities again, injury sometimes comes with that.

Workout done, now I need to do some studying for class.  Have a great day!

#P90X

Today is another triple threat workout but I think i’m ready for it.  I feel better than I did yesterday and the soreness in my body…overall, is back at a point where I can handle this today.

I just finished Shoulder,Arms and Ab ripper X and I’ll be heading out to do my 4 miles right after I post this (I’m future blogging..lol).

What does this even mean?  

My logical scientific mind tells me that diamonds and gold are two totally separate and distinct elements.  They are in no way the same and yet Tony manages to merge them into one statement and it’s accepted.  My triceps are diamonds of gold…there may be some brain washing occuring here but this suddenly sounds perfectly logical.

I continue to get stronger as my reps and weights have gone up since last week.  I’m focusing more on the pulling and pushing of the individual muscles involved and I feel the soreness later in the desired muscle.

Diet is ok, not as strict as when I was doing the reset but i’m trying to stick to the principals of it.  I need to cut back on my sugar intake again, I know this picked up mostly because of the running i’m doing and that intense body hunger you feel after doing a hard run.  I need to have a snack or meal ready for me after the runs to counter act this.  I’ve been eating meat here and there but I don’t crave it the way I used to.  I actually still crave Kale, Quinoa and sweet potatoes.  I’m going to make Kale and sweat potatoe soup for dinner tonight.

Ab ripper x - I understand why they give you this program free, if you order P90X, don’t like it and send it back.  They tell you to keep ab ripper x.  Frankly, if you barely want to do P90X, you’re NOT going to do Ab ripper.  I NEVER want to do ab ripper and I have to force myself to do this as part of the workout.

So true…and kind a psychotic…look at that face, i’m scared

Anyway, P90X done.  My run will be done in the next 45 minutes and I will be teaching Turbo kick tonight.  I can tell i’m in so much better shape doing turbo than I was when I originally started teaching and it’s great!  It’s also fun seeing my class come in and get the routine and move and jump and sweat together as they get a turbo high going.  If I was on an island and could only take 3 workouts with me, it would be Turbo, Yoga and chest and back.  If you’ve never taken a turbo-kick or turbo-fire or even turbo-jam class, you owe it to yourself to try it.  It’s not Zumba, but it’s easily just as fun and you get a better muscle workout.  

That’s all for now, off to run.  See you tomorrow for YOGA-X!  

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send me an email when you join.

#P90x  #turbokick #chicagomarathon

Today is a triple threat workout!  I got up this morning, drove my son to daycare and then went to the forest preserve to do my 3 mile run before it get’s out hot.  I’m doing the shorter runs (3-6 miles) in vibrams.  I read that this helps keep you in proper form when you do the longer runs in shoes.  Although I’m still slower than I was when I had been running all the time, I am getting faster!  This run took me 38 minutes where last week it took me 45.  I guess muscle memory and endurance is beginning to kick in.

Got home and did P90X shoulders and arms.  The glamour workout.  Who doesn’t like nice arms and shoulders?  I’m focusing on each exercise and taking my time doing them.  Now powering through the curls and shoulder presses but taking my time and LIFTING the weight with the muscles.  I can already feel a world of difference…meaning i’m really sore and tired.

Now I need to eat, try to clean house and get some rest because I have a turbo-kick class tonight.  Round 51 is going strong and i’m loving the energy that my turbo class throws out!  There was a time when I couldn’t do 3 workouts a day a year ago…my how time has changed and improved things.

I made the decision to get back into shape.  I have a 10 yr old and a 2 yr old and I don’t want to be the dad that is to fat and tired to go out and play with his kids.  I don’t want to be the dad that sits at the baseball and football games drinking a beer with my cut off sleeveless shirt remembering how I use to be able to do that. FUCK NO!  I can still do that, and the more I work the fast I get at doing it!  It’s not fair to my kids for me to let myself go, what kind of example is that for them?  Its not fair to my wife to let myself go, she didn’t sign up to marry fatty mc fat fat.  If you have children and /or a partner, have some respect for them and keep your ass in at least the shape you were in when they married you!

I’m playing with my diet a bit and I don’t think a lot of dairy is good for me.  I already know a lot of red meat is not good for me and I can’t really handle grease anymore.  My body has been tuned up during the reset and I’m going to help it stay that way.

If you need help with your fitness journey, join my team and send me an email and we can work on your goals together!

www.beachbodycoach.com/brucea

#asylum #tbb411

Welcome back to the Asylum!  I haven’t done my scheduled workout since last Wed night because I few out to Vegas for the BeachBody Coaches summit!  This was an amazing experience.

That is Turbo-kick queen Chalene on stage in the parking lot of the Tropicana leading a 4500+ turbo kick session!!!

So I wasn’t skipping my workouts, I was working out with Shaun T, Tony Horton, Chalene, the Lesmills Combat team (New Zealand accents are just as sexy as brittish).  It was probably one of the best 4 days I’ve spend in fitness clothes ever.

Shaun- T leading the Asylum/Insanity…ASYLUM 2 workout.  That’s right Asylum 2 is coming soon!

And of course, the King of all things fitness closed it down

This was my 2nd workout with him in 2 days.  Talk about tired and sore and the heat!!!  But it was all worth it.  i got to preview Turbo-kick round 51…which was in the mail waiting for me when i got home!  I got to meet my turbo kick sweethart Alee.

Got to taste Vegan Chocolate Shakology!!!  Excellent taste and purely vegan, like tropical shakeology.  I got to connect with other coaches and talk about our fitness journey and how we are helping others and making a little money in the process.  Beachbody is an amazing company and I can’t wait to do this again next year.

Nothing is more inspiring than working out with a room full of people who have all gone through or are working through the same programs, weight problems and successes and sweating and smiling and being instantly connected and know the person next to you will have a word of support if you are getting weak.

My first Tony workout on Thursday (I got in early because i’m P90X certified… number 244..i’m not bragging…i’m really not as I met number 64 and number 6) but all the P90X certified people got to go in first and if there was room left everyone else could come in….there was room left, it’s the freaking MGM!

Anway…

I worked out next to a guy and his wife who had lost 240lbs, the guy was still huge but his wife looked amazing.  Monica!  The super woman warrior godess from here, was also there.  I worked out about 20 feet from her!

This entire experience has pushed me even closer to my goal of opening my own fitness studio.  I want people to see the benefits of consistent workout and using Shakeology and other products from beach body that WORK. 

If you’ve ever been interested in trying P90X, Turbo-fire, or Brazilian Butt lift and Shakeology, message me.  I have a special going right now were you can try it for FREE!!!  (15.00 shipping) but you can try to workout and Shakeology for 30 days free.  See the results, feel the healthy and if you don’t like it, send it back, not harm no foul.  Beachbody has really changed my life and I’d love to share that with you!

Asylum this morning was speed and agility - how that for changing gears :).  I’m a little stiff but I’m able to move and after seeing this live, there is no way i’m not doing it.  I’m also teaching turbo tonight!  I’m excited to get back to this and I may start teaching at a few other places soon.  I have fallen off my running schedule but I think I’ll survive with everything else I’ve been doing.

Keep pushing play and never give up on your health!  If you need help, message me and I will help you.  I’ll get you plugged into my support group and I will keep you motivated to drop 10-15-100 or even 3 lbs.  Everyone has a struggle and a way they want to look.  Don’t let lack of support keep you from your!

www.beachbodycoach.com/brucea

#Insanity

Nine days into the craziness and I catch my breathe within 2 minutes of starting the 10 minute stretching round after the “warm up”.  The first 10 minutes of Insanity is more difficult than pretty much any workout I’ve done.  No kidding.

I talk to people who do various workouts, by Jillian or some other person and talk about how they made it to level 2 or 3 and that’s great, I’m glad you are being active.  But seriously, until you do Insanity, don’t ever tell me how hard your workout is.  I challenge anyone to do the Insanity Pure Cardio or Plyo MONTH ONE routines and tell me how easy it is. There is no levels there is GO and when you finally get to a point where GO happens faster, you’re switching to Month 2.

I also did a turbo kick workout last night, basically getting ready to start teaching classes again next Tuesday.  Ok ok, i’ll admit I did it more to rack up more calorie burning points in my Motoactv contest but it was good to do Round 45 and get some after work movement going.  As a computer guy, I don’t have to move much during the day so I have to make a point to get up and walk around the building from time to time.

I’ve moved up to #32!! I love this device and it doesn’t quite accurately count all the calories you burn doing Insanity or Turbo because it counts them as aerobics but they are both so much more.

Keep Pushing PLAY!  I have a new sub goal now, I want to crack into the top 10 by the time this challenge is over.  I think if i stay committed to my workout (which  I typically do) and I start running on the weekends with a few long runs, I should be able to do it!  As goofy as it sounds, this little app makes things fun!

#P90X2 #marathontraining

This morning I did P.A.P upper body.  This last month of P90X2 is rotating P.A.P upper and lower body with a day of Yoga X2 tossed in for good measure.  I like PAP upper body, not so much lower body.  Medicine ball planks really freakin hurt after about 30 seconds.  Like all his workouts, if this get’s to intense (It won’t…i’m slighly disappointed)…

The P.A.P. routine is one that builds on itself so the first week you may not have any soreness but the 2nd week you will be a little sore, 3rd week will be worse and on and on.  The stronger you get the better and more you can do, much like everything in P90X2.  

I got my turbo-kick round 49 in the mail today.  When you are a TK instructor, you can order new rounds and new music and this keeps the class fresh.  (I say this like i’ve been doing it forever but the reality is I’ve only been instructing about 6 weeks).  So the first thing I like to do is rip the music to the round onto my MOTOACTV and use it to run.  The music is at about 160bpm which is perfect for running and keeping a pace.

So running— This is the first time I’ve run since my disastrous 1/2 marathon on March 17th.  I never feel like running after a 1/2 marathon race but I had the added bonus of still feeling butt hurt finishing last and still getting over the flu/cold/sinus infection/allergies of the century.  I went out to the forest preserve to run and my level of genius is continuing to grow.  I’m running a run I don’t really want to do in a forest preserve where everything is blooming and killing my allergies.  Its windy and it’s back to 44 degrees outside.  I didn’t get to enjoy a single day running when it was warm :(.  Even worse, I’m not impressed with the music for Round 49!  I’ll probably like it better when I put do it with actual turbo-kick but for running this round’s music kind of sucks.

So how did I do?  3.4 miles in 38 minutes so I haven’t gotten any slower, I just felt like a ton of bricks moving in the wind.  I needed this run to get back into the habit.  I have a marathon coming up later this year, a warrior dash and i’m sure a few 1/2 marathons.  I can’t get caught up in one crappy run.

So with P90X2 rapidly coming to an end I’m getting ready to start a 60 days Insanity challenge starting on April 9th.  What’s the Insanity challenge?

I’m doing insanity which is a 60 days program.  If you order the challenge pack you get Insanity and 30 days of Shakeology and 30 days of club membership on the Beachbody site to help you form a diet plan. On top of all that, you also get coach fee’s waived if you decide you want to become a beach body coach and get paid to workout and get fit!  

go to my site and join the beach body challenge, you’re entered to win up to 100,000 dollars just for doing what you would be doing anyway.  Just follow the link —->  Take the Beach Body Challenge

So 2 more weeks of P90X2 and then I’m moving on to Insanity.  I’d love for you to join me!

#turbokick

I taught my 4th Turbokick class at work’s lunch time fitclub today.  I had about 25 people in class!  Word of mouth is spreading and more and more people are beginning to show up.

When i first started I had 5 people show up for my first class, now I have health club size classes, i’m getting great practice and it’s fun!

Now I just need to continue studying my NASM certification to become an official trainer