Personal Training!

I just wanted to report that I have not fallen off the wagon :) I have been studying for my CPT Exam and actually today worked 1 on 1 with a client at the Anytime Fitness that I will be doing some training at. I was even able to close the deal on my first sale of a 10 pack of PT sessions - I'm super excited! In addition to the Personal Training at the gym I have been puting together 2 bootcamps that are set to start in December at two churches that I am involved with. I would love it if you would all chime in on what you feel are some of your favorite boot-camp oriented exercises! I covet your prayer support as I enter into this new chapter - God has opened so many doors lately with my Herbalife business, Personal Training business, and many new relationships with people from church.

I'll keep pushing play(when I have time) - trying to get a couple businesses off the ground is a time consuming venture! Oh, and if I wasn't already busy I agreed to coach a local high school downhill ski team this winter - now all we need is some snow!!!

Week 2: Off to a great start!

So Monday was Chest and Back and for some reason I just couldn't match the numbers from week 1, not sure if I just wasn't fueled right for the work-out or what??

Tuesday went to the gym and did speed/incline work on the treadmill along with a full leg workout of squats, lunges, ham curls, quad extensions. Man am I ever feeling it in the glutes from the squats!! I did my squats with free weights instead of a machine and that made a huge difference - way harder.

Today is shoulders/arms and I'll be doing that workout this afternoon - and hopefully can match or improve on last week.

Still trying to improve my nutrition - it's really pretty good about 90% of the time, but that last 10% just beats me down. I really need to register for another event of some sort as I always seem more motivated when I know that I'm training for a race. Problem is I'm in Minnesota and there are so many fewer things going on in the off-season - especially in the longer endurance category.

I'm done chatting...

Day 1: Chest and Back

I missed you Tony!!

OK, so at times I was not so happy, but I had missed the feeling of accomplishment that comes with finishing up a session - especially anything upper body related for me as that is my weakness. NOT FOR LONG!

Jessica and I did great considering it has been a long time...it did help knowing what kind of pain we would be in for, so atleast we knew it would be over eventually! ARX was great! I kept up, but need to improve the leg positioning with Fifer Scissors and Pulse Ups.

Hopped on the bike for a little afterwards...we've been getting snow and major cold temps - hopefully by the weekend I'll be able to get outside for 30-40 miles - we shall see!

Off season training begins - P90X again?!

So, I never finished an actual first round of P90X, but this summer has been busy with lots of other things - Bike races, Triathlons, Marathon, classes at the club, and wrestling "Kung Fu Panda" style with my 3 year old. Both Jessica and I are still unemployed, but praise God! We have had our needs met at every turn and sometimes I almost feel bad that I'm enjoying being out of work so much :)

Tomorrow we are starting P90X again with the infamous Chest and Back along with ARX - our diets have improved a ton since the last time around - very clean! I have dropped down to 172 pounds and am currently at 8.5% bodyfat based on what the trainer at the club measured. I am planning to do P90 for my upper body, but will be doing interval/circuit training exercises at the club for my legs - alot of squats and lunges along with sprints on the treadmill. For base cardio I will be doing 1 day a week of a brick workout either combining swim/bike or bike/run.

I've enjoyed following along with those of you that have been sticking with it, and am excited to get going on P90 again - this time with the fortitude to complete a full round. Goals for me are going to be mainly increased power output overall - and the vanity goal is to see more definition overall. I'm really hoping that my offseason training will help me with my goals next summer of qualifying for Boston Marathon (ran a 3:31 this October, need to run 3:15) as well as getting a top 15 finish in one of next seasons triathlons (best finish was 43rd/221)

I'll do my best to keep posting and please do give me any encouragement along the way - it is greatly appreciated!!

Snack Foods for Runners at Runner's World

Snack Foods for Runners at Runner's World

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Day 32: Cardio X

This morning started off with a healthy breakfast and then off to the club. Today was Christians last day that hea has to stay in the toddler area since he is a BIG 3 year old tomorrow! Jess went and joined the run club and hooked up with a woman training for her first triathlon and the did just over 2 miles. I hit the pool and had a really great swim - thought I would do a mile, but felt so good decided to make it 1.2 miles which is what I need to do for my half ironman race this fall.

We headed home for a bit and then off to lunch, and Christian got to pick, so you guessed it McDonalds - I think we did pretty well - we both shared a salad and yogurt parfait (no fries or soda for us anymore) then it was off to get the cake ordered for the B-day party along with some other supplies.

Home once again; Jess and I did our Cardio X while the kids were napping - what a nice stress free workout we had. We dimmed the lights to match the video - Jessica looked cute in a pair of pink short shorts that did take some of my focus off of the video..."What was that Tony, sorry missed that last part since I was checking out my hottie wife!"

Now its time for dinner...and watching a movie later....and depending on how I feel I might try to get out for a short 4-5 mile run, we will see -there is always tomorrow!

Were Baaaaaacccck!!!!

So it has been forever since I have blogged, and you guessed it, forever since I had done a P90X workout. So tonight I got back on the ball and am starting at day 31 - did Back and Bicep and ARX, and was pretty pleased with the reps and weight that I was able to do despite the time off.

Life has been hectic with a 4 month old and a 2-1/2 yr. old, but being that I was just recently laid off due to the downward spiralling economy (wife is still laid off as well :) )we have figured now is the time to take advantage of a little more free time an flexibility of schedule to get back on track with our P90X.

I have been following along with many of you and your terrific progress, and it has definitely helped me to keep my goals within reach. My weight is actually down a few pounds since day 30 of P90X, mostly from my cycling training.

The plan is for both of us to try to make time for 2 workouts a day - likely one workout outside or at the club doing a class (we did STRIKE! yesterday which is a cardio kickboxing class with weighted gloves and a weighted bar - was lots of fun and definitely worked some new muscles) and then later in the day we will do P90X at home once kids are in bed. Jess is motivated to possibly do a 3rd workout somewhere in there as well....after watching the Biggest Loser all season I think she is the new "Tara" - I'm very proud of her for the enthusiasm and just pray that she sees some results from her hard work so that she is encouraged to keep it going. In the first 30 days she did not get much for results, but I am thinking it was mostly due to her just recovering from baby #2, lack of good sleep, and breastfeeding - lots for a body to adjust to, so hopefully now things will be different (baby is sleeping better and not wanting to be breast fed) so we will see what happens in this next 30 days!

Hope to have many more updates in the days to come - and hoping to get a blister on that pointer finger from pushing play so often!!!

Day 30 progress pics

OK, so only some little improvements - but I'm going to remain positive - if I can make the same amount of gains and progress each 30 days then I think the changes will be more noticeable by the end of 90 days, and certainly 180 days .

We've already decided were not going to go back to the old exercise (or lack thereof) pland and poor nutrition so just imagine what you will look and feel like in a few more years! Keep it up and you'll be matching Tony's pull-up numbers.

So I'm still a 34" waist and trying to get to 32" comfortably (there are a few brands that I can squeeze into) Thinking I'd like to be in the 170's for weight, and need much bigger pecs and biceps. I have a cool tattoo designed for when I complete Ironman, but there is no way it would look right on twiggy arms!

and the burn goes deeper and deeper and...

Feet don't fail me now!

So I'm thinking that it's time to start transitioning out of kenpo and cardio workouts and substituting in my running and cycling. I'm going to keep doing the lifting and ARX, but in the last 3 days of doing spin class on Wed. 1ok on the treadmill on Thurs. Spin class again on Fri. I feel like I've seriously melted away a bunch of the jelly belly!! I might consider doing some core synergistics on the kenpo and cardio days in the morning or evening - I lkove that workout and wish it was included throughout the 90 day program.

Tonight is legs and back - and for the first time I am really fearing it - my legs are already hurtin'. Our spin class instructor is insane. She does like 3 or 4 classes a day and was recently featured in Twin Cities Magazine - she kind of puts Tony to shame - if she did a P90X type video I'd likely have done 1 of 2 things by now...quit and gone back to the cherry cokes and bags of m&m's....or I'd have a 6 pack already :)

It's supposed to get into the 40's finally and I can't wait to enjoy some outdoor running and cycling with my family and friends - yes that's right in Minnesota once it's above 40 you start bringing all the summer clothes out of the closet :)

Feels like forever...

So it feels like forever since I've posted anything - need to take pics and measurements tonight...a bit nervous as I don't feel like I've made the kind of progress that I had hoped for. I know Jessica is feeling the same way and I will not be surprised if she doesn't want to partake in the photos and measuring.

I enjoyed the Chest, Shoulder, Tricep workout - definitely gave me a great burn and even on my knees those 1 arm pushups were insane, by that time of the workout I was dead tired.

I have been spending most nights over at the neighbors helping (actually doing everything for him) with his bathroom remodel. It started by offering to help him tile, but quickly led to rewiring, replumbing, doing demo, and re-rocking walls...oh and I failed to mention that after the bathroom he wants help doing the kitchen floors in tile and new trim everywhere.....I just can't say no though, so it's my own fault!

Because of the late nights working on that project I have had a tough time. It's not fun working out at 11:00 at night and then having to get up at 6:00 the next day. I'm hoping that by the end of this weekend we will be mostly done and I can have my evenings back!

Keep Bringin It Everybody!

Day 25: Stretch day

So today is supposed to be a stretch day but I'm going to do cardio instead since I missed it on Monday. I did Kenpo last night, and honestly even though I try hard to turn those hips and get the abs engaged and get the legs up high...I just don't feel like I get a great workout. I know that there are probably a number of things that I could do to make the workout more intense, like weighted gloves or light dumbells....does anybody have suggestions? anyone else have the same issue?

The Girl Scouts are evil......a friend of ours dropped off the boxes that we had ordered......pre P90X, not that we would have said no....the Girl Scouts will hunt you down if you diss them. And rather mysteriously half of them vanished - I have been afraid to look up the calories.....

So, I decided to add a column in my training log....excel spreadsheet that I set up, to give myself an eating grade for each day. The last few days I've given myself a C and a D for cheating and giving in to either the sweet tooth, or too many carbs.

I'm going to make it my main goal to be able to report A's and B's going forward-

Does anyone want the rest of these thin mints????

Day 23: Core Synergistics

This was alot of fun, certainly some challenging moves that will take some work at perfecting. Just for fun next time I'm going to use weights on the plank/reach high/low thing :)

Did the workout after cooling down from an earlier evening spin class. I spent some time today laying out my marathon training schedule and it looks like we will be finishing up the "X" a week before I start my training - so this will be good timing. I plan to do some of the "X" workouts to keep working on the abs and upper body, but will likely ditch yoga, cardio, kenpo, plyo and leg work. Core strength is certainly a key for running since over a 26 mile race you need the core strength literally just to keep everything from falling apart.

This is our first recovery week and I am praying for a great week, a few pounds of weight loss would be nice, along with a refreshed body and mind to start the next 30 days.

Kind of a funny thing, I was looking at my arms in the mirror and had to do a double take, because I saw that I actually have a tricep muscle! It's like it just showed up out of nowhere! Very cool - now if those abs would make the same dramatic appearance!!!

Day 21 - Alot of catch-up

So we finished week 3!

Jessica did 3 workouts today, I did 2 so we could get everything in - this is not the way to do P90X and we need to both do better at sticking to the schedule. For starters it will provide a better result, and secondly I think it's just less stressful and hectic - it's tough getting home from church knowing the rest of your sunday is packed full with working out in front of the TV.

Christian does make the time go by fast by entertaining us either by playing his guitar and singing made up songs, or by joining in on the workouts with his weights!

Our basement level is an array of weights, road bikes and the kids toys - sometimes lunges involve stepping over legos, racecars and traintracks.

So we are about 1/4 done and though no major physical differences we have both been doing more reps with more weight. So we feel like we are on the right track!

We will see how this first phase recovery week goes, any tips out there for our last week of Phase 1???

A strange week so far!

Seems like we have both been going non-stop, and it has been challenging getting workouts to fit in. Jess has been doing pampered chef parties and I've been helping our neighbor remodel a bathroom on top of everything else.

Monday was Chest and Back - I skipped it, but ended up doing it on Thursday morning - Jess did it on Tuesday morning.

Tuesday was Plyo - we both did an evening spin class for an hour, and I did Plyo afterwards - major burnage!!! I don't think Jess has done the Plyo as of yet.

Wednesday was Shoulders & Arms - again - skipped it, but did it this (Friday) morning.

Thursday was Yoga, again skipped it, but plan is to do Cardio instead over the weekend.

Tonight is Legs and Back - and we will for sure have to do it tonight to fight to get back on track.

Diet has been OK, but not the best - still having a tough time not just falling into the routine of cereal for breakfast - I must admit I love it when I take the time to make turkey patties or egg scramble, but sometimes it comes down to not having those extra 10 minutes.

I'm going to try to pre-make some things this weekend to make next week a really strong eating week before moving into Phase 2.

To Jessicas credit, she has been going to the club and doing other exercise classes most every day - it's actually harder for her to do it at home with me as Adri (2 months) doesn't giver her much of a break until after 10:00 at night, and by then she is exhausted, especially if she already did a couple of hours of workouts earlier in the day!

I think it might work better when Adri is 3 months and we can bring both kids to the club for an hour or so and just do our workouts there....we will see...she will also get easier and easier as she gets into a better sleep schedule.

Just a funny pic that I found!

End of Week 2

Just finished Kenpo, was able to do Shoulders, Arms and ARX before church this morning. So I managed barely to get all my workouts in even with being sick for a few days. I'm pretty pleased with that and look forward to bringin it a bit more next week when I can focus more and am not stressed about doing 2 workouts in the same day or back to back.

Also, looking forward to getting going on some more running and biking if time permits. I desperately need to get in the pool for a swim, but it's hard to make time for that with everything else.

I'm hoping this snow melts soon, it is more fun to get outside!

Day 12: Legs & Back - Friday

So I'm still behind on my workouts but Jess has been doing great. It is now end of Saturday and we both still have to do Kenpo tomorrow after church, and I still have to do Leg & Back as well.

I did have a good spin workout this morning, and then did Shoulders & Arms this afternoon along with ARX. I would have got Leg & Back done but instead was over halping our neighbor demolishing their bathroom - taking a 16 lb. sledgehammer to walls of tile and cement board was another workout all on it's own!

Going to try to do Leg & Back before church in the morning - better get to bed!

Just having some fun! I need to get to the pool to swim!

This is how to train for the swim leg of a triathlon!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_6tOzt-nfM

Day 11: Yoga-----Cardio X instead

So I'm feeling much better - I'm officially a fan of NyQuil now!

Jessica did her Shoulders & Arms workout this morning (make-up) and then did step aerobics with our neighbor at the club when I got home from work. When she got home I went down to do my Plyo (make-up), and then about an hour later after ER and the kids were tucked in we did Cardio-X for the first time.

Just the right balance of Yoga, Kenpo, Plyo and Core - favorite burn was definitely my obliques while doing wacky jacks. We will definitely be doing more Cardio-X, probably should be doing it 2 times a week. We are doing the Classic program and probably should be doing Lean to burn more calories----as soon as the Minnesota weather starts to improve we will both be out biking a few days a week so that will help burn those calories.

I plan to do 2 workouts tomorrow to get all caught up this week - I must admit that I had to take in a few extra carbs the last 2 days being sick, nothing really bad, just Kashi cereal and english muffin, but boy oh boy after going a few days with only one serving of carb, my body sure did respond well to it. Best advice: go slowly when taking carbs away from your body or body gets MAD!

Looking forward to Friday - and a great weekend!

Day 10: Shoulders and Arms(another missed day)

I really wanted to try to do the workout, but as the evening progressed I just started feeling more and more ragged. We both skipped the workout and plan to do a few 2 a days as needed to get caught up.

I am feeling much better today, so I hope to be able to do 2 workouts this evening. Tonight is supposed to be Yoga, but I know Jessica would like to try the Cardio X. So I think I'm going to do Plyo first and then join her in Cardio.

I really dislike being behind by 2 workouts, but at the same time I know that I won't get much out of a workout if I'm sick as a dog.

Hardest part about being sick is not giving my wife and two kids all of the hugs and kisses that I normally am able to - it's hard to tell a 2 year old that they can't be jumping and wrestling with dad because he doesn't feel well - you hope that they understand and don't see it as rejection.

God bless!

Day 9: Plyometrics - sort of

I missed Plyo because I got sick during the day and instead spent 2 hours in the jacuzzi and the rest of the night resting and taking medicine.

Jessica did manage to do plyo, even after taking care of 2 kids and me....no easy feat!

I think it might have been the spin class I did over my lunch hour that did me in. I had eaten an egg scramble for breakfast and then a protein shake as snack before going, but then again I wasn't feeling that great even on my walk down to the gym.....so I don't know that diet or exercise had anything to do with it, for all I know maybe it was good that I went and sweat through what could have been a 2 day sickness and instead it only lasted overnight.

I'm feeling about 70% as of right now and so the plan is to do Shoulders & Arms still tonight - and I will make-up Plyo sometime during the week.

Just want to say thanks for those that read the blog - and give comments - we all can help keep each other motivated!!!!

Day 8: Chest and Back

We are at the beginning of another exciting sweaty week. Jess did 2 different ab intensive workouts during the day so she skipped Ab Ripper X, but did a great job with todays Chest & Back workout. I think we are both getting accustomed to the effort level this takes and are finding that our energy levels stay fairly high throughout the day since we are eating good food and at regular intervals.

I upped the weight from 35 to 42 pound dumbells for the heavy pants and lawnmowers and did 10/15 reps respectively which I was happy with. I lost 5 pounds the first week, and will be ecstatic if I can lose 3-4 this week to keep the momentum going.

I did not get up this morning to do any cardio - I was up until 11:30 preparing food for the few days ahead - so we will see if I can do better tomorrow morning!

Well....had my delicious strawberry flavored recovery drink and think it's time for bed - I must say I go all day just waiting for that recovery drink!!!!

No cheating on the diet this week since there are no birthday parties to go to and no Valentines day - maybe I can lose another 5 come to think of it....we will see!

Day 6: Kenpo

Being that Saturday was Valentines Day and we had Jessicas folks in from up north, we moved our Saturday workout to Sunday afternoon.

I went to spin class Saturday morning and had a good workout and felt great afterwords.

Jess and I both did the Kenpo workout and kept up pretty well. I think we have hit our stride and this second week should go much better in terms of the soreness levels that we feel post workout.

On the nutrition side of things we did very well by "our" standards, but the more we looked at what we ate we realized that some changes need to be made for week 2. We have setup a meal plan that is "by the book" so to speak using the portion method in the P90X guide.

Looking back at week 1 we were probably eating closer to Phase 3 - with the number of servings of carbs, even though we were doing well with portion control and eliminating sugars. So this will be a bit of a challenge for the next 3 weeks, but it will be worth it to get the body into fat shred mode.

I'm going to try to do 2 workouts per day atleast every other day - will likely keep the P90X workouts in the evening with added cardio like running or biking in the morning. We will see how that goes in Week 2.

Day 5: Legs & Back

OK, so I didn't get up and ride my bike this morning - actually I barely got out of bed in time to make it to my bus....so I ran most of the way there which seemed like a good workout compared to the great dream I was having only 10 minutes earlier.....

Jess made it to her class and had a good ab workout so she took off the Ab Ripper X tonight.

This certainly seemed like the easiest workout, but everytime I go and think something like that I wake up the next morning, or the second day after and I'm puttin' my foot in my mouth.

Oh well, to some degree the more it hurts the more I feel like somethings working then, like maybe new muscles are forming and fat is melting.

So we had good luck with both of the kids being good and were able to get the workout done before 7:00 which is a nice change....I know that it won't happen this way very often....so now we are off to buy more food - still getting used to the idea of shopping more often since the fruits and veggies dont last long and we're going through them more quickly then before starting the program.

Tomorrow is kenpo and that should be a fun one to end the week on - then we'll be off for an evening out while G-parents take care of the kids for a few hours.

Later!

Day 4: Yoga-X

Made it through about half of the yoga tonight, it felt good, but with the last 4 nights of working out all taking place at 10:30 or later at night, we decided to call it short and try to get to bed before the next day for a change.

Jess plans to go to a cardio dance class at the club in the afternoon, and then in the evening we have Legs & Back. I'm going to set my alarm to get up a bit early and see if I can get on my bike for a quick spin.

We both ate well today, but only did around 1900 calories - I keep wondering what specifically to add to the diet to make significant improvements in overall success - for me building muscle mass in the upper body while carving away 10 pounds is the goal, and for Jess the goal is weight loss and overall toning.

I might need to post my nutrition spreadsheet online for people to give me feedback on it. I'll save that for the weekend when I have a bit more time.

Hope everyone has a great Friday!

Day 3: Shoulders and Arms

Tonight we celebrated my fathers B-day and thusly we both took in about 400 calories of cake and ice cream that we wouldn't have otherwise consumed - so we needed this workout if for no other reason to redeem ourselves.

Started out very sore throughout the shoulders, but started loosening up as went and actually feel pretty good at the moment, just finished up recovery drink and some water - all is well!

Ab Ripper X flew by tonight - Jess wasn't loving the idea of doing it but she conquered that thought and gave it her best effort, which is always enough - I must say I'm excited to be half way through the week, and am sooooooo looking forward to our Sunday rest day!

Tomorrow will be Yoga-X and I have heard of so many people that dislike it due to the difficulty of some of the moves, and others say they sweat buckets, so who knows.....we will find out tomorrow.

Time to get to bed - sweet dreams.

Total Soreness

So, can I go back to last night when I was actually feeling pretty good after a tough workout - NO?

Bummer....I thought I was going to be feeling good this morning, but oh no, total soreness came and beat me up in the middle of the night, leaving me in pain from head to toe. We have Shoulders & Arms workout today as our main entree, with Ab Ripper X served up for dessert.

I have not previewed the S&A dvd so we will be going into it blind - I can only hope that my arms don't fall off.

Debating on how to get more calories in the daily diet, so far I'm averaging just over 2,000 cal. but I should be closer to 2,400-2,900 range. I could start drinking a protein shake or two during the day just to bump it up, but I worry about how my stomach will handle it.

Probably going to just keep going the way I am to finish out Week 1 and then test a new strategy in Week 2 - Tony talks muscle confusion, I'm talkin' digestion confusion!

Fellow "X" ers, be sure to bring it!

Day 2 Complete - Plyomaniacs!!!

The fastest 55 minutes of exercise that I've ever done. Simple, easy to follow moves - and I only hit my head on the ceiling one time - I'm 6'-0" tall and the ceiling is about 6'-8", so nothing to brag about when it comes to vertical!

Just finished a strawberry with soy milk recovery drink.....deeeeeelish!

Time to shower and get to bed, it's a little past midnight.

I do plan to do this workout somewhere with more ceiling height next time around so I can push myself a bit more with the explosive jumps.

Flabulous!!!

OK, so these are not the type of photos that one wants to post of themselves on the internet, but in order for us to remain motivated and hopefully motivate others on their journey it is time to bite the bullet (only 5 calories)

Jessicas starting weight is 197 and Travis is 194.

We will update weekly with pics and weight to see what happens!!!

Feeling good so far and looking forward to tonights workout.

Worked it!

Jello Jiggler Arms!!!

Sippin a recovery drink, barely enough energy to type this entry - only did 2 legitimate pull-ups and the rest were some sort of chair assisted or incomplete (half way up sort of thing)

Ab Ripper wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I was surprised that there were a few that absolutely torched the tops of the quads. I thought I had pretty strong legs from running and cycling, but this Ab workout found some part of the leg muscle that I didn't realize was there!!

I was super proud of the wife - she pushed herself hard the whole way through!!!

Tomorrow is plyometrics - Will we be ready to "Bring It"????? Stay tuned to find out!

Gettin ready to "Bring It" with P90X

Went and ran errands - got 2 big containers of GNC protein powder, and also went to Play it again sports and picked up additional plates for adjusting the dumbells.

We should be all set to do the first workout tonight - Chest and Back!

I watched the dvd already and am a strange combo of scared, nervous, and worried!!

I hope to be able to lift my arms well enough to post a follow-up blog to the first workout.