Tony Horton P90X

Trends are not only for fashion…we see them in the world of fitness as well.  Some fade, like stirrup pants and shoulder pads, and others stand the test of time. While I believe that when it comes to fitness, there is more than one way to skin the cat, most of the workouts that are currently popular share a few of the same characteristics.

I have always been curious about which kinds of workouts are the most effective and why people choose them.  P90X, Cross Fit, and Pure Barre, are three currently popular “trends” in fitness routines.  While they are actually very different types of workouts, they share a common purpose…fitness that is effective and brings about a change in the body.  When I talk to people who do one of these types of exercise programs, I hear many of the same things…they do them because they “see results“.

I have done P90X and Pure Barre, but until recently had never experienced Cross Fit, so I decided to check out a local Cross Fit class.  After taking the class, meeting with the owner, and talking to a number of clients, I now feel like I have a good understanding of what Cross Fit is all about, and I feel that I can assess all three of the workouts fairly.  After 25 years of exercising, I have developed my own opinions on what type of workout is effective, and which kind I like the best.  What is really interesting to me is how many opinions there are about fitness!

I have come to realize that we are all unique, not only in how we like a certain kind of exercise program, but also in how our bodies react to it.  It is exciting for me to see people get psyched about their workout and to hear them explain why they enjoy it and why it works for them.   While there are a lot of choices out there, I decided to look particularly at P90X, Cross Fit, and Pure Barre because they are the ones I recently seem to hear the most about and frankly, they’re the ones I am the most familiar with (either I have done them or others I know have). So I will look at each fitness program and ask those who do them to comment, and then I will give a recap for the final article in the series and throw out my pros and cons for all of them.

I’ll begin my series on these newer trends in fitness by looking at P90X (also Insanity and Asylum – other Beachbody workouts).  My husband and I purchased the P90X DVD set a few years ago, and have used it off and on since (some of our older children have used it as well).  Neither of us were really looking to lose a lot of weight or make major changes in what we were already doing and so we never did the “90 day” workout program.  Instead we did a modified 30-day routine. I liked it and believe in the concept… using different days to work on different areas of the body (like arms or legs), and using various forms  of exercise (like cardio, yoga, and strength) to basically “confuse the muscles”.  I will pull it out whenever I need to workout at home or I want to work on a specific part of the body-like legs and back or shoulders and arms.  I realized, however, that I like a workout that delivers a more whole-body exercise each session.  Since I have not used P90X the way it was really designed, I wanted to talk to people who have.

I asked two friends of mine, Ashley Gallagher and Peter Bonfilio (P.J.) about their experience using P90X.  Ashley and P.J. are different in many ways. For instance, Ashley is a girl and P.J. is a guy.  Also, Ashley is in her early 30′s and P.J. is …(well he is about my age, let’s leave it at that).  Ashley is currently pregnant with her 8th child, and P.J. is obviously not (he has three children whom he coaches and shuttles to lots of sports practices though).  P.J. travels a lot with his job, and is often on the road or at hotels (where he does a lot of his workouts).  Ashley works at home teaching her children (she is a homeschooling mom).  Obviously they are very busy people, but they both make time to workout consistently.  I figure, if they can do it, anyone can…so here are their answers to my questions:

P.J. Bonfilio is "hooked" on P90X

1. When did you start P90X?
P.J.:I Started P90X back in October 2007.  I didn’t realize the system was put together in 2004 and  I remember wishing I had gotten the CD’s earlier! I tried to complete the program in 90 days my first time through.  I didn’t think it would be too tough with my wrestling and weightlifting background.  Plus, I had done marathons and triathlons so I didn’t think this would be too hard.  Well, it took me 108 days to complete the first time through. I put my self through college as a team and personal trainer so this program works great for me. You have your own personal trainer building the program for you.  However, you need to be a self starter since no one is looking over you and forcing your to do it. My suggestion to all no matter how good a shape you are going in would be to make it P180X.  Take 180 days and do it every other day. Whats great about P90X and all the BeachBody workouts is they are great when you travel.  I just pop the DVD into my laptop in my hotel room or hotel room gym.  Like with anything diet matters.  You will develop the muscles, abs and become more vascular, but if you don’t watch what you eat you want notice as quickly.  Also, you have got to do the yoga, this is important stretching, core and healing you really need.  The same goes for X Stretch and Cardio X. If you need the rest day take it.  But, I feel you will be better off doing the stretching on the of days.  Since 2007, I worked through P90x only three times.  I now work some P90X into all of my combination routines.

Ashley: I started my first round when baby #7 was 4 months old.  This round I began at 15 weeks pregnant.  I didn’t work out the first trimester because I felt pretty sick.

2. Why did you start P90X?

P.J.: I needed something different.  I liked the triathlon sports, lacrosse and softball.  But I wanted something more in terms of body shaping.  Through highschool and college I enjoyed the weight and strength training.  With P90X you don’t use the barbells anymore but you get the dumbells, chin ups and pushups which I love. My time is limited as a lacrosse coach, traveling for work and traveling for all my kids sporting events.  I just will not make time to drive to a gym.  I can work out in my home gym or a hotel.

Ashley: With my first go round, I started it to loose baby weight and get back into shape.  With this go round, I stared it to increase my energy and set my pregnancy on the right track … the more I work out, the better I eat … the better I feel … and so on.

3. What is your favorite thing about P90X?

P.J.: The combination of workouts.  A routine for every body part.

Ashley Gallagher, pregnant and due soon with her 8th child, loves P90X!

Ashley: It has such a great variety of workouts.  Everyday of the week is something different.  I get easily bored with exercise, but this has kept my attention.  I never thought I would stick to an at-home workout video, but not including the first go round, I’m going on 20 straight weeks of P90X.

Me: Wow!

4. Why do you think P90X has worked so well for you?

P.J.:P90X and all of the other programs, Insanity, Asylum and P90X work for me because I commit to them and they really work. After receiving Insanity and completing it twice through in 60 days and 70 days, it is a 60 day program, I began working it into a combination with P90X back in 2009.  If you want to burn calories and fat Insanity is tremendous.  Again, a word of caution. There is quite a bit of high impact.  So, I would suggest every other day and make it 120 days.

Ashley: 1.  The variety
2.  The convenience of doing it all at home (no husband’s schedule, babysitter, etc … to juggle)  Since my oldest is only 10, it’s important that my workouts be at home.
3.  The muscle confusion
4.  The cyclical effect of exercise makes you feel like eating right and eating right makes you more ready for exercise.

5. Do you think you will continue using P90X (or other similar products for the home)?

P.J.: I am totally hooked, I am addicted.  When I received the Asylum approximately two years ago I received pre-made combination programs with Insanity and P90X.  The Asylum is all about speed and agility, sports
related training.  The Asylum is a 30 day program.  You also receive an Asylum/Insanity 30 day combo as well as an Asylum/P90X 30 day program I am using right now for Memorial Day at the beach. I received P90X2 last Fall/Winter.It is very different than P90X.  More about balance and agility. Lighter weight with more about balance. With P90X you create a great base and you build an arsenal, dumbells, chin up bar, power stands for pushups, yoga mat and the rope type power cords. Three different power cords will suffice.  Using the bands instead of weights every once and a while will probably prevent injury and give you a different feel, work out and pump. It’s all about muscle confusion through variety.

Ashley: Yes!  I can’t wait to try P90X2 post baby.  (It will be my little “baby gift” to myself

Me:  A lot of people I have talked to feel like the P90X series is something they can see themselves continuing to do.  It’s interesting to me to see how some programs just “work” for people and others don’t. Maybe it is just enough of an investment (about $120) that people feel obliged to do it, and once they commit themselves to it, they continue.

6. Where do you usually do the workout?

P.J.: Dawn (Peter’s wife) and I have a gym in our home.  When I am on the road I stay in the same hotels so I know who has the dumbells or room for my workouts. If you are doing Insanity a first floor hotel room works.  When I travel to hotels on weekends for kids lacrosse, soccer or swimming I bring my laptop and DVD’s with me.  I always find some on-lookers or even those who want to talk about or jump in on a work out.With Insanity you don’t need anything but a little bit of room and a DVD player.  When your on the road staying in hotels make sure you ask for a first floor room so you don’t wake anyone up in the morning. With the Asylum you receive an agility ladder and a speed jump rope.  As the kids catch on you will need to buy another jump rope.  You also need to purchase or aquire some bands. And with P90X2 you add medicine balls, a big stretching and balance ball, a foam roller or rumble roller.

Ashley: In the colder months, I workout inside my house.  In warmer weather, I workout on my back covered porch … I love the fresh air (even if it does get a bit humid here in the Southeast).

7. Have you had any injuries since beginning the program?

P.J.: Yes on the injuries.  This is why I feel you should go every other day as well as mix the work outs up.  Also, for a beginner I sugest half of a DVD to start the first month.  With anything you can over use muscles.  So, even though P90X is a variety of different work outs you still need to work in other work outs. I have tweeked my shoulders and elbows with P90X.  The key is always do the warm up and warm down.  The next day if I feel something different than just soreness I mix in a differnt DVD from another collection and stay away from that body part for a few days. The great thing about P90X2 is that you learn if you didn’t already know how to treat yourself.  I began receiving active release from my sports therapist back in the 1990′s.  Old sports injuries can creep up. With P90X2 you do alot of heavy stretching and use the rumble roller for active release on all of your body parts. This may not be as fun as the original P90X but you need to have P90X2 to keep your self healthy.

Ashley: Not a single one.  I think this has to be partially due to the great warm-up and cool down indicated by the videos.  It really does have you take care of your body.

Me: Injuries become more of an issue as we get older.  I think it is tempting for people to skip the warm-up and cool down portions of at-home workouts because they are pressed for time.  It is worth it to do them, though, in the long run!

8.  Are you a fairly motivated person to begin with or did you have to
really deal with motivation part?

P.J.: I am motivated on my own and my schedule has me working out at different times of day at home or on the road.  So, I have never had a problem working out on my own.  I welcome others because I always learn and always coach.  There are several groups I know that work out together.

Ashley: Tough question … I’m really an all or nothing type of person (hence the 8 kids in 10 years )  If I’m going to work-out, it’s going to be 6-7 days a week.  If I break the cycle for even a week, it’s hard for me to get back into it, but once I’m in it, it’s hard for me to stop.  My husband and I recently took 3 days away from the kids at the beach.  I did P90X 2 of those 3 days.

Me: I thought I was self-motivated.  You are both highly motivated when it comes to working out!  I do think this program can get the less motivated more motivated because of the style of Tony Horton on the screen.

9.  What is your favorite P90X DVD (mine is shoulders and arms)?

P.J.: Love shoulders and arms!  Love Core Synergistics.  My favorite set of DVD’s are the Asylum.  You get the best of P90X, Insanity and a whole lot more.
Shawn T (hope I spelled correctly) also weaves in workouts from an older two DVD set, Max interval Sports Training and Insane Abs.  There is strength, speed and agility, core and plank.  Not as much jump training in Insanity but important core, band work, foot work and jump rope fitness.

Ashley: Starting out, my favorite workout was either plyometrics or legs and back.  I was used to more cardio (hence the like of plyo), but have NEVER done any sort of lifting.  I had fairly strong legs starting off too, which is probably why I liked the legs and back.  Now, at 34 weeks pregnant, I like the shoulders and arms because it’s just so straightforward and easy.  That being said, I stopped increasing my weight (and by this I mean weight I’m lifting, not weight I personally measure on the scale) a while back.  I don’t want to pull more than would be wise at this stage of pregnancy.

Me: P.J., I would love to get your opinion on the differences between all the Beachbody DVDs you have done in more detail…maybe you will write a future post for me on that subject?  I hope so!

10.  What is your least favorite one (mine is Plyo)?

P.J.: Plyo is tough.  I loved plyo because it was tough and I have always loved the fat burn and strength training you receive through jump training.  I caution people that Insanity is twice the work of Plyo P90X with out as much break in between sets. My least favorite is Yoga because of the length of time, one hour and thirty two minutes.  But you have to do it. With P90X2 you get an hour version of yoga.

Ashley: Hands down, Yoga.  In fact, I NEVER do the yoga DVD.  I’m just not a hang upside down and sideways and twist my body into funky poses type of person.  I know it’s great for the stretch, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.  Plus, it’s waaaaay too long.  In addition, I get my workout in while my little ones (1, 2, and 4) are napping.  That still leaves me with an awake 6, 7, 8 and 10 year old.  Yoga is supposed to be about relaxation.  Working out with even just the 4 awake is never relaxing.  I always sub in cardiox on the yoga day.  This video has about 15 minutes of yoga in it, and that’s as much as I can handle.

Me: My least favorite is Plyo….Oh, I said that, sorry.

11. In what way have you seen the biggest difference since you started
using the program?

P.J.: I see a difference in how my body feels.  I sit in a car for 40,000 miles a year average.  That can tweek the back, psoais, IT Bands and abs.  With the overall core strength and stretching that has all gone away.  Whats great is that you are given a routine that you can stick with.

Ashley: For me, the biggest difference is in my upper body strength and muscle tone.  I’ve never had very defined arms (shoulders, yes, from swimming, but not arms).  I have chest, back, and arm muscles that I didn’t know existed.

12. Do you prefer working out alone or with others?

P.J.: I work out with whom ever will take me.  I always try to indoctrinate my travel partners, wife Dawn and kids.  But I work out regardless of where or who I am with.  Like at swim meets.  Find a space to plug in and go for it.

Ashley: Alone.  I love my personal space.  I spend all day with my kids.  My workout time is as much “my time” as I can make it.  The kids who are awake when I work out know to kind-of keep a distance.  I set them up with some sort of activity (usually outside play if I’m working out on the back patio), make sure they have a snack and / or drink and let them know that if I get too many interruptions, I’m going to have them just sit quietly and watch (who wants to sit and watch old mom do her workout video? … it works really well to deter the interruptions).   I have noticed even working out with my husband (which is how I got started on the program) is not my favorite.  I work really hard when I’m doing the videos and I need all my concentration on the task at hand.    He would say it’s his rugged, handsome good looks that are distracting  Really, I just don’t want to have to talk to anyone else or hear anyone else’s success or failing with the video.  I just want to get the work done to the best of my ability and get it checked off for the day.

Me: P.J., I remember seeing you at an out-of-town swim meet,  and while the kids were warming up you were heading to a shady spot to do Insanity with whomever would join you!

Ashley, Don’t worry, I won’t tell Conor {husband} that you don’t like working out with him…!! Sometimes alone time (or kind of alone) is a savored part of the day and when we combine it with exercise, it can be a serious stress reliever…

13. Is there anything you don’t like about P90X or programs like Insanity?
Would you give any cautions to those starting the program?

P.J.: I like everything about them.  I like some workouts better than others. But, like anything sometimes the ones you least like are the best for you. With Insanity… my advice is to take it slow. The 10 – 12 minute warm up can be a bear for some, so take it slow and do it every other day. Some folks just stick with the first month DVD’s because 40 minutes is enough.  It’s a big step to go to the second month with the non-stop workouts reaching 60 minutes.  But it is worth it.

Ashley: I would say if you haven’t ever done the program, during pregnancy is not the time to start.

14. Have you used the nutrition component of P90X?

P.J.:. With the nutrition I try to take a piece from each of the programs.  We as a family have always eaten well.  My mom has always been on the fore front of great nutrition.  My wife Dawn shops for the right stuff and is a tremendous cook.  With that said I travel quite a bit so I carry as many zip lock bags as possible with good snacks and powders. The Asylum and P90X2 have very good diet information.  Just do the best you can.  Proper diet gives you the energy to perform, as well as reveal all that hard work.

Ashley: I loosely used the nutrition component when I was doing the program not pregnant.  By loosely, I mean I used Phase 2 and 3 nutrition guides and used a post workout drink (although not the P90X brand).  Now, I just use common sense with my diet.  Lots of fruits, veggies, and lean meats, good fats only, and not too many unnecessary carbs.

I want to thank P.J. and Ashley for taking time to answer my questions! It will be interesting to compare their thoughts on P90X with others who use  Cross Fit or Pure Barre as their “go-to” fitness routines.  What about you?  Have you tried P90X?  Do you like it…Why or why not?

James and me after the birth of our 9th child, Sam.

Quote of the Week: Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

On February 29th my husband, James, was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer of his throat. I suppose there was some point in my life when I wondered what it would be like to hear the words from a doctor that someone I loved had cancer. But, I never thought it would be my husband, 48 years old and healthy, the father of 9.

James had been bothered by a chronic sore throat. He had been to the Minute Clinic, to our friend Howard Guthmann, his personal physician and then to the throat specialist, Dr. Bobby Silver. When he came home from what was supposed to be a routine visit with Dr. Silver, he quietly sat me down and told me he had cancer. His words were a blur. I heard him say that he had a tumor in his throat … Dr. Silver was certain it was malignant …99.9% certain … biopsies would be back in two days … CT Scan and PET Scan were scheduled –  the tumor had metastisized to at least several lymph nodes in his neck. Stage IV cancer. High cure rate  with this kind of cancer. I felt strangely like I was trying to catch up with his words. I certainly felt pain, deep emotion and fear. But I had always thought, that if confronted with cancer in a loved one that I would be overwhelmed by this.  Instead I felt as if  I was in a dream where there was some sort of a race going on… a race of a lifetime …and I was already terribly, dangerously far behind. Instead of being paralyzed by emotions I had feared, I  felt a silent desperation, and an urgency to somehow catch up with the rest…

It is funny how our emotions can sometimes seem apart from us…like they have a life of their own. That feeling of trying to furiously catch-up has not totally left me over the last 3 months of my husbands diagnosis and treatment.  While it is still present in a sort of remote way, I am finally sensing that I am gaining on it a little. Until recently, I really couldn’t explain it.  At times,  in fact, it left me very unsettled. However, if I have had one thing during the last seven weeks while accompanying my husband to his weekly chemotherapy treatments and his daily radiation treatments…it is time to reflect. Today we enter the homestretch. James had his final chemotherapy treatment yesterday and we have one week to go with the radiation treatments. 7 days from now (God willing), James will move from treatment to recovery and I will have moved to a firmer understanding  of my odd sense of feeling way behind…and frantic.

Most of us are living our lives at least somewhat reactively. We react to the things going on around us…to what happens in our schedules, in the lives of our children, and even to how we feel day-to-day. We wake up tired and we react by acting cranky or drinking coffee. Our car’s battery dies, and we react by purchasing a new one…or cursing. Even the small things like paying bills, exercising and planning meals cause us to react in a certain way. Over time, we might become rote in these reactions and we can feel like we are going through the motions of our life. I have always considered myself to be a spiritual person, but I know that even in that realm, I can become reactive.

I guess sometimes we just roll along until something makes us stop. My husband’s cancer diagnosis put a stop to the everyday reactions to life. I immediately realized that this time things would be different. Even with all the advances in the world of medicine, there are diseases like cancer that still carry a powerful reputation. Cancer has earned that reputation. It is scary – especially when it is tagged with the dreaded words “stage four”. Although the doctors told us that this type of cancer had a high cure rate, the power of the word cancer created in me a feeling of smallness…of powerlessness. It was as if cancer was the opponent, and I felt inferior, ill-prepared, and frankly unable to help my husband in any real way to go up against this giant of a competitor. While I was filled with emotion for this man I loved so much…I felt helpless. This helplessness expressed itself in a feeling of being far behind my competition…a competition I knew so very little about.

My husband is a thinker. This is not to say at all that he is not a doer. But first, he is a thinker. And while I was busy feeling like I was dead last in a race…seeking to find something in my competitive toolbox to move forward-like a runner trying to maneuver ahead, my husband’s brain began to work overtime. He researched, and read, and read some more. He read about cancer; he read about chemotherapy; he read about radiation; he read about alternatives; and he read about survivors. The treatment for throat cancer is one of the worst of all cancer treatments. No one likes chemotherapy. Radiation causes everyone challenges. When you shoot that radiation over 7 and half weeks into the mouth and throat, severe, often life-altering problems can develop. To be aggressive in his approach, James even read clinical trial research regarding new medical strategies for dealing with some of the worst effects of head and neck cancer treatments. One of these trials involved a drug for treating Oral Mucositis (the most troublesome reality for head and neck cancer patients) newly approved by the FDA. James mentioned this drug to his physicians (who were not aware of it), received a prescription (fought with the insurance company for coverage – denied, approved and finally denied again) and finally began using it a week into treatment. This drug, Mugard, appears to have been a tremendous help for James as he has fewer mouth sores, blistering and other symptoms related to his chemotherapy and throat and mouth radiation than most throat cancer patients).

While at times the information, especially on the internet, was almost overwhelming, gaining knowledge gave my husband a sense of purpose and determination. I am not claiming that he did not have dark moments. Especially before treatment began he had those times when worry about the future (a wife and 9 kids will do that to you) would cause him great anxiety. But those feelings were short-lived. As he gained more information and knowledge, he seemed to gain resolve as well. Once treatment began, he seemed to be over any darkness. He and the doctors had decided on a plan. He worked the plan daily and diligently.  He always tells our kids that “most of life is just showing up.” He showed up – every day.

I know James is not alone in feeling this sense of determination. He has been tremendously moved and motivated by other cancer patients he has met along the way. There is definately a “pull-up-your shirt sleeves and get moving” kind of attitude in many of the cancer treatment waiting rooms we have visited. Everyday that we sat waiting for radiation for instance, I saw resolve in the faces of other cancer patients. When I first followed James into the chemotherapy infusion room, I saw it as well. Oddly, it was Dr. Seuss that came to my mind on that first day of chemo. If cancer is personified, then the infusion room is like Christmas morning and cancer is the Grinch himself…waiting and creeping closer, hoping to catch some weeping and wringing of hands. Instead, the Grinch is surprised, like I was frankly, to find a room full of people smiling and having normal conversations with their companions, and with the kind, knowledgeable and thoughtful nurses giving the treatments. Just as the Grinch couldn’t steal Christmas, he hasn’t been able to steal hope from cancer patients either. What a disappointment the Cancer Grinch must feel having to face this, dare I say, cheerfulness.. . this hope …which I know greets him at every cancer treatment center.

I said earlier that James is a thinker.  However, he is also a man of action.  After gathering information, James is usually swift in his decisions and the actions that ensue.  It was no different after he discovered he had cancer.  One of his first “actions” was an expensive one…a $600.00 vitamix blender, which I wrote about at 9 Kid Fitness. Something James had read about while researching, the vitamix (or any good blender) is a great way to add more greens (especially the kind we usually don’t want to actually eat) to our diet. We knew it would be a good investment.   Its funny to think that before James was diagnosed we talked about buying a good blender, but we could never bite the bullet. After the diagnosis, we thought nothing about the cost. I started making green smoothies immediately. New words became a part of our vocabulary… chlorella, spirulina, wheat grass… and we added greens as well…celery, collards, kale and spinach.  I am not going to lie and say we liked these smoothies…actually not at all.  We had read  that it is an acquired taste (yet to be acquired for me however).  We began making all sorts of other types of smoothies…adding whatever fresh or frozen fruit we had around.

Unfortunately for James, he could only drink these smoothies for the first few weeks of treatment.  First of all, they began to taste awful after radiation had burned off his taste buds and chemotherapy added a rancid metallic taste to everything.  Secondly, the radiation began to severely burn the back of his mouth and throat and made it difficult and painful to swallow very cold things (or very hot things).  I am hoping he will get back to drinking smoothies soon, but in the meantime, the rest of the family has found a new passion…trying to better the last person’s smoothie in taste.

Supplements, another result of his research, have become part of an everyday ritual for James.  At this point, over 7 weeks into treatment, many head and neck cancer patients can’t swallow any food at all. Every day, he braces himself and physically swallows between 40 and 50 supplements designed to boost his immune system, fight cancer cell multiplication, save his remaining salivary glands and help him fight off the negative effects of radiation and chemotherapy: Curcumin, Curcetin, CQ10, Gingko, Selenium, and Magnesium to name just a few. Although somewhat of a skeptic by nature, James has even tried acupuncture as a treatment to help save his salivary glands which have been badly burned by radiation treatments.  His careful research seems to have paid off, as he is doing very well relative to some predictions. Regardless of whether this is due to the newly approved drugs, nutritional supplements, or the acupuncture, it is clear that being an advocate for himself as a patient has helped in his response to the treatment. It has also taught me things of value for 9 Kid Fitness and for approaching life in general.

Cancer is powerful.  But so is hope.   As the treatments have continued I sometimes still feel like I am trying to desperately catch up, but I have realized that the kind of hope that depends first on faith…is not the desperate kind.  I understand that there is a difference between having faith that things will turn out alright, and having faith that no matter how they turn out…we will be alright.  It seems to me that the four hardest words in the English language are from the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy will be done”.  Not only do I have hope in the prognosis for James, I have found great hope in the human spirit.  The support we have felt in the form of prayers, meals, house cleanings, and care for our other children has been amazingly palpable. A good friend of James’ came twice to his chemo treatments to visit and offer some distraction. All the support has truly inspired and humbled us.

The many doctors and nurses who have played a role in James’ care have also heightened my respect for those in the medical profession. They have always been honest with us (sometimes brutally so), but they have also always provided us with a powerful sense of hope.  I am sure that we are not unique in feeling this way, and many might say that they are just doing their job.  Yet the often long conversations that we have had with some of the doctors went above and beyond their job description, and spoke to who they are as human beings. They have been constantly available to us. The image of a distant, non-communicative physician spending as little time as possible with their patients hasn’t been our reality. They have given us as much time as we have needed. They phone, e-mail and text to see how things are going. We are sincerely grateful.

I hadn’t planned on writing about my husband’s experience with cancer until recently.  James is a very private person. Fighting disease, no matter what kind, is a personal thing, and I wanted to respect my husband’s privacy.  However, after talking it over with James, I felt that it was appropriate to share parts of his experience with my 9 Kid Fitness readers for many reasons.  While these last few months have been far from easy, James and I have both learned a tremendous amount , not only about cancer, but about nutrition, prevention and a lot more.   Part of why we learned so much is because people had the generosity and openness to share information with us. When I began 9 Kid Fitness I wanted to be part of a wider community of knowledge about exercise, health, wellness, and family life.  Frankly, not writing about this experience felt wrong to me… as if I was acting one way in my real life, and another for my website.  I want 9 Kid Fitness at its core to be an authentic place to share our stories of fitness, health, faith and family, and so it seems appropriate to share with you our experience.  I hope that it can begin a conversation and that others may feel comfortable sharing their life-changing experiences and challenges as well.

Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers as we enter this last difficult week of treatment and what will be a long period of recovery. Thank you so much.

A high sugar meal after working out or even a recovery drink (containing high sugar) after working out, will stop the benefits of exercise induced HGH.  You can work out for hours, then eat a high sugar candy bar or have high sugar energy drink (i.e. smoothie), and this will shut down the synergistic benefits of HGH. This is an extremely important fact to remember if you want to cut body fat and shed a
few pounds.

How Does This Work?
First we know that refined sugar in the diet makes the body produce extra insulin to combat the additional sugar in the bloodstream.  This increase in insulin causes an increase of another hormone called somatostatin.  Somatostatin shuts down exercise induced growth hormone released by high intensity exercise.

What does High Sugar Food Mean?
High sugar food is defined by being 37.5 grams of sugar or greater per 100 grams of food.  This basically means that the sugar content should be less than a 1/3 of the serving weight.  The best bet is to have a low carb food such as low fat dairy or a lean meat source combined with an electrolyte replacement drink that is low in sugar after a workout.

But that’s probably not gonna happen. We are on our own to get those pelvic floor exercises in. One of the most surprising things I learned after seeing Barbara Green, a physical therapist who specializes in the pelvic floor, was that it really doesn’t take a tremendous amount of exercises to strengthen those muscles…a little bit goes a long way. In fact she told me that she tells her clients, daily Kegels are great-but even three times a week is good! She said if we consistently work on doing those Kegels three times a week we can see improvement after about a month or two. She wrote a post for 9 Kid Fitness a while ago describing how to do a Kegel (Pelvic Floor Exercises: A How-To Guide)

Since slipping a little in terms of my Kegel motivation, I have come up with a way to remind myself on a more regular basis. Anytime I am on the floor at the end of a workout (whether in a group exercise class or at home doing push up and planks, etc.) I will do 10 slow Kegel exercises before I finish the class or workout. I figure if I can fit in stretches at the end of a workout, I can fit in the Kegels, too. In fact, I think of stretching and Kegels in the same way. As I get older, stretching after a workout becomes increasingly important if I want to keep running. Similarly, I believe that pelvic floor exercises will continue to be a crucial part of my fitness routine as I get older if I want to maintain good aerobic functioning and continence while I exercise. This is why it’s essential that I not allow myself to get lackadaisical.

How about you….do you have a sure-fire way to remember those pelvic floor exercises?

“ORAC – What does it mean and how it affects recovery”
Provided by Architech Sport’s Alan Tyson, Sports Physical Therapist

ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity and is correlated to antioxidants and their overall capacity in the human body to prevent and eliminate the dangerous effects of free radicals from attacking healthy cells.  Examples of free radicals include toxins, chemicals, or pollutants that appear in our bodies from the foods we eat and the environment we live in.  Think of free radicals as little unstable troublemaker cells that can be dangerous and cause damage in our bodies.

Maintaining good health and enhancing recovery means keeping these cells under control.  Eating foods with a high ORAC value is one way to do this.  ORAC measurement was created at TUFTS University for the USDA, to be a reliable way of determining the antioxidant capacity in foods.  The FDA recommends 3,000-5,000 ORAC rating foods per day for optimal health.  For athletes this may need to be higher.  The higher the score, the more powerful the food is an antioxidant.

For most people, eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables especially ones dark in color will get them an adequate supply.  The government slogan of “5 a Day” is for the consistent consumption of five fruits and vegetables a day supplying an average ORAC value of 2500 ORAC units.  The reality is that only 5% of the U.S. population consumes 5 fruits and vegetables a day.  The National Cancer Institute found that 42% of the population eats less than 2 servings a day.   The average American serving a day can be as low as 300 ORAC units.

As an athlete you need to increase your ORAC consumption because exercise creates free radicals or oxygen radicals. In addition boosting your ORAC units means boosting your immune system.  When you play hard and train hard you are constantly in an oxidative state.  Oxygen is essential for life, but it creates damaging by-products, “free radicals”, during normal cellular metabolism.  Generally, these free radicals are eliminated by normal processes in the body but if you do a lot of intense exercise and you’re consuming enough foods with high ORAC values you may suffer from “under recovery”. This will hamper your daily training and keep you from reaching your goals.  High ORAC value foods have a lot of antioxidants which protect the cells from this oxidative stress.

Remember, one important thing to keep in mind is that the overall antioxidant content of our foods has decreased due to soil depletion from modern farming techniques. Any antioxidant nutrients in fruits and vegetables that make it through growth and harvesting then become diminished due to the cooking, processing, preserving, and packaging which is very common today. Bottom Line:  You are what you eat and regarding vegetables it is better to eat raw. If you must cook, it is better to steam than to boil.  Below is a chart that has foods with high ORAC values. Make these a part of your daily diet and you will discover that your able to train harder and
recover faster.

Food Serving size Antioxidant capacity per serving size. Units are Total Antioxidant Capacity per serving in units of micromoles (cooking can diminish their value)
Small Red Bean    ½ cup dried beans    13727
Wild blueberry      1 cup                            13427
Red kidney bean   ½ cup dried beans   13259
Pinto bean              ½ cup                         11864
Blueberry               1 cup (cultivated berries) 9019
Cranberry              1 cup (whole berries) 8983
Artichoke hearts  1 cup, cooked               7904
Blackberry             1 cup (cultivated berries) 7701
Prune                      ½ cup                          7291
Raspberry              1 cup                            6058
Strawberry             1 cup                            5938
Red Delicious apple 1 apple                     5900
Granny Smith apple 1 apple                    5381
Pecan                       1 oz                              5095
Sweet cherry          1 cup                            4873

Black plum             1 plum                         4844
Russet potato        1, cooked                     4649
Black bean             ½ cup dried beans    4181
Plum                       1 plum                          4118
Gala apple             1 apple                          3903
***With nearly all vegetables, conventional boiling can reduce the ORAC value by up to 90%,
while steaming retains more of the antioxidants

The other thing I discovered yesterday is that the VitaMix makes cooking a family affair. My soup would normally involve chopping lots of veggies (like onions, garlic, tomatoes, celery, carrots , and peppers) into small, bite sized pieces. But instead, the Vitamix allowed me to let my six-year-old throw in the celery, carrots, and tomatoes and be involved in the cooking process. Let’s just say my family’s love for soup isn’t quite as strong as mine is. The other thing I like about this mixer is that I can throw together a soup like yesterday’s minestrone for everyone, or make one that’s just to my liking and only for me. The fact that it doesn’t take much time and it’s not hard to clean, makes using it very easy. I know I sound like I’m selling the thing, but I’m not making a dime off of it… I just really love it! 9 Kid Fitness is about a lot more than fitness, though.  I believe that fitness, in fact, only makes up about 30 percent of any weight-loss (or maintenance) program and the other 70 percent comes from our nutrition (see the Rule of 70 article I wrote).  In terms of the nutrition aspect, I’m always looking for ways to make things easy to incorporate into our everyday living.  VitaMix goes a long way to help me with this.  Following is the recipe for minestrone soup; do you have any recipe for mixers or blenders to share??

Minestrone soup with a the Vitamix (or any blender):

Ingredients
4 c. Chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
2 carrots (cut in half)
3 celery stalks (2 cut in half and one chopped)
2 garlic cloves
1/2 onion
2 squash (1 cut in thirds and the other chopped)
4 tomatoes cut in fourths
1 can (or two) red kidney beans
2 cups green beans ( fresh or canned)
1 box small pasta shells (cooked and waiting)
Fresh basil
Salt/pepper to taste

Put first seven ingredients in the blender (except the veggies you chopped) and blend on high for six minutes. Pour that mixture into a pot and place on stove (the VitaMix will heat it up when it’s on high that long). Place the remaining ingredients in the pot and cook on low heat. Serve with a hearty whole-grain bread. Delicious!

Like so many things in life, exercise involves a decision

A recent article I read mentioned a study that looked at motivation and exercise. The results of the study were not only interesting but also confirmed what I have thought about exercise for a long time…that we fluctuate in our motivation to exercise, sometimes even on a weekly basis. Researchers from Penn State University recruited 33 college students and assessed over a ten-week period both the students’ weekly intentions to be physically active and their activity levels. During each of the ten weeks, participants were instructed to log on to a website and to rate their intentions to perform physical activity for the week ahead. To assess physical activity, participants were instructed to wear pedometers each day for the first four weeks.  The team found that for many of the participants, the motivation to exercise fluctuated on a weekly basis, and these fluctuations were linked to their behavior. The results appear in the current issue of the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology.

["Our motivation to be physically active changes on a weekly basis because we have so many demands on our time," said one of the leading researchers. "Maybe one week we're sick or we have a work deadline - or, in the case of students, an upcoming exam. But these lapses in motivation really seem to be destructive. Our results suggest that people with consistently strong intentions to exercise have the best chance of actually following through on their intentions, while people with the greatest fluctuations in their motivation have the hardest time using that motivation to regulate their behavior."..."We saw that people who consistently reported stronger intentions to be active were more active during the week, but then on weekends the pattern flipped for them," he said. "If a person was really motivated during the week, then he or she crashed on the weekend."]

I believe the results wouldn’t be all that different if adults were studied. Even for me (and I consider myself to have strong intentions), the weekend can be a time of either “letting up” or “getting going” depending on how the previous week has gone. If I kept a rigorous fitness schedule during the week, I sometimes find that I am more apt to skip a day on the weekend or go easy. However, if the week was full of good intentions that were interrupted by “life” that got in the way, then I try to motivate myself to have a weekend warrior workout.

The one thing, though, that I see as an indicator of stick-to-it-ism (obviously my unscientific term) is intention and motivation combined. The link between the two of those things, again – in my opinion, is decision. In other words, if we rely on our motivation, we may not be consistent; and if we rely on our intentions (or even our schedule), things can come up and interfere with our plans for exercise. The one thing that must be in place is a decision to do it no matter what. Obviously there will be times when external circumstances prevent exercise, but for the most part a decision to fit it in (usually at a set time) is essential for consistent fitness. I wrote about this decision-making process at 9 Kid Fitness in a previous post (Like Love, Exercise is a Decision) and I still believe it holds true for me today. Like so many other things in life (even love and marriage), decisions are the key to fufilling our short term and long term goals. Fitness is no different and must be an integral part of our daily or weekly schedules if we are gong to keep doing it.

What about you? What do you think about motivation and exercise?

The answer is yes, exercise can help prevent weight gain during menopausal (and peri-menopausal) years, however it is helpful to understand some of the other factors involved in weight gain as we age. Muscle loss and aerobic capacity are two of the factors that can often mean changes in weight in older women. It is a fact that we lose muscle cells as we age. When younger muscle cells get damaged, they’re quickly repaired, however that’s not the case with older muscles. Sarcopenia, the clinical term for age-related muscle loss, happens for various reasons. It is characterized first by a decrease in the size of the muscle, which causes weakness and frailty. in fact we can lose up to half our strength between the ages of 25 and 85. This loss of muscle mass may be caused by different cellular mechanisms than those that cause muscle atrophy. For example, during sarcopenia, there is a replacement of muscle fibres with fat and an increase in fibrosis.

The other reason for sacrcopenia is simply inactivity…which can happen as we age as well. Exercise and increases in activity have been shown to be beneficial in settings of sarcopenia. Infact studies have shown that exercise even in the very old can increase strength and muscle function. For a more in depth look at what happens to our muscles as we age, refer to this article by the University of Arkansas’ Department of Agriculture.

It is important that we work “progressively” during strength training or weight training. In other words, we should increase the amount of weight (or number of pushups, etc.) so that we are continuously pushing our muscles and always reassessing our progress (this is called the overload principal). This allows for us to actually increase our strength and not remain stagnant.

Our aerobic capacity also decreases as we age. According to 50athletesover50, scientific studies have shown that on average, after our late twenties or early thirties we lose about 10% of our aerobic capacity each decade up to age 60-70 at which time it decreases at a much faster rate. Studies of Masters endurance athletes show that peak performance can be maintained until 35 years of age, with a modest reduction in performance thereafter up to age 60-70. The main reason for this decline is a decrease in maximal aerobic capacity (Vo2 max). That being said, it is clear that continuing to exercise and even to push our aerobic limits, can benefit us in terms of aging and menopause.

Symptoms of menopause vary and can include hot flashes, sleep disturbance and mood changes. Menopausal women are also at an increased risk for osteoporosis and heart disease. One study by the American College of Sports Medicine showed strength training helped reduce hot flashes and headaches by 50 percent. Another published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing found exercise boosted overall health-related quality of life measures in menopausal women. It is obvious that moderate exercise certainly won’t hurt us….and it can probably help us to counter some of the effects of menopause.

The mood-elevating, tension-relieving effects of aerobic exercise have been shown to reduce depression and anxiety, which often accompany menopause. Aerobic exercise also promotes the loss of abdominal fat—a common place for postmenopausal weight gain. Strength training stimulates bones to retain the minerals that keep them dense and strong, thereby preventing the onset and progression of osteoporosis. These effects of exercise, along with improved cholesterol levels and physical fitness, work together to help prevent heart disease and minimize some of the symptoms of menopause.

We have seen how exercise helps to keep us healthy no matter what age we are. But it is great to know that even if we have not exercised much in the past, beginning to workout and build strength can help to offset symptoms of peri-menopause and menopause no matter how old we are. Are you experiencing any symptoms of peri-menopause? If so, has exercise helped?

Keys to Optmizing Lean Muscle Development – High Intensity Training

(How to Use Cardio Training to Develop Strength)

 Alan Tyson PT, ATC

mybodsquad.com

Should I do cardio, lift weights,  a combination?  What is the best method for me to develop lean muscle which helps increase my metabolism and either lose weight or keep my weight manageable?  The answer is high intensity training or HIT training. Let’s discuss the reason for this.  To fully grasp the benefits of peak fitness exercises, you first need to understand that you have three different types of muscle fibers:

1. Slow

2. Fast

3. Super-fast

We now know that in order to naturally increase your body’s production of human growth hormone (HGH), you must engage your super-fast muscle fibers. HGH is a vital hormone that is key for physical strength, health and longevity. Neither traditionally performed aerobic cardio nor conventional strength training will work anything but your slow muscle fibers, and hence has no impact on production of HGH. On the contrary, it has the unfortunate effect of actually causing the super fast fibers to decrease or atrophy, further impeding natural HGH production. Power training, or plyometrics burst types of exercises will engage your fast muscle fibers, but only high-intensity burst cardio,will engage your super fast fibers and promote HGH.

It would be best to AVOID all sugar and fruit juice for two hours after your workout, otherwise you will obliterate the growth hormone response and ruin the major benefit of the workout, which is to increase your growth hormone level. Remember that after age 35, your growth hormone levels radically decrease.  The reason why restricting these carbs after exercise works is that they will prevent the production of the hormone somatostatin. One of the primary purposes of this hormone is to inhibit the production of human growth hormone.

Virtually all exercises, certainly nearly all cardio or standard aerobics, fail miserably when it comes to increasing growth hormone. So if you decide to use the only type of exercise that will increase growth hormone, then it would be a shame to make a post workout food choice that would diminish the benefit from doing this amazing type of exercise. When you break your exercise session into intervals like this — short segments that alternate high intensity with a rest period in-between – you can dramatically improve your cardiovascular fitness and fat-burning capabilities in a fraction of the time.

This makes logical sense when you consider that, historically, long-duration exercise isn’t “natural.” Our ancient ancestors never ran for mile after mile without rest or recovery. Their exercise was primarily hunting — short bursts of exertion, followed by periods of rest. By exercising in short bursts, followed by periods of recovery, you recreate exactly what your body needs for optimum health, and that includes both the production of growth hormones and the burning of excess body fat. Please understand that the sugar and juice restriction are really intended for nearly everyone reading this whose primary purpose is to increase human growth hormone naturally, through exercise, to improve their health.

There is a very small group of elite and professional athletes who are actively competing, where increasing growth hormone is not their primary goal. For these athletes, consuming some carbs, preferably dextrose-based, in the recovery period is probably a good idea to improve their recovery time, as they are competing and not so concerned about long-term growth hormone levels. It is also important to understand that the two hour post workout sugar restriction is for high intensity exercises NOT for strength training or, if you chose to, aerobic exercises. Since neither of these exercises increases growth hormone, there is not an issue with the sugar restriction within the bounds of replacing needs generated from thexercise.

Fast Recovery vs Growth Hormone Release

To expound on this issue further, Phil Campbell provided the following information:

 ”When I train young athletes in speed – www.40speed.com – I explain to them that the research shows 20 to 25 grams of protein (within 30 minutes of training) with a 4 to 1 ratio of carbs to protein, starts the recovery process quicker.  This advice is given to everyone as general advice in most fitness magazines today and is mostly based on research led by Dr John Ivey on young cyclists who have to perform several days in a row, and a quick recovery during competition is extremely important. Clearly, young athletes more concerned with fast recovery than maximizing HGH release should use this strategy.  However, if you are middle-aged, or in a non-competitive phase of training, and keeping HGH circulating as long as possible is your goal, then protein intake (20 to 25 grams after training) is a great strategy, but you need to monitor the glycemic rating of carbs because of the variable impact of carbs on insulin, which in turn impacts the HGH release process. There are a couple of variables that come into play that can change the rules for adults wanting to maximize human growth hormone from exercise.  Research shows that a spike of insulin after training increases somatostatin (thehormone that shuts down HGH).

 So, here’s where this issue gets complicated, because it’s difficult to estimate theglycemic rating of food on different people with different muscle to body fat ratios. And what makes this issue very complicated is that the insulin producing process is variable for every adult to some degree.  It depends on where you are on the Metabolic Syndrome scale. Metabolic Syndrome just became an official medical condition in 2001, and the research shows that even a few carbs can spike insulin for some people with insulin resistance.

 If you are lean and do not need to drop a lot of body fat, then you can probably eat some carbs without spiking insulin — and maybe even some refined sugar depending on the interaction of the carbs with an intake of post-training protein, which will somewhat negate the impact of the carbs on the insulin response – as opposed to an intake of carbs on an empty stomach.  So, as you can see, there are many variables that come into play.  In short, carbs with the protein can be good after training as long as the glycemic response doesn’t spike your insulin.

 Research shows that the insulin response of an individual is lessened with youthand/or lean body weight (muscle vs. body fat), and that’s another reason why it’s so important to maintain muscle throughout life.  From a performance training strategy perspective for runners, I would suggestconsider training with the strategy of maximizing HGH release (except on really hot days or on the one-long-run-a-week day) because this strategy should build muscle to make you faster, and reduce body fat so you have less to carry.  For competitions, and those hot, long-training days, I’d suggest using the quickrecovery strategy of 1 to 4 ratio of protein to carbs, because in this instance, your body does not care what the quality of glucose is; it just needs glucose.”

A recumbent bicycle or regular indoor bike for the High Instensity exercise is a great start, although you certainly can use an elliptical machine, a treadmill, or anywhere outdoors for that matter. However, unless you are already a strong athlete, I would strongly advise against sprinting outdoors again based on the intensity you will have to achieve for optimal results . Just warm up for three to five minutes and then go all out as hard as you can for 30 seconds. In the warm up you typically get your heart rate around 60 to 70% of its maximum (220-your age). So if you are 50 your max heart rate would be170 and your warm up heart rate would be 102-119. The first repetition is usually pretty easy as your starting heart rate is low and you can do the entire 30 seconds without stress.

Since you only recover for 90 seconds your heart rate gradually continues to climb after every repetition so hopefully by the time you finish your last repetition it is at or above your maximum heart rate. Remember to cool down for a few minutes after your 8th repetition. Unless you work out regularly you will likely need to work your way up to 8 cycles. You can start with 2-4 and gradually increase to 8, but ideally, you should get to 8 cycles. The magic really starts to happen around repetition number 7 and 8.

Here are the principles:

1. Warm up for three minutes

2. Then, go all out, as hard as you can for 30 seconds

3. Recover for 90 seconds

4. Repeat 7 more times, for a total of 8 repetitions

5. Cool down for a few minutes afterwards by cutting down your intensity by 50-80%.

If you have a history of heart disease or any concern please get clearance from your health care professional to start this. Most people of average fitness will be able to do this, it is only a matter of how much time it will take you to build up to the full 8 reps.  The beautiful thing about this approach is that if you are out of shape you simply will be unable to train very hard as the lactic acid will build up in your muscles quickly and prevent you from stressing your heart very much.  Start slowly, build up, and enjoy the fact that you are working to develop lean muscle mass which is one of the main keys to aging well.

 **Remember to

1. Always plan ahead for what you are going to eat

2. Obtain adequate amounts of protein

3. Work on Flexibility

4. Supplement your diet with a fish oil and multi-vitamin

.

I have said it before on this website that I used to believe I had to do some sort of cardio for at least an hour in order to get in a workout that was worth anything.  Now I believe it isn’t so much about time, but about quality.  It terms of getting a bang for my buck…what will my workouts look like for these next few months?  Overall, I will have to cover cardio, strength, and core each week, and specifically target large muscle groups that can work multiple muscles at one time. Exercises like squats and lunges are great because they work the quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteals.  In terms of upper body and core, push-ups and planks are my favorite go-to exercises because (if done correctly) they can strengthen the chest, shoulders, triceps, and even the core trunk muscles, all at one time. So when I do a strength/core combo, I always do some variations of lunges/ squats, push-ups, and planks.

Running is my standard cardio for a high-efficiency workout, and when it comes to calorie-burn, there is nothing like it…especially when the run is 45 min. or longer.  I know I can count on two days a week for that kind of run.  I will combine strength and core for the other type of weekly workout during these next few months.  There are a lot of ways to do this.  I can go to a class, like Pilates or Pure Barre, I can do P90X at home, or I can go for the combo workout using my handy one-minute timer to mix up the core and full-body exercises.  Since I like to shake things up and keep my body surprised, I will likely do all of those previously mentioned, and not worry too much about an exact schedule.

Here’s an example of a one-week efficiency workout schedule and some strength/core exercises:

Monday Run 6 to 7 miles

Tuesday Pure Barre class

Wednesday 30 minute Strength/Core work: 5 min. warm-up on treadmill or dynamic stretches.  Then do each of the following for one-minute each 2X through: Push-ups (girl or guy), plank, right arm side plank, left arm side plank, reverse push-ups (tricep work- sit on floor and have hands on the ground, fingers facing forward, push up with triceps), walking lunges (or lunge staying in place), eight count body-builders, squats …, plank again, medicine ball wood choppers.  After going through exercises twice, I wil do some rolling with foam roller for 10 extra minutes if there is time.

Thursday Run 5-7 miles or rest (depending on how I feel).

Friday  30 minute Strength/Core work: Do another workout similar to the one above, changing things up a little (such as substituting monster walks for lunges, mountain climbers for eight count body builders, etc.)  See Wednesday.

Saturday Pilates class or P90X (Yoga or Core Synergistics).

Sunday Rest

As I am now halfway between 40 and 50, I am much more appreciative of rest and have truly come to love my “rest days”.  For those who are cranking out seven days-a-week of exercise, I highly suggest one day of rest (or at least walking one day a week).  It is amazing how our bodies use those days of rest to become even more efficient, I think.  I can’t tell you how happy my body is when I let it sleep in, and it always thanks me later by feeling rested and ready when I push it again (just a suggestion…)!  What is your favorite thing to do when you are pressed for time?