Update and New Beachbody Workouts!

Wow....what a month it's been so far! I actually started this post a week ago, when I was in Pittsburgh. After a BUSY weekend that took us from Dover, DE to NYC, I had a quick (aka 3 days) work trip to Pittsburgh to teach a workshop. Then on Friday we bought a house!! More on that later....

The session went really well after some heavy duty preparation that had me up late studying to ensure I totally killed it- which I totally did!! While I was in Pittsburgh, it was way too cold to run outside (it snowed each day I was there) and the hotel "gym" only had a treadmill, elliptical, and recumbent bike. So that brought me to the treadmill for one of my workouts and I remembered how relaxing it can be some time to just zone out on the treadmill, with my kindle fired up on an easy to read book. I've been doing that this past week because I'm trying to get back into a running grove before the Ovarian Cancer Federation 5k in May. This will hopefully be first of many races this season. Having said that, I am trying to take the pressure off myself because I don't want to deal with more injuries while I'm still recovering from the ones I still have. I still have a half-marathon in my goal set, then a marathon, but I have to take care of the cards I've been dealt first.

Case in point....my tennis elbow surgery

Ding loves watching over me

I'm happy to report that my right arm is healing well and I have almost full range of motion back, which is very encouraging! What sucks....my left arm is progressively getting worse still. It has it's good moments but they seem to be coming around less and less. According to my surgeon on Tuesday....I can go forward with my left arm whenever I feel ready- after April 20th! Wow...a lot sooner than I was expecting him to say! So now it's a matter of working with my boss to ensure I can get off another month straight with no traveling and not screw up a bunch of my coworkers along the way. Wish me good luck ;)


So, I want to shift my entry today into something new.....Some New Beachbody workouts!

There are two programs you guys have heard me talk about before- Insanity and P90X- that I've been really missing lately. The thing that I miss most as a result of this ongoing tennis elbow injury has been my inability to just press play and get a good arm strength training workout in with my favorite lifting buddy, Tony Horton. I've been able to still do a couple workouts, like P90X Plyo and a few of the Insanity Cardio workouts- I just have to take out any push-up moves and do something else because I still can't use any weight with my arms, which obviously would include push-ups. I never thought I would miss doing push-ups and planks- bizarre, huh?


Well, a few weeks ago I was contacted by a Beachbody team member to review three of their new programs on my blog! Of course, I said yes- Beachbody is such an awesome company with lots of great programs- P90X and Insanity included.

Speaking of Insanity, I am most excited to talk the newest and greatest from Shaun T (trainer for Insanity): Asylum Volume 2! You can probably guess, that there was first: Insanity: The Asylum. Now that just sounds retarded hard! Shaun T, who used to be a track star, takes you through the Asylum's "Athletic Matrix." It is "a program of dynamic multidirectional exercises, based on the actual movement patterns of pro athletes, that takes your body from average to elite in just 30 days—right in your own home!" That quote was taken from the Asylum website that you can check out above. In a nut shell, this video ties it all together, and includes a bunch of athletes who have done it:

Just like you guessed, Asylum Volume 2 takes you past the first Asylum to another level of athletic performance, utilizing what you've learned in Volume 2 and taking it up a notch to make you even faster and stronger! You are going to use the same, fun equipment with the agility ladder and speed rope in Volume 2, and Shaun also helps you with Nutrition (duhh we know how important this is!) and how to integrate the two volumes together.

The only caveat that I see of this program is that it does seem like you need to master Volume 1 to get truly move on to Volume 2. Aka this program is really meant for those die hard Shaun T fans who just can't get enough of Insanity and Asylum. It also is NOT created for a casual exerciser, so just like Insanity you have to be prepared to give your best and leave it all on the floor- which will involve sweat and maybe some tears. If that sounds as good to you as it does me- go check out the site and learn more at BeachBody: Asylum Volume 2


The next workout I want to talk to you guys about is Les Mills Combat. When this was one of the workouts they asked me to review, I was surprised because I didn't even know they had created videos of this! Many of you are probably familiar with Les Mills classes, perhaps you've taken Body Pump or Body Step. I actually have taken Body Combat before in a class setting, and it is a blast!! It's probably my favorite kickboxing type class workout, so it's cool that they have these on video to do at home now.

What I see here, is an even more intense class then I experienced in a class setting (maybe it's all the hot, muscly people), so it definitely seems worthy of checking out further, if you like this type of workout. I've done Turbo Jam and Turbo Fire (both workouts with Chalene Johnson with beachbody) in the past before and really enjoyed it, but I love the edginess that seems to be inherent in this program. Edgy is good, and I can definitely see myself getting really pumped up working out with these guys, and learning some different styles of martial arts. It also appears to be a very adaptable workout- you can bring down the intensity and impact or you can ramp it up and get a killer workout both ways to suit your needs. I love that! So, go check it out at Beachbody: Les Mills Combat


The last workout I wanted to talk about is perfect as we move from winter into spring and are all trying to look super hot in bikinis (or in my case, shorts because Colleen won't be caught dead in a bikini, lol). What I am referring to is the all important butt! Who doesn't want a hot butt? Brazil Butt Lift Master Series is Beachbody's newest workout with the butt master himself, Leandro Carvalho. As I looked through some of these movements, I fell in love! They are solid exercises that I have done several different variations of during my physical therapy for my strained hamstring, and you better believe I am still doing them! Did you know there are three major muscles in your butt: gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus! You better believe you will get all three worked in ways you never knew existed and your butt will be sore like you have never felt before!! So, go check it out at BeachBody: Brazil Butt Lift Master Series

As a general note for all of these programs- no matter which program fits you, and trust me Beachbody has a TON of programs out there if these don't speak to you specifically, they all come with a big support network complete with message boards and coaches on Beachbody.com.


So, any other Beachbody users out there? What program do you use?


Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this review, nor asked to give any specific ratings, all that is written is my opinion only.