The Ultimate Hybrid Workout

Tony Horton's book, Bring It outlines his 11 Laws of Health and Fitness; rules to live by if you want to be fit for the rest of your life. The seventh law is Plan:

"Schedule all of your workouts in advance; this creates accountability. Plan an entire month ahead of time. If you schedule it, you'll do it. If you wing it, you won't. It's that simple. When you're accountable, you stay motivated. When you're not accountable to some sort of plan, you can't stay motivated...Schedule your workouts as if they are the most important appointment of the day...because they are!"

It's no coincidence that Beachbody workout programs come with detailed schedules that tell you what to do and when. Asylum came with three schedules: one that is pure Asylum, an Insanity/Asylum hybrid, and an Asylum/P90X hybrid.

Zach and I have amassed quite the workout DVD library. Since we are now Asylum graduates, we wanted to create our own hybrid schedule that incorporates a little more strength training but keeps the intense Asylum workouts in the mix, too. I'm thinking there isn't much chance we'll get bored anytime soon.

Here's what we came up with. It follows this pattern:

Sunday: Lower body resistance or cardio
Monday: Upper body resistance
Tuesday: Intense cardio (leg based)
Wednesday: Upper body resistance
Thursday: Yoga
Friday: Lower body resistance
Saturday: Rest

And here is the workout schedule for the next four weeks, starting with this week:

8/1: Asylum Strength
8/2: One on One Plyocide
8/3: P90X Shoulders & Arms
8/4:  One on One Fountain of Youth Yoga
8/5: One on One Bun Shaper
8/6: Rest  

8/7: Asylum Speed & Agility
8/8:  P90X Chest & Back
8/9: P90X Plyometrics
8/10:  P90X Shoulders & Arms
8/11: MC2 P90X Yoga X
8/12: One on One PAP Lower
8/13:  Rest  

8/14: Asylum Speed & Agility
8/15:  P90X Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps
8/16: Asylum Vertical Plyo
8/17:  One on One Back & Biceps
8/18: One on One Yoga MC2
8/19: Asylum Game Day
8/20: Rest  

(Recovery Week)
8/21: Asylum Relief
8/22: Asylum Back to Core
8/23: P90X Yoga X
8/24: RevAbs Fire up your Abs
8/25: P90X Core Synergistics
8/26: One on One Fountain of Youth
8/27: Rest

This workout schedule is like the ultimate month-long "to-do" list. It feels good every day when we check one off the list! I highly recommend getting a calendar devoted to your workouts, along with a red marker. Write the workouts on your calendar, and when you complete them put a big, fat, red "X" through the day. Your goal should be to have more "Xs" than blank boxes at the end of the month!

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Workout of the Day

One on One: Plyocide

RevAbs is Here!

• 10 Workouts on 8 DVDs
• Two-phase, 90-day workout plan
• Nutrition guide
• Results tracker, including fat caliper and tape measure
• Calendar
• Anytime, anywhere abs workout guide
• Success journal

The calendar we'll follow for the next 90 days.

The thing I like about Beachbody exercise programs is that they are so thorough. You are introduced to the program and the trainer through a guidebook, which also includes space for a journal and a beginning fit test. The guide and calendar tell you exactly what to do, and when. If you follow the guide, the nutrition plan, and the exercise schedule, you will be successful. 

A lot of people like the gym, but my main problem with the gym is that -- unless you work with a personal trainer -- there is a good chance of having an aimless workout. Either you continually gravitate toward one machine and work on it for the time you're there, or you wander around the weight machines waiting and chatting with fellow gym members. Great for the social life, not so great for a workout.

With Beachbody programs, you pay once for access to a great personal trainer who will train you in your living room with minimal equipment and maximum use of your time (generally less than an hour). 

Zach and I have previewed some of the RevAbs workouts, and they look great. I'm really excited to start this weekend. I'll have a better review of the DVDs once we've actually done some of the workouts, but so far I like Brett Hoebel and it looks like a challenging program.

My goal for RevAbs is to strengthen my core/lower back so that I don't keep having lower back episodes that keep me hobbling around like an old lady.

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Workout of the Day

Insanity/Interval Plus Hybrid Workout

5 sets of 4 exercises -- do each set three times and three speeds: easy, medium, and "gang member chasing me down a dark alley." About 38 minutes, 310 calories burned, average heart rate 152

Monday Nutrition Tip of the Week: Protein Pancakes

I bet you thought that eating clean meant that pancakes were gone from your life forever, right?

It's nice to be wrong sometimes.

Zach came across this recipe for protein pancakes a few weeks ago, and we tried them this morning. I was really impressed with how they turned out! I've made my fair share of pseudo-pancakes (see: beet pancakes, pumpkin pancakes, etc.), but these actually a) looked like pancakes, b) had the consistency of pancakes, and c) tasted good enough to be a viable substitute for "real" pancakes.

Zach found the recipe here, but I made some modifications to increase the protein and flavor. The final result was a cross between regular pancakes and cheesy crepes. The egg whites, cottage cheese, and protein powder combine to pack a serious protein punch. First, here's the nutrition lowdown:

Serving size: about 3 large pancakes using a 1/4 cup scoop for the batter
284 calories
2.6 grams fat
38.2 carbs
13.2 grams sugar (includes strawberry and blueberry topping)
25.1 grams protein

And the recipe:


Low-Fat Oatmeal Protein Pancakes with Cottage Cheese

Ingredients

1/2 cup egg whites (4 to 5 egg whites)
1/2 cup oats (I used quick one-minute oats)
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (optional)

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup frozen, warmed berries with their juices as a topping 

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients (except topping) until smooth 
2. Pour approximately 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto heated griddle or non-stick pan (check to see if its hot enough with a splash of water-if it sizzles, its hot enough)
3. When pancake bubbles, flip and cook the other side
4. Top with frozen strawberries warmed and sliced and poured over the top with their juices. Or substitute fresh or frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or bananas. 

My camera and I need to have a "get to know you" session.

 Enjoy these! They're really good.

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RevAbs Challenge

So, what did you decide? Are you up for starting RevAbs with us on April 2? 

Bueller...Bueller...

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Workout of the Day

P90X One on One Volume 3: Plyocide

I Want to Get Something Started

In August, Zach and I will have been doing P90X and its sister programs (P90X Plus, One on One) for three years. Three years! That's a lotta Tony Horton. We like it, it works for us, and we don't want to stop. But like Tony says, variety is the spice of fitness.

We've been admiring Biggest Loser trainer Brett Hoebel's Beachbody workout, RevAbs, for a couple months now. Despite being billed as an abdominal program, my research indicates that this is really a full-body program. Brett's philosophy is that everybody has abs...you just can't see them because of the fat. Hmm. That means you've got to burn it off, and that means cardio.

Here. See for yourself.

I don't know if I've mentioned it here or not, but I don't really like doing abs. I am always the one slacking off while Zach hits the floor for some ab work. And you know how I'm always complaining about my lower back hurting? That's probably because I have weak transverse abdominal muscles -- that's the muscle deep in your core that you can't see -- from never doing abs.

So last night I had a thought. We're all about 12 weeks from swimsuit season. Certainly there are some other people out there who are looking to change up their workout and want to be ready to don a bathing suit in a couple months. What if all those people got the program and started together on April 2?

We'd work out on our own, but meet up on the Smells Like Fitness Facebook page for accountability, to share results, and to see how fit we can get in the two months before June.

I'm using this opportunity to get out of my P90X, Tony Horton, ab-free comfort zone. What comfort zone do you need to bust out of? Maybe you're not doing any workout right now, or maybe you need something new. If so, I want you to join us! Think about it over the weekend, do some research, and then comment on my Facebook page if you're in.

Here's what you get with the program: RevAbs Ordering/Product Info

If you want to start on April 2, you need to order by March 25. So...what will it be? Are you in?

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Workouts of the Day

P90X Legs & Back

Body Gospel Fit Club: Gospel Glory

I had not done P90X Legs & Back in a long time since we've gotten some new leg workouts to incorporate. I was pleasantly surprised at how (almost) easy this was for me this morning. My legs have gotten much stronger in the past six months or so!