What Do I Think About Tai Chi?
I always associated Beachbody workouts with losing weight, getting fit, and bringing out the inner athlete in all of us. When I thought about Tai Chi, I thought about those skinny sliver haired women in the park moving slowly together like synchronized swimmers on land. Now, I appreciate the fluidity of movement, strength, balance, flexibility and mental focus. I appreciate Tai Chi’s martial arts and self-defense background. I appreciate Beachbody for introducing me to Dr. Mark Cheng and his Tai Cheng program.
While there are many forms of Tai Chi and several movements, Dr. Cheng brings together 18 basic movements to introduce you to the practice of Tai Chi. Unlike other fitness programs, you won’t have to learn a lot of moves or choreography all at once.
Tai Cheng starts with learning one move per day for six days. In the next week, you learn how to put two moves together each day you work out. In the third week, you practice putting together the six Tai Chi movements you’ve learned into a single sequence.
Then, you begin to learn new moves in subsequent days until you’re moving through all 18 Tai Chi poses with strength and poise. It’s quite amazing how you feel as you start to transition from a learning mind and uncertainty to focused and fluid Tai Chi movement.
I bought the Tai Cheng program because I secretly wanted to try Tai Chi, but you never would’ve found me in a group of other people trying this art…especially if it was outside for everyone to see! I thought maybe Tai Chi would be a good weekend workout for when I just wanted to chill out or a workout to do when I was feeling under the weather. You know what? I got my socks knocked off! I actually look forward to doing Tai Cheng!
I’ve found that during the Tai Chi movements, stress melts away. My mind becomes so focused that I feel incredibly productive once I’ve finished my workout. I feel so relaxed after a workout that I feel like I’ve just spent an hour in my massage chair. I don’t feel any stress in my neck, shoulders, or back.
And you know what else surprised me about Tai Chi? It really does work on your strength and balance. I was totally surprised to have muscle aches in my hip flexors, back, butt, and shoulders. You might react differently, but those were my weaker muscles apparently.
You’ll see me writing more about Dr. Cheng’s program. I’ll get to meet him in June at the Beachbody Summit in Las Vegas. I can hardly wait to do a group workout with him and a few hundred other Tai Chi fans. He made Tai Chi understandable and fun for the new learner like me!
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Is Turbofire Too Hard? New Fire Starter Low Impact HIIT Workouts Are On Ramp for Results
Is Turbofire too hard for you because of the high impact exercises? If the high intensity interval training (HIIT) routines are just too much for you right now or you need to lighten up on your joints for a while, you’ll be pleased to know Chalene Johnson and Beachbody have your back…and hips, knees, and ankles. Two new low impact HIIT dvds will be released on April 4, 2012.
The two new workouts will be sold separately from the base Turbofire package and will be available in your Team Beachbody store. The new workouts are low impact. Chalene put together some completely new choreography to keep these HIIT workouts low impact. One of the dvds is 20 minutes in length while the other one is 25 minutes.
The new Turbofire workouts are called Fire Starter. The name seems somehow appropriate considering they can be used as an “on ramp” to the longer and more difficult 45-60 minutes workouts. Fire Starter will be good for anyone new to Turbofire or who has injuries or fitness limitations. They’re a good place to begin according to Chalene.
If you’re not new to Turbofire, you’ll enjoy the variety that these low impact high intensity interval training routines will add to your library. Let’s face it, some days you just don’t feel like jumping high on those high lows.
Speaking of Turbofire, Chalene’s program has become the number one selling Beachbody Challenge Pack. What is a Challenge Pack? It’s a way to combine a fitness program, nutrition plan and accountability while saving money.
You can check out all the Challenge Packs in your Team Beachbody store. The Turbofire Challenge Pack is $205 and includes the Turbofire program (reg $119.85), a 30 day supply of Shakeology on Home Direct (reg $119.95), 30 days of Club Membership, Free Shipping (shipping varies, but you this could save you around $20), coach support and online accountability.
I included the prices of Turbofire and Shakeology just so you can see the incredible savings of almost $60 just by getting these two items in a Challenge Pack plus, you get the club membership which gives you a 10% on all purchases while you’re a club member.
One more thing about Challenge Packs – if you’ve ever thought about becoming a coach like me, you can sign up with the purchase of a Challenge Pack and your coach sign up fee will be waived. That’s another savings of almost $40. Becoming a coach allows you to earn commissions and bonuses on Beachbody’s popular products plus get a 25% discount on anything you purchase as a coach. (Learn more about the Beachbody business.)
I get excited about those Challenge Packs, but back to the original announcement. You’ll be able to find the Fire Starter low impact HIIT Turbofire workout dvds in your Team Beachbody store on April 4th, 2012. You want Turbofire results? You now have an on-ramp to get those Turbofire results without high impact HIITs.
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Inspiring Success Story From ChaLean Extreme
Check out this video to see some inspiring results from the ChaLean Extreme in home fitness program. ChaLean Extreme is one of my favorite Beachbody workouts.
P90X Core Synergistics Workout vs. X2 Core Exercise Routine in P90X2
I just started my fourth week of Phase I with Tony Horton’s recently released P90X2. I love this program. It is similar to P90X but totally different. Tony says it’s not P90 X harder but P90X different. I’m starting to understand what he meant. A comparison of the P90X Core Synergistics workout and the X2 Core routine from P90X2 will give you a good feel for what he means.
This is a corathon!
— Tony Horton on X2 Core
I had a little anxiety when my P90X2 first arrived. I was used to the P90X routine and wondered how different P90X2 would be from the original P90X program. I had a feeling it would add variety to my workouts though because I had done several of his P90X One on One workouts. So, I opened up my box and the first workout on the P90X2 schedule was X2 Core.
I thought this was a little odd since the Core Synergistics workout wasn’t on the schedule until week 4 in P90X. And that P90X core workout was presented more as a recovery workout. Alas, I was starting P90X2 with a core routine? I soon learned that there were similarities and differences between the two core exercise workouts. I love the X2 Core routine more each time I do it.
There isn’t much of anything wimpy about P90X unless you compare the P90X Core Synergistics workout warm up to the warm up for X2 Core. In Core Synergistics, you run in place, do a few jumping jacks, a few lunges, and some static stretches. The warm up for X2 Core is a workout in and of itself. It takes up about half the workout time. I’m not complaining because the warm up is more like stretching, strength training, yoga and massage combined. And, just when you’re looking at the timer wondering where the time has gone, it’s time to get busy.
Both of these programs have about the same number of core exercises (excluding the warm up and cool down periods). The biggest difference is the X2 program forces you to use more of those tiny little stabilizer muscles in your core muscles. Core Synergistics was a recovery workout, a workout you do when you need to give your body a little bit of a rest. X2 Core is a core routine with 18 challenging core exercises. It builds on some of the Core Synergistics exercises and adds a some new moves.
For example, the Banana Roll from P90X is modified into the Banana Ball Switch Crunch in X2 Core. There isn’t a “superman” to go with the banana, but just see how many times you can tranfer a medicine ball from your feet to your hands and back while crunching in the banana position. Add a medicine ball to the Dreya Roll from P90X and you’ve got the Med Ball Dreya Roll.
There are plenty of new core exercises in X2 that challenge your strength and balance. Sphinx Plank Crunch and Warrior 3 Cross Crunches start the line up. I’m getting better at all 18 core exercises, but the one that still perplexes me is the Plank Burpee On Stability Ball. Yep, I’ve got to modify this one. Take a look at this trailer for X2 Core:
Warrior 3 Cross Crunch
Single Leg Walk Out to Sphinx
Half Angel
Roller Boat
3 Speed Med Ball Push Up
One Leg Lateral Leap Squat
Core Circles
Holmsmen Screamer Lunge
Med Ball Dreya Roll
Plank Burpee On Stability Ball
Banana Ball Swich Crunch
3 Point Squat Press with Med Ball
Slo Mo Balance Climber
X2 Diver
Ryan Sphinx Twist Crunch (2 sides)
One Leg Med Ball Burpee
Doesn’t that make you tired just reading about it? Really, I have so much more energy after I complete this workout. Although there are similarities between the two workouts, I can see why it is the first workout in the P90X2 lineup. It is definitely not a recovery workout. So, is it harder? No, it’s different. The P90X Core Synergistics workout is different from the stability, med ball, sphinx centered core stability engaging P90X2 X2 Core routine!
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P90X2 Schedule, Exercise and Fitness Guide
The P90X2 fitness and exercise guide helps schedule the three phases of the program. It also discusses the fit test, nutrition, supplements and equipment. But, let’s start by talking about the warning and quickstart guide.
Open up the P90X2 fitness guide and the first page you’ll see is actually a warning! It’s a reminder that P90X2 is an extreme, high intensity, and physically demanding exercise program. It reminds you that you are in charge of your safety and fitness as well as a few other suggestions like it’s not a good idea to do P90X2 if you have a history of knee, ankle, shoulder, wrist or spinal problems or injuries. The warnings actually fill a full page.
If you feel ready for P90X2 after reading the warning page, you’ll find the quickstart guide and a welcome letter from Beachbody’s CEO in the next few pages. The quickstart guide is simple:
- Visit your Team Beachbody account to download your free P90X2 worksheets, and link to the P90X2 message boards and chats.
Sign up for your free Team Beachbody account. By signing up here, you’ll also get me as your Beachbody Coach to help you through your P90X2 program.
- Watch the “How To Bring It Again” dvd. Curious about what’s on the How To Bring It Again dvd?
- Make sure you have all the equipment and supplements you need to support your P90X2 program.
- Workout in the WOWY Supergym for a chance to win prizes.
The last note in quickstart guide encourages you to fully read both the P90X2 Nutrition Guide and P90X2 Fitness Guide to maximize results. I personally believe that following all of these steps is critical to your success.
Like the P90X Fitness Guide, you’re going to have a fit test. The good news for anyone that’s done P90X is it is the same fit test used for P90X. You’ll still want to take pictures, measurements and your weight as well as your current performance on the P90X2 fit test. This sets your starting point and helps you set, meet, and even surpass your goals!
The P90X2 Fitness Guide is unbelievably beautiful. I know that’s a strange thing to say, but when you see some of the pictures in the guide, you’ll be amazed. The poses are remarkably athletic. You’ll see the strength of the person photographed in each picture.
Going back to the P90X Fitness Guide, you might remember that the guide could easily be used along with the workout or without the dvd while traveling. The P90X2 Fitness Guide doesn’t give us this luxury. It does not have a breakout of each exercise in a workout. You’ll have to play the dvd in order to do a P90X2 workout.
In addition to the individual exercises not being listed, the workout lengths are also not listed. I didn’t realize that I’d actually be looking for that. We know that the P90X Yoga X workout is 92 minutes. I had heard that the P90X2 Yoga X2 was only about an hour. I couldn’t find that information in the P90X2 Fitness Guide. To get workout times, I’ll have to press play and then, record them somewhere in my journals.
Another difference between the P90X Fitness Guide and the P90X2 Fitness Guide is the timing of exercise phases. With P90X, everyone changed phases every 30 days. P90X2 also has three phases in the exercise schedule, but each phase lasts from 3-6 weeks depending on the comfort level of the participant. You are more in control of how you progress through the phases based on your assessment of your current fitness level. Remember, P90X2 assumes you have some level of fitness, athleticism going in.
Nutrition and supplementation are also briefly mentioned in the P90X Fitness Guide; however, the P90X Nutrition Guide covers these topics in more depth. And finally, the guide goes over the equipment required or recommended for use in P90X2. We won’t go into depth on the equipment in this post!
The P90X2 fitness and exercise guide will help get you on schedule with the three phases of the program. It will help you get the most out of your program with the quickstart guide, fit test, nutrition, supplements and equipment recommendations. The P90X2 Fitness Guide will help you understand and implement the theories of functionality, instability, and why form is king.
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