Fitness Your Way

Your Body is a Temple: Body Gospel Live

I’ve completed all the Body Gospel workouts, and I must say that this program is unique from other Beachbody workouts. Yes, it’s unique in the fact that the trainer uses gospel music and creates “christian exercise” to support fitness for christians. It’s unique in the fact that the prayer and scripture are part of your daily journaling. Aside from the things that bring together faith and fitness, Body Gospel is slightly different in another way.

Most of the Body Gospel workouts can be done by beginners. They can be done by people who are overweight and out of breath. The basic movements are marching and grapevine moves. Yes, Donna Richardson has you doing other things, but I think the key to the program is she keeps you moving.

Donna keeps you moving and reminds you that your body is a temple. She quotes scripture to motivate and lift you up. My favorite workout in the series is Body Gospel Live. This is a bonus workout that comes with the program. The christian music in this workout is performed by a choir standing behind the workout area. It makes you feel like you’re there.

Body Gospel Live is just over thirty minutes. It is non-stop. I sweated up a storm, but I never felt tired. You can increase or lower your intensity whenever you need it. You can just march in place until you catch your breath. The music will keep you going. Lifting your arms above your head in a gesture of praise gives you renewed energy.

We usually see the low side of christian health. The side where our family gathers to pray in desparation for the healing of a loved one’s health. Your body is a temple, one that your are responsible for maintaining. This means your are responsible for exercising, managing your weight, and eating nourishing foods. The ways of the world may teach bad habits, but programs like Body Gospel can help us learn new habits.

Donna even burned a walking CD to give you some variety. You can use it on a treadmill or take your exercising and praise session outside. Body Gospel is a 30 day program. You can do anything for 30 days. Once you complete the program, you can do it again or combine it with other programs. I have a feeling you’ll keep going back to the Body Gospel Live workout though. It’s uplifting.

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Beachbody Workout Review of Body Revival from Body Gospel

I just completed the Body Revival cardio workout from Donna Joyner’s Body Gospel program. It is just over 30 minutes in length and is suitable for beginners as well as those who have been working out for a while. What makes this Beachbody workout different from any other of the Beachbody Workout programs is the incorporation of prayer, scripture, and praise.

The exercise moves are not hard to complete, but Donna does keep you moving. I did not feel like I worked really hard, but I worked up a decent sweat. I think the music helps distract you from the actual exericses.

As with any Beachbody home dvd program, you have to listen to your body. If you need to get a drink, get one. If you need to stop and rest, do it. If you need to modify the exercise, there is no shame in that. We are not in competition with anyone but ourselves. What I mean by that is we are pushing ourselves for improvement by listening to the limits and capabilities of our bodies.

The hardest part of the Body Revival workout for me was the series of lunges that we did in the latter half of the workout. I have to constantly remind myself not to extend my knee past my ankle. That was difficult for me as we did several lunges without mush time between them. I had to slow down a few times just to make sure my form was good.

The best part about this workout is the moves are simple. If you cannot quite get a move down initially, all you have to do is keep moving. You will be on to the next exercise in a short time. If you can march and raise your hands in the air, you can probably do Body Revival.

Body Gospel uses a daily journal to track your goals. Each day includes a passage of scripture and an inspirational thought. It also has a checklist for marking off the completion of three things: doing your workout, following the nutrition guide, and praying to God to sustain you on your journey to a healthier body and soul.

Those who have struggled with their weight, who have struggled with their eating patterns, who have struggled with the desire or ability to exercise regularly…might benefit from a program that combines faith with fitness. If you relate to the struggles of diet, exercise, and weight control, let me leave you with the scripture reading for day 1 of Body Gospel:

“For I the Lord your God will hold your right hand, saying to you, Fear not; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13

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If P90X Yoga X is Too Hard, Try This

It has been almost two years since I posted P90X Yoga X Storm Calm, and I still struggle with the second half of this classic power yoga workout from P90X. If you are struggling with P90X Yoga, I would like to make three suggestions.

First, let me mention the obvious. Listen to Tony!! “Do your best, and forget the rest”. What he means is do what you can. Push yourself, but don’t beat up on yourself if you can’t do all of it or if you can’t do every exercise perfectly. P90X was designed to be challenging.

P90X yoga was not designed to breeze through and brag about. It is supposed to make you stronger, leaner, more flexible…and maybe just a little more disciplined and balanced. I sweat and burn calories when I do this workout. If you want yoga for weight loss, this is the program. Do what you can and do a little more the next time.

Ok, so maybe 92 minutes of Tony Horton style power yoga is too overwhelming. I know some people just absolutely hate it because every bit of Yoga X is hard and brutal. For these people, I recommend trying Tony Horton’s One on One, Vol II Patience Hummingbird. This is power yoga dvd from Tony that is challenging but not as challenging as P90X Yoga X.

Patience Hummingbird is about 30 minutes long. Use this shorter and less intense power yoga workout until you are ready to jump into P90X Yoga X. When you work up to trying Yoga X again, just do the first half. When you are comfortable with that, begin adding a little more until you are doing the complete 92 minute workout.

My third suggestion is for those who need something even a little less intense. Tony Horton produced a yoga workout in Hawaii called Ho Ala ke Kino in 2002. It is a 30 minute stretching and yoga routine. Yes, it is still power yoga, but it will help you build up to the harder stuff. The first half of the workout is primarily stretching and warming up. The last half is a sequence of exercises consisting of a push up, upward facing dog, another push up, downward facing dog, leg in the air, Warrior I, Warrior 2 and Triangle pose.

There is nothing crazy like Table pose or Half Moon. This dvd is worth trying out to work up to P90X Yoga X or giving to someone you love to get them interested in doing yoga with you.

Whatever you do, always push yourself for just a little improvement. Compete against yourself and no one else. Do your best…and forget the rest. Master P90X Yoga X one breath at a time.

Turbo Fire Gives Me Energy

Since starting our fit club two months ago, I have been doing a variety of Beachbody workouts from P90X, Turbo Fire, Chalean Extreme, Hip Hop Abs, Brazil Butt Lift, and RevAbs. We sample a different workout each week. At home, Rev Abs has been the program of choice for the last couple of months. But…I missed Turbofire, so I did the Fire 45 last night and the HIIT 15 this morning. There’s nothing like a Turbo Fire cardio workout!

Because I hadn’t done Turbofire consistently in a while, I was concerned that the workouts would be too much for me. I thought about starting with the HIIT 15. You know, start with the shortest workout. Well, I told myself that was just an excuse. I decided to do the Fire 45 last night and would follow it this morning with a HIIT 15.

I’ve got to tell you that the Fire 45 felt like it went much faster than 45 minutes. That is one of the things I love about the Turbofire program. The exercises are done in a short series which are then repeated. Music and sound affects are playing in the background and you feel like other people are there working out with you becaus of the camera set up. Time passes quickly because you’re having fun!

When you feel like you want to give up, you realize that you only have a few more little things to do before you get some relief. You see other people in the class keep moving, and it makes you want to keep moving too.

I have mirrors in my workout room. They do two things for me. First, I look in the mirror and see my progress. That makes me want to give my best. I also see areas where I still need improvement. That also makes me want to give my best. The other thing I see is that I am by no means perfect in my exercise moves. That’s ok. As long as I am competing against my personal best and moving. Everything gets easier with time.

I followed through with my plan to do HIIT 15 this morning before work, too. I am not a person who likes to get up in the morning and workout right away. I feel like I have a little more energy this morning to start my day because I did workout.

I believe I will keep this routine of a short workout in the morning. I cannot do a Turbofire HIIT workout each morning, but I can mix in ab workouts like Merciless Abs from Rev Abs or Ab Ripper X from P90X. I could even do some 10 Minute Trainer. It sure was good getting back to my TurboFire though. Chalene Johnson rocks!

Can you tell I like writing Turbofire reviews? I like writing workout reviews period if they’re Beachbody workouts. If you want to read more of my reviews, click on Beachbody Workouts or search for Turbofire reviews in the search bar above.

Rev It Up Cardio Delivers Burn and Sweat

Brett Hoebel’s Rev It Up Cardio from Rev Abs works up a good sweat and brings a good burn in my legs and booty everytime I do it. It is my favorite Rev Abs workout but be prepared to do a lot of jumping jacks. I still haven’t figured out if the jumping jacks are for a working rest period or a warm up to go through another series of cardio exercises.

Rev It Up Cardio incorporates traditional exercises like jumping jacks and squats with kicks and Capoeira moves. The first time I tried any Capoeira exercises was in Chalene Johnson’s Turbo Jam. Chalene made the moves fun and more of a stretching out or flexibility routine than cardio.

The next time I did Capoeira moves was in Brazil Butt Lift. I was not particularly fond of Brazil Butt Lift because I felt like a fish out of water. The Capoeira exercises did not come naturally for me. What I have found in Rev It Up Cardio though is Brett changed my views of Capoeira.

He does the move and directs you through it. The choreography and trainer made all the difference for me. I love doing this workout. Not only do I get a great cardio workout, but I also get a lot of work on my legs, butt, and abdominal muscles.

The Rev Abs programconsists of ten workouts on eight dvds, the RevAbs guide which has training tips and motivation from Brett, a nutrition guide to help you fuel your body while losing fat, and an awesome RevAbs calendar. The calendar showcases Brett’s rock hard abs. I have mine haning in my workout room for inspiration to push myself and stay consistent.

The 90 day cardio program also comes with an Anytime, Anywhere Abs guide chart, a body fat caliper, 24 hour online support and a 30 day money back guarantee. If you order from this website, you will also get me as your Team Beachbody Coach to help motivate and support you in the achievement of your fitness goals.

Brett joined popular Biggest Loser series this year as a trainer. You can get him as a trainer in your home for less than you would pay for a gym membership. Call up your sister or a friend and invite them over for a Rev Abs workout or exercise by yourself in the privacy of your own home. Get ready to lose weight, boost your metabolism, shrink inches, and improve your fitness.