2009 November

Nov

P90X Success Story – Suzanne DiTommaso $1,000 winner

By Aaron Potts Posted in Exercise, P90X, Weight Loss / No Comments »

Click here to see my personal P90X 90 Day After Pictures!

Suzanne DiTommaso’s P90X success story, including her P90X before and after pictures. Great job on getting P90X results, Suzanne!

Suzanne DiTommaso Won $1,000 in September 2009

Making her way to the gym about three times a week, Suzanne DiTommaso was never really healthy. She smoked and ate what she wanted. When Suzanne finally quit smoking, the weight came on, as did a pain in her chest caused by acid reflux.

“When you have a lot of weight in your belly and esophagus region, it will cause this reflux. It goes up your throat and up your chest, and it mimics cardiac symptoms.”

Now, on top of feeling unhealthy, run-down, and needing to take acid blockers, her 40th birthday was looming. Suzanne had a family, and she worried about their well-being should something happen to her. The gym membership she was paying for wasn’t working for her or her husband.

“There was something missing in the formula at the gym. We didn’t have anybody to help us. We didn’t have anybody to ask questions. I had seen the P90X infomercial several times, and it looked like something that we could do together.”

They loved that P90X® was a complete plan, with a workout and nutrition guide. Following the guide, Suzanne cleaned out all the junk in their kitchen.

“You’ve got your workouts and your nutrition guide. I think all the time about people who say, ‘Well yeah if I had a celebrity trainer who would tell me how to work out and tell me how to eat then I could look like celebrities too.’ But here you have it all.”

Her biggest obstacle was when she would work out. She had a full-time job and a child. But when she decided to order P90X, she made a commitment, recognizing that if it was going to work, she would have to make some sacrifices. That meant working out at 4:30 AM.

“We got up and did the first workout, and it was a little comical, but we were serious about what we were doing, and we were serious about our commitment to each other and our commitment to the program. I remember it being day three, day four, day five, and thinking, ‘We’re doing this. We can do this.’”

The workout was tough, but by days eight and nine, Suzanne noticed changes in her body. Then she hit day 30.

“I saw an amazing difference in my clothes. By day 90, forget it, I couldn’t wear my clothes. That’s a whole new problem that you might encounter if you do P90X. You’re going to need new clothes, but that’s a good problem to have.”

She needed new clothes, but what she didn’t need was her acid reflux medication. Now, she’s completely free from the pain in her chest and has dropped 15 percent of her body fat. She’s often complimented by people who tell her she looks 10 years younger. Suzanne credits her Beachbody® Coach—Jude Voilles—for much of her success and now considers Jude to be one of her closest friends. For all of Suzanne’s hard work and dedication, she is a $1,000 winner in Beachbody’s August Million Dollar Body Game. Way to go, Suzanne!

Suzanne’s P90X Before and After Photos

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I am a 2-time P90X Graduate and a Certified Personal Trainer. Purchase P90X now and I will Coach you to success through the entire 90-Day program – FREE of charge!

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Nov

P90X Success Story – Ron Spinner $1,000 winner

By Aaron Potts Posted in P90X, Weight Loss / No Comments »

Click here to see my personal P90X 90 Day After Pictures!

Ron Spinner’s P90X success story, including his P90X before and after pictures. Great job on getting P90X results, Ron!

Ron Spinner Won $1,000 in September 2009

A common myth for men is that as they age their metabolism goes down and their weight goes up automatically. Ron Spinner believed that myth, and his body reflected it. His body fat was over 25 percent. He ate anything and everything he wanted.

“Lots of pizza, chicken wings. Drinking beer, watching football games. Lots of laying around, snacking on candy. A lot of carbohydrate foods.”

He was so ashamed of his body that he began to stay indoors more and more—alone. He never really considered exercising, but he did consider spending money on liposuction, to the tune of $10,000.

“Not really being up-to-speed on correct nutrition and an exercise plan that was necessary to keep your body in a good state, I was about to make a very poor decision.”

Then a strange twist of fate would alter Ron’s life. He was digging around the Message Boards of a college Web site he belonged to and was struck by all the chatter about a workout program. That workout was P90X®, and everyone was raving about the great results they were getting.

“The information that I did see on the Message Boards were from real people here in town that I could relate with. . . . All of the feedback that they had were absolutely amazing on par with all of the information on the infomercials.”

He thought surely all those Texas Longhorn fans couldn’t be wrong about P90X, and he ordered it. From the first workout, Ron knew it was for him.

“From day one, I realized this program was for real. . . . This is going to be a worker and if I follow the instructions, this is going to be big-time.”

Besides struggling to change his eating habits, Ron also struggled with when to work out. The hours he worked could be extremely long, sometimes starting at four in the morning and not getting home until seven o’clock at night.

“It was very challenging in the beginning, but what I told myself was I really don’t care how perfect I’m able to do the workouts. I am going to Push Play. I’m going to follow the message that Tony says: ‘Keep Pushing Play; keep coming back.’ The support is out there on the Team Beachbody Web site all over the Message Boards.”

With P90X under his belt, Ron has moved on to P90X Plus. Once that’s completed, he says, he can’t wait to start Shaun T’s insane new workout INSANITY™. He’s lost almost 15 percent of his body fat and became a Beachbody® Coach to help others reach their fitness goals. For all of Ron’s hard work and continued dedication, he is a $1,000 winner in Beachbody’s September Million Dollar Body Game.

Ron’s P90X Before and After Photos

Buy P90X Now!

I am a 2-time P90X Graduate and a Certified Personal Trainer. Purchase P90X now and I will Coach you to success through the entire 90-Day program – FREE of charge!

OR
Become a Beachbody Coach and save 25% off of P90X and all Beachbody products, supplements, and equipment!

Nov

Holiday Weight Loss Survival Info

By Aaron Potts Posted in Weight Loss / No Comments »

Holiday weight loss survival is always a big issue because people expect it to be hard to stay on track with their weight loss efforts during the hectic holiday season.

Holiday weight loss IS possible however, and here is a list of content and resources that will help you stay on track.

Here’s to a 2010 where your weight is less, your fitness level is more, and your confidence to attain your goals in life is unlimited!

Nov

Insanity Before and After Pictures and Fit Test Results

By Aaron Potts Posted in Fitness Programs, Insanity, Weight Loss / 20 Comments »

Wow…I can’t believe it’s finally done! My wife Shanna and I just did our last Insanity workout, and we are officially done with the 60-day program. It was awesome!

Yes, I mean awesome in a “Wow, that is probably the hardest thing that I’ve ever done” kind of way, but awesome nonetheless!

See, that’s the thing with the home workout programs that Beachbody produces – they make you work hard! There is no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to attaining a high level of fitness, or in losing that extra bodyfat. If you want results, ya gotta do the work!

Work is exactly what Shanna and I have been doing for the past 60 days straight, and the results speak for themselves. Check out the Insanity before and after pictures below, and be sure to see the staggering Fit Test results as well.

Not only did we lose a bunch of bodyfat, but we are both in drastically better physical condition than we were when we first started the program. I most definitely recommend that you check out Insanity for yourself, and Shanna and I are both Beachbody Coaches, so we’d be happy to help you every step of the way – no charge!

Also, now that we have jacked up our cardiovascular and muscular endurance to previously unheard of levels, we are going to start a 2nd round of P90X.

Insanity Before and After Pictures Shanna
Click each picture to open a larger version in a new window

Insanity Before and After Pictures Aaron
Click each picture to open a larger version in a new window

Insanity Fit Test Results

Insanity Fit Test Exercise Definitions:

Switch Kicks – standing up straight and alternately kicking each leg out in front as high as you can.
Squat Jacks – jumping jacks, only in Squat Jacks you go down into a full squat at the end of every repetition.
Power Knees – standing up straight with your hands interlaced overhead, and then bringing 1 knee up at an angle across your body as many times as you can.
Power Jumps – down into a full squat and then leaping up into the air as far as you can.
Globe Jumps – one hop back, one hop to the right, one hop forward, and one hop to the left equals 1 repetition.
Suicide Jumps - from a standing position down into a plank position, then back to standing and then leap straight into the air.
Push Up Jacks – regular push ups, only you spread your feet wide apart and then bring them back together on every single repetition
Low Plank Obliques – from a plank position, keep your upper body totally still while alternatively bringing each knee up as close to your shoulders as possible.

Insanity Fit Test Results Shanna

MOVE	DAY 1	Day 60
Switch Kicks	72	150
Squat Jacks	30	66
Power Knees	60	116
Power Jumps	22	56
Globe Jumps	7	12
Suicide Jumps	12	22
Push Up Jacks	16	50
Low Plank Obliques	28	75

Insanity Fit Test Results Aaron

MOVE	DAY 1	Day 60
Switch Kicks	110	145
Squat Jacks	31	69
Power Knees	49	94
Power Jumps	25	41
Globe Jumps	6	13
Suicide Jumps	11	19
Push Up Jacks	22	42
Low Plank Obliques	28	67

As you can see in Shanna’s case as well as my own, most of the Fit Test results were as much as TWICE what we started with, and often times even more than that. I can’t emphasize enough how much your cardiovascular and muscular endurance gets enhanced by doing Insanity!

Conclusion

What can I say? Insanity rocks! It’s hard, and it will push you up to and then over any limits that you previously had, but that’s okay, because that is where the results are!

Shanna and I learned a lot about how to get the most out of the program, and we would be happy to share that information with anyone who is interested in getting some great results from Insanity.

If we would have known at the beginning what we know now, our results would have been even better than the great results that you just saw and read about.

If we do Insanity again in the future, we will certainly apply what we learned, and in the meantime, we are going to do P90X instead! We kick off on November 16th, so if you want to come along with us and get some GREAT results, we’d love to give you some free help along the way.

Grab your own copy of Insanity, or check out the P90X page for more info on that awesome program. Either way, ACT NOW to make the coming year your best health and fitness year ever!

Nov

Review of Insanity – Max Interval Plyo

By Aaron Potts Posted in Cardiovascular Training, Exercise, Fitness Programs, Insanity, Interval Training, Plyometric Exercises, Weight Loss / No Comments »

Save 25% or even 50% off of Insanity by clicking right here!

Insanity Before and After Pictures and Fit Test Results

In this on-going review of Insanity blog series, the truth behind the Insanity 60-day weight loss program is revealed with a play-by-play description of what the program is really like – and more importantly – if Insanity really works!

The Insanity Max Interval Plyo workout is a combination of hardcore cardiovascular training, resistance exercises, and, of course, plyometrics. Done properly, this workout hits you hard, and it keeps you directly on track for great results.

Insanity – Max Interval PlyoThe Max Interval Plyo routine is made up of two full interval sets, as well as one final set at the end of the workout that is shorter than the other two sets. Considering the raw intensity and challenge-level of the exercises in the first two interval sets, however, having that shorter set at the end of the workout does not in ANY way detract from the effectiveness of this routine.

Circuit #1

Each of the first two interval circuits in the Max Interval Plyo video contain 4 exercises that are done for 45 seconds each without a break, and then you get a 30-second break after doing all 4 exercises back to back. That 4 exercise/30-second break series is repeated three times during the circuit, and then a “bonus” exercise follows the third series, and it is done for 1 minute.

In the first circuit, you use your legs – especially your quadriceps (top of the legs) – during every single exercise. Most of the exercises include at least a squatting movement of some kind, if not a leap into the air as well.

If you’ve never done that type of plyometric training, the bottom line is that it is REALLY intense, it cranks your heart rate up quickly, and then keeps it there. That type of intensity really gets the job done when it comes to weight loss and cardiovascular fitness, however, so it is worth the effort.

Circuit #2

The consistently high heart rate continues during the second circuit, although the upper body is hit quite a bit harder in Circuit #2 than in Circuit #1. There are two push up exercises in Circuit #2 that will push the limits on anyone’s ability to keep going, even if they are really good at push ups.

Again, however, don’t let the intensity of it all scare you off. The RESULTS that people are looking for from Insanity come because of these types of high-tempo, high-intensity exercises. No one loses weight by kicking back and doing workouts that don’t challenge whatever their personal level of fitness is.

However, that being said, even during a program as challenging as Insanity, the responsibility to exercise at a proper level of intensity falls to each individual person. Anyone is capable of over-doing it or under-doing it, regardless of what the people in the exercise video are doing.

Get with your Beachbody Coach for some free advice if you’re not sure what to do.

Circuit #3

The final circuit in the Max Interval Plyo workout is a combination of 4 exercises that you only do one time. There are 2 exercises that are more geared towards muscular training, and 2 that are primarily going to keep your heart rate up in the fat-burning zone.

One cool thing about this circuit is that the first exercise is going to be brand-new to most people, so Shaun T takes a full minute or so to explain it. During that time you get to catch your breath, which – up to this point – you haven’t been able to do during the entire workout!

Conclusion

The Max Interval Plyo workout is basically “intensity personified”. It’s hard, it’s intense, and it pulls no punches. You are expected to work hard, and the layout of the routine gives you plenty of opportunity to put your money where you mouth is if you think you are in pretty good shape.

As with all of the Insanity workouts, you could slack off if you really wanted to, and no one would know but you. On the other hand, you could DIG DEEPER, as Shaun T is fond of saying, and you will see some amazing weight loss and physical fitness results.

Buy Insanity Now!