On this day in history - Burger King introduces the left-handed Whopper

Great workout today, PlyoX. I really like that one. Heck, I like ALL the workouts. All of my mystery ailments have cured themselves except for one. The butt pain. I really modified Plyo today in order to take it easy on my left glute. I'm sitting in a different chair today too in hopes that it too may make a difference. Because it hurts most when I'm sitting. If it does not start to get better soon I fear I will have to see the doc.

Last night I joined a chat session on TeamBeachBody.com. The speaker was non other than Tony Horton himself. He holds these chats about twice a month. It was more like a one way stream of info coming from him than it was a give and take chat session. However, it was great. He went on about 4 rants. One was about the importance of exercise and how it's been proven to cure and prevent so many ills. The second was about how exercise effects the brain. He sited studies and programs such "Zero Hour" that started in Naperville, IL. The latest in a long line of educational experiments conducted by a group of maverick physical education teachers who have turned the nineteen thousand students in Naperville District 203 into the fittest in the nation—and also some of the smartest.

"The notion that it (exercise) might (make kids smarter) is supported by emerging research showing that physical activity sparks biological changes that encourage brain cells to bind to one another. For the brain to learn, these connections must be made; they reflect the brain's fundamental ability to adapt to challenges. The more neuroscientists discover about this process, the clearer it becomes that exercise provides an unparalleled stimulus, creating an environment in which the brain is ready, willing, and able to learn. Aerobic activity has a dramatic effect on adaptation, regulating systems that might be out of balance and optimizing those that are not—it's an indispensable tool for anyone who wants to reach his or her full potential."

During that rant he also went on about a great book he just read. The book is Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, and the above quote is from a sample chapter of the book. Great stuff. The Author is John Ratey MD. I think I'll order this book.

Another topic he went on about was in answer to a couple of people in the chat room that were asking if P90X was right for them. He wrote that the intended audience of P90X was people in pretty good shape that had hit a plateau in their workouts. Or that their trainers were just not getting the job done for them. Or for P90 grads who wanted to take it to the next level. It turned out that not only were people from the intended audience buying the program, but so were people who had a significant amount of weight to lose. And of the later, there were two groups (for the most part). Group 1 tried the workouts and thought that they were too hard so they either returned them or bought P90 and did that before returning to P90X. Or, they just did the best that they could and kept trying and made fantastic gains. P90X is for that second group. You should be in decent shape, yes. But more importantly is that you "do your best and forget the rest." Forget about what others are doing, preconceived notions you may have about exercise, etc. Just do it. Just move. If you move you will feel better. And you will be fitter than you were yesterday.

Which brings us to the last rant of his. I really enjoyed this one. It is this. Calories, pounds, body fat %, reps, inches, YADDA, YADDA, YADDA. It means NOTHING. If it were all about you, and it is, all that would matter is how YOU feel. How YOU feel you look, feel in your clothes, whether or not you feel fit and healthy. That's all that matters. Do your best and forget the rest (one of Tony's oft spoken quotes) means to not worry about how many reps the guy next to you is doing. Clear your head of all the garbage and do YOUR best. Just keep Bringing It and you WILL feel better. That's all that matters. There may be some of the P90X exercises that you can't even do one rep of. Keep trying. You WILL be able to do 2 someday. And then 3, and so on. His message was to just keep trying. Don't quit.

Loooong post I know. I can't even do justice to some of what Tony chatted about. I know that I enjoyed the chat session and got a lot out of it. I'm pretty sure that I'll tune in for the next one too.

And finally, I think that I am realizing that this is not a 90 day thing. This is a long term thing. I'm willing to do this 90 day routine 3 or four times before I move on. I know that each time I do it that I will be stronger and healthier. If it were marketed as P180 or P365 I think that I would have still tried it. Some people need the enticement of a relatively quick fix. Hence the P90X. I am a realist and know that some things take longer.

Till next time... Bring It!