The Foundation that Horton Built

The Foundation that Horton Built

I've done it. There is no looking back or regretting my decision. I've .... moved away from P90X. Good lord, that was a tough one to write. After doing P90X and fully embracing (some say I'm an addict, I disagree completely) Tony Horton's philosophy, I am moving onto a new program from Beachbody - Les Mills Pump. This is something I didn't see coming at all. I thought about buying P90X2 and progressing on with Tony's newest adventure. However, I was just sold on the videos and what I was reading about LMP online. Even "talking" to some who are in the midst of doing their first tour of duty with LMP was extremely motivating and getting me hyped to check it out. So here I am today, P90X free and jumping head first into a new program with ambition, drive, tenacity and high expectations!

In all honesty though, P90X will always be with me. The ground work, the foundation was laid with P90X. I have a very concrete foundation to build my tomorrow on. It's rock solid, won't budge, crack, or be broken by anything. The mindset of "I presently struggle with" has been with me from day one of P90X and will always forever be with me. That philosophy has been applied to so many areas (and needs to be applied to still more) of my life that it probably should be tattooed onto my back! It's that very philosophy which will be part of my Les Mills Pump foundation going foward. I plan (and already have) to attack Les Mills Pump with the same tenacity and intensity that I did P90X. Just cause the pay loads (amount of weight lifted) are currently lighter, doesn't mean I'm taking it easier folks. It means more repetitions ... many, many more repetitions!

I'm just completing my first full week and I'm loving it. The "Rep Effect" is very similiar to Tony Horton's 10-12. If you lift heavy loads at 8-10 reps, you're building bulk while lighter loads at 10-12 will give you a more toned look. Well, instead of doing 10-12 reps, you're doing upwards of +500 reps per workout! Yeah, that is pretty nuts! Craziness ensues dude and that "muscle fatigue" really sets in multiple times during each workout. But that is where the money is people, the muscle fatigue. The last one reps got to hurt n' burn cause that is when the most change is happening with your body. Plain and simple, you need to feel intense burn to make change. And trust me, you feel it many, many times during a LMP workout! But the music, trainers (Petter, Asa, Susan, Rachel, Jericho, The Bens, Joel, etc) and the crowd keep you motivated to push for more!

Ladies and gentlemen ... I am not a P90X addict. I am a Beachbody addict and damn proud of it.

At Arm's Length with the Real You

How many people do really know? In this age of social and digital media, our "world" has expanded exponentially. We can blog, post, tweet, Facebook, and rant to an entire social network that wasn't within our reach fifteen years ago. Now, all we have to do is push "send" and our thoughts can reach others half a world away. For better or worse, this is the world we live in today. But I ask you, how many people do you really know? How many of those Facebook friends have celebrated a birthday with you? Been there to rescue you in an hour of need? Or helped celebrate a moment of triumph? Can you really call all those people "friends"?

Yes, our society has gone digital, sometimes too digital, but the old fashioned way of communication is still in play: face-to-face conversation. We still need to have human contact, that human element to life. We cannot live in a digital plane and hide from people. That isn't a realistic possibility. Ours is a world of facial expressions, body language, hand gestures, stuttering, and stammering that cannot be duplicated by smiley faces or hearts. 

So, I ask again, how many people do you know? Do they really know the "real" you? Your fears, hopes, dreams, and nightmares? How about your aspirations? Your defeats? Do they know the simple surface things? What is your favorite color? The food you can't stand to even smell? Guilty pleasure? Or the place you feel the safest? I'm pretty sure they don't. But those real friends, the ones who you grew up with, know every little detail about you. Or those who you met in college, the ones who helped you figure out what to do in the "real" world. And your co-workers whom you may see more than family. How much do they know about you? Or do you keep them at arms length because you're there "just to get the job done not make friends"?

The reason I bring this up is very simple. How many of us actually really let others into our lives? Do we let even our closest friends/family see a glimpse of who we are? There are very few of us that walk this earth that have been completely vulnerable ... at the mercy of the opinions of those we call friend. We are all very comfortable with the surface stuff. It's when we dig a bit deeper that it gets complicated? But really, is asking someone how their family is doing or what their hopes/dreams are, is that really digging too deep? How many of us know the passions of our co-workers are outside of work? Do we even know where they're originally from? Or if they hold a Masters degree in English? I can safely say that I don't.

We all need to make a better effort in knowing those around us. I'm not saying we have to know every little hope or dream, but we need to make an effort to know more about those around us. And we all also have to make more of an effort to open up our lives to those who may inquire. That conversation about music could evolve into a lifelong friendship. Discussing one's passion for rescuing pets could lead to fulfilling role as an animal shelter volunteer. We don't need to be so guarded with our lives. Yes privacy is important, but only to a certain degree. We don't need to have everyone at arm's length. Instead we should be trying to learn about all we can in many ways.

We should be celebrating every one's life now, when we're here. Life is not but a journey, but it's a journey that should be celebrated each and every single day with the sounds of joy and laughter. We need to celebrate our friends and family while we have them close to our hearts here on this earth.

RIP Karon Wendt ... this should have been written a long time ago. I thank you for your generosity, kind words, and sharp tongue. You have been missed and will continue to be missed by many. I only wish those words of kindness could have been shared with you while you were here with us. I miss hearing your laughter and seeing your smile at work each day. Rest in Peace .....

Andre the Giant, Hannibal and ... Insanity!?!

“The A-Team is proud to help diminish the rampant violence so prevalent in society today.”


To say that Insanity is hard would be a vast understatement. It would be akin to saying that Andre the Giant was only an average sized man. Every single infomercial, every advertisement and every person who has ever tried Insanity knows that its completely nuts, hence the name Insanity. From the very first day, which is a not so easy fit test, Shaun T does what exactly what he promises .... pushes you harder than you've ever been pushed before. But he also encourges, motivates, and instructs with the best of 'em. He doesn't want to break you, but he does want to see you become healthier and stronger.

I made the clossal mistake of thinking that if I could make it through Tony Horton's version of plyometrics in P90X, I could handle Shaun T's version of cardio. Sweet lord, I'll be the first to admit that I was ... dead wrong in every single aspect. My legs, back, knees, and abs were (and still are) hurting. Dude just doesn't let up. Within 20 minutes of starting Plyo Cardio Circuit, I was begging for mercy! I swear that I was within an inch of death ... maybe closer. I don't know about anyone else, but the first time I went thru that routine, I threw up. And I'll tell ya what, those pre-workout supplements taste horrible coming up!

Tonight was attempt #2 at Plyo Cardio Circuit. I had to take less breaks and got farther. I'm baby stepping this program. From week #1, I've still got sore joints and some mild to searing pain in my right foot. Bought new shoes (dude, the last time I bought running/cross trainers was way back in 1997 and shoes have changed dramatically) this past weekend. The new shoes are pretty slick and have helped some, but the pain in my right foot (arch area near the side of the foot) bothers me enough where the higher impact exercises cause me to slow it down. I'm Minnesota stubborn enough to keep pushing but I've also decided to scale Insanity back a touch. Not saying I'm quitting (see big bold word starting with the letter "s" above), instead, I'm going to incorporate parts of Insanity into my P90X routine.

Going forward, I want to alternate days between P90X and Insanity so I get both the intense resistance and intense cardio all during the same week. I'm in the middle of creating a workout routine that will consist of 4 week blocks (4th week will be recover) that vary. One thing I've learned is that muscle confusion is a good thing, you just got to plan it all out. As Hannibal said many times during my childhood, "I love it when a plan comes together." And of course, I'll be blogging about how I'll do the routine here.

Until then ... #TakeOnTheWorld