Best Home Workout Videos and DVDs
Looking for Free P90X Log Sheets? Get them from the source at Team Beachbody. They have log sheet for all of their programs. They have free log sheets in PDF format and you don’t even have to join their Premium Club, but you can if you want to here?
They have P90X Fit Test sheets, P90X Worksheets and P90X Plus Worksheet. You also get free Chalean Extreme Worksheets, Free Insanity Journal Pages and Insanity Fit Test Pages. Plus more RevAbs Journal Pages if you’re doing that program.
If you want to go extreme detail and keep your log sheets on your computer, there are free P90X and P90X+ Microsoft Excel (2003 and 2007) spreadsheets for free downloading.
Not so free, but almost, I have the spreadsheets from Excel Workout Tools.com. These aren’t free, but for around for $9.95 each or $19.95 for the three pack you can have spreadsheets that will not only track your P90X, but Power 90, P90X+ and a spreadsheet for Ten Minute Trainer. These spreadsheets will track everything. The regular reps and weight, but there is a Transformation Tracker, Diet Tracker, Calendar, Cardio Tracker and Sculpting Tracker. You can keep track of your weight and reps and also track of your cardio fitness and how well you are remaining on your diet with Nutrition Tracker. And of course track your fitness test and before, during and after weight and measurements on the Transformation Tracker.
They may not be free, but for only ten bucks you can track and graph every part of your P90X, P90X+ using Classic, Lean and Double workouts calendars. If you are planning on doing P90X or any of the other programs you want to know how much you’re improving and keep track of your progress and calendars, these spreadsheets are easy to navigate and update. The free ones work, but the tracking spreadsheets from Excel Workout Tools are much better with more detail for all of your workouts.
I’m no expert, but I’ve been drinking and trying protein drinks for the last few months. I have no idea if they are helping, but it beats not eating anything and they are quick. Add some fruit and some I can even swallow without gagging.
Jay Robb’s Whey Protein seems to be the best tasting protein I’ve tried. I still add fruit and milk and have never tried it with just water. The vanilla actually smells good when you open the package and it mixes well in a blender. The one I have now I bought at an unnamed Health Food store and even with fruit, I can still taste it. Usually a banana will mask it pretty well. But with Jay Robb’s I can actually enjoy the fruit I put in it.
My wife is lactose intolerant, so I tried Jay Robb’s Brown Rice Protein. Completely awful. It didn’t mix well in water or milk with a blender and no matter what I added, it always had the granularity and the taste of dirt. I actually had to throw out a large container, because I couldn’t find a small packet so I could try it. I figured the vanilla whey is really good, so everything from Jay Robb should be good. Oh well, lesson learned.
I’m not going to go on and on about how beneficial protein drinks are for you, but everyone and all the trainers push them, so it couldn’t hurt. There are separate drinks for your workout to help in the recovery of muscles and all that, but I read that adding a bunch of fruit will add the carbs to a protein shake to make it beneficial to drink after a workout, better than protein alone.
What to add to your protein shakes? I always get vanilla so I can mix up the fruit. Chocolate, in my opinion is good with strawberries and bananas, but not much else. Vanilla allows you to add berries of all sorts, peaches or most anything. I always add skim milk instead of water (almost the same thing right?) I suppose if you were a purist and major enthusiast you would probably just be mixing with water. For me, I prefer not gagging when I’m drinking something, even if it’s supposed to be good for you.
What’s your favorite recipe for your protein or after workout shakes?
The success of any workout program whether it’s going to the gym, working out with a video or DVD or program that was set up by a personal trainer, they all depend on you actually doing it. You can’t buy a workout DVD and let it sit on the shelf or watch the DVD while you sit on the couch and expect to lose weight or gain muscle.
Getting yourself motivated and actually doing a program depends a lot on if you’re seeing results. If you’re working out for 30 minutes or an hour a day, you want to see how that hard work is actually giving you results. I think part of the success of many of the Beachbody programs is the chart and calendars they send in their packages so you can log your workouts. How much weight, how many reps, how many push-ups, pull-ups, etc… They also stress to take before photos. Every single Beachbody program says you MUST take before photos when you start a program. P90X also has a fitness test you take and record before you start their program. One reason is so you can see if you at the level to even start P90X and another is so at the end of the 90 days you take the fitness test again and can see the improvement you’ve made.
Take your before photos and measurements so you have something to gauge how you’re program is working, besides the scale. Weighing yourself everyday and expecting to see big losses every day is only going to lead to disappointment. Any program should be stressing how important diet is. You can’t workout an hour a day and hit the “all you can eat” buffets everyday or even once a week and expect to lose weight.
Once you start exercising you will want to do better and improving and sometimes overhauling your diet is the best way to complement any exercise routine for better results. Beachbody programs all stress how important diet is most include some sort of diet plan. Once you start see measurable results and start getting compliments and noticed at work, these things will motivate you to keep with your exercise routine and especially your diet.
When that happens and you start to look and feel better you will make time to workout. All of a sudden that hour a day isn’t so much because you will prioritize your day around your workout. Cut out an hour of TV or just hanging out, you will find the exercise will change your lifestyle and your life.