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365 Days of Fitness

Friday, August 20, 2010

P90x Legs & Back with Vibram 5 Finger Shoes




Today's P90x workout was legs and back. I normally do my workouts in my apartment barefoot anyway but I decided to try my new Vibram 5 Finger shoes out for the workout. It wasn't much different from doing the workout barefoot but doing the lunge movements in the workout was better due to the added arch support from the shoe soles. It was a different experience having the shoes on and I'm excited to see how they work outside on the actual ground.

The fitness and health benefit will be interesting to observe. The concept behind these shoes are because your feet are walking as close to bare foot as they possibly can, they are thus in the most anatomically correct position. It is said that with modern shoes, there generally at least a 1 inch raise in the heal. We're not even counting women's shoes with the high heals. So by bringing the heal back to a normal height, it helps bring the ankles, knees, hips and back into proper alignment. By giving your feet, mainly your toes, it allows the ligaments, joints and tendons in the foot to strengthen. It is also said that the nerves in the foot become much more sensitive because of they have more freedom to move compared to the confined space of a normal sock and shoe. There's a cult following of these shoes and the benefits that they offer. You can read more on these shoes at www.birthdayshoes.com

So I ordered my new Vibram 5 Finger shoes on Monday night and it got delivered on Thursday afternoon. Apparently this shoes are really hard to find in San Diego. If you can find them in stock in stores, you'll be lucky if they have it in your size, let alone in the style and color that you want. Since I've never owned a pair of these before I wanted at least go try on a pair before I tried to order them. They use a unique size system because these shoes have to fit basically like gloves. When I found a local store that had them, I tried on a pair of the full coverage versions called the KSO as well as a pair of the more open coverage ones called the sprints. The sprints were a size bigger than the KSO pair and also didn't feel like the would secure well even if I found the correct size in the sprints. I didn't like the color that fit me in the store so I went home to order them online directly from the company website. Shockingly enough, the company website was sold out in lost colors and sizes as well. There are a lot of counterfeits out there so I recommend only ordering from other listed stores on the vibram website. I finally found a website that carried the KSO style in black in my size. All is good.

Until next time, get your sweat on and happy dieting.

- Joel via iPhone

Monday, July 12, 2010

First Video Update

Testing out my iPhone camera so don't laugh at the lame production value of this short clip.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

My #HomeGym

This is everything I need to do a complete body workout in the privacy of my own apartment. I have workout bands and medicine balls in the other corner of the apartment. And if anyone is wondering about the duckie towel, its my pet rabbit's sleeping mat. You can even see her hanging out with me in my workout corner underneath the exercise boxes if you look carefully. I rarely get a chance to use those golf clubs or that wakeboard but its always fun to go out to the range and hit a bucket of golf balls or get out on the water if I get a chance.

By using the exercise ball, I can replace any exercises that I would need to do on a exercise bench. The bowflex dumb bells go from 5 lbs to 52.5 lbs so I can challenge myself to any exercise that I can think of. The bosu ball (blue half dome) can also be used for a variety of exercises. Primarily I use the bosu to do different core or abdominal exercises but it can be used for strength exercises as well.

Here's a close up of the corner and a close up of Mocha. Hope everyone likes it. Until next time, get your sweat on and happy dieting.

- Joel




Saturday, July 3, 2010

Home Workout Challenge

Everyone is trying out P90x for their home workouts. Well here's a home workout that can be done without a gym assuming you have dumbbells, exercise bands and an exercise ball. Most of these items can be purchased at a local sporting goods store. Most people already have these items collected in the house already. The weights in the workout are just a few recommendations. Adjust your weights accordingly to your fitness level.


- Dumbbell push up row combo (15 reps, 20 lb dumbbells)
- Heavy exercise band seated rows (20 reps)
- Lateral raises (15 reps)
- Dumbbell squats (15 reps, 35 lb dumbbells)
- Reverse step alternating lunges (30 reps total, 35 lb dumbbells)
- Ball crunches (25 reps)
- Floor leg raises (25 reps)
- Plank oblique crunched (30 reps total)

3 Rounds, let me know how it works out.

- Joel via iPhone
P90X Extreme Home Fitness Workout Program - 13 DVDs, Nutrition Guide, Exercise Planner

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Metabolic Workout

Do each exercise consecutively, 4 rounds for time.

- 30 paces walking lunges with one 35 lb dumb bell in a 1 arm shoulder press and hold. Switch arms each round.
- 15 Purp-ee push ups
- 20 body-weight squats
- 10 pull ups or as many as you can do
- 15 incline sit-ups
- V-Sit Crunch rotations with 20 lb weight

Post times if you're up to it.