The Walt Disney World Workout

I was 33 years old the first time I stepped foot into the Magic Kingdom, but inside (and truthfully outside) I was a boy of 7.  It was a city, no a universe, that was bubbled into our world.  It was something completely perfect and magical...

I know you did not tune to hear me recant my childhood dream lived out as an adult, but there is a point here and it relates to your fitness.  While, yes, you will walk nearly 47 miles in a day around the park, you are also going to consume a gazillion calories.  Why, because your internal 7 year old is making all the decisions.  So this blog is not about a step to calorie ratio at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Walt Disney World does something better than any other park in the world, they make you believe in the impossible.  It happens on every ride, with every show, with every "Character" strategically placed.  The entire design of this World unlike any other world is to make you believe.

And believe you do...

If you are like me, and some of you are, it is not the want to change that is your obstacle.  It is the belief that what is impossible is possible.   Most of us don't have physical limitations that hold us back from our own personal Magic Kingdom of success.

I think our greater struggle is we live with a mental belief of the traveling carnival that comes to town.  While yes it is fun, you always walk away questioning the safety of the ride and criminal background of the guy controlling it.  There is no magic in the carnival, just some kid through up on the tilt-a-whirl and teenager kids making out on the Ferris wheel.  And 2 days later it packs up and moves on to another town.

Here are three tips to making your fitness a little more "magical":

1.  Clear all trash.
  Disney works hard to make sure every person who walks through the park has the same experience.  No trash in the park, bathrooms clean, no gum stuck on fence posts. No matter your role from a person checking tickets to the CEO, if you see trash, you pick up. Why?  To make it magical everytime.

When you approach your fitness, clear all the trash.   Take out the mental obstacles that you build up in your mind.  Take out the garbage about how you "can't".  Clean up all the "I'll nevers".

2. Stories
You don't just wait in line for a ride at Disney.  You wait in a moving storybook.  Every line for every ride prepares you by telling you a story about the ride.  The ride is set up by every section of the line, it is all part of the story being told.

Your journey is a story, not a destination.  With every step, every workout you are writing your own story.  While the line to the ride may feel long, there are important pieces to your story being written.  Don't try to skip to the end.

3. Shh...It's not really magic
The magic of Disney is hard work and ingenuity.  Ask anyone who has worked for the company and they will tell you that it was the hardest work they have ever done, yet the most rewarding.

Health and fitness is not magic.  There is no magic pill or shake or sprinkle of Pixie Dust for your food.  It is still hard work.  The results look like magic as you make a part of you disappear, but you and I will both know how you got there -  hard work, sweat, positive attitude and maybe just a little magic!

Walt Disney World makes us all feel like kids and the one thing a kid does better than any adult is dream big dreams and believe for the impossible!

What is your Disney experience and how has it helped you?

Focus T25 Review

Beachbody, the world leader in home fitness, took it to a whole new level!  As a Insanity grad, I was anxious to try Shaun T's new program Focus T25.  While I loved, loved Insanity, that second month of workouts lasting up to an hour were physically demanding and tough to always squeeze into life.

So what excited me most about Focus T25 is that workouts were just 25 minutes, 5 days a week.  Fridays on the calendar are double workout days.  You can, if desired, move the second workout to Saturday and take just one rest day, instead of 2.  Included and to be used on the rest days is a 25 minute stretch video which will improve flexibility and stretching.

Now admittedly, I was a skeptic that just 25 minutes would deliver the results, but I know Beachbody does everything with excellence and would not put out a product that did not deliver the results.  And Focus T25 DID JUST THAT!

Here are my 10 week before and after photos.  I lost around 6 pounds but the proof is in the pudding, my body was totally transformed. I finally saw some abs show up.  My arms no longer looked like spaghetti and my overall shape was better than when I was 16 years old. In full disclosure, I was running on Sundays as well.  The weather was just too nice not to run.  

Why do I love it?  25 minutes, 5 days a week and results like this!  What's not to love?

The first 5 weeks is the ALPHA phase.  This is a building phase.  Workouts build on themselves, no equipment required and the bonus is the modifier.  A modifier is a person demonstrating a lower impact way to do the exercise and still get great results.  I saw a lot of fat loss during this first 5 weeks. 

The second phase is BETA.  BETA builds on ALPHA.  Some of the same exercises are carried over, now with increased intensity. Additionally, this phase will require some equipment either the resistance band included or dumbbells.  What I saw in this phase was increase muscle building, especially in the upper body.  

Here are the workouts included:

Your FOCUS T25 program includes:

ALPHA Cycle 25-Minute Workouts:

• Cardio. 25 minutes of calorie-burning, sweat-drenching cardio.
• Speed 1.0. Ignite your quickness. Burn the fat. Fast-paced for fast results.
• Total Body Circuit. Focus on strength and resistance—without lifting a single weight.
• Ab Intervals. Cardio and ab intervals that shred the fat from your midsection.
• Lower Focus. Focus on your lower-body muscles—the key to burning fat and kicking up your metabolism.

BETA Cycle 25-Minute Workouts:

• Core Cardio. Get your sweat on! This progressive cardio-core workout is about you getting shredded fast.
• Speed 2.0. Rev it up with Shaun's calorie-scorching, core-focused speed drills.
• Rip't Circuit. Cardio … upper body … legs … abs ... repeat! This is how you get ripped in 25 minutes.
• Dynamic Core. You'll go from vertical to horizontal and back again in this dynamic, crazy core routine.
• Upper Focus. Shaun will help you develop the upper body of your dreams. All you have to do is FOCUS.

Plus T25 Nutrition guide:

Meals are quick and easy to fix with just 5 ingredients in most meals!

Beachbody has an upgrade third phase called GAMMA.  GAMMA steps up the game one more level for increased results! 

This is perfect workout for everyone, even those just starting out on their health and fitness journey.  When put together with Shakeology you will get the results you desire!  

Are you ready to focus?

New Years 2014!

Happy New Year!

As you awake this morning, it is a morning like any other, but then again it's not.  Today is New Years Day.  A day of fresh starts, clean slates and declaring what you will accomplish in the next 365 days.  So here are my 3 resolutions for 2014:

1) Be an encourager of others dreams.  
- Zig Ziglar says if you help enough people get where they are going, they will help you get where you're going.

2) Become a goal getter, not just a goal setter.  
- I am setting goals, dates, and putting together plans.

3) Become healthy on the inside, not just the outside.
- What is inside of us will spill out to the outside.  No amount of diet and exercise will heal hurts and help souls.

These are my resolutions for the New Year, what are yours?

Here's to a amazing and blessed 2014!