What I've Learned From Kit

About a week ago, I had a great phone conversation with Kit Caldicott.  I've been following her blog and I recently commented on one of her posts.  She emailed me back to thank me for my comment and then asked about my exercise regimen.  I couldn't believe it!  Kit wanted to know about what I was doing to stay fit!?  So, I emailed her back and told her that I've completed two rounds of P90X, P90X Plus and recently finished P90X2. I told her that I wasn't sure where I wanted to go from here.  I want to continue to be active, but not necessarily start up with another full program.  I'd noticed that she mixes a lot of different programs into her workout routine and I was intrigued.  "How do you set up your workout week?" I asked.  "How do you know which workouts to use and when to switch them up?"  Her response floored me.  "Let's set up a time where I can call you and chat about it," she said. I couldn't believe my eyes.  Did she really just ask to call me and talk about fitness?  So, of course I set up a time when we could chat right away and I was so amazed at how friendly, helpful and interested she was in my fitness lifestyle. She made herself completely accessible to me, giving up her personal time, personal diet/workout regimen and personal phone number so that we could talk about continued health and fitness.  She amazed me!

So, what I learned is something I probably already knew, but was great for her to affirm, and is also something that we both discovered by doing P90X.  Eating clean is so important to health and fitness.  Choosing foods with minimal ingredients, keeping away from processed foods and sugar and reducing the amount of carbs is key. In our house we already eat lots of fruits, vegetables and lean meats in our daily meals.  We don't eat fast food or drink soda and occasionally we eat out, and when I say occasionally I mean maybe once a month.  So in that regard we were continuing to follow a clean P90X diet.  She told me she still follows the 80/20 rule with her diet, which is eat clean 80-90% of the time and splurge about 10% of the time.  That made me feel great to hear because I couldn't imagine having to give up ice cream or Dove chocolates for life!  But just knowing that I can have those things if I want to, curbs my cravings for them so I don't go overboard when I do eat them. 

What she also told me is that she still follows the P90X principle of 2 resistance days, 3 days of cardio and 1 day of yoga.  How she chooses them is by how she feels the morning of a workout.  On a resistance day if she feels like working out her arms, she'll choose a workout from any of the programs that tailors to arms. Then, on her next resistance day she'll make sure she chooses a workout that focuses on legs, etc.  Stick with the same schedule for a couple of weeks and then switch up the workouts, but continue to follow the 3 cardio, 2 resistance days schedule.  Muscle confusion will always be attained if you continue to give yourself variety in your workouts. This was the key information that I needed.  I have 3 P90X programs and I've done them all in a set, scheduled manner, finishing one phase at a time.  But what I needed now was the flexibility to pick and choose which workout from which program I wanted to do and Kit's strategy gave me the clarity and flexibility I needed to begin designing my own tailored workout regimen.

So, from her great advice and my understanding of the P90X programs and my own body's needs, I've come up with my own workout schedule.  What I did first was categorize each workout.  I love doing Core workouts, so I made a list of the workouts I felt focused on your core.  Then I categorized the workouts designed for Cardio, Upper Body, Lower Body and of course I'm keeping a Yoga day in the mix.  Ab workouts will be done on resistance days just like in P90X.  With that kind of flexibility there's no way you can get bored with the workouts.  Since it's been a while since I've completed a classic P90X workout I'm going to dedicate this week to all P90X routines.  Here is my schedule so far:

Monday (Core day)- Core Synergistics

Tuesday (Cardio)- Plyometrics

Wednesday (Upper)- Shoulders and Arms, ab ripper X

Thursday (Cardio)- Kenpo

Friday (Lower)- Legs and Back, ab ripper X

Saturday (Yoga)- Yoga X2 (because it's shorter than Yoga X)

With this schedule I will get familiar again with the classic P90X workouts and then next week I will switch it up again. Maybe I'll throw in a Plus workout or X2 workout, but the point is now I have the flexibility and understanding of how to design my own workout routines that will continue to give me the results I desire.  And that is all thanks to Kit! I only hope to one day have the success in inspiring my readers the way she has inspired me. What an amazing woman!