Fitness Equipment

For most workout programs like P90X, Chalean Extreme, Power 90, or just going to a gym, you use equipment while working out. Workout equipment can add variety to your workouts and help challenge yourself. However, you do not need any workout equipment to have a great workout. Workout programs like Insanity just require your own body weight for you to see results. Insanity is able to do this because of MAX Interval Training, which involves pushing yourself as hard as you can, which will break down muscle, and when it heals you become stronger and will eventually see visible results! All the jumping, speed work, and push up variations in Insanity help sculpt your body without any fitness equipment! Also, running does not require any fitness equipment. So I don't want to hear that you can't get in shape because you can not afford any equipment, a gym, or workout programs. You can always run, do push ups, and your own ab routine, and boom! You can get into great shape! If you have any questions on developing a workout routine (such as running workouts, ab workouts, and body weight strength training) you can contact me at rushing@austin.rr.com

However, workout equipment is great to add to your fitness regimen. I use workout equipment all the time, but it is not something that you have to have. Here is a list of the equipment that I have and use in my workouts:

1) Dumbbells - I have a set from 3-55 pounds. I got these for a great deal on craigslist! Try to get equipment that is used and cheaper than if bought new, just make sure it is in good condition. I also recommend PowerBlocks or Bowflex SelectTech dumbbells, which are a great deal compared to buying a whole rack of dumbbells and safe a lot of space. They also can go up in 2.5 pound increments which is a great feature.

2) Yoga Mat - This is a thing that everyone should have! I use mine for yoga, stretching, and ab workouts. They can also be great for absorbing the impact on your knees while jumping during workouts like Insanity or P90X Plyometrics.

3) Push Up Stands - These are not necessary for doing push ups, but they can really aid in building strength. Push up stands give you a bigger range of motion and stretch on your chest, which can lead to better muscle growth and strength. They also reduce the strain on your wrists, because your wrists are kept strait and not bended like when doing push ups on your hands. I have both the Perfect Push Up and Tony Horton's PowerStands. These are both great, but also different. With the perfect push ups you can also rotate your wrists while doing a push up, which provides the chest with a different tension and it can feel more natural as well. Tony Horton's PowerStands, have a huge range of motion which a really like, and they have really comfortable grips.

4) Body Fat Tester - This is more of a progress tracking tool than equipment. With this tool you can track your weight and body fat lose. You measure you skin fold above your hip, and then look on the chart to see your body fat percentage. It is easy to use and decently accurate. However, if you want to get a very accurate body fat measurement, you should visit your local gym.

5) Heart Rate Monitor - I use this during all of my workouts! You really only need this during cardio workouts so you can monitor your heart rate. However I use it every workout because I like to see how many calories a burn. Basic heart rate monitors just tell you your heart rate, but nicer ones also keep track of your calories burned and the percentage you worked out from your maximum heart rate. You don't have to have this, but if you want to push yourself hard or keep your heart rate safe during cardios, this will do it.

6 ) Ankle Weights - I have a pair of 5 pound ankle weights. You can use this during ab routines to add more of a challenge or add variety by doing lower reps. Also you could even use these in a leg workout or wear them while doing pull ups to add more resistance.

7) Weight Vest - I have a 20 pound adjustable weight vest. I only suggest this if you consider yourself advance. This is great to add more resistance, challenge, and variety to your strength workouts. You can use this for push ups, pull ups, and leg workouts. If you can easily do 50 push ups, 15 pull ups, or are finding that Legs and Back is becoming easier, you might want to consider using a weight vest. This will challenge your muscles and keep the results coming. It also can add a different rep range in your workouts, so instead of doing 30 push ups or 15 pull ups, you will be doing 15 push ups and 8 pull ups.

8) Resistance Bands - These are a great substitute for dumbbells. These are quite cheap and still give you a great workout. They also provide a different type of resistance than dumbbells, so you can add variety and muscle confusion. Resistance bands can also be taking on trips so you can still get your strength workouts in.

9) Jump Rope - This is a great way to get your cardio workouts in. Jumping rope requires good coordination and balance. You can also get a great calf and leg workout in from jumping rope.

10) Stability Ball - I love using this in my workouts. This can really challenge your muscles and balance. You can use this for push ups and ab workouts. You will find it is much harder to do push ups on a stability ball than on the floor because you muscles also have to balance and support your body.

11) Pull Up Bar - I use the P90X Pull Up bar and I love it! It is easy to use and can fit in most doorways. It provides 7 different pull up variations to add variety and challenge to your back workouts.

12) Power Tower - I really enjoy using this piece of equipment. This is definitely an accessory though, but it is great to have! Mine has a pull up bar which has a very very wide gripe, push up stands, a dip station (works and chest and triceps) and a leg raise station for ab workouts.

13) Weight Bench - This is great to have for weight lifting workouts. I often do my own chest workouts using this, and Tony Horton uses one in several of his One on One workouts. Shaun T also uses on in the Insanity Upper Body Weight Training. Mine has a decline position, which you can use for chest exercises, or even do crunches. There is also a flat and incline position, and then a straight 90 degree position.

14) Chair - This can be a great piece of workout equipment, and everyone already has this at their house! You can use this for decline push ups, chair dips, and it is used in P90X for several back, shoulder, and tricep exercises.

15) Medicine Balls - Unfortunately I do not have any of these, but this can be great to add resistance to your workouts. You can use one in an ab routine or a cardio routine. You can even use them as a kind of push up stand to add more range.

There are still many more different kinds of workout equipment that you can use, but these are some of the basic and that I recommend. There are still all of those machines at gyms, which can be good for variety, but they are not as necessary. Just remember that all you really need is your body to get into great shape.

You can also view my fitness equipment video: Part 1 and Part 2

2010 New Year Goals

Well, the New Year is finally here! Every year when this time comes around people are always making new year resolutions and goals, but sadly most of them are never followed through with. Most people always say that they will "finally" loose weight this year, but they may try for a week or two but then fall off course and give up. A big problem for this is that they do not have much motivation or goals in mind. You need to have a schedule and program to follow to help you stay motivated, which is where Beachbody comes into play. All of Beachbody's fitness programs have a specific and proven to work schedule and diet guide to help you reach your fitness goals. But remember, your fitness resolution is not just a 90 or 60 day plan, it is a lifestyle. Two many people are focused on doing a program such as P90X or going to a gym to loose 20 pounds, but what happens after that? People will often be motivated during a new fitness regimen, but after they have completed it you could loose motivation and not want to start back up again. But this is not what a healthy lifestyle is about. For a healthy lifestyle you need to be working out 5-7 times a week, eating 5-6 small meals a day, and get 8 hours of sleep every night. By doing this throughout your life, you will feel stronger, more energetic, and healthier. You will also be less vulnerable to illness and injury, and who doesn't want to have that? And of course there is also the benefit of looking ripped, toned, and sexy, but all of those are secondary and just "icing on the cake" to the other benefits of fitness. So if you are new to fitness and exercise, start off by setting goals for yourself and creating a workout schedule and diet plan. You can find tremendous help at TeamBeachbody on the message boards, at my coach Josh's website, on Youtube, or by emailing me at rushing@austin.rr.com. For a fitness and healthy lifestyle to work well, you need to be motivated and enjoy what you are doing. So find the right workout program that works for you, whether running in your neighborhood, going to a gym, or doing a Beachbody program. But DO SOMETHING! Just show up to workout and you are on a way to a better, stronger, and healthier you.

Now I would like to share with you my 2010 fitness goals.

1) Be able to do 20 pull ups. I can currently do 16.

2) Be able to do 60 push ups. I can currently do 40.

3) Be able to run under a 5 minute mile! My fastest so far is 5:28

4) Be able to run under a 18 minute 5k. My fastest so far is 19:22

5) Weigh 145 pounds with 6% body fat by the end of the year. I'm currently 127 pounds with 9% body fat.

6) I want be able to do every Insanity workout without any extra rest, and continue to push myself harder and DIG DEEPER!

7) Continue to get in better and better shape, stronger, healthier, and be a role model to others.

God Bless and have a fantastic New Year in 2010!

Rush Hemphill

The Benefits of Yoga

Yoga is often considered not much of a workout and a waste of time, but it is really one of the most important workouts you can do. Yoga has many benefits for your body, both physically and mentally. Men often especially hate yoga because believe it is only for women. People also dislike yoga because it's too long, boring, and However, doing yoga is very important for anyone involved in fitness.

When I first started P90X, I was not excited at all about doing an hour and a half of Yoga X from P90X. I wanted to do a hardcore cardio workout like I had been doing my whole cross country season, not some silly stretching routine. However, after doing my first yoga workout ever, I realized that it was not easy as I suspected, and it gave me a good sweat and felt refreshed and energized afterwards. I also remember my dad doing yoga with me, and he was sweating buckets, he even had to go change his shirt half way through! Through the course of doing P90X I have come to love yoga and it has greatly improved my fitness. Yoga is also very important for me because I am a runner. Yoga greatly helps me avoiding injury and staying flexible for running. So what are all the benefits of doing yoga?

1) Increases flexibility. I have always been pretty flexible, but yoga has greatly increased it for me. When I first started I could touch my toes while keeping my legs straight, but now I can bring my head to my knees! Being flexible also reduces the chance of injury and always you to perform better in other workouts.

2) Muscle Toning. By doing yoga you are supporting own body weight in the moves. This increases strength, which helps tone your muscles.

3) Increases core strength. Yoga requires a strong core to hold a lot of the positions and stances, such as downward and upward dog, plank poses, and chair pose. You may not have a great core at first, but it will improve as you keep doing yoga. Core strength is also very important in sports.

4) Better Balance. In yoga you are often in positions on only one leg, which requires good balance. Also a lot of the lunge positions need balance because you are holding them for up to a minute. Balance is important in many sports such as gymnastics and dancing.

5) Better Posture. Yoga helps give you a strong and good posture. This helps keep you body in line and allow you to stand and sit taller. Also better posture will increase your awarness.

6) Increases internal lubrication. Yoga helps lubricate joints, ligaments, and tendons. Holding all of those positions requires certain muscles to work together. This helps cleanse your body and allow you to function better in physical activities.

7) Massaging of internal organs. By doing yoga you are massaging your internal organs and glands, which hardly ever get stimulated. The massaging of these body parts helps one to avoid diseases and helps you function better internally.

8) Refreshed. After a yoga workout, I always feel like a new person. You body has been "cleansed" and massaged. Blood has been flowing throughout your body, which helps flush out any unneeded toxins. This can delay aging and make anyone feel young and limber.

9) Breathing. Yoga requires deep, controlled, and mindful breathing. This increases your lung capacity wich improves endurance and performance. This is especially important for me while running.

I have noticed all of these benefits from doing yoga. But how often should you do yoga? I recommend doing a yoga workout at least once a week. I often try to get two in a week, but with a busy schedule it is often hard to get even a hour and a half Yoga X workout in. That is why there are also the Fountain of Youth Yoga (48 minutes) and Patience Yoga (40 minutes) from the One on One with Tony Horton workouts. These two yoga workouts are great if you are short on time or just don't enjoy doing an hour and a half of yoga. I have all three of these and enjoy them all. I will typically do Yoga X on Sunday, which is my off day, but I don't going a day without working out, so I do yoga. Tony Horton often also works out 7 days a week, using yoga as a recovery workout/day. I also try to do Fountain of Youth Yoga on Thursday evening, after have doing Interval X from P90X Plus in the morning. Yoga has greatly benefited me, especially through my running. A lot of my teammates are jealous of my flexibility, and I also have one of the best running forms on my team thanks to yoga! Now that you know the importance of doing yoga, make sure to not skip it even if you hate it! Yoga can also be used as a time to clear your mind of all worries and stress, which is very much need in today's society. Decide, Commit, Succeed.

P90X: My Current Schedule and thoughts

I am currently in my 4th round of P90X. Even after doing P90X for a year, I can still get sore from the workouts! This proves how great a well designed fitness program P90X is. P90X can get you ripped or toned, stronger, more flexible, and your endurance wil improve some as well. Every workout has a specific purpose for your body, whether it being a weight workout, cardio, or yoga/stretch. I'm sure everyone has seen bodybuilders and people who lift weights all the time. Ya, sure they are ripped and super strong, but how is their overall fitness? I bet most of them are not that flexible and would have a hard time running a mile. When you see these bodybuilders, all that muscle is just for show, it's not functional. P90X is such a great program because it makes your body more functional for everyday life, whether being an athlete or the everyday mom. P90X uses functional weight lifting routines and body weight excercises like push ups, pull ups, dips, and leg exercises, which also improve muscular endurance, not just strenght. Also, the "muscle confusion" of P90X prevents plateaus and you can continue to see great results in your body. The cardios from P90X also involve leg endurance, like Plyometrics, and balance and core strenght like Kenpo X. The workout Core Synergistics, combines both weights and cardio, making it a great full body and muscular endurance workout. One of the most important parts of P90X is yoga. Yoga improves flexibilty, balance, and breathing, which helps during cardios. It also makes your muscles funtional, so that it is not just for "show".

My typical workout schedule:

Monday - P90X Chest and Back or Chest, Shoulders, and Ttriceps. Killer Abs from One on One with Tony Horton.

Tueday - P90X Plyometrics

Wednesday - P90X Shoulders and Arms or Back and Biceps. 12/20 Abs from One on One with Tony Horton

Thursday - P90X Plus Interval X. The Fountain of Youth Yoga from One On One with Tony Horton (PM)

Friday - P90X Legs and Back. Killer Abs

Saturday - Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Sunday - P90X Yoga X

I usually workout at 5:30 A.M. before school, unless it is the weekend or the holidays! This is what works best for me, but you should workout whenever you have the time and you feel you are able to push yourself the best. I also like to use differnt ab rountines sometimes to confuse the abs. I don't usually have a day off, I like doing Yoga, which a consider as more of a recovery workout. It does not affect me by not having a day off, but remember that I am 16 and am an athlete, so I can recover fast. If you are just begging your fitness program, it is important to have a day of to let yourslef heal and recover, or you could do X Stretch. Always listen to your body, and if you need a day off, take it.

Diet

It is important to remember that having the right diet is going to bring the results you want to see along your fitness journey. Whether it be a beachbody program, gym workouts, or running, you have to have a healthy diet if you want to see physical changes in your body. Sure, even if you don't follow a diet plan you will become stronger, have more endurance, and feel good, but your diet will help you lean out and become stronger quicker, as well as feeling energized. Your diet is 80% of your results in fitness. If you are doing a program like P90X or Insanity, it is especially important to fuel yourself with the right food so your can perform your best during the workouts, giving you quicker results. A programs like P90X and Insanity also will require you to fuel yourself with more food, as the workouts are more demanding, and you will probably need more complex carbs. Programs like P90, Hip Hop Abs, Slim in 6,Rev Abs, and Brazil But Lift will require you to really watch your diet if you want results. Even though these workouts are not super intense, they will work wonders if you follow their nutrition guides.

If you have just started you fitness program, no cheating! Stick to the diet for your entire first round, then maybe reward yourself with a cheat meal, not day, but then get right back on track with your diet. A person who is already super fit or athletic, or a teen like myself, can probably cheat a little more than a person who is just starting to loose weight. But if you don't have a constant diet, you are not going to feel energized and get the most out of your workouts.

Diet Guidelines:

1)Eat 5 to 6 small meals a day. This week stoke up your metabolism and help you avoid being hungry and overeating. Eating frequently can help you loose weight and you can easily control how much you are eating.

2)Always eat breakfast. You body needs food after not having any fuel during the night. Include complex carbs, protein, and fruit with your breakfast. This will help energize your body for the day ahead.

2) I highly recommend having the P90X Recovery Drink after and intense workout. This will help prevent soreness and help you rec cover fast. Drink this within 30 minutes after working out, then another 30 minutes to an hour later have a healthy meal or protein shake to fuel your body.

3)"The Healthiest meal of the day", Shakeology, can be very bennifical to ones diet. It has many healthy ingredients such as vitamins and minerals, vegetables, antioxidants, enzymes, protein and essential amino acids. Shakeology also helps reduce hunger, which is great for trying to loose weight. It also promotes regularity and digestion, healthy skin, hair, and nails, and it also assists in building muscle. This is a must for any ones diet.

4)Multivitamins are important to ones diet. It would be very hard to eat all the required amount of minerals and vitamins in a days worth of food, so that's where the P90X Peak Health Formula comes into play. It gives your body all the vital nutrients it requires, which is especially important for someone who is unloved in intense exercise.

5)Try to have most of your carbs early on in the day, and avoid eating them at your last meal. Carbs give you energy which is important for working out, but you don't need carbs before you go to sleep. Avoiding carbs at night can also help with fat lose. For your last meal trying keeping to protein and vegetables.

6)Have your last meal at least 2 hours before you go to sleep. Sleeping with food in your stomach will slow digestion, increasing the possibility of not loosing fat. If you are hungry at night, have a whey or casein protein shake.

7)Limit alcohol consummation. Alcohol can greatly affect ones results, especially since they are empty calories and have no nutritional value. Limit yourself in drinking every night, and try just having a few drinks on the weekend.

If you have any other questions about diet, contact me at rushing@austin.rr.com I am here to help!

The Begging of My Fitness

Hello fitness fanatics! I am Rush Hemphill and I want to help you get in the best shape of your life! Let me tell you how I came to be involved in fitness and being healthy. I am currently 16 years old and a sophomore in high school. I have played sports my whole life and have been pretty active. I played soccer and basketball in elementary school and baseball up to middle school, as well as football in 8th grade. I have done Villari's Shalin Kenpo Karate since 5th grade and I am currently and 2nd Degree Brown Belt. Baseball has always been my favorite team sport, but once I started track in 7th grade my eyes were opened! However let me tell you even though I played sports, I was not in the best shape, and always had that mind set that I want to be as fast as some of my friends and have a six pack. I always thought to myself I will get fit tomorrow, or I will stop eating ice cream next week, but it never happened. I loved sweets! Before I started track, in P.E. we had to run the mile, and I ran 8:30 and even had to stop running for a few seconds! I felt ashamed of myself and out of shape, especially since all my good friends who played soccer were running close to 6 minute miles. That year I decided I wanted to run track, since all my friends were as well and I was hoping to get into better shape. Let me tell you, running track that year was the hardest thing I have ever done! I remember the first week a could barley walk my legs were so sore! Over the season though I saw great changes in my endurance and speed, and my body was having some good transformations. I weighed 110 pounds that year, but my weight had stayed the same throughout track, meaning I lost a lot of body fat and put on some leg muscle-sweetness. I also now had some ab definition, which was great! By the end of that year I could run a 7 minute mile and my 400m time went from 1:14 to 1:08. After track was over I was pretty disappointed, but I started working out with Power 90, which my parents had gotten a few years back. Sadly though, I started becoming too obsessed with eating and wanting to get super learn, and started starving myself and not eating enough. During that summer from not eating enough and going on sleep away camps to riding my bike a lot in my neighborhood, I went from a good looking 110 pounds to 92 pounds, yuck. I looked frail and stick like. It took me about until December after football was over to realize that I needed to change my habits. I was growing and depriving myself of the nutrition I needed. I continued to eat healthy but started eating more. I also started doing a 30 minute push up and dip routine 6 days a week. When I started I could do 40 push ups, and after 4 months of this I could do 150 strait push ups! I also had gotten back up to 110 pounds and I am guessing I was around 5% body fat, but still looked skinny because I had grown over 2 inches since last year. I also attended a conditioning class at karate 3 days a week, and right now I was in the best shape of my life, and I would continue to grow from there. Soon track started again, and I was determined to get really fast this year. By the end of the season I could run a 6:10 mile and 1:03 400m. However I had lost chest strength and could only do 60 push ups by then since track too the place of my push up routine.

After track, I started P90 again for about a month, and then I joined my high school's strength and conditioning camp for the summer. I added some good strength that summer. High school was about to start, and then one of my friends told me about the cross country team, and I totally wanted to do that! Practice was though at 6 in the morning, but I got used to it. Unfortunately I had marching band right after cross country practice (which I hated), and that prevented me from getting a good meal after running. After the season was over a could run a 19:12 5k (down from 21:00) and a 5:52 mile! I did though loose a lot of muscle, and weighed around 114 pounds. After cross country, I wanted to start P90 again, but I was curious and went to beachbody.com. I came across P90X, and was thinking, "where has this been all my life!" I got my dad to do P90X with my, and he needed it, weighing at 227 pounds. We began on December 1, 2008. I was sore all over the first few weeks, but I could see results coming. I still was not eating enough as I should, but after 1 round I weighed 116, and but dad had gone done to 205, and he looked a lot better. My pull ups went from 6 to 12, and I could do 50 push ups. We moved on to round 2, and track season also began for me. I would do P90X at 5:30 in the morning, then have track at 4:30. I ran the mile a 800m, and I figured I should not be running the 400m since I am an endurance athlete and not so much of a sprinter. This period was hardest I have ever pushed myself. It was not as hard as my first year of track, but doing two workouts a day would wear me out. One of our workouts would be repeat 400m, and I had never done anything like this before. I believe this is one of the hardest workouts on the face of the earth. We would run 10 repeat 400m, with only a minute break in between, and I would do these around 1:15 minutes. After this workout your legs feel like jelly and your heart and lungs are spent. At district I came in 2nd place for JV mile running 5:28! I also ran a 2:22 800m. I also was could do 14 pull ups now thanks to P90X! Over this past summer I really focused on getting stronger during my 3rd round of P90X. I was eating well and getting good rest (thank goodness for no school!). I also began pre-season for cross country having practice 3 days a week in July, and then 5 days a week in August, and 4 days plus a meet each week when school started. Since cross country was in the morning, I would make time for P90X after school, and a did not do and P90X cardios during this time, doing 3 days weights, one day of hour long ab workout, and one day of yoga. By now I weighed 125 pounds! I looked thicker and felt good about myself. However, this also affected by cross country season somewhat, because I never beat my time from last year, but I definitely was in better shape then last year, it's just harder running with 10+ pounds more on your body. I did though get to run varsity this year, which was awesome. Our team finished 3rd in district and I placed 17th. I am currently on my 4th round of P90X, doing 3 days weights, 3 days cardio, and one day yoga. I am continuing to get stronger, and can do 16 pull ups! I hope I have inspired you to change your life for the better and to take care of your body and push yourself to the limits!