Starblazers:
Space Battleship Yamato Teaser Trailer



A big fan of the animated Starblazer series in the late 70's? Now, a live action remake. Looks a bit like the recent Battlestar Galactica remake, doesn't it?

Will's Wii Christmas Joy

William Karate Promotion & 1st Board Break:
White Belt + 1st Yellow Stripe

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 4
Tue.: Insanity Pure Cardio
Wed: P90X Shoulders & Arms
Thu: Rest (Head Cold, BAH!)
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Moved from resistance yesterday to cardio today -- Pure Cardio, as only Shaun T and his intrepid crew of BeachBody workout crews can do it.

Flat out, 45 minutes from start to finish, sweat city, lots of burn, and a lack of energy on my part at the start. Finally found a mini second wind halfway, and finished fairly strong. Onward!

On a side note -- Sign #4457 of the Apocalypse: One of today's top 10 trending on topics on Twitter: you know you're fat when...

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 4
P90X Chest & Back
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Top photo: Will's cousins (Kalina and Cole) enjoying the fresh show in Westport, CT over the weekend. Jealous!

Yes, I know. Week 4, 8, 12, etc. should be a working recovery week. But, with the holidays ahead and a block of time with family up in Williamsburg, VA, I'm front-loading some extra workouts to keep my metabolism high. And, working through mental exercises to keep away from the "bad" foods that are bound to be close at hand. Think clean (eating) thoughts!

Rocked Chest and Back, post-swimming at the YMCA for 3 hours with David/Noah and William/I. Really felt the swimming -- rough stuff if you're not used to it/haven't done it for a while!

Enjoy the start of the final week before Friday's Christmas celebration, then on to New Year's.

2010, I'm ready for you.

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 3
Sat.: Rest
Sun.: P90X+ Kenpo Cardio Plus
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Had a rare evening out last night, caught Avatar in 2D at the local theater. Excellent, excellent movie. If you're into scifi, liked Aliens (think military scifi alien goodness), you'll love it. I don't think the "tree hugger" story line was *that* over the top. Just know going in that Mr. Cameron wants you to respect nature over profit. Fine with me.

Just do yourself a favor -- he shot it to be best seen in 3D. So be sure you're seeing it that way. Go for the IMAX 3D experience near you. 2D on opening night = good. IMAX 3D? Insanely better/great I'm sure.

Late night, rehydrating after a visit to the local watering hole post-movie -- thanks Jim -- and will pick up the workouts tomorrow.

Enjoy your last weekend before Christmas folks. In a great mood for sure!

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 3
P90X Legs and Back Routine
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Caught myself a bit of celebrity rash yesterday. You know, the kind you get when you rub shoulders with someone famous, in their own way. In my case, it was an email exchange with one Mark Briggs, one of the workout buddies of Tony Horton, the man behind P90X, P90X+, One on One with, well, Tony Horton, etc.

Mark is one of the main guys working out, hard, behind Tony in the P90X+ series of DVDs. Think of P90X+ as what's "next" after that final week of "rest" at the end of P90X. You're at the top of your game, your body is ready for MORE, and Tony and Mark are standing ready to help you get to the next level.

I reached out to Mark, one of my BeachBody coach/FaceBook friends, to ask him about his crazy ripped abs. "I've done all the programs," I said. "But I still can't see my abs. Help!"

He responded fast -- asking for my height, weight, and a rough outline of what I'd been eating/intake levels. No problem, thanks to my fitday.com logging over the past months/in 2009.

An hour later, the response.


Basically, I'm under eating. What I'd been thinking about for some time.

His take -- I need to get my calories up to 2,600 to lose weight/not cause my body to store weight to fight against my workout gains/start to see my spare tire remnant go away, and hit 3,200 calories to simply maintain what I've got.

Plus, kill DAIRY and go all-supplements for calcium and Vita D. No problem.

Simple. Not so simple is getting my brain around those numbers. It's easy to get trapped in the mantra of eat less, workout more, push, push, and go crazy.

No more. Come New Year's, it's time to downshift and start tracking my food again, and get my calories UP.

No excuses.

Thanks Mark. Now for some cream for this darn rash... All good.

Top Web Videos of 2009
Some of this is not safe for work/a little crazy. You've been warned.

Surfers + 50 ft Waves = Beautiful

Canon 5D Mark II Slow Motion + Jaws ( Peahi ) 12-7-09 from iamkalaniprince on Vimeo.

Unchop a Tree

Maya Lin - Unchopping A Tree from Unchop A Tree on Vimeo.

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 3
P90X Yoga X
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Took a shortened version of this today -- amazing how much different I feel during Week 3 vs Week 1. Week 1 = could barely get down to do my salutations. Arms/shoulders were nearly locked up and sore. In Week 3? Easy as pie, barely any soreness at all.

Goes to show you -- work your body people, 30-60 minutes a day. You WILL loosen things up. Your body was designed to be put through its paces. Bring it!

General John Madden: Star Wars

Honika Electronica: It's that time of year!



^ Click above to view this humorous holiday riff...

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 3
Insanity Upper Body Resistance Training
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Shaun T's one-off "let's go to the gym and film a weight lifting workout and I'll use my iPod as a timer" is not bad at all. Lots of new moves, his signature warm up, even some tough words for his male side kick to hurry up and get in place... faster. Ok, OK, sure thing.

Left it feeling pretty darn good, and lots of heavy weights hoisted to max out reps. Heart rate was elevated, brought the burn, perfect.

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 3
Insanity Max Interval Conditioning
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Almost forgot that this 50 minute-ish gem has no breaks. None. It's all about bringing it hardcore cardio style and upping your ability to cope. Over the entire workout. Ended a sweaty mess, with a pretty nasty back twinge near the end. Stretched it out, all good.

Onward!

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 3
P90X Chest & Back
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Welcome to Week 3 ladies and gents. A mere 30ish more to go on this monster hybrid. Love it. The push ups were within normal range of motion, the pull ups felt great (still using a chair early on) and, best of all, my shiny new 50 pound free weight makes the lawnmowers the high point of the workout.

VERY heavy, 10-15 reps per side, tend to leave the weight on the ground, get up, and feel a bit sick to my stomach. Not a great feeling, but I think my body is telling me, "Ok, you brought it. Leave me alone." Will do, pause, breathe, onward...

Pack 218: Cary Christmas Parade



Way to go Pack 218. And gratz William on #1 popcorn seller in Wold Den 9, and #3 in Pack 218 overall. Cub Scouts? It rocks.

Excellent shots of William and all the riders on the float, and me in the black leather coat walking by. Good times!

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 2
Sat. P90X+ Kenpo Cardio Plus
Sun. Rest
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Good old Saturday wake up call -- Kenpo Karate for the cardio win. It's a bit short, and honestly not all that hard. BUT it does make me sweat, and getting some punches/kicks out of the ol' system is great stuff.

Off to downtown Cary later this morning to set up our Cub Scout Pack 218 float, then parade at 2. COLD one ahead here in NC for sure. Brrrrr....

Homeowner's News

In other news... our neighborhood's (Apex, NC) new HOA website (visit) is live -- Kelly West -- complete with new message boards for homeowners.

Plus there's even a new Twitter channel: @KellyWestHOA. Wonder who's working on those on a volunteer basis? ;-)

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 2
Insanity Max Cardio Intervals
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Slotted this leg/upper body cardio insanity instead of Legs & Back P90X today -- nice. Big time sweat, brought myself to the brink a few times, ended with maxed out muscles and able to handle to breath work. Nice.

Cute Overload: Scared Kitty

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 2
P90X Yoga X
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Started this gem, and little Mittens instantly came to my feet. Every... time... with... Yoga.

Ok kitty, sup? "Meow!" Yea, my form in those Warrior 2's was a little off. Straighten that back leg, come back a little. Nice. Thanks.

"Meep!" Yea, yea, I could stretch back a little more. Feels good, nice.

"MRAWR!" Sorry Mits, that what happens when you lay under my leg space when I try to come down to do my push up/upward dog. Sorry.

Nice to see Drew pushing ahead with his P90X New Year's prep via Twitter above!

The Real Avatar Trailer

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 2
P90X Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Decided to slot this upper body routine, so good. Lots of push ups, plenty of free weight work, left it feeling like I'd pushed myself pretty darn hard, went for the burn on the last three reps, etc.

Scar Wars:
Star Wars/Scarface Mashup
Not safe for work, folks.



...pure gold.

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 2
Insanity Max Interval Plyo
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

P90Xers out there, I outright challenge you to pick up Shaun T's crazy-good cardio thrill ride otherwise known as Insanity! and give it a go.

I'm slotting it into my cardio-heavy days in this hybrid go-round and even this early into 32 weeks, wow...

My legs/arms/chest are stronger than ever, and I can feel myself pushing harder through the moves thanks to the combination. For sure. That doesn't mean I didn't have to add in some extra breaks, and felt very maxed out at the end, trailed off a bit in the last 12 minutes or so. I did.

Rock your Tuesday...

Net Neutrality:
"It's about community, or it's about nothing..."



See what Leo Laporte has to say about keeping the Internet open and free, and how he builds an audience and revenue stream by building a community vs. a dumb audience. Very 21st century media.

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 2
P90X Chest & Back
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Happy Monday, P90X Chest and Back. Brought it with Tony and crew, push ups and pull up heaven. MUCH better results than last week, still came out the other side with quivering arms, easier to reach for a plate/breakfast.

Week 2, you monster... Let's bring it. Updated the entire workout scope and sequence, here.

And great news -- saw my lil' brother's tweet -- he's joining the ranks of P90X come 1.1.10 -- great start date! Take it from me, an original 1.1 starter of Power 90 and P90X a few years back. You CAN make New Year's commitments and keep them. Year after year... Nice!

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 1
Sat. P90X+ Kenpo Plus
Sun. One on One with Tony Horton Recovery
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Busy weekend, decided on the less insane Sat. workout for the hybrid here at the tail end of Week 1. Rockin' Kenpo Karate... PLUS. Enjoy our Sat/Sun people!

Sunday, One on One Recovery working for the win... Wow. A light mix of stretching, cardio, muscle work, upper and lower, to REALLY work out the kinks and soreness.

Trust me -- this new hybrid is already rocking my bod. A P90X week will always leave your legs sore. This newfangled Frankenstein, even more so.

Now I can walk, blood is moving, ready to get the ol' Xmas tree, go to a Den meeting, and relax. Nice. Thanks Tone.

Fun Stairs: Encouraging exercise...



In one of Tony Horton's One on One workouts he mentions going to the airport and noticing only himself and a few other people using the stairs. Everyone else? On the people movers and escalators. "Use the stairs people! Every little calorie counts!"

Amen. I've followed his advice on all my travels -- even when I have a tight gate change. SPRINT, run up the stairs, on and on. Nice.

Which brings us to the video above, done by some creative folks in Europe. Imagine if we had more stairs retrofitted to be fun/make burning a few extra calories a cause for a smile or two, some musicality, as well as getting us to where we need to go?

Love it!

More on my current approach to working out, with Beachbody products, combining P90X, P90X+, Insanity, and yes, some of Tony's One on One workouts:

X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Questions? Email me! timothymclain at yahoo.com or send me a friend request on FaceBook, or on Twitter.

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 1
P90X Legs & Back
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Yoga, thanks again. Came into today MUCH less sore, body is finally back in "another round of P90X BRING IT" mode, and was able to max out the reps/weight in most of the first round.

Round two... hit the wall a bit. No problem. Push through, did my best, forgot the rest, and cooled down nicely.

Onward to a very busy Friday, then weekend ahead. Enjoy your day, folks!

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 1
P90X Yoga X
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Thanks Tony... After three initial days of tough workouts, the Yoga routine hits at the perfect time. My arms/sides are sore. First thing in the morning, stiffness, start up this routine barely able to get through the first downward dogs and push ups. After 10-15 minutes, it gets easier. Then, 30 minutes in or so, relief. I can do it! Still sore, but it's not stopping me from a nearly full movement.

Am I grunting and verbalizing through all this? Yes.

So much so, Mittens decided to camp at the head of my Yoga mat to mess with my Chi. Made me laugh, her playful swipes at my downward head kept things light, and I made it through an hour plus of the routine.

Nice. Oooommmmm....

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 1
P90X Shoulders & Arms
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

Started the stretch very, very sore. The Monday chest/back blaster = tons of upper body work right out the gate. Yesterday's crazy cardio helped a bit, but, it took about 50% of today's workout before my upper body was down to about 10-20% soreness.

Did all the moves with 20's and 12's, taking it a bit easy here in the first pair of weeks or so. Have to get this bod out of its two week break, back up to speed, then... 30ish weeks to go on the new plan. Love, it.

Are you pushing through your perceived limitations, and soreness, in all areas of your life?

Think about it. Get out of your daily box. Stretch your existence. Bring it.

Shuttle Atlantis: Launch Video

Insanity-P90X-P90X+-One on One-Hybrid Workouts | Week 1
Insanity Cardio Circuit
X-­1-­sane 30 Week Beachbody Hybrid Calendar

All of you P90X lovers out there, you'll relate to this. Yesterday = Chest & Back. Translation: Lots of push ups and pull ups. Nice.

Today, it's all about Shaun T's amazingly Insanity-style'd Cardio. During the warm up, we do straight-arm jumping jacks.

Ouch. Still recovering from sore arms + arm usage = ...ouch.

Thanks, P90X, for working my upper body yesterday. And thanks, Insanity, for burning up the calories and my lower body today. And for loosening up my sore shoulders/chest/arms during the moves.

So far, the hybrid is working me in all-new, tough ways. On track. Nice.