How to Choose a Challenge Group

So you've already heard about Beachbody Challenge Groups, either from a Team Beachbody Coach, another Beachbody customer, or perhaps you orginally heard about them on Facebook, YouTube.com, or other social media. Perhaps you saw the cool little video that sums them up:

Ever Feel Like This?



The idea of Challenge Groups is appealing to you and it makes sense. Combining nutrition, exercise, support, and incentives is a killer combination to reach health and fitness goals.

There's a still a question in many minds, however, (and perhaps yours), and that is, "Which Challenge Group should I join?"

The quick answer, and the longer one, too, is it's all about the fitness program. Now, the success of any group is based on the strength of the members - the more people participate in a group's private Facebook page, the more powerful the support component of the group will be, and that's key, but otherwise, all things being equal with nutrition, support, and incentives, the choice comes down to which exercise program do you want to do now?

Your Team Beachbody Coach is the best person to help you make the decision about which fitness program to select, assuming of course that there is a Challenge Group available for the program you eventually pick. If you want to a program and there's none going on when you want to get started, consider asking your Coach if s/he will host the group if you recruit a half dozen or so of your friends to join with you. Chances are pretty good your Coach will be delighted to host a group you build - it's not essential that the host does the program along with the group, or even has ever done it, since Beachbody provides Coaches with a wide array of support materials for running Challenge Groups with more than 20 of the most popular programs.

So what factors do you consider in making your exercise program choice? There are three primary factors:

1. Overall fitness level
2. Past experience, skill levels, and ability
3. Personal Preference

Fitness Level: If you're currently in great shape or in pretty poor shape, your choices are easier. If your already very fit you'll likely want to do a Challenge Group based on one of the more extreme programs like P90X, Insanity, TurboFire, Les Mills Combat, Less Mills Pump, or maybe even Body Beast. If you haven't worked out in a long time and especially if you have lots of weight to lose, Slimin6 or Power 90 would be better choices.

If you're somewhere between being in very poor shape or awesome condition, let your Coach be your guide. She or he can ask some questions to help you choose.

Past experience, skill levels, and ability - If you were a college jock or used to run until just a few years ago, those both can give your Coach clues to which programs would fit. While you should always check with your doctor or other medical professional about any new fitness program, some of our workout programs were designed specifically for people with limited abilities due to various conditions - for example Tai Cheng is an awesome program that stresses balance, flexibility and strength building that, while it's great for golfers and surfers and anyone for whom body alignment and control is important, it's also often a great choice for people in rehab from surgery or implants (knees or hips, for example).

Personal Preference - What do you like to do? It's important that you enjoy your workout program. If you like going full-tilt cardio, that gives your Coach some suggestion, like possibly Insanity, Turbofire, or Les Mills Combat. If you like to dance, give Brazil Butt Lift or Hip Hop Abs some consideration.

What's Next? - There is one other consideration when choosing a Challenge Group fitness program, and that's when you're about to finish one Challenge Group and then want to try something different the next time around. Some people will go from P90X to Insanity then back to P90X, then Body Beast, and then back to P90X again. People who like Power 90 and want to stick with Tony Horton can choose to 'graduate' to Ten Minute Trainer or P90X and then after that jump up to P90X2.

So there are several factors in choosing the best exercise program for you next Challenge Group. The important thing is to decide, commit, and then succeed! That's the path to health and fitness with Beachbody Challenge Groups!

How Much Exercise Is Enough?

People often ask, "How much exercise is enough?"

If there is one answer that fits most occasions when the question is asked, it's probably this: "More than you're doing now."

Are there people who exercise 'enough'?  Most certainly yes, but they wouldn't ask the question that way. They might ask how  they can get more from their exercise time or programs but the word 'enough' as used in the opening question implies that exercise is something unpleasant that the asker wants to minimize. That's akin to someone asking, "How long to I have to eat vegetables and skip what I really like in order to get to a healthy weight?" Sometimes folks who ask these questions keep asking till they get an answer they like, whether it's valid or not."

Another question, "How much exercise is too much?"  might reveal another concern. It certainly is possible to overdo exercise, possibly at the cost of or to avoid other elements of one's life. Exercise can also be addicting, so there's a concern there as well, best measured I'd say by if exercise interferes with other elements of a healthy, happy, relatively balanced life. You run all the usual addiction tests to discover for yourself if you might be addicted to exercise, such as do you keep exercise sessions a secret from family or friends who are concerned, have you lied about exercise, have you actually tried to cut back and failed?

If someone inquires about "too much" exercise chances are others have suggested it may be an issue. As with the folks seeking just the opposite, people who exercise in excess will also keep asking till they get the answer they want and are then outfitted with justification from someone who may or may not know what they're talking about.

I have a sense of how much exercise is right for me. And it varies at times. Right now I'd say that, in addiction to living a moderately active life, about 90 to 120 minutes a day of exercise is about right for me. Now, of course, that's not all on a treadmill or spinning, or even in Zumba classes (now there's one I'd totally dig as a universal only-do-this exercise, but of course there's no such thing). But that's what's right for me now.

Perhaps in another 10 years the amount will change, possibly it will lessen, but more likely it will go up by another 30 minutes a day. Sounds like a lot, right? Of course it is, actually, but the reality is that as one hits middle age, and beyond, it takes more time and more work to get in shape and stay in shape.

You may not like the prospect of long workouts every day, and not everyone may need as much as I currently think and feel is right for me. However, faced with a choice of living a longer, healthier, happier, more vital life versus giving in to gradual declines in strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular conditioning, why not chose health?

There are lots of articles about how 15 minutes of daily cardio can vastly improve conditioning and that's true, for folks who are mostly sedentary. But then once that 15 minutes gets easy, it's time to add on some minutes and look for some strength building, flexibility work, and stretching as well.

We're used to food groups and pyramids and pie charts (tell me why a country struggling with obesity and diabetes type II uses a 'pie' chart for the new food group graphic, please?); perhaps we should develop and exercise graphic as well.(In fact, that sounds like a task for someone I know.)

For now, however, think about the question you'd most likely ask:

• "How much exercise is enough?"
• "How can I  get the most out of my exercise time?"
• "How much exercise is too much?"

What does that tell you about you?

I'd love to hear what you think is your optimal daily exercise allotment, and why.

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And, if you're looking for a new workout, don't forget that P90X2 is coming out this fall (remember I have a vested interest in this since I sell it on my Beachbody site). Right now P90X2 is available only for pre-order in limited quantities.

If you pre-order P90X2 now  here are the advantages:

• Free shipping (saves you about $40)
• Two additional workouts included
• Shipment before December 25 (once the pre-order inventory is gone, most people won't be able to buy P90X2 until 2012).

And here's where to order it:

www.BrucetheCoach.com

Should I Work Out Every Day? Yes. Should You?

My commitment to myself and my health is that I will work out every day.

It may sound odd that I speak of myself and my health as two entities because indeed my health is inextricably part of who I am. However, I can ignore my health, I can abuse it, I can maintain it, and I can improve it. Because the sense of each of those states is one entity doing something that effects the other, it works for me to consider them separate entities.

Having established that duality, it's more clear for me to see how I have responsibility for my health. Health isn't something that just happens. Like happiness or success, my health is directly affected by my actions, my thoughts, and my state of being.

I'm highly conscious that my mind can, will, and in the past has worked against my overall good, and that includes my health. It's easy for me to use my mind to justify having a second piece of pie, or not trying something new, or skipping something I know is good for me.

I don't go through life all tightly wrapped and controlled (at least I don't experience myself that way), but I am aware that I can slide into behavior patterns that, if observed objectively, are clear signs that I'm not being a good steward of my personal health. For example, skipping exercise two days in a row easily slides into weeks off, having extra helpings at dinner or two desserts for lunch one time can become every day practices - I can even trick myself into a twisted sense of "living in the now" to justify each instance of neglect or overindulgence.

So, for me, working out everyday is the  best course. I don't need to do the same type of workout every day (in fact, of course, that's not good for you either). So some days I'll work on strength training, other days cardio, some times flexibility with stretching or Yoga, I'll do plyometrics, or pilates, or Zumba or ride my bike, or whatever. The point is, not to skip.

Because here's what I've learned about how my mind will work against me. If I take a day off from exercise, then  automatically my subconscious learns, "Ok, a day off is part of Bruce's exercise routine."

Can you see the trap I set for myself? Since my subconscious (just like yours if you're human) is trying to protect me and tends to resist change or effort or struggle or pain, if I give it permission to consider days of no exercise as good for me (i.e., part of my exercise routine), then my subconscious, I've figured out, will continuously try to influence my conscious mind to take a day off because working out is work and it can be hard and it does take me away from other cool, fun, or necessary stuff I could be doing, but since days off are part of my exercise routine anyway (see how devious my mind works? .... as does yours), then I'll suddenly realize that I've gone four days, or two weeks, or three months, or even years without working out. And that I know is not good for me.

Sometimes the only way to break that pattern is for something bad to happen. Like a doctor telling me I need to lose weight, or some bad blood test results, or seeing myself in the mirror and thinking, "Huh? How did I let myself get like that?"

Granted, often the wake up call that moves me back to good habits is somewhat (or all) related to vanity and self-esteem, but in that case I'm served well if I'll re-establish a good habit.

So that's why I work out every day. Your minds (conscious and subconscious) may work differently, but I've learned I need to take charge of my actions and my conscious mind or otherwise my subconscious mind will work against my health and well-being.

I am fascinated  to hear your thoughts on this. Has anyone else reached the same conclusions about working out daily or more generally about keeping up good habits not only for your own good but also to harness the potential self-destructiveness of your subsconcious?

Now we've done it, and you can, too!

Hello, we hope you're having a wonderful weekend. Here's what we did this morning. We worked out with Team Beachbody coaches Martha Kosmeh and Catherine Teague. Marge and I decided to re-invest in our own health and fitness and also to incorporate the business-side of Team Beachbody into Quantum Results Coaching.  We have also found that many of our clients are also interested in health, fitness, and life balance. Therefore, when we learned about Team Beachbody's fitness and nutrition products and met some local people who are doing extremely well as Team Beachbody coaches, we took it seriously. We invite you to watch the short (just over 5 minutes) video below that features the founder of Team Beachbody. In it you'll get a sense of his passion and the greater purpose he is working toward. Just click the big yellow PLAY button on the photo below to watch the video. If you'd like to chat with either of us about the Team Beachbody products or the business, please give us a call. You know we'd love to talk with you.   So now we have the whole package in our coaching practice. As we work with people on personal development and business growth and profitability, we can also offer information and a connection to: home fitness products with the greatest brand recognition (because of all the infomercials) and results (because they they work) in the country; top nutrition products including the hands-down, no question most complete core nutrition/energy drink/weight loss shake on the market; and a business opportunity where the time is right, the need is immense (literally, since it targets overweight and obesity), and the marketing has already been done. Marge and I have both started using the meal replacement shake (Shakeology) which has quickly become not just the healthiest, but also our favorite meal of the day. We've also been using the low impact fitness workouts that come with Shakeology and have gone to a weekly class put on by some other local Team Beachbody coaches.   If you'd like to chat with either of us about the Team Beachbody products or the business, please give us a call. You know we'd love to talk with you. To your joy, success, and health!

Bruce and Marge Brown Quantum Results Coaching 2013 Olde Regent Way, Suite 150-103 Leland, NC 28451  910-297-8753

More on Consulting and Coaching

If you're wondering whether you need to hire a consultant or a coach, or even if you're deciding if you'd rather BE a consultant or a coach, or possibly both, here's some more helpful info.

Clearly  I'm not the only person with experience and insight into these fields. Tim Berry, a former business consultant who now much prefers the role of coach recently posted a helpful differentiation on his blog.

Here's the link to his post, Read This Before Hiring a Coach or Consultant.

Good  stuff  there if you're making a decision.