How can gyms feel less “flabby?”

Offer a new “ice shoveling” workout. 627 calories burned in one hour, per the heart rate monitor.

And I haven’t yet touched the driveway!

Pilates guru Lisa Johnson helps sort out the "do I work out if I am sick" conundrum. Photo by lightkeeper/istockphoto.com

Good God I was sick last week. It was a simple cold, but it had me on my knees. By day two, I couldn’t even get out of bed to get the kid to the bus stop. (And thanks for the assist, Manly Man Husband!)

Since I have been on this work out kick for over six months, it felt really strange not to exercise. My energy was extraordinarily low and my body was all achy. Plus, I was pretty damn congested. Just the thought of cardio was laughable.

With cold and flu season just around the corner, I decided to ask Boston-based pilates guru Lisa Johnson, owner of Modern Pilates, for an assist for both me and my kick ass readers.

So, what’s the game plan for working out when you’re sick?

Lisa’s sage advice:

If it’s a cold and you don’t feel too bad it’s ok to do a workout.  Don’t expect it to be stellar.  Think of it more as a placeholder until you feel better.  Don’t do anything new or fancy and don’t try to push yourself too hard.  If you start to feel really lousy just quit for the day and go home and rest.

If you have the flu or you’re running a fever then by all means skip it.  Your body is fighting a pretty bad infection. You need to rest so your body can do what it needs to do.  Plus running a fever also means you could feel pretty light-headed and you don’t want to be lifting weights or running when you’re feeling dizzy.

In either scenario, please do everyone else a favor and stay out of the gym.  They are sweaty places with varying degrees of cleanliness and no matter how “careful” you think you’re being you’re really doing a disservice to your fellow members.  It’s only a workout or two, you won’t balloon up a dress size or lose 50% of your strength.  Just rest, recover and then go back at it!

I took Lisa’s advice. I dropped my training down from six days to four, and I kept it to one workout a day. I also stuck with weight training but didn’t push too hard and gave the cardio a break (cardio seems to wipe me out more). And while I feel some residual cold effects this week, I am indeed back at it!

Thanks, Lisa!

A stay in a salt room is an unusual and intriguing Spa Week option.

It was slim pickings for Fall 2010 Spa Week, running from October 11 – 17.

While the number of spas participating remains pretty huge, I was underwhelmed by the spas participating. A few good names were in there (Great Jones, for example) but the treatments they were offering just seemed uninspired.

But amid the unimpressive offerings from mostly lackluster spas, I did find a few unique enough to get my attention.

Without further ado, my picks for the Fall 2010 NY Spa Week.

Erika Bloom Pilates Plus
This isn’t a typical spa offering and I think that’s really cool. Erika Bloom Pilates is offering either a 60 minute session of pilates, reflexology or Thai Yoga Massage. No question, you want that Thai Yoga Massage, which is an amazing mix of assisted stretching and yoga along with massage. It is an incredible experience, and, at Erika Bloom anyway, is priced at $120 for a 60 minute session. Book it. Seriously.

Halo/Air
This is a really unusual offering Spa Week offering.

Halo/Air is not really a spa but consists of salt rooms where you can go and relax. Salt rooms are gaining popularity in the spa world, but it’s still pretty rare to find them. It’s thought that breathing in the air from salt caves helps cleanse the body. I have never seen a stand alone salt room–usually they are part of a spa that offers the usual treatments. But at Halo/Air, you just chill in a private, quiet room and purify the body by breathing in the salt-infused air. For $50 you get two 50 minute sessions, specific to either the body or for the skin.

You definitely have to be up for this, and believe in the healing power of salt. But I would do it,just for the curiosity factor.

Shibumi Spa
Situated in Eastern Athletic Club in Tribeca, Shibumi Spa gives you a little more bang for your Spa Week buck since it includes a guest pass to the Athletic Club. So you can make ample use of their facilities while you are there for your treatment–take a class, use their steam room or sauna.

The treatments are almost secondary to the access that the Spa Week Deal affords, but I would pick the 45 “head to toe” special, that includes a marine enzyme peel for the face and a pomegranate cranapple sugar scrub for the body.

L’Institut Sothys New York
You can’t get more old school spa luxe than Sothys NY outpost. My very first spa experience was with a spa that used Sothys products, and it remains my best spa experience to this day, so there is a soft spot in my heart for the brand. And their new location on 57th Street looks like a tranquil oasis. The must on their list is the Caramel and Vanilla Seasonal Facial Treatment. While it only clocks in at 45 minutes, Sothys is absolutely brilliant at these seasonal treatments. The thought of the warm aromas of caramel and vanilla is simply transporting.

And don’t forget to brush up on my tips for surviving Spa Week. These will help ensure that you get good service at a time when these spas are way overbooked.

Thinking of booking something? What sounds good to you?

Check out this great news for yoga afficionados.

A study in the Journal of Sexuality reported that almost 75% of enrolled in a 12 week yoga program reported a more satisfying sex life at the end of the program.

What is it about yoga? Like any regular exercise program, the side effects are more energy and confidence, which certainly enhances romance.

Yoga also improves arterial blood flow, and studies point to this particular benefit for not only reducing the risk of heart disease, but  also enhancing sexuality.

Relaxation is also key. I have forced myself to do yoga once a week for the past 20 weeks and, I will admit that now I can get into the relaxation zone. Yoga reduces levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, which is beneficial all around (particular for the skin!). A relaxed body and mind simply improves sexual function.

Much to Manly Man Husband’s chagrin, I am putting another Beachbody fitness DVD to the test: Hip Hop Abs.

Since I don’t like the P90X “Ab Ripper” work out, I wanted to try something that would target the midsection. Bonus: Hip Hop Abs is also a cardio workout. As much as I love Tony Horton and Co, the cardio is getting monotonous.

Actually, in true As-Seen-On-TV fashion, Hip Hop Abs is loads of things. You get the Cardio Blast, the Ab Sculpt, and Last Minute Abs (a 5 minute workout) along with a few extra workouts like a Bun and Thigh Sculpt and what I call Last Minute Ass (really a 5 Minute Bun and Thigh workout).

Now I don’t necessarily believe that Hip Hop Abs is able to target the midsection completely. The charismatic Shaun T (who reminds me of a young Will Smith, circa Fresh Price of Bel Air) leads you through a series of choreographed moves that are supposed to incorporate his “tilt, tuck, tighten” method to strengthen the core. And for those kind of uncoordinated (like me!), it’s complicated enough just getting jiggy. Tucking, tilting and tightening may have to wait until my coordination improves.

What I did find, however, was that for a pure cardio workout, Hip Hop Abs was the better performer than P90Xs Kempo X. I really enjoy Kempo X, and it’s a mother of a workout. But, a (unscientific) heart rate monitor test showed that doing two Hip Hop Abs workouts (the 30 minute Cardio Blast and the 25 minute Ab Sculpt) performed better than the 55 minute Kempo routine.

My average heart rate was slightly higher with Kempo, as was the approximate number of calories burned. But the Kempo workout is so intense that it often pushes me above my anaerobic threshold. I am only in my target heart rate zone for 17 minutes on Kempo, whereas I remain in the zone for over 30 minutes on the Hip Hop Abs combo. When I am out of my zone, I am often over, not under, the target heart rate, which means that my training moves from aerobic to anaerobic (so rather than burning fat, I burn glucose stores).

For those in peak physical condition, anaerobic training is actually very good. But for fat loss, pushing past the anaerobic threshold isn’t terribly helpful. In fact, my estimated fat loss on calories burned was 30% with Kempo, but 50% on Hip Hop Abs.

There have been recently studies that debunk this training methodology, along with a new push in the fitness industry on High Intensity Training (essentially short bursts of hard training with short periods of rest).  But I haven’t looked closely enough at that yet to make a determination.

While I haven’t been doing Hip Hop Abs long enough to see if the results differ from what I was seeing on the P90X cardio, my initial test has me curious enough to continue to substitute it on the P90X cardio days.

And the next time you see me at a party, I may just bust a move.

This is P90X creator Tony Horton.

It’s been a while since the last P90X update. And I am happy to report, the 12 weeks are done!

It was hard hard hard to maintain the 6 days a week workout schedule, and I will admit there were weeks when I did only 5 days. That said, the program remained challenging and I saw results though the entire process.

In terms of the scale, I lost about 12 pounds. It wasn’t the amazing OMG I lost 50 pounds success story,  but, as most health experts advocate losing 1 pound a week, I think I did OK. My measurements, however, tell a much more exciting story. I lost about 15 inches total. And about 6% body fat.

There were  a few things I skipped during the initial 12 weeks. I did not do any before pics (hence no after) since I did not think it would be a motivator.  I was wrong.

And I did not record my weight/reps for the strength training, relying on sheer memory. At the beginning, the numbers were fairly easy to recall, since I did light weight and high reps. But as I progressed and wanted to add resistance, I could not rely on my memory to accurately set a goal.

Finally, I did Ab Ripper X three times total. Pilates moves done at the speed of light? I’m just not buying it, and I am sure my back thanks me for that. But even without it, my abs, particularly my obliques, are getting toned. (A million push ups and plank positions per week will certainly tone a tummy). I can live without the six-pack.

So, now what?

I am going at it for another 12 weeks! And adding additional cardio workouts a few times a week (the dreaded doubles). And this time I am recording my weights/reps. And I am doing those before/after pics.

One thing that remained a constant struggle was food. While I successfully removed junk food from my diet, I don’t think I was actually consuming enough calories to sustain the workout schedule. It’s damn hard eating several times a day. It’s time consuming, and it annoys me that I have to constantly think about it.  I lack the planning prowess to make it easier. And, frankly, it makes me feel food obsessed.

I think that I would have seen more gains if I had eaten more (defies logic, but my metabolism is storing food rather then expending it). So my next 12 weeks need to see a little more effort.

Anyone out there eating 5-7 small meals a day? How do you do it? I welcome any and all advice you guys want to share!

When I received the email a few days ago from exhale spa, I was kind of excited. They partnered with YogaVibes.com to offer four of their celebrity endorsed Core Fusion classes for purchase online.

Since getting to exhale is not terribly convenient, testing out Core Fusion is at the bottom of my very long to-do list. So I was kind of excited to be able to give it a go from my home.

Then I checked out the previews of the video. They essentially video-taped a class and slapped it online. It’s hard to see the moves clearly, and the audio is pretty low quality (it seems like they used the camera microphone and not a dedicated mic).

From the preview videos, the best of the bunch appears to be the Core Fusion. At least there is a clear view of the instructor, doing the workout with the class, and she’s pretty audible. But there is no way to tell how you can modify the exercises. (Like, full split? Um, no. I need modification.) And the one camera in one position kept me from fully seeing all angles of the different workout moves. My form could be completely off and I have no way of knowing.

The worst? Music Flow Yoga. The instructor is barking yoga poses at the class and the camera is following her moving between the students rather than staying in one spot and focusing on the moves. And there is no way of knowing that you have the form correct, since you are watching students of varying abilities rather than one person doing it correctly.

With different price points starting at $10 for one class, accessible for 14 days, it’s certainly more affordable than in-studio. But I would take a bunch of Core Fusion classes in person before attempting these online videos. Form is definitely going to be compromised if you don’t already have the basic workout down.

Back to the bottom of the to-do list it goes!

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I can’t believe I am just about 1/2 way through my P90X experiment. And I am going to eat a gigantic slice of birthday cake when I hit my final day.

First, the nitty gritty. I continue to lose inches, although there was a PMS set back week that righted itself after the bloat ended. And my body fat percentage is definitely headed in the right direction (2% or so down).

I finally installed the pull up bar on Week 5 (Week 4 was a “recovery” week, thus no pull ups). Wheee. And, I can actually do 10 (yes, that’s right TEN!) with modification.

The weight on the scale, however, has been a bit slow moving. And while I did not kick off this experiment to see pounds melt away, I still find myself pretty discouraged.

As I share the experiment with more people, I find that there are a lot of Beachbody fans out there who use their various DVDs. So I was kind of crushed when an acquaintance told me that she lost 15 pounds in the first two weeks of a Beachbody program. I began to wonder what I was doing wrong to be stuck at the undramatic 1 to 2 pounds a week weight loss.

There is no doubt that I am getting stronger. I can hold my kid up on the monkey bars with just one arm wrapped around her legs. Hell, I can do 10 (modified) pull ups! My reps are going up with each workout and I am slowly adding more resistance to them.

And, you know what, my pants are getting pretty loose.

But this stupid number on the scale is like an albatross and I just can’t shake my obsession with it.

Growing up, I watched my mother step on the scale every morning. Her morning ritual was dragging the scale all over the bathroom floor, to find the right dip in the tiles that would give her the lowest number. That number would be the basis for everything (or nothing) she ate for the entire day. While she was obsessed over her daily weigh ins, I silently loathed that scale. I feared being in close proximity to it.

In fact, for most of my adult live I never even owned one. But Manly Man Husband brought on into the house, and while I have avoided using it for most of the 9 years we have been together, this experiment has sucked me back into a perceived importance to those numbers. The power that the scale had over my mother is beginning to exert control over me.

I do not do my weekly weigh ins around my kid. I don’t want her to witness my own kicking of the scale to find the right dip in the tiles. She doesn’t need to see me be a slave to the numbers.

I suppose it’s good that I recognize this and chose to power through and continue the program, trying to ignore the numbers and focus on getting stronger and healthier.

I know that non-dramatic weight loss is the best weight loss to have. And I know that I am also doing this program to kick start a healthier lifestyle, which is ultimately more important than any weight loss. But those numbers still loom, and it’s hard to let go of such an unhealthy childhood preoccupation with them.

This is P90X creator Tony Horton.

My Dear Readers,

Is it even physiologically possible to lose three inches off of one area of the body? In a week?

My Week 2 measurements have me baffled. I lost three inches off my hips. No place else. Just the hips.

Now I am certainly not complaining. But I am at a loss. Perhaps I did my initial measurements incorrectly? Dunno. I suppose I should leave baffled behind and just be thrilled with negative three inches.

An additional 2 lbs have been shed, with a body fat drop of something like .04%. Not huge, but the numbers are moving in the right direction.

So, Week 2 was kind of a blast. I am over the “what the hell are they doing” hump and able to push myself a little harder and a little further now that I am kind of getting the hang of the movements.

The nutrition is still a bit of a challenge, but I feel like I am making progress.  The protein drinks in the morning seem to help fuel me though the workout, so that makes me very happy. I am getting bored with the vanilla drink, but at least I can tolerate the taste so I am not ready to get adventurous with the other flavors.

I have been completely junk food and sugar free for 14 days now.  Except for the occasional late night pangs for a little chocolate, I don’t miss it at all, which is surprising the hell out of me. When I have kicked sugar before, there is always a period where I am driven mental with the cravings. Perhaps I am too busy? Are my muscle aches from the workouts a diversion? Perhaps I am actually eating enough during the day to not end up with those bizarro stress-induced yearnings?

Whatever it is, I’m going with it. It feels great to have conquered the sugar Jones. And after 14 days, I truly feel like I have conquered it. (Though, maybe I should wait and see how I do when PMS kicks in.)

ALERT: For those that gross out easily, or don’t want to know me that intimately, you may want to skip this section. Good lord, this week have I been peeing! I am suspicious that my weight loss is simply water weight coming off. So I am intermittently researching why we pee so much when we start a training program. So far, I haven’t found anything terribly conclusive, though one resource stated that the increase in urination has to do with the glycogen reserves being used up. According to the source, when stored glyogen is turned to glucose, the by-product is water, which then exits the body. Love the theory, but I need to do more research before I can say, “YES!, I am depleting glyogen stores,” with any certainty.

One more thing I have noticed is that by the end of the day, I am pretty wiped out. Not that I necessarily wasn’t tired before, but it’s definitely much more pronounced this week.

Regardless, I would call Week 2 a blazing success. Now that I am getting comfortable with the workouts and the movements, my Week 3 goal is to move to slightly heavier weights and to push myself a little harder.

I just went through a full week of the P90X informercial special  training program! How’d I do? Read on!

I almost gave up on this before I started. When I cracked open the packaging and started reading the pretty P90X booklet, I saw on page 2 loads of dire warnings about how not to attempt P90X if you weren’t already in shape. Find another workout, they said. This is definitely not for you. This gave me pause.

Am I in shape? I dunno. My workouts were sporadic at best over several months. They have a fit test to help you decide and I could do most of it (save the pull up, but that could very well be psychological).

The fit test, however, was pretty much the standard fitness test that every personal trainer worth their money will put you through when first working out with them. It’s actually to measure where you are on the fitness scale to be able to tailor workouts. But since I don’t  have a real live personal trainer, I was still really nervous.

But I didn’t really want to go through the hassel of returning P90X without giving it a go. And there was a section in the book about modifying the series of workouts so that it was a little more cardio and not hard core resistance training. I decided that was the way to go (i.e. no brutal plyometrics) for my first 12 weeks, and then switch to P90X classic for my next 12 weeks. So I popped in my first workout (Core) and got busy.

Hard? Hell yes. As hard as all that? Not so much.

Like any fitness program on DVD, the workout can be modified for your fitness level. Need a break, march it out. Can’t do 30 reps? Stop at 25. The idea is to have a goal and reach or exceed it. Being the first week, my only goal was to get through the workouts and start committing movements to muscle memory (oh hai, Kempo, that was me kicking awkwardly with flailing bunching arms!). I kept my weight low and just tried to figure out what the hell I was doing.

Shockingly, for me anyway, the straight up 15 minute ab workout is near impossible. I had two years of pilates to build up my core, and their extreme ab workout is probably the one that I am the worst at (more on my thoughts about this some other time).

As I suspected, the nutrition part is hard to master. I’ve been really really good at cutting out carbs and junk food, but I cannot seem to get down the “eating enough” part. They recommend eating every three hours or so, and it’s damn hard to master eating so often. Particularly when you have to think about what you are going to eat. Can I used my one carb at breakfast or should I wait until dinner?

I broke down and bought a protein drink mix. It’s impossible for me to find the time to make a breakfast that does not consist of cold cereal or a bagel.  I made the mistake of trying the workout on day two with just a little fruit in the morning. Twenty minutes into it, and I was ready to drop. So I am replacing breakfast with the protein drink to help get through my morning workout.

I like Tony Horton’s style, although his motivation-speak can be a little to “pumped” for my taste. But he’s pretty clear with the instruction and he  can certainly get an extra rep or two out of you.

What about results? I am not sure if I am losing inches yet, since I did not do my initial measurements until about half way through my first week. But, I have lost 2 pounds. Not too shabby. Although at this pace, I doubt I will have the buff bod that you see in the P90X before and after photos. But this seems a lot more realistic.

Oh and those pull ups? Until I get brave enough to master, I am doing pull downs on a machine during the pull up portions of the program. Trying to find my max weight for this right now. Yeah, I know, it’s kind of a cheat, but I don’t want my aversion to the pull up to keep me from going through this program. I’ll get there eventually.