P90x

On one of our cross-training nights, Oyler showed us the first set of plyometric exercises in the P90x video. This got me thinking... (1) what is P90x? and (2) what are the other exercises? To answer the first question, P90x is home fitness program (12 workouts + nutrition guide) created by Tony Horton. I had assumed the P was for plyometrics (because that's what we did), and 90 was the length of the workout (in minutes or exercises), and then x was to indicate that you should make the workouts a "habit", but I was wrong. After looking through their website, I have no idea what the P or the x stand for... the 90 is the number of days needed to "transform" your body (6 days a week, 60min a session).

The 12 workouts (with a brief video excerpt) are described here. They work on both upper and lower body strength, as well as flexibility. No fancy equipment is required, just a TV with ~6ft x 6ft area to work out in, some dumbbells or resistance bands, and a chin-up bar. How can something so simple produce such dramatic results? Two words-- muscle confusion. Ok, now this is where I'd normally stop reading and chalk the whole thing up to another ASoTV gimmick, but you actually do have to exercise for 60min, so I decided to actually read about muscle confusion. As it turns out, Tony Horton just renamed a well-known training phenomenon... if you don't change up your routine, you'll likely stagnate (like doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results). So, even though I still have no idea why it's called P90x, it doesn't seem like a bad way to be more organized about cross/strength-training!

Upper Body Strength

When you think of distance runners, this is usually not the first thing that comes to mind. And, although its true that you don't need to look like the Terminator to run 26.2 miles, a little bit of upper body strength never hurt anyone. While sprinters should focus more on power, distance runners should focus more on endurance in terms of their "weight lifting" routine. Because your legs follow your arms, upper body strength can help get you to the top of a hill or past the runner just ahead of you in the final 100m. Upper body strength also helps with running form, keeping you from slouching and/or bringing your arms across your body (this throws off your stride by wasting energy fight a side-to-side motion). RunnerDude has thankfully put together a good workout, and a pretty comprehensive Q&A on weight-lifting for runners can be found here. If anyone has any other suggestions, let us know... I've always found swimming to be a pretty good upper body / core workout!

... the picture is from my favorite weather.com advertisement :-)