Health Habba!!!

Last week was eventful. We started with P90X & Our company organised a Health Habba (Habba = Festival) on Thu & Fri. Whats happening.... everyone is getting health conscious suddenly!
Health Habba was interesting & a lot more funnier. Without taking names of any participating Hospitals, I would say that it was one big Sales Pitch that was presented to a bunch of Curious & Health Conscious Engineers @ our company. I walked in with my friends Deba & Baskar for the Health Habba. We registered ourselves at the first counter. Here, the Organizers made sure they got all our Personal Contact details. We first walked in for a General Health checkup. BMI - 25.68!!! I was Overweight (Marginally though)! Then I was directed to meet a Doctor. Doc was very energetic but, it was as if she had few things on mind which she wanted to tell everyone without an ear for the other person. she asked me to workout for at least 3 days a week when I was telling her that I normally workout for 5 days a week... the sales pitch was for few Preventive Vaccinations to be done. She would scare you by telling that it would be the end of life if we are not Vaccinated. Then a parallel to "US of A" saying that most people in US have taken these vaccinations... loaded me with a lot of information & finally said "it would be difficult for you to remember all these so, every year just drop into my Clinic & say Hi to me, I will take care". General Health checkup ended! Yes, nothing about BMI...
Next was Dentist. A Visit to his clinic, even though it is about 35 Kms from where I stay, is what he ended with.
We saw long Queues everywhere, so, went in for Foot Solutions, which had the least no. of people lined in. Foot - The most neglected part of the body, you know. Docs at Foot solutions had a tough job on hand. I am not telling about looking at everyone's feet, taking it into hand, Keeping it on their lap & analysing it. I am telling you about selling a Shoe Sole which costs Rs.Seven Thousand Only!
Next was Eye Testing. One Neat, Clean & Traditional health check during such camps. All fine.
Dieticians were an interesting lot. Even though we had the data they needed, which we got during General health checkup, they would not believe. So, Wt, height & BMI again. BMI - 25.4 & I was 1 Cm shorter now!!! Probably all that standing in long Queues & walking from one stall to another made me loose some weight & some height too ;-). Dieticians did not get into specifics. All she said when I told her that I am a Vegiterian & I dont even eat Egg is to have "Vegetables, Fruits & Sprouts Not to forget Two Glasses of Milk". I wondered What was I eating all the while, if not for this?!
Now came the most Interesting section which had the highest no. of people queuing in. Complexion & Skin Analysis. There was one Queue where you would get a Colour Printout showing Facial Skin, texture & Pores. You need to stand in another Queue to meet the Doc, show the printout & get your skin analysed. I understood that they had a stall right next to this section where they were selling all kind of Facial Creams and you would have guessed what the prices would be ;-)
Health Habba was more about marketing than health. One good Session came from our Group Insurance company who provided good information about the way Cashless hospitalization & Reimbursements should be handled.
End of it, all I can say is It was good to see few Doctors in an otherwise Engineers World!!!

Dwithiya Nirvigna

Right from a very young age, we have been told that If we start anything new, we need to learn/do the same on the Second day of starting the activity as well. once we manage to do it the very next day as well, we will be able to carry on with the activity for long & till we reach our Goal. Dwithiya Vigna (Dwithiya = Second, Vigna = Obstacle) did not happen :-) Hope to take this forward through next 88 days!
Second day of our workout was "Plyometrics". This workout is the X in the P90X. Thatz how tough this is.Plyometrics is a type of exercise training designed to produce fast, powerful movements, and improve the functions of the nervous system. Plyometric movements, in which a muscle is loaded and then contracted in rapid sequence, use the strength, elasticity and Nervous stimulation of muscle and surrounding. Plyometrics is used to increase the speed or force of muscular contractions. plyometric movements toughen tissues and train nerve cells to stimulate a specific pattern of muscle contraction so the muscle generates as strong a contraction as possible in the shortest amount of time.
I thought it would be a tough time for us during & after workout but, surprisingly, this was Deba's strength. All his training in Cardio exercises came to his help. The exhaustion caused during the rigorous movements were more easily overcome by Deba. I was out of breath on few exercises & few muscles were really tested. Post workout, we were able to move around in a normal way, which I had not expected. There are two things which would have helped us to stand up to Plyometrics Challenge. The Initial One week of Preparation & the main reason would be that we could not do too many Repetition of exercises. We recognize that we have just started & there is a looooooong way to go. Thatz all I had to share for now :-)

c ya,

Shubhamasthu!

The First Day!

Deba was in full Enthu to start with the P90X. We had a Good session. Warm ups & Run-up to P90X really helped. we were able to pull out all the exercises in about 1 hr!!!

P90X has three approaches to achieve ones Fitness obejectives. P90X Classic, P90X Double & P90X Lean. We have decided to go with P90X Classic workout. Basic reasoning was, as it is P90X is an action packed workout & either Double or Lean would only mean that these are further variations to the standard one to skew the result to either gain a lot of Muscle or loose a lot of them! So, P90X Classic was a natural choice for us.

Will let you know more about the P90X & also about our progress. Signing off for now :-)

Shubhamasthu!

The Run-up to P90X

Going in for a P90X workout was always on my mind. Unless you find some Company or unless you are extremely motivated, you will not be able to start with such workouts. I was discussing about my plans to start working out for better fitness with my friend "Deba". Deba was always inclined towards improving his fitness levels. He Cycles to office just to keep a check on his Calories & also to do his bit to Environment! I found a mate in Deba. We were all excited to start P90X. Deba, even though into a lot of Cardio exercies, he was never into Weight training, Yoga or Karate. He has a Paunch (Even I have developed a small one ;-)) & not an athletic body but, he has a Rock Solid Determination & a lot more Motivation to be in the best shape possible. Not with Muscles, but with a lean body. It is a challenge for us to see to that we complete this journey of 90 days with out getting Injured & by getting the best out of the workout.

It had been quite a while since he had done anything other than cycling. Even I had taken a long break from any of my Workouts. So, we knew that starting off with P90X is not a good idea. We prepared ourselves for the past one week with some Warmup exercises, Chest & Back Exercises, SitUps & Side SitUps & Stretching. Basically concentrating on exercises which sould help us to take up P90X!

Today, we plan to start with P90X, provided Deba is in a shape & frame of mind to take on the challenge. Will update you on what happened.

Wish Us :-)

Shubhamasthu!!!

P90X - The Background

One of my very close Friend "Karthik Gowda" introduced me to P90X. Power 90 Extreme. P90X is a 90 day workout that is packed with action. There are many ways to achieve a fit body. This is definitely one of them. This needs a person to have some background in Fitness training. P90X is for people who have already exercised earlier but have taken a break or for all those who are into regular exercising. P90X Just pushes the Envelope. This combines Cardio, Plyometrics, Strength & Weight training, Yoga & Karate!!! This uses a Technique called "Muscle Confusion". The technique Prevents Exercise Plateauing by varying execises over days & weeks for all 90 days such that Body has difficulty Adopting. By the time body realizes what one is doing, body will be experiencing something totally different!!! P90X is a type of "Interval Training" which involves bursts of high intensity work in alternation with periods of rest or low activity (interval).

P90X was developed by "Tony Horton" along with "Beachbody.com". Hats off to Tony for a Great Work out, Small Coool Tips & Amazing Sense of Humour!!!

In the coming few days / weeks I want to take everyone along with me in My Journey through P90X. Wish me :-)

Shubhamasthu.