Time to change up the workout plan...

Since I started working out regularly back in March, a guy names Shaun T has been an almost daily presence in my life. I don't know Shaun T, I've never met him, but you may have heard of him as the creator of Insanity. He's been with me from the start, telling me what to do each day, yelling at me (in a nice way as only he can) to "DIG DEEPER" and "FOCUS" on whatever body part I'm supposed to be working on. He's been with me as I've lost weight weight (almost 15% of my original body weight), gotten my core in shape and dropped more than two pants sizes.

But there comes a time when you need to move on, and for me that time is now. If the first six months of my fitness project were about fat burning, the second six months will be about muscle building. I'm at around 20% body fat at this point, and I'd like to drop to 17-18% - but I don't want or need to lose any more weight.  That means it's all about building up some muscle, so it's time to switch programs.

First up - Chalean Extreme, a program by Chalene Johnson which is geared toward women, and encourages us to lift heavy to build muscle. Sounds good. She and I will be getting to know each other over the next few months.

Then, after Christmas comes Beachbody's "centerpiece" program - P90X. I'm going to admit, I'm afraid of this program because I can't do a pull-up to save my life. The 90 minute yoga workout in P90X (YogaX) is known for being ridiculously long and hard. I assume that if I got through Insanity, I can get through anything. We shall see. After three months of Tony Horton and P90X, I plan to run back to Shaun T and Insanity for a couple of months, because I think I'll miss him a lot. It's funny how the trainers who do these videos almost become a part of your life.

On a side note, I joined a local no-frills gym today, just to take a couple of classes a week. It's kind of like Planet Fitness, pay as you go and cancel at any time. Tomorrow at lunchtime I'm going to try a spin class. I've never done a spin class before, so it should be interesting. Hopefully I'll be able to walk on Thursday.