Good Questions!

Recently some of my newest team members, Bernie and Ann Harvey, sent me a few great questions. I know there are some of you out there with similar issues, and I wanted to share these and my responses and advice for tonight's blog. (These questions/answers are paraphrased and not necessarily verbatim to address you, the audience, more globally).

1. I have noticed when I work out, I am in my redline zone, or near my Max HR. It only comes back down once I have stopped working out. Is this okay?

Remember, it's about health first guys. Stay safe but still push yourselves by working out (especially regarding cardio workouts) in your aerobic thru your threshold zone. To put this into numbers, I would recommend you work out somewhere between 60 and 80 percent of your max hr. You will notice over time, even as little as a few weeks, that you will have to push harder to stay in this zone which will indicate you are becoming more fit and building your endurance. 

2. While doing certain core/ab exercises, my lower back burns. Is this normal? Should I replace those exercises?

Your lower back burns because though your abs may not be tired, your opposing back muscles are weaker and need to get stronger for you to strengthen your entire core. Over time, you will notice this burning to subside, indicating that your lower back is getting stronger, and you will progress more with your entire core including your abs. Further, keep working out with the entire P90X system to target all of your muscles and your body as a whole will be much stronger and you will get the results you are after. My weakness was my hip flexors. They would start to burn and break down way earlier than my abs would, but over time they got stronger and I was able to progress much further.

Well, I hope this Q&A session helped all of you! Thanks to Bernie and Ann for asking them, and congrats to them for BRINGIN' IT!! Thanks for reading everyone!