Team Beachbody Guest

So... here is my story. Just a normal guy really with so much in common with many of those reading this post. Growing up I was considered a hardgainer forcing myself to eat multiple times a day just to maintain my weight… I was 100 pounds in my senior year of high school! Yeah, I was scrawny. I was then recruited to play soccer in college and continued the hardgainer lifestyle from intense training year-round. That was until I tore the ACL in my knee during a game, requiring patella tendon reconstructive surgery. My once active lifestyle slowed considerably while I was confined to a bed for essentially one month after the surgery with light rehab. Of course my metabolism slowed as a result and I lost muscle definition and gained a significant amount of weight. Fast forward to graduate school several years later where I was studying to get my Ph.D. in Engineering… so much studying in fact that I continued to put on weight. School was stressful. I tried to become more active by playing sports in the university recreational program, however, my efforts led to another ACL tear, this time in my “good” knee. I also had another cartilage / meniscus tear in my previous bad knee. I attributed all of this to being in poor shape. FRUSTRATED, I GAVE UP…

The good news is that I finished my Ph.D., found a good job out of school and met my wife in the process. I was overweight but had a promising future. My new job required significant travel though. Exercise and good nutrition were not much of a consideration anymore. Once we purchased our first home my free time was non-existent. And of course my knees and lower back were in constant pain.

I suppose I owe this transformation to my wife… she had always wanted to run a marathon and, as such, signed up and started to train. I was proud of her. We were out of town one morning in Arizona for a friend’s wedding and she went for a 7-mile run at high elevation while I stayed in bed and watched TV on a beautiful Saturday morning. I wanted to do something to improve my lifestyle but didn’t know what. I certainly was not going to run a marathon with my bad knees… AND THEN HERE COMES THE P90X INFOMERCIAL! I think we all remember the day we first saw the P90X infomercial. Too good to be true, right? Well I did a lot of research and concluded that this program was NO JOKE and requires actual hard work to bring success. Exactly what I needed.


Fast forward to today… Two rounds of P90X later and I am in the best shape of my life. Yeah, it's hard, but the results will follow. The BEFORE picture was taken at the Grand Canyon on the day I decided to commit to P90X. I was good at hiding the weight. I have since lost 20 pounds, 16% body fat and 7" inches off my waist. I am much stronger and no longer have pain in my knees. P90X has strengthened the muscles surrounding my repaired ACL ligaments and provided much needed stability to the joints to function properly (Plyometrics anyone?). I have committed to, at the very least, a new round of P90X each January.

This is my story, and I thank Beachbody for the experience.

BRING IT!!
Rage9498