Supplements - Shakeology Review

I have tried Shakeology a couple of times since it was released.  My first experience with Shakeology provided me with some great initial results.  I first tried Shakeology before I was diagnosed with sleep apnea so this was a time when I was struggling with fatigue along with other related issues.  Upon starting Shakeology I almost immediately noticed a difference in the amount of energy I had, especially when I was working out.  Unfortunately for me this did not last.  Upon starting my second bag of Shakeology that it started to have the opposite effect on me.  Instead of having more energy I found that I had less.  When this started to happen I also found that 9 hours (give or take a few minutes) after I took Shakeology I would experience diarrhea  At first I thought I just had some kind of bug but after three days the co-incidental timing of the daily bout of diarrhea made me wonder ...  So I tried a day without Shakeology and found I was feeling better.  I then tried it again and had the same negative results.  I was convinced I must have got a bad bag of Shakeology since these symptoms started the first day I started my second bag.  Beachbody sent me a third bag but the symptoms persisted for me.  I tried reducing the amount I was using over several weeks but could not shake the negative effects I was experiencing.  Only thing I could determine was that there was something in Shakeology that I had developed an intolerance for.  At that point I gave it up.

Last year I decided to give it another try when they released a Vegan version (generally I try to limit my dairy intake).  It had been well over a year since my previous experience with the original Shakeology.  This time I did not use Shakeology every day and I did not experience the same negative effects as I had previously.  However I would also say I did not experienced the same benefits as I had from my first bag, specifically the boost in energy.  Perhaps this difference might in part be attributed to the fact that I was now regularly using a CPAP machine.  I have not used Shakeology since as I have switched instead to a multivitamin targeted at physically active individuals.  I made that change in part due to price.

I have often seen people asking on the web if there are other products they can use instead of Shakeology.  The reason I typically have seen is because of the price.  The other products I have tried are VegaOne and Amazing Grass Amazing Meal.  I could not say that I have experienced any drastic results from these products either.  I started looking for a Shakeology alternative about the time I started my CPAP therapy.  In any case it's not easy to make direct comparisons between these products as they all have so many ingredients.  The ingredients vary from one product to the next and ingredients that are in common vary by amount.  Here are some links from each company's website where you can review the ingredients in each product.

http://images.beachbody.com/tbb/store/shakeology/pdf/ShakeologyCholocateVegan_Ingredients.pdf

https://shopca.myvega.com/vega-one-nutritional-shake.html?simpleid=436

http://amazinggrass.com/product/20/Amazing-Meal-Original-Blend-30-servings.html

Comparing prices is a little easier.  Here are the prices per serving (US) based on the prices on each company's website:

Shakeology $4.33

VegaOne $2.33

Amazing Grass Amazing Meal $2.33

VegaOne and Amazing Meal can be found on other websites for less than they are sold on their corporate websites.  For example I looked them both up on a site I have recently started buying many of my supplements from, vitacost.com.  On that website you could get VegaOne for $1.83 and Amazing Meal for $1.40 (per serving).

Nutrition is a very personal thing so I have a hard time saying you have to try one of these products over another. When I say "personal" I mean that what works for one person does not necessarily work for another.  If you are already taking other supplements, it is conceivable that Shakeology might actually save money for you as it may replace multiple other products you are taking.  Alternatively, you may not need something that packs that much of a punch or you want a less expensive option.  In that case you may want to try another product, perhaps one of the other two I have tried.

What is the Best Foam Roller?

Before I even knew what to do with them, I had a foam roller sitting in my workout area.  I didn't really start to use them until I did P90X2 about a year ago. Tony provides some good guidance for people like myself who had never really done much with a foam roller.

I have had good results from foam rolling.  Having had many areas of my body worked on by a massage therapist I was already familiar with the pain experienced when my therapist found "that" knot that needed to be worked out.  I think that experience makes it easier to know what to look for when I am using the foam roller, or what a knot feels like when I am rolling.  Typical areas I find I need to focus on from time to time include my calfs, IT band, glutes, lower back, neck, lats and wrists.

My first foam roller that I really used was a small one, 13 inches.  It had black foam around a PVC core.  It looks like a Trigger Point foam roller but it is not.  This was a good little foam roller but after using it for a few months the PVC core started to crack.  I tried many times to repair that first crack using PVC cement I had around the house from use on the pool.  Unfortunately the results of doing that were not great.  I repaired that first crack many times.  Eventually cracks started to develop in other spots as well.  Eventually I came to the realization that this roller was no longer usable ...

My First Roller

Beyond Repair ...

So began my odyssey to find a suitable replacement.  I went to the store I originally bought it from and all they had in stock were the large blue foam rollers.  I bought one as they were fairly inexpensive but quickly realized that for me they do not provide enough rigidity.

Within a few weeks I knew I needed something better.  At the time I was in considerable discomfort, I honestly can't even remember what was sore but it was bad and I knew I could fix it with a good foam roller and I wanted relief right away.  I had done some research and was leaning towards the TriggerPoint but I could not find a local retailer that was convenient for me to get to.  One store nearby had a RumbleRoller so I wound up getting a RumbleRoller (blue).  This was a big step up from the blue foam roller.  However there are some things I do not like about the Rumble Roller.  Often I found that the knobs were not quite where I needed them to be when trying to hit "that" spot  Yes, you could kind of hit that spot but it was hard to really fine tune where you were applying pressure.  In addition, for some things, inner thigh for example, the RumbleRoller was just too much for me.  Sometimes it left you feeling like a piece of hamburger ...

The Search for a Successor

Last year my wife says to me that the kids want to know what I wanted for Christmas.  I can't even remember what I said first but she said something like "No, what do you really want?"  My reply was "A Trigger Point foam roller."  So guess what I got for Christmas!  Best gift ever!!

Best Gift Ever!!!

Attempting to Show the Inner Core Reinforcement

Really, 90% or more of my foam rolling I use the Trigger Point.  I find that it has a good density that allows good fine tuning to hit "that" spot with the right amount of pressure.  Reminiscent of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, this one is not too hard, nor is it too soft.  Yes, sometimes I will resort to the blue foam roller or the RumbleRoller but if I had to give up all but one of my rollers, I would keep the Trigger Point, HANDS DOWN.

Working Out and Sleep Apnea

This post kind of goes with my “Working out in Pain” post. 

What is sleep apnea?  Here is a short explanation I found online:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sleepapnea/

Sleep apnea (AP-ne-ah) is a common disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep.

Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes. They may occur 30 times or more an hour. Typically, normal breathing then starts again, sometimes with a loud snort or choking sound.

Sleep apnea usually is a chronic (ongoing) condition that disrupts your sleep. When your breathing pauses or becomes shallow, you’ll often move out of deep sleep and into light sleep.

As a result, the quality of your sleep is poor, which makes you tired during the day. Sleep apnea is a leading cause of excessive daytime sleepiness.

Sleep apnea often goes undiagnosed. Doctors usually can't detect the condition during routine office visits. Also, no blood test can help diagnose the condition.

Most people who have sleep apnea don't know they have it because it only occurs during sleep. A family member or bed partner might be the first to notice signs of sleep apnea.

I have sleep apnea and until I was diagnosed a few years ago, working out was a real challenge.  I finally asked my doctor about it because my wife told me that I would often stop breathing when I was sleeping. 

Sleep has many benefits for our minds and body.  Basically when you sleep your body heals itself.  This is in contrast to when you work out.  When you work out you are putting stress on the muscles with results in some break down of the muscle in your body.  When you sleep your body (and the muscles) repair themselves and can get stronger.  With sleep apnea you are not getting the best results you can from working out as your body cannot properly/fully repair.  I suspect this is why I used to have so many pains from working out.  Yes, massage therapy helped me with most of them but I suspect that much of it is due to my apnea.  One day, before I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, I was working out and my sons looks at the DVD and looks at me.  He then says something along the lines of “You’ve been doing this for a long time.  How come you don’t look like the people on the video?”  I actually had no response but I was thinking “I wish I knew”.

Once I got a CPAP machine (aka Vader mask) I immediately noticed improvements in my body from exercising.  I use my CPAP every night.  It makes a huge difference in how I feel.

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/9-reasons-to-sleep-more

Product Review - Resistance Bands

Well what can I say about bands?  Beachbody sells them and I have bought some but I don’t really use them a lot.   Sure, you can get a good workout with bands but I prefer knowing what weight I am actually using.  Gives me something more concrete to measure when tracking results.  I used to use bands for a long time to simulate pull ups but have since managed to get a setup in my basement to allow me to do real pull ups.  Real pull ups are far superior to using a band in my opinion.  The bands sold by Beachbody are good quality bands but they can be found in stores for far less than Beachbody charges.  I just compared a pink band on Beachbody’s website to one of my favorite stores, Fitness Depot.  The same band at fitness depot is 1/3 the price.  If you want to get a Beachbody program and need the equipment, and you like one stop shopping, by all means get it all from Beachbody.  In my experience their products are good.  If you want to save a few bucks, shop around.  Just make sure you are getting a good quality product.  There are lots of not so good products out there that are cheap (See my first attempt at getting some med balls for an example).

Product Review - Insanity

I have never done Insanity as a program.  Last year I was thinking about getting Insanity it so I could use the routines to replace Plyo and Kenpo in my P90X routine.  My son asked if I could get it for him so he could do it.  Since I was already toying with the idea of getting it for the extra workouts, I went ahead and bought it.  My son lasted about a week and never did it again.  I on the other hand have done every workout in the Insanity program multiple times and still find them challenging.

I’m not sure that I will ever do it as a program but I’m sure it would be a good program to do.

Product Review - 10 Minute Trainer

I bought this for those days when I just would not have the time to devote to a full P90X workout.  The workouts are very fast paced and you will very likely leave a puddle of sweat on the floor if you are going hard.  While it is called 10 Minute Trainer, the program is designed to give you your best results if you do 2 or 3 workouts in a day.  So really you are looking at 35 minutes.  I have not done this a lot but it would be a good starter program for someone just getting into fitness.

I personally found the Yoga workout to be of little benefit.  Not enough time for me to really get into a Yoga workout or feel any benefit from stretching etc.

Product Review - P90X2

P90X2 is another of my favorites.  This program challenges you in different ways.  The program is based on what they refer to as Muscle Integration.  While you are not lifting heavy weights like in P90X you will be doing exercises that require you to use more muscles at the same time like lifting weights while balancing on one leg, or doing push ups on 1, 2 or 4 med balls.  After doing P90X2 for the first time I was concerned that I had lost some strength.  However, I found when I went back to P90X after finishing P90X2 that in my first week I could lift the same weights/reps or in some cases more weight/reps than I did when I finished P90X the time before.  I was really surprised by that.

P90X2 Yoga is shorter than P90X.  I like that!  I also have really benefited from the instruction Tony gives in the recovery and mobility DVD.  I am a huge fan of foam rolling now.

There are a couple of other DVD’s for P90X2 I do not have.  I plan to get them in the future, probably next year.

Great program.