By Joe Wilkes

Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy. —Anonymous

How much fiber should we be getting? If you believe the television commercials that run during the nightly news, we're not even coming close to getting what we need. Should we be taking pills or drinks or some other supplements to satisfy our fiber needs? I thought maybe I should be, until I went to the store and saw that a small can of a national brand of fiber costs over $12. $12? For something that is literally going to run right through me? Currently, all my extra disposable income is slated to run through the gas tank of my car, not my body, so I decided to take a look at foods that could beef up my fiber intake.

First off, let's look at what the big deal about fiber is anyway. I used to think of fiber as stringy, ropy stuff, like the threads in celery or cabbage. But fiber has actually become a catchall term for any indigestible material that we consume, not all of which is actually fibrous. Cellulose, the building block of much of the fleshy part of fruits and veggies, is an example of non-fibrous fiber. There is soluble fiber, which dissolves in water and helps stabilize blood sugar by slowing the rate of digestion. There is also insoluble fiber, which, as its name would suggest, does not dissolve in water—although it does attract water in the intestinal tract and, well, without getting too graphic, is responsible for the trains running on time, keeping the mail moving, releasing the payload, etc. Most importantly, more and more studies are linking a high-fiber diet to a decreased risk of heart disease and diabetes.

For optimal health, nutritionists recommend 30 to 38 grams of fiber every day for men and 21 to 25 grams of fiber every day for women. You can find the fiber content in labeled food as a subcategory under carbohydrates. If you're counting carbs, you can always subtract the amount of fiber from the total number of carbs, because the fiber will only be visiting your body for a little while, unlike the sugars, which, if not burned for fuel, will likely end up stored as fat. Most studies indicate that Americans don't get nearly enough fiber, especially with the proliferation of processed foods filled with white flour, which is made only from the fiber-less endosperm of the grain, with none of the bran and germ parts of the grain that provide the fiber. In fact, if you read labels, it's pretty rare to find any prepared food that has more than a gram or two of fiber. It can make you despair if you think about having to get to the 25 to 38 grams you need every day. So how can you get your daily dose of fiber without eating yourself into a coma? There are some fiber-rich superfoods that can help get you to your daily recommended allowance, without the coma.

1. Legumes. The humble bean (and also chickpea, lentil, and pea) is chock-full of nutritious fiber. A cup of black beans or lentils contains a whopping 15 grams of fiber—half the daily minimum supply required for a man, and more than half of the minimum required for a woman. Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, have 13 grams of fiber. A cup of peas has 9 grams of fiber. The big winner is the cranberry bean with 18 grams of fiber and 17 grams of protein. Cranberry beans have a creamy texture and a chestnut-like flavor. And the best news about beans is that they're supercheap! Most dried beans run less than a dollar a pound. That's a lot cheaper than those gritty supplements, and much tastier.
2. Bran. While not as great a source of fiber as beans, they're still pretty fiber-rich, and may not have the unpleasant auditory and olfactory effects associated with excessive bean consumption. A cup of bran flakes has about 7 grams of fiber and a cup of oatmeal has 4 grams of fiber. Substituting whole wheat products for their traditional white-flour counterparts is an easy way of working some fiber into your diet without much hassle. A cup of whole wheat spaghetti has over 6 grams of fiber and whole wheat bread has about 2 grams of fiber per slice.
3. Prunes. Not just for old people anymore. Grandpa and Grandma knew what they were doing when they were suffering from constipation. A cup of prunes contains 8 grams of fiber, and their hydrated counterpart, plums, are also excellent sources of fiber—prunes/plums contain insoluble fiber in the skin and soluble fiber in the pulp. A two-for-one special!
4. Artichokes. One medium artichoke contains 6.5 grams of fiber. One cup of artichoke hearts contains 14 grams of fiber and only 90 calories. One of my favorite snacks or appetizers is to get one of those little jars of marinated artichokes (in vinegar, not in oil) and treat myself to eating the whole jar as an afternoon snack or hors d'oeuvre before dinner. Tasty and filling, you'll eat less at dinner, and put a serious dent in your daily fiber tally.
5. Brussels sprouts. Yes, they look like the alien heads from Mars Attacks!, but these little powerhouses pack almost 7 grams of fiber into a one-cup serving and only about 60 calories. Not everyone is enamored with their slightly chalky taste. I recommend a generous spritz of lemon juice and maybe a dash of soy sauce or Tabasco to enhance the flavor. A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese is delicious, too.
6. Asian pear. According to the Micronutrient Center of the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, the Asian pear is one of their five fiber-rich superfoods (legumes, bran, prunes, and quinoa are the others). One 3-inch diameter fruit contains a whopping 10 grams of fiber, the most of any similarly sized fruit. And because it has a higher water content than its European brethren, it only contains around 100 calories. So you can crunch your way to a cleaner colon.
7. Quinoa. Relatively new to us in the U.S., quinoa has been a South American staple for over 6,000 years. The edible seeds of the quinoa plant have 10 grams of fiber in a one-cup serving and also 8 grams of protein—in fact, quinoa seeds contain many essential amino acids that are missing from rice, proving to be a good substitute for rice. If you check your local health food store, and even some supermarkets, you can find quinoa plain, and as a main ingredient in many cereals, breads, and salads.
8. Nuts. Not just filling, heart-healthy snacks, nuts are great sources of fiber (but highly caloric, so nosh carefully). A quarter-cup of almonds has 4 grams of fiber and about 200 calories. It's another great snack for between meals. Watch out for the salt content in the hickory-smoked varieties. Also, it's a good idea to portion out a serving size beforehand, so you don't absentmindedly munch a thousand or so calories from a big bag.

A high-fiber diet has been found to help prevent many different types of cancer. Check out this Beachbody News Network (BNN) report for other tips to lower your risk.

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If you've seen the P90X^® infomercial, gotten excited, and then asked yourself How does P90X work?, then this 12-part series is for you. Part 4 covers the P90X Yoga X workout.

P90X - Yoga XThe P90X Yoga X workout will make a believer out of anyone as far as the power and the difficulty of yoga. Many people (myself included) have thought that yoga may be an effective exercise modality, but that it was - at best - something to do once in awhile just for a change of pace. The P90X Yoga X workout will show you conclusively that not only is yoga a great use of your exercise time, but it is an exercise modality that should be a part of your weekly exercise regimen as well.

There are countless benefits to doing yoga, and each person will enjoy different aspects of it. However, regardless of your personal enjoyment level, there are 6 primary benefits to doing the Yoga X workout, and each of those benefits also enhance the effectiveness of the P90X program overall. For a full review of each of the moves that are performed during Yoga X, be sure to check out P90X Review Day 4 - Yoga X.

Muscular Endurance

Although yoga does not use the same set/rep type of training that traditional strength training utilizes, that does not mean that your muscles aren't being put through their paces. There are several moves in the Yoga X routine that you repeat many times, giving rise to an ever-increasing level of muscular endurance.

Also, yoga is an overall body workout that does not target any particular body part for maximum stimulation, instead focusing on the use of many different muscles over and over again. This allows for a high level of muscular stimulation without "wiping out" any particular muscle so much that it cannot be used in subsequent workouts later that same week.

Mind-muscle Connection

The ability to control your muscles is actually a function not just of a muscle's size, but of how well your brain can control any given muscle or muscle group. Since the yoga poses cause you to use many different muscles all at the same time, your level of neuromuscular coordination is radically enhanced.

An enhanced level of muscular coordination not only assists you in future yoga workouts, but it also allows you to create more muscle-building and fat-burning intensity when you perform more traditional types of exercises. 

Active Recovery

The term "active recovery" basically means to work a fatigued muscle in such a way that warms it up, opens up the blood vessels, and washes away soreness-causing lactic acid from previous workouts. This is great not just from a comfort level, but it also allows you to work a muscle or muscle group before it is completely recovered from a previous workout that was very intense.

The Yoga X routine is normally done on Day 4 of the workout week, and the previous 3 P90X workout days were all filled with very intense exercises. Since yoga is difficult but does not wipe out any given muscle group completely, there is great value in the yoga workout from an active recovery standpoint. 

Flexibility

The importance of flexibility in both injury prevention as well as real-world and athletic ability cannot be overstated. If you have flexibility issues, it is very often not a matter of IF you will get injured, but rather just a matter of when.

The P90X Yoga X routine has many moves that would be considered "classic" flexibility exercises, but the real benefit comes from the constant need to stretch various parts of your body while in unusual and/or difficult to hold poses. Even people who consider themselves to be very strong and flexible will nonetheless be challenged repeatedly during Yoga X, and they will improve their level of overall fitness drastically as a result. 

Agility

Agility is loosely defined as "the ability to be flexible while in motion". Consider any professional athlete and you will see that just being flexible is not enough, since they have to use that flexibility combined with their strength in order to perform at peak levels during their sport, and also to prevent injury. Although most people are not professional athletes, the benefits of agility in both recreation and injury-prevention apply to all people.

Many of the poses in Yoga X are called "Moving Asanas". In essence, a moving asana is a pose where you start in one position, and then while holding a certain part of your body perfectly still, you move other parts of your body into very difficult to attain and/or maintain stances. Although the moving asanas are done at a slow speed during the workout, the increased flexibility and agility that they create is easily translated into real-life or athletic movements.

Mental Focus

Although Yoga X is a very challenging workout, it is also a "fluid" workout where you stay in a certain zone and a frame of mind, rather than stopping and starting with different exercises as traditional resistance training calls for. You are encouraged the entire time to focus on the present moment, and to give your attention to your body and to the workout, rather than daydreaming or letting your mind wander to other things.

The Yoga X workout is 90 minutes long, so allowing yourself to "detach" from the outside world for the entire workout gives you a much-needed mental break from the day-to-day grind, and also allows your mind to expand and to become receptive to ideas, thoughts, or emotions that you would probably never experience through your "normal" lifestyle and exercise habits.

Conclusion

For people who don't understand the value of Yoga X, it may - at first - to look like a waste of time to use one of your workout sessions each week to perform an activity that wouldn't seem to build the kind of bodies that you see in the P90X infomercials. Nothing could be further from the truth!

The P90X Yoga X workout is not only worth every minute that you spend doing it, but if you skip it and deny yourself the active recovery that was discussed above, not only would you be missing the many benefits of yoga, but you would be setting yourself up for an injury as well.

As with all P90X workouts, always remember that P90X is a program that works because of the overall effect that the program provides, rather than just picking and choosing individual routines that you enjoy doing. P90X has 12 workout routines, and not only should you do them all, but you should do them all in the proper order as well. 

WHAT'S NEXT?

Purchase your own copy of P90X®
Join the Million Dollar Body Club
Teach others P90X as a Team Beachbody Coach

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If you've seen the P90X^® infomercial, gotten excited, and then asked yourself How does P90X work?, then this 12-part series is for you. Part 3 covers the P90X Shoulder and Arm workout.

Shoulders & ArmsThe P90X shoulder and arm workout is effective because it targets an entire area of your body, rather than isolating just one or two muscle groups. This routine goes after the shoulders, the triceps, and the biceps, and since the exercises for all of those muscles also work the other two muscles in the tri-set, all 3 muscle groups get pounded repeatedly by the end of the workout.

To check out the entire list of exercises included in this routine, see my review of the P90X shoulder and arm workout.

The Arm as one Unit

One of the keys to the effectiveness of this workout is that it takes into consideration the real world fact that the muscles in your arms do not work independently of each other. Your shoulders, triceps, and biceps all work together, and this routine includes exercises that target each of those muscles independently, while at the same time using all of them together.

Working these muscles together not only creates intensity and results, but it also prevents injury both during the workout, as well as later on down the road out in the real world. 

Enough rest, but not too Much

Since every set in the P90X shoulder and arm routine includes one exercise that is specifically for each of the 3 muscle groups, the biceps, triceps, and shoulders all get plenty of specific stimulation. However, at the same time, each of those muscles gets to rest before it is used again as the primary targeted muscle.

This combination of maximal stimulation and sufficient rest time allows each of the muscles to be worked effectively, yet without "beating them up" so much that sufficient weights or repetitions cannot be used for subsequent exercises.

Good combination of Angles

Although the selection of exercises in this workout is impressive in its own regard, one of the factors that creates rapid results is that the muscles are all hit from many different angles. Not only does the workout focus on all of the muscles in the upper arms and shoulders, but it hits all of those muscles from multiple angles as well.

The combination of useful exercises along with a multiple-angle approach to stimulating the muscles means great results, but in a short period of time.

Conclusion

When it comes to getting "enjoyment" out of a workout while also getting results, the P90X shoulder and arm routine really shines. It is a very challenging routine, but at the same time, it doesn't wipe you out from a cardiovascular standpoint as much as some of the other P90X routines do.

As with all P90X workouts, however, always remember that P90X is a program that works because of the overall effect that the program provides, rather than just picking and choosing individual routines that you enjoy doing. P90X has 12 workout routines, and not only should you do them all, but you should do them all in the proper order as well. 

WHAT'S NEXT?

Purchase your own copy of P90X®
Join the Million Dollar Body Club
Teach others P90X as a Team Beachbody Coach

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If you've seen the P90X^® infomercial, gotten excited, and then asked yourself How does P90X work?, then this 12-part series is for you. Part 2 covers the P90X Plyometrics workout.

PlyometricsThe P90X plyometrics workout is considered by many to be the most intense and challenging of all of the P90X workouts. Considering that every single P90X routine is very intense and challenging, for any one particular routine to stand above the rest when it comes to intensity and getting results is definitely a feat!

The P90X plyometrics workout does such a good job of helping people get results because, in a nutshell, it's hard! If you push yourself to do the best that you can do during this routine, it will absolutely wipe you out. Like any workout, you could "dog it" and not get that much out of it, but if you are the type of person who is going to only put forth a half-hearted effort, then you shouldn't be considering P90X to begin with.

How does the P90X Plyometrics routine work?

Plyometrics is also called "jump training" by many people, although you can do plyometric exercises with your upper body as well. In plyometric movements, you basically "load" your muscles by contracting them, and then explosively expanding them in an all out, 100% effort.

Range of Motion 

Unlike many exercises that have a very defined range of motion (R.O.M.), during plyometric movements, you can jump or push off as hard as you are able to, and as long as you have plenty of room to execute each movement, your range of motion is limited only by your level of strength and available energy for any given exercise.

If you refer back to the full P90X Plyometrics Review for a detailed overview of each of the exercises included in the plyometrics routine, you will see that it's more about what you can put into each exercise, and less about any type of limit on your range of motion. Since your range of motion is not limited, you can BRING IT during the plyometrics routine, and do every exercise to the best of your physical capabilities.

Large Muscle Groups

Another secret to the effectiveness of the P90X Plyometrics routine is that you are using all of your body's largest muscles groups during almost every single movement. Your quadriceps (front of the legs), your hamstrings (back of the legs), and your glute muscles (butt) are all part of the plyometric routine, and are used in almost every exercise.

Whenever you use your large muscle groups, you burn a lot more calories, and you also crank up your metabolism a lot more. This means that your body keeps burning calories even after the workout is over. In addition, by eating and resting properly whenever recovering from plyometrics (and all of the P90X workouts), you will create a faster-paced metabolism as your muscles demand more and more energy to both power and recover from workouts. In short, this means that you will burn more calories on an on-going basis, not just when you are exercising.

Very Little Rest

The P90X Plyometrics routine is divided up into several segments, and each segment has 4 exercises in it. You do all 4 exercises, you repeat those same 4 exercises again, and then you get a 30-second break before moving on to the next set of 4 exercises.

30 seconds is NOT a very long break, even if you weren't working as hard as you will be when doing plyometrics. By the end of the 30 seconds, you have barely brought your heart rate down from way up in the rafters, and here you go starting another set of 4 exercises again.

In addition to the short breaks between the exercise sets, there are no real breaks to speak of in between the individual exercises, either. You might get about 10 seconds to wipe the profuse amounts of sweat off of your face, but that's about it.

A Great Combination of Exercises

The actual exercises that this workout contains are very well chosen, and also spread out very well over the approximate 55-minute routine. Each set of 4 exercises contains at least 1 exercise that is REALLY challenging, and at least 1 exercise that is challenging, but not at the same level as the more difficult movements.

In addition, the harder exercises are put at the beginning of the 4-exercise set, directly after your 30-second break. Now, you don't get that 30-second break before you repeat the 4-exercise sequence for the 2nd time, but by that point you are over the halfway point for that particular exercise set, so you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

Conclusion

When it comes to raw intensity, and straight-up, no holds barred, effective, challenging exercise, the P90X Plyometrics routine is right up there near the top of the list. Every P90X workout has its moments of glory, but Plyometrics will always be an incredibly challenging workout, no matter how in shape you are.

As with all P90X workouts, however, always remember that P90X is a program that works because of the overall effect that the program provides, rather than just picking and choosing individual routines that you enjoy doing. P90X has 12 workout routines, and not only should you do them all, but you should do them all in the proper order as well. 

WHAT'S NEXT?

Purchase your own copy of P90X®
Join the Million Dollar Body Club
Teach others P90X as a Team Beachbody Coach

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If you have ever asked yourself "What's next?" after doing P90X^® or P90X +^®, on his 50th birthday, Tony Horton has delivered an incredible answer that will take your health and fitness to shocking new levels!

The program is called One on One with Tony Horton, and it looks to be not only an incredibly unique video series, but an incredibly intense series as well!

The basic premise behind the One on One series is that where P90X and P90X + were full on video productions of Tony and the crew showing you how to workout intensely and effectively, the One on One series is just Tony and his cameraman, and the workouts that are being filmed are the exact workouts that Tony himself does to stay in incredible physical condition - even at the age of 50 years old!

Tony literally FLYING through the air while doing
plyometric push-ups during one of the
P90X videos!Yes, that's right, Tony Horton is 50 years old, and he is in far better condition than most people who are half his age! Barely half the age of his own idol, fitness legend Jack LaLanne, Tony's attitude is that 50 years old is a time to speed things up to see what's possible, not to slow down and let age become a belittling factor!

Tony Horton during the filming of the
wildly popular P90X + home fitness program.The One on One series takes you right into Tony's home gym where you get to see first-hand what it takes to be a half-century old, yet still be in better physical condition than - quite frankly - most of the population of the entire planet.

The video series is uncut and unedited, so you see the real deal when it comes to working out and staying fit at any age. No dressing it up to make it look pretty, no "bling" for the sake of making it look like a Hollywood production, and No Limits! Just Tony Horton working hard and showing YOU how to get it done! 

If you have ever wondered how the stars of popular fitness videos and programs get into the kind of shape that they are in, here is your chance to find out! Grab the first edition of the monthly One on One with Tony Horton series and you can start BRINGING IT with the P90X master himself! 

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