WOWY TONIGHT!

Tonight (Wednesday 8/31) is the night -- at 8PM ET/5PM PT I start my live chat, then at 6PM (or slightly after) I will log into WOWY for my workout, and we will draw a name randomly from the WOWY members who are working out at that moment... then tomorrow (Thursday) night at 9PM/6PM again, if that person shows up, I will announce in my WOWY log-in message who won (that's the message that appears under my photo inside the WOWY virtual gym).


The only way to find out if you won by doing a WOWY workout on Wednesday at 6PM PDT, is to show up for a WOWY workout by 6PM Thursday. (And no, I will not reveal who it is if they DON'T show up... I'll just reschedule it, and we'll try it again in a week or so.)

I will announce the winner here on my blog on Friday morning though, assuming there is a winner.

I'll be doing P90X Core Synergistics tonight, one of my all time favorite workouts. My WOWY Success Buddies who should be showing up are LoriJ, betsyb, and psalm9567. I hope to see YOU there!

Speaking of WOWY, we found a minor glitch in the statistics; the timing of the celebration for crossing over 100,000 workouts by Aug 19th was late. When I announced that milestone a few posts ago, I happened to notice at that time that we had also logged over 150,000 hours of workouts. I did the math. I thought, "No way do we average an hour and a half per workout." So I emailed Erick Hoppe, the man at the top of the WOWY pyramid, to ask if he could look for a glitch. So yesterday, I'm watching the stats again, and notice that now we've actually logged in over 150,000 WOWY workouts, and just over 100,000 hours of workout time. The stats were flipped! The good news is, we crossed over the 150,000 workout level on August 11th -- so the momentum of WOWY is building faster than I even expected! And even better, people are succeeding and spending less than an hour a day on average doing it - and there's no drive time to the WOWY gym! That's a winning combination!

So here's to a great chat at 5PM PT, and workouts tonight and tomorrow night at 9PM/6PM -- with a chance to win 500 smackers... I hope to see you there.

Aloha... Here we come!

Each year around this time we encourage people to submit their before and afters from Tony Horton-trained programs like Power 90 and P90X. People submit photos, success stories from one to ten pages long, weight loss and inches statistics, and even home videos for consideration as we put together the group we'll invite to our annual success celebration in Kauai, Hawaii.

Sept 1st is the deadline for the 2005 trip, scheduled for Oct 15th to the 21st, and the next batch of inspiration is starting to come in with some impressive results: We're seeing 100 lbs weight loss stories, couples succeeding together with Power 90 and P90X, people getting off anti-depressants, grandmothers "crushing it" with P90X, physical rehab success, washboard abs, muscle makeovers, and even some kids who have taken matters into their own hands to get themselves in shape where their school fitness programs weren't doing the trick. Like I said, inspiration. These are the stories that will inspire a whole new set of customers to "get it", to stop cutting corners and to do the work, follow the diet plan, and get the results.

This year I am particularly interested in seeing what kind of abdominal transformations we get, and am hopeful we see a family or two send in their information for consideration. (There happens to be a cable network that wants to cover the trip if we happen to feature a family success story!)



We don't do this trip as a "carrot" to get people to use the programs they bought from us. It's actually a very efficient way for us to gather testimonials from authentic success stories. And it's extremely efficient to do it in one location, one that is conducive to motivating future potential customers to want to achieve their own "Beachbody" success; and that ideal setting is the beaches of Kauai.

Pure Kauai manages the events and activities while we are on the island. It always includes a variety of hikes, outrigger canoeing, kayaking, and of course a bunch of workouts with Tony Horton. The meals are generally healthy, although I've seen things migrate to the hotel bar often enough to know that this doesn't qualify as a pure Kauai "health vacation".

This trip is a lot of work for our team. In fact, what we thought would be a perk, is actually exhausting for the staff. That's because there is a lot of pressure to make sure the guests have a great time, but that we also get great testimonials. It's heavy lifting. But it's so worth it.

No matter how much work it is though, the most gratifying aspect of the week is not the moment I set foot on the beach at the Sheraton, or get a morning run in at sunrise along the coast, or see the 360 degree vista from the top of the Sleeping Giant. For me, the Hawaii trip is an annual touchstone, a chance to learn first hand how our programs can touch people's lives. All year long we get success stories that inspire us. But they come in amidst the operational, customer service, and other challenges of running a business day to day. But when I finally get a chance to sit across from customers and hear how they succeeded with our programs and their own determination, everything we do seems so worth it.

And with that in mind, I look forward to this year's celebration, and to meeting a diverse group of people who had what it takes to get the most from the tools we offer. Aloha!

150,000 WOWY workouts so far in 2005!

Congratulations to everyone who is using WOWY for consistency and accountability to stay on schedule with their body transformation!

On Thursday Aug 11th we crossed over the 150,000 workouts mark, cumulative for 2005! That means over 150,000 times, people from all across the country and the world have logged in to "Work Out With You" and that's pretty cool!

Our peak so far was 248 people signed-on at the same time during a live Power 90 web cast workout with Tony a few weeks ago (shown here). It was a blast to have everyone working out with us as Tony did his thing live from the Beachbody office workout room. At the end of the telecast we gave away two autographed P90X posters and a special offer on Peak Recovery Formula.

WOWY was an idea I had one morning when I was not inclined to get out of bed to workout. I got to thinking how gyms have an advantage over us since if I am supposed to meet someone at the gym or show up for a class, I will get out of bed on schedule. But when it's just me, with no witnesses, it's easy to blow it off. The idea for WOWY was born as a way to connect people for workouts so there would be some external pressure to show up, and some motivation to log in and see that you are not alone. At any given moment you know there are other people out there, pushing play on their DVD player, working up a sweat in the rec room.

My favorite thing about WOWY is seeing how people connect to be success buddies. When we built this system and applied for the patent, we weren't sure people would get it. So we just went for it, and pretty much let it sit there to see if people would figure it out. They have, in ways we never even imagined.

We've seen people use WOWY to stay connected "virtually" with loved ones who were in Iraq by scheduling WOWY workouts together. We've seen friends create workout groups around workout times and keep each other accountable. We've seen people compete for consistency, tracking "perfection" in consecutive days without a missed session. And there are so many applications we have yet to pursue -- like getting businesses to use WOWY to track and reward employee involvement in fitness programs, or letting doctors motivate their patients to get active by leading them to WOWY for motivation.

And with the price of gas these days, I am hoping people think of WOWY as the way to keep connected socially with people for workouts. As more and more people are choosing to save the time and money they normally spend driving back and forth to the gym by simply working out at home, WOWY let's you still feel a sense of community while you're working on your transformation.

That's why we didn't close WOWY off to just Beachbody members and Beachbody products. It has a different look and feel from the rest of the site because we wanted everyone to use it, regardless of their product affiliation. I remain hopeful that regardless of what program a person is doing, they will find support and motivation within WOWY by signing on and staying accountable. I know personally how much easier it is to hit the snooze button at 5:30AM than it is to hit the play button - unless you have a WOWY success buddy who's going to be looking for you online.

OK... I've got myself kind of revved up on this all over again. Here's what I'm gonna do, right here in my blog; I'm putting up $500 to motivate people to WOWY on Wednesday August 31st and Thursday September 1st at 9PM ET/6PM PT.

On August 31st I will randomly pick someone from those logged in and working out in WOWY at at 9PM ET/6PM PT.

The next day, Sept. 1, as I log in for my WOWY workout at 9PM ET/6PM PT I will post in my WOWY greeting (the message that appears under my picture as I workout in WOWY) who won the $500... But the winner MUST log in to WOWY for both sessions to get the cash -- if they don't show for Thursday 9PM ET/6PM PT, there's no dough.

If there's no winner, I'll do it again, rolling the money over to the next challenge date (TBD) perhaps adding a little more cash to the bucket.

Let me be clear before the lawyers swoop down on me for this - there is no purchase needed -- WOWY is free to anyone who logs in, and you don't have to be doing a Beachbody program to qualify. You can be doing a half hour of toe touches, and you will be just as eligible as someone earning their chance doing Tear It Up from the Slim Series.

My goal here is to see how many people we can get online to WOWY at one time in a late workout in the middle of the week. If you plan on showing up, I would love it if you would invite someone you know who could use a motivational moment to get started with something and use the chance t win $500 t bring them to the party. I'd love to see a big WOWY number for both nights.

So if you want to maybe win $500, and no matter what, get a workout in with a hundred or more people from all over the world, I hope to see you there on Aug 31 and Sept 1 at 9PM ET/6PM PT.

And nonetheless, let's celebrate the 150,000th WOWY workout thus far in 2005, and continue our march to 200,000!

Get A Grip - By Letting Go

What happens when a group of people who were inspired enough to do what it takes to transform their bodies and lives get together for a weekend? More inspiration.

Tony Horton, the trainer of Power 90 and P90X, held his annual Santa Monica fitness camp this weekend. This is where he and thirty people get together to share their experiences with his programs, actual customers get to train in person with "the man" and celebrate living a more active, healthy-minded life. It's a cool thing to witness when he fills a room with people who are proud of themselves and proud of each other.

These types of events happen all over the country - there have been Beachbody get togethers in Chicago, New York, Portland, and others. The Hawaii trip we hold each fall is invitation only and is probably a favorite, our Super Bowl of get-togethers.

Anyway, this Saturday's group had planned a morning at a rock climbing gym called Rockreation. Since I did not have specific plans to meet up with them, I decided to bring Ava (my 5 year old daughter) to "hang with the kids" from the walls at Rockreation.

It was amazing to see those familiar faces and extra special to meet the new success stories that the last wave of leaders held accountable to succeed through their support within the MyBeachbody system. And while I appreciate every "thank you" I get from people who appreciate what we put into these programs and the overall mentality that is "Beachbody", it is they who continue to impress me with what's possible. Every one of these folks had seized onto the simplicity of Tony's programs, and literally found what it takes to turn their lives around. Now I was watching them scale walls, dangle upside down from ropes, and embrace life with an enthusiasm most of us left behind in grade school.

Predictably, Ava was my special highlight. She stepped right up to the excitement, asking to climb once she saw Tony go inverted. So we suited her up, and I belayed her up the wall. Then this crew showed me what "extended family" means, as they turned to applaud my daughter as she explored this new adventure as if they were blood relatives. After she came off her first ascent she had to find Tony; "I did it I did it I did it!" And moments later she was back on the wall, hunting for a grip, finding a toe hold. She was total focus, her little tongue twisting through her lips as she stretched for each step higher.

At one point as Ava came off the wall, I looked over to see Ronda Hendrix, a person I met in Hawaii last year, now climbing twenty five feet in the air, hanging from her fingertips to get another foot or two up the wall. The group had turned to cheer her on. My story with Ronda is beyond this blog, but I have a great deal of pride and affection for her and her family. And to see this woman, who two years ago was carrying 60 extra pounds, straining to reach the top of an otherwise-pointless climb up a wall leading nowhere, actually choked me up. You couldn't tell that from her determination that she had ever been anything but fit and courageous, which goes for every other person in that room that faced their own demons and fears to give it a shot. I wish every one of our Beachbody customers, or all those gym members out there, and of course frustrated fad dieters could have seen the enthusiasm being shared by these people. I wish everyone could see what is on the other side of ignoring the excuses or your history of failure, and truly achieving transformation.

When/if you happen to be in the midst of your own fitness or weight loss program and you are struggling with motivation, these are such great examples of real motivation you can turn to. This is the foundation from which you can "keep pushing play" when the pull of a great AFTER photo is not doing it for you. That's because these are examples of how amazing it can be to bring joy into your life if you let go of the baggage that is trapping you in your own patterns of abuse and thus limiting your enthusiasm for what lies ahead. When you just let them go, when you stop judging the present by looking back, you can experience what is being presented to you right now. When you are stuck, check yourself for the guilt, fear or blame that is crowding your ability to live a moment the way your REALLY want to live it. You simply can't carry a grudge on your back and experience the joy of climbing a wall of rocks. The only way to get a grip, is to let go.

And even when you accomplish the kind of transformation we've seen in so many before and after photos, it's possible for the grievances to creep back in. This is a never ending process of cleaning house. Patterns will find their way back, which is how you can find yourself staring in the mirror at a brand new "before photo". But the best part about square one is, you know you are never without hope. You know what it takes to turn things around. And if you really do let go of blame, guilt, and shame, you will find it a smooth transition back into the healthy lifestyle, and more important, back into a mindset that will support a happier existence.

The good stuff is all there for your own inspiration, whether it's Ava's courage to take on the wall at five years old, or Tony M's ability to climb back into the program that helped him once (and find that the first trip wasn't a fluke), or Gregg and LeAnn Steele's bottomless pit of gratitude and zest for life, or Ronda's ability to face trauma and not abandon her life or the potential of the rest of her family -- or so many other inspirational stories available from every member of the Beachbody family.

Set backs happen. Accidents happen. Trauma happens. And that's when guilt, blame and thus fear, can happen. I am convinced that my own job in all of it is to manage how I react. My job is to let go of the past and pay attention to now. Let life happen. Everything else works when I succeed at letting go. That is what I learned while watching my daughter, a trainer, and thirty almost-strangers as they celebrated their success together on one Saturday morning in Santa Monica.

People are hot for Turbo Jam!

I haven't seen this much anticipation for a Beachbody product since we launched P90X -- and P90X had two years of behind the scenes build-up to create the buzz.

Ever since word got out to the hardcore aerobics and video fitness set that we were producing a line of videos with Chalene Johnson, my email box has had at least ten requests a day for the product details, launch date, etc. So, this is it - the official pre-launch notice... Monday Aug 15th the site goes live to take orders for Turbo Jam.

In case you wouldn't know a Turbo Jam from a traffic jam... Here's the "skinny":

A year ago we were contacted by Tony Kerry, a great guy who is part of the management at Script To Screen, one of the leading infomercial production companies in the universe who produced our Kathy Smith and Yoga Booty Ballet shows. His wife was taking classes called "Turbo Kick" from a spark plug of a woman named Chalene Johnson, and he thought it had potential as an infomercial. Chalene wanted to turn her popular combination of kick-boxing, dance, and meticulously remixed music, into a comprehensive video program to be sold on TV. I think Beachbody was one of four on the list of prospective partners. They sent me a package of material to look through in order to consider it. The key in the presentation was a blue binder that was a real page turner; over fifty of the most impressive before and after photos and success stories I've read from any fitness system - ever. People who had lost 30, 50, 80, and over 100 pounds were gushing about this mix of music and movement, and in particular their devotion to the program's creator, Chalene. And when I popped a VHS tape of Chalene demonstrating some moves, I knew there was something special there.


Let me put it this way; if you combined Kelly Ripa with a ripped fly girl and Billy Blanks and turned that combination "up to 11", you'd be getting close to Chalene's enthusiasm, infectious rhythm, and crisp delivery of moves... A natural for video. We set up the meeting to discuss turning her Turbo Kick success into a program called "Turbo Jam".

We loved Chalene at first sight. I think she liked us (she says it was because we wear jeans at the office). But she still had other companies to visit - including some that absolutely did NOT want to see Beachbody get this one. A month or so into the discussions, I could sense things getting off track. One of the competitors was promising a big budget for music and the same director that launched Richard Simmons into infomercial megafame. All I could do was play it straight and let the chips fall where they may. So I promised Chalene my next born child. (Kidding!) Actually, I promised Chalene that we would do our best to live up to licensing and creating the quality of music that sets Turbo apart from everything else, and assured her that when it comes to focus on the fitness and weight loss market, no one was going to pay as close attention as Beachbody. Making Turbo achieve her vision is a real priority - because her vision is incredible. Ultimately, I think it was a close decision, but my "next born" promise sealed the deal. Chalene committed to Beachbody, and we committed to create a program with her that would be as addicting as her live classes.

And here we are... The team nailed it. This is going to be a monster. We broke the bank on music, licensing awesome popular music like "Blame it on the Boogie", "Baby Got Back", "The Roof is on Fire", "Mama Said Knock You Out", "Busta Move",and a bunch of others. On top of that, Chalene is the ultimate perfectionist - she remixed everything in marathon recording sessions so that every key move in Turbo Jam has an accent; every burst of intensity has a driving beat. It's like, perfect.

But it's not all about fun and music (or is it?). It's also about results -- We were so impressed with the weight loss results of the test groups we did to validate the product (like, over ten pounds in ten days. Yes. Truly.) that we commissioned a university study to compare the calorie expenditure from an hour of Turbo Jam to other activities. Check it out: Walking = 343, Pilates = 445, Running = 537... and Turbo Jam came in at a whopping 705 calories an hour. Some people in the test group even topped 1,000 calories in an hour! That's like burning off a quarter pounder and fries from one workout! Like I said, this is gonna be a monster.

So if you're one of the couple hundred people who have been emailing me, asking "when! when! when!", ask no more... Monday Aug 15th, the next sensation in Beachbody fitness get unleashed. Prepare to have fun. Prepare to get fit. Prepare to go Turbo!

Hug Your Meter Maid

I just saw something happen on La Cienega Blvd that, in LA at least, never happens.

A parking enforcement officer was writing a ticket for a car by an expired meter. The guy came out of the store protesting that he was JUST coming out to leave, and begged to avoid the ticket.

She looked at him, then down at her ticket book, and then smiled. She tore it up and gestured for him to carry on.

The guy was so shocked he dropped his shopping bag, ran over and hugged the lady in the middle of the street. The joy was palpable. Every passer-by who witnessed the exchange of mercy and affection seemed brighter, maybe even happy in that moment. The two parted ways probably never to meet again, but certainly each will approach their day with slightly more enthusiasm for wherever they are headed. Overall, a positive outcome.

Next time I miss the deadline on a meter, I hope I get so lucky. And the next time I am in a position to pass judgment, I will remember how positive the outcome can be by cutting a person some slack.

Yes, Fitness Videos Are For Men Too

When I workout, I DO use our fitness videos. I don't like working out in the gym surrounded by people or having a trainer counting my reps. I prefer to go it alone, getting my training from the DVD player. The results I got in these photos are from exactly 90 days using P90X. That sometimes surprises people, that a guy really would use fitness videos sold on an infomercial to get those results.

Last night in a focus group for the Turbo Jam product there were men in the group who were proclaiming that they would probably never buy a workout video because "workout videos are for women." It's a common perspective which points out how far we have to go to promote that exercise videos are not ALL dancing and kickboxing.

Video is an incredibly efficient medium of delivering consistent professional training instruction to men and women - with emphasis on your goal whether it is to lose weight, get toned, or perhaps even get totally ripped.

That's the case for Beachbody customer and college senior Jamie Roberts. I wanted to share an unsolicited email I got from him today relating his experience in just the first 17 days using Power 90. This is a great example of how a program can take the guess-work out of fitness, even for someone who has been working out for years. I will paste his email in its entirety below:

Hello,

My name is Jamie Roberts. I have been lifting weights and working out since my junior year of high school. In a few weeks I will be starting my senior year of college. When I started lifting I was around 6'0" and 205 lbs, not very tone and not lean at all. I continued to lift and workout and when my sophomore year of college ended, I was around 6'2" and 198 lbs. That is the least I've ever weighed and I still couldn't get ripped. I was working out all the time and participated in many activities such as basketball and cycling. I changed my workout this past year of college, I became really dedicated to weight lifting. I seen my max bench press go from 250 lbs to 315 lbs in about 5 months. However, I also seen my weight go from around 205 lbs to 240 lbs. The day I maxed 315 lbs and weighed myself at 241 lbs, I decided to change some things.

I decided to put the dedication I put into strength training, into dropping the weight, getting ripped and in the best shape of my life. About a month into my summer vacation, I realized that I wasn't doing anything towards that goal and the dedication wasn't there. My diet during the months of power lifting was very poor. So I decided to order Power 90. I had always been skeptical of things I see on infomercials, writing them off automatically and not giving them any thought. Something drew me to Power 90. Upon ordering it, I changed my diet completely, I cut out all of the junk that I was putting into my body. When I recieved Power 90, I read the program guide. I also found the Michi's Ladder card to be very helpful in building a great diet. When I recieved it, I stopped lifting weights and started Power 90, following all of the guidelines that were laid out. Having power lifted for 7 straight months, I have been through some pretty tough workouts, I seen after day one of Power 90 that it was for real. I honestly expected it to be something that I would breeze through, boy was I wrong. I have to admit, and being a very strong and somewhat in-shape guy, it kind of hurts, but I had to use my pause button a few times throughout the first several workouts.

Today I finished my 17th day of the Power 90 program. I remembered reading on page one of the guide that you wanted to hear feedback. I try not to look in the mirror often, but after todays workout, after just 17 days, the results are already showing. The results are very noticable in my chest. My arms are starting to get definition and become toned. I am seeing my stomach and waist shrink. During the weight gain I sustained during power lifting, I developed love handles and didn't have very much firmness to my abs at all, I'm starting to see all of that go away and my abs are starting to shine through. I am on day 17 of Power 90 and I just want to say that this is for real. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't do this halfway, and I haven't. I can't say how excited I am that I already see results and it's just day 17, I can't wait to see what my body will look like on day 90. I have already had several people comment me on my weightloss and the toning of my muscles. That is the ultimate motivation, when other people notice your hard work and dedication, and now, I notice it too. To you, Mr.Congdon, and Mr.Horton I say thank you. Thank you for developing a program that along with dedication and hard work, really works. Thank you for taking the time to read this also.

Thank You,
Jamie Roberts

I emailed Jamie to ask him for permission to include that kind email in my blog, and this was his response:

Mr. Daikeler,

Hi. Yes, I would be more than happy if you used my story in your blog. I honestly think I've already influenced a few people around here. When I ordered Power 90, I heard from several people things like "you know that isn't going to work" and things like "I would never trust a workout from a infomercial." Now that they see the results that I am getting, they say nothing. I am very flattered that you want to use my story. Once again. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Jamie Roberts

I know for guys like Jamie, having the persistence to "push play" on the DVD player can be a tough hurdle to overcome -especially if you've been athletic in the past and look down your nose at videos. I know my own brother has found it hard to stay motivated after he lost 20 pounds using Slim in 6, whereas my 40-something year old sister gets into every video we produce and now has the body of a teenager.

So, to my brother, my attorney, investment banker and friends who have "convinced" themselves they cannot stay with it, I say - "stop making excuses and please, make the time in your day to push play!"

First, do it for yourself. That directly translates into a better quality of life with your kids. Your back will thank you. Your knees will thank you. Your mirror will thank you. And it's highly likely your wife will thank you too.