Our P90X NFL-Poster Boy Is Still At It!

This article appeared on Philly.com today regarding David Akers... He kicked a 51-yarder last Sunday. We're still hoping he gets a crack at breaking the NFL record to kick a 64-yard field goal this year and we've promised to donate a million bucks to the Kicks for Kids Foundation.
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Through it all, Eagles' Akers still kicking
By Ray Parrillo, Inquirer Staff Writer

David Akers spent his 34th birthday Tuesday visiting Children's Hospital as part of his Kicks for Kids Foundation, enjoying some rare free time with his family, and feeling pretty certain he wouldn't have to answer questions from the media suggesting his future as the Eagles' kicker was in jeopardy.

"I've tried this year not to pay attention to what's in the media," Akers said the other day. "So the only way I knew people were saying things was by the questions I was being asked."

In consecutive weeks this season, Akers missed field goals from 50-plus yards against Chicago, Washington and San Francisco, and also one against the Bears from 40-plus yards. The Eagles lost the Sept. 28 game in Chicago, 24-20. Last season, Akers was 1 for 4 from 50-plus yards and 1 for 6 from 40 to 49 yards.

Akers, the franchise's all-time-leading scorer, is in his 10th season with the Eagles. In his first eight, he'd made 59 percent from 50-plus yards and 72 percent between 40 and 49 yards.

On the misses earlier this season, leg strength wasn't the issue. But as Akers said, you are what the numbers say you are, and the numbers were saying his job wasn't as secure as it once was.

In Sunday's critical 20-14 win over the Giants, Akers offered a mixed bag. He kicked two field goals, one from 51 yards that gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead, another from 34 yards that raised their lead to 20-7 in the fourth quarter. Another try was blocked by Justin Tuck and returned 71 yards by Kevin Dockery for a touchdown at the end of the first half. Tuck beat reserve tackle Winston Justice on the play. Another was tipped. In nine seasons, Akers had one blocked field goal. This season, he's had three, two returned for TDs.

The bigger point is that Akers has reclaimed his status as a reliable kicker. The first block against the Giants ended a streak of 15 consecutive field goals, two shy of his team record. He is 6 for 7 from 40 to 49 yards, and he still has the leg strength to split the uprights from more than 50 yards.

In one season, Akers has gone from 2 for 10 from 40-plus yards to 7 for 11, a dramatic improvement.

Akers attributes his resurgence to an infomercial. Honest. The night before the Eagles played at Dallas last December, Akers saw an infomercial about a workout program called P90X, guaranteed to transform your body in 90 days through a rigorous training system that requires one hour a day.


Akers, a left-footed kicker, thought the program might solve a physical problem he was having with his right hip - the result, he believes, of a torn hamstring he suffered in 2005. It had become painful to plant his right leg before kicking.

"My hip was hurting," he said. "I wanted to lose weight and balance my body."

Akers spoke to Eagles trainer Rick Burkholder about the program, and Burkholder said that running back Ryan Moats had tried it. Akers went ahead with it during the off-season, shed 20 pounds - he's down to 180 - and reduced his body fat by 30 percent.


"After I tore my hamstring I never really regained the true flexibility in my right leg, and a lot of the power comes from your plant leg," he said. "I regained the flexibility, and I'd never before realized I needed to lose weight. I'd been 200 pounds. Now, I haven't been this light since my freshman year at Louisville. "Believe it or not, I saw it on an infomercial."

Akers looks back on the early-season misses and said the one he'd really like to have back is the one against Washington. "I look at the first two kicks in Chicago, and I aimed exactly where I wanted it to go," he said. "I misjudged how powerful the wind was when I kicked them. The next week against the Redskins, I felt like I pulled it just a little bit. I felt like I swung too hard on the ball. There aren't many days when I've hit 50 percent and felt I'd hit the ball really well. Then we had the block against the Niners, and we had the two blocks" against the Giants.

"I'm basically sure those two on Sunday would have gone through," he continued. "That makes up the six [missed] kicks and you say, 'Wow, that's six misses. But . . .' "

Akers went on to crunch the numbers. He figured the blocked kicks from 32 and 34 yards would have been good. If so, his percentage would be 87.5, above the league average of 84.8. Instead, it's 81.3.

"That being said, you are what your numbers say you are, and those numbers can be skewed for the good or the bad," he said. The numbers also say Akers can claim to be a better kicker than he was last year (75 percent) and two years ago (78.3), and that the things people are saying about him aren't so bad these days.

"I know one day my time will be up, and I don't want it to be right now," he said. "I want to play here as long as the Eagles organization will have me."

ChaLEAN Extreme News!

It has just been confirmed to me that the product is in the warehouse, and we will begin shipping ChaLEAN Extreme Launch Party packages (including two units of ChaLEAN Extreme) tomorrow morning. Wednesday 12/9 the ChaLEAN Extreme Launch Party kits will ship!

The schedule to launch to the rest of Team Beachbody and the Beachbody database is still planned for 12/12 at the earliest, subject to the website being QC'ed and ready to take orders.

Remembering A Great One

One day in 1981 I was a senior walking down the halls of North Penn high school, wondering where I would go to college. A poster in the hallway caught my eye. It featured a guy with "Dutch Boy" length hair balancing a trombone, heavy texts, science equipment, a football, spirit banner,and a large silver 35MM film canister in his arms. He was truly loaded down and the message was clear: "This school was a great place to party!" OK, actually the message was: "This school had everything, including film and TV."

That poster brought Ithaca college to my attention, and lead me to enroll. Beachbody founding coach Dick Comanzo and All-American diving champion was they guy featured in that poster.

I was informed by friends that Dick passed away peacefully, from an inoperable brain tumor, on November 29, 2008, surrounded by friends and family. Throughout his courageous three-year fight with brain cancer, Dick’s spirit, optimism, love of friends and family and passion for living never ended. That includes his desire to help people get fit and healthy with the products that he helped make famous, especially the program that gave him this transformation, the original, Power 90.

Dick was an exceptional human being who had a profoundly positive, lasting impact on everyone he met. He had an extraordinary capacity to bring the best out in those around him, and he used that gift every day of his life. This was most evident during his courageous battle with illness. He always strove to be independent and self-sufficient, serving as an inspirational example of how one should face life’s obstacles. I know everyone says that about people when they cross-over, but in this case, Dick was a "poster boy" for facing life with positivity, hope, and an incredibly good attitude. He taught me much in that way.

I actually never knew Dick in college except for his image on that poster. But his commitment to getting back in shape with Power 90 in 2001 brought him back to my attention when he sent his success story in to be considered for the trip to Hawaii as a Power 90 success story. Once again, "SqueakyD" as he became known on the message boards, he was poster boy material and a star testimonial in our Power 90 infomercial.

Dick was very involved in the Southeast Brain Tumor Association and their annual Race for Research, raising awareness and donations for the fight against brain cancer. When he could no longer run or walk in the Race, he cheered his teammates from the sidelines.

Dick is survived by his son, Dean Comanzo; his partner of 14 years, Shawn Purcell; his parents Ralph and Gail Comanzo; his brother Douglas (Amy) Comanzo; his sisters, Diane (Michael) Jones; his special angel Amy Gail Comanzo; his grandmother, Ann M. Comanzo and his nieces and nephews: Nicole, Matthew, Timmy Comanzo and Daniel and Katie Jones.

A celebration of his remarkable life will be held at 3:00PM, Friday December 12th, at the Rich Auditorium-Woodruff Arts Center: 1280 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30309.

Dick’s family asks in lieu of memorials and or flowers that donations be sent in Honor of Dick Comanzo to the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation.

Dick, you will be missed by me and so many others, and in honor of your contribution to our lives, your example and inspiration will be celebrated for decades.

Kathy Smith's Project YOU! Type 2 is here!

Kathy Smith's "Project: YOU! Type 2", where we took Kathy's great fitness videos from the popular Project: YOU! program, and combined them with a complete system of eating and exercise to create the first program of its kind published in conjunction with the American Diabetes Association... And it is officially here! (It's still September right?)

Now instead of simply looking at prescription drugs and a pamphlet on "healthy living" for an alternative to living with Type 2 diabetes, people can now get the information they need to actively manage or prevent it with this revolutionary new program!

Doctors, certified diabetes educators, and the American Diabetes Association helped Kathy Smith and Beachbody develop Project: YOU! for Type 2. It is the first ALL-IN-ONE lifestyle approach to help manage diabetes, reduce your risk for diabetes complications, and get you back in control of your life!

This represents our commitment to health and fitness. Do we get people ripped with P90X? Yep. Do we help people lose weight fast with Slim in 6, Hip Hop Abs and Turbo Jam? You bet. And now, are we the one company with a solution to help people lose weight and avoid the crippling consequences of this terrible disease? You got that right!

This is a big deal. Tell your doctor. Tell your friends. Tell everyone who knows anyone... Now there is a solution that cost less than a month's worth of pills. Kathy Smith's Project YOU! for Type 2... and the revolution continues!