derryX Trains – DDP Yoga

Everyone finds their inspiration in a different place.

Ten years ago, I was fairly active and trying to live a “healthy” lifestyle. I have healthy in quotes because, looking back, I don’t think the lifestyle (i.e. Atkins diet) I was living was particularly healthy, but I was a reasonable weight. At the time, Scott Hall, who has had a history of issues with drugs and alcohol, made a comeback in TNA wrestling. My brother and I used to joke that he was a much fatter version of his former self, and it was a goal to get in “Fat Scott Hall shape.”

Years went by, and as they did, I drifted away from fitness and toward very unhealthy habits. I realized it all along, but it took me a while to muster up the motivation to do something about it. It’s something I really had to find within myself, and I started owning my own life back at the beginning of 2011.

Since then, I’ve had to keep myself motivated. It’s been really helpful to have friends that I can talk fitness with and even train with. Focusmaster has really become a staple in my weekly training. Around the same time I was starting Focusmaster, I started following a story developing on YouTube by Diamond Dallas Page.

I’m gonna back up.

I ordered The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro Vol. 2 blu ray from amazon back at the end of February, and Diamond Dallas Page was the host. By the end, the feature turned into an advertisement for DDP Yoga. It was sort of annoying at time time, but I was intrigued enough to follow DDP Yoga on twitter.

DDP Yoga (Formerly known as YRG or Yoga for Regular Guys) is a fitness program developed by Diamond Dallas Page. It borrows motions, positions, and ideals from traditional yoga, but really focuses on engaging muscles using self-inflicted dynamic resistance to target an elevated heart rate within the fat burning range. Each program shows modifications, and the modifications are actually encouraged if you’re running above the fat burning range.

I’ve never been a huge DDP fan. I used to love his finishing maneuver, the Diamond Cutter, but was more of an nWo guy. (No offense, Dally.)

What really drew me in to check the program out was the positive influence Dallas was trying to be to Scott Hall. They posted a video to YouTube that was disturbing and inspiring. The video explains how Scott Hall was at a very low point in his life and how Dallas decided to take him in and help get his life back on track. It turns out Dallas was doing the same thing for Jake “The Snake” Roberts whose life followed a similar downward spiral but has been on the mend since Dallas’s intervention.

They’ve been posting a lot about Hall and Jake’s progress, and it’s been really interesting.

Interesting enough to check out the program.

I’ve been at it for 13 weeks. I followed the program guide on the beginners schedule and wound up throwing in one or two extra workouts a week sometimes. Most of the workouts I did are under 30 minutes, but the last one I did at the end was the Diamond Cutter program which is a little over 50 minutes.

As I got to a point where it was time for a new workout, I found that new workout challenging, and within a few weeks of doing the program, I really started to sweat through the workouts, which means I was definitely riding in the fat burning range and engaging muscles right. I’m generally not much of a sweater when I work out, so this really brought a lot out of me.

Also, working out at home is something that’s always been tough for me, especially since I’ve lived on the second floor of an apartment for my entire adult life. I can’t do things like Insanity in my place because I’m sure it would be disturbing to my neighbors downstairs. DDP Yoga is literally no impact. Other than the DVDs, all you really need is a yoga mat (which is like $20 at Target) and most likely a heart rate monitor to do the program.

I’ve noticed a few benefits to using the program. Not only can I fit a high quality workout into 20-30 minutes, but my recovery time between workouts is lower. Doing DDP Yoga has helped me be able to workout more! Also, it’s done wonders for my flexibility. Heavy weight lifting generally increases lactic acid content in the muscles which leads to soreness but also lower flexibility and range of motion. Doing DDP Yoga helped me to stretch the muscles to minimize lactic acid buildup. These two benefits are huge for me, because I’m still going strong with Focusmaster and with regular gym workouts.

On top of all that, DDP Yoga helped me shed 20 lbs in 13 weeks. That’s pretty amazing considering it took me 30 months to lose a total of 100 lbs.

And actually, my outlook on my fitness program is totally different after completing the 13 week beginners program of DDP Yoga. I’m going to cut weights out of my routine completely. I’ll focus on the yoga 3-4 times a week, try to hit Focusmaster 2-3 times a week, and just go to the gym for cardio 3-4 times a week. I’m not quite ready to give up cardio just yet, but ultimately, I’d like to be able to just to the yoga and Focusmaster to maintain my shape (cardio gets boring).

I’m almost where I want to be.