P90X Live Pt 2 – Filming Beachbody On Demand CDJ
Surreal. That’s the one word to sum up my experience in filming a P90X Live workout for Beachbody. It was crazy, exciting, intense, exhausting…and I would do it again in a minute if they asked me.
Here’s how it went down.
My girl, Leigh, had a connecting flight in Denver so we were able to meet up at the airport and fly to Burbank together. There, we rented a car and drove to Van Nuys to find our hotel and the studio. Of course, I had to take a picture with the Beachbody van when I saw it.
We arrived a little earlier than we needed to, so we waited around for a while and chatted with the other cast members as they arrived. We met the other two coaches who were going to be filming P90X with us, as well as the master trainer who was leading the workout. Rawlins Apilado was hilarious, full of energy, and made me feel instantly comfortable and confident that the shoot was going to be awesome.
We eventually got to practice some of the moves and go over details for how the shoot would work. We went on set and got a feel for the layout and what to expect the next day. Our call time was the earliest one on the schedule, so we needed to return bright and early and ready to work(out)!!
That night we ate (carb loading is what I would call it), walked around Universal Studios in Hollywood, and met up with some friends. We went back to the hotel and crashed, amazingly able to sleep without the anticipation and excitement keeping us awake.
The next morning we showed up right on time, ready to rock! We had to do a couple of wardrobe changes before the shoot began; luckily we were prepared with extra clothes! We got to test out Energize, the pre-workout drink from Beachbody’s new Performance Line of fitness supplements. Surprisingly, it had a good taste and didn’t make me feel jittery!
After we got energized up, we were ready to shoot! One more wardrobe change for me at the last minute, and we began. Danielle and Darren Natoni were two other master trainers who were participants in the workout with us. Joseph and Velani joined us as cast members in the back. We shot the workout in one continuous take, no pausing to fix mistakes or take breaks. It was tough!! I modified to protect my hip (didn’t want to cause further injury) and I was STILL dying in the middle. By the time we got to the calf jump squats, I wanted to fall in the floor. And of COURSE that was exactly when Rawlins called attention to me and told everyone I was doing an advanced move and was keeping my heels off the floor the whole time! Owwww, my legs were total jello. It was tough, but I did my best! Fear of looking silly on camera kept me going haha. Although…I’m a little anxious to see what crazy faces I was making….
After the workout, we hydrated and took a bunch of pictures. We all wanted to capture this moment forever!
We finished early, so what else was there to do but eat some amazing food and see the sights?! We grabbed some yummy brunch at BLD in LA and then drove up to the observatory to get a good view of the sign!
We spent the rest of the day in Hollywood checking out the Walk of Fame, the Chinese Theater, shopping, and driving down Rodeo Drive. It was so amazing and we can’t wait to go back! I never before thought my life could be anything like this, but this experience felt so….right. Like it could be “normal” for me. I am thankful that being a coach and an instructor has provided me with the opportunity to experience this…
…and I can’t wait to see what else is in store.
