He’s the man behind Hip Hop Abs, Insanity and The Asylum. He’s responsible for getting people to live healthier lives all across the land. I know, because I’m one of them. I spent 60 days listening intently to his voice on my DVDs, as he cheered me on and pushed me harder through Insanity. It’s the toughest, most rewarding workout I’ve ever done. It literally got me into the best shape of my life! So, I was beyond excited to interview Shaun T in person and learn what inspires him to Dig Deeper!
Stacia: Where do you get your energy and inspiration?
Shaun T: When I started working out, I was an athlete. Then I became a professional dancer. So then I wanted to fuse those two together. The one thing that keeps me motivated is people like you who are coming to me saying – “you changed my life, my workout is better, I feel so much better about myself and my body, I’m so much more confident…” That just makes me want to keep pushing and keep going and creating these things and coming up with new ideas, so people don’t get stale and they stay motivated.
Stacia: If you had to recommend one move that we all need to incorporate into our workouts, no matter what fitness level, what would you recommend?
Shaun T: I would recommend, even if you have to do it slow cause it’s a very tough move… ski abs into push up jacks. It works the core. You’re not doing a crunch, so you’re not straining your back or your neck. You’re just using your core in a plank position. And a lot of people are learning about the plank and how to keep your body stabilized. So a plank … and then push up jacks, because knowing how to do a pushup, knowing how to push your own body weight up is good. And being able to get a wider range of motion while doing that? It’s all encompassing.
Stacia: So much of what you bring to the workouts is for all of us to dig deeper – and that’s a great message, not just for our workouts. Why is that such an important message to you?
Shaun T: Working out is really just the skeleton of your life. If you can put yourself through that much intensity and that much power and push yourself so that when you do one more rep, you do one more push up, you do one more power jump, one more ski ab… If you are in the depths of out-of-breath-in-pain and you can push through… imagine how that can translate into your life.
To see the whole interview, click on the video.
And here's what happened after this interview... Shaun T kicked my butt in a LIVE Insanity workout. To say it was intense, is a complete understatement. But that's for another blog. So stay tuned!
