No Fitness Center. No Worries.

Ohm. Close your eyes and imagine 300 people lying on the floor of a hotel banquet room inhaling deeply at the direction of their guru. With each exhale the mass gives off a meditative “ohm.” If that hasn’t painted an interesting picture, visualize this. Upon the final expulsion of breath, the horde jointly engages is a primordial scream.

After little more than an hour of “doing our best and forgetting the rest,” breathing and making a combination of calming and creepy sounds in the savasana (corpse) position is how we ended our workout routine. Along with plus or minus three hundred people at all levels of fitness and bridging generational and racial lines, I joined this group gathered at the Sheraton Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, to exercise with Tony Horton, and to have copies of his book, Bring It!, autographed.

Horton led us in a mixture of moves from his home workout DVDs, the book and the forthcoming follow up to P90X, called MC2. During the calorie burning cross-training routine Tony encouraged wellness in mind, body and spirit. He made jokes, shared success stories, and motivated individuals as we sweated. Mostly, he really seemed to be having a good time.

We engaged in cardio, plyometric and isometric exercises. Horton made the point over and over that we only needed our bodies, a water bottle and a towel (for the steady stream of sweat) to have a really good workout. He taught us a routine that can be used anywhere at any time to engage the entire body. I enjoyed it immensely.

I openly admit to being a loner and prefer exercise options I can do individually. This day was different. I really gained a lot from the experience. I enjoyed being with like-minded people who not only appreciate fitness, but are just wacky enough to go to a hotel to tip our hats to our charismatic coach and burn a boatload of calories together.

Take a deep breath and bring it!

Tom