Bill

It is hard, I mean real hard, to find the time to do the P90X workout. Typically a session takes me around 1.5 hours and, while I love how I feel after a session it still isn't something I can just do before I take care of the rest of my life. However, I am trying to find the time when I can even though I'm not doing a very good job of being consistent.

Last night for example was Chest/Back/Abs night. Now, this is the only night I have been able to do the last few weeks and so I feel like I'm still stuck on week 1 even though my push-ups, pull-ups and ab workouts are going much better. Last night though I didn't really have time to go to the garage and do the work. Instead we had to pay bills and do taxes and, really, those are more important to me than exercising. So, what I did last night was modify the regimen. I brought my mat upstairs and did all of the push-up routines (but no pull-ups) and then did the ab-ripper-x stuff that I could remember while Lisa dealt with most of the details of filling out forms. Sure, I wasn't as helpful with the taxes and bills as I could have been but at least I was able to participate and get my workout in at the same time.

Tonight is plyometrics and I can't do those upstairs - so I need to carve out some time once I get home from work if I'm going to do that tonight.

#P90X

The ski trip we took was great but it really messed up my P90X flow. I'm not blaming anything but myself for it but day 8 was the last day I did any P90X. This will be changed as of tonight thanks to a casual inquiry from my brother Ted. While I don't blame anyone but myself I figure I should at least explain myself a little.

I had fully planned on doing some of the P90X stuff while on the ski trip (particularly the arms/shoulders/back/and abs) but I was just too tired at the end of each day of skiing to really get fired up for it. The cabin actually had enough room for me to get in my own spot and do the exercises but I just didn't do it. Then, on the last day of skiing I strained my right shoulder some while helping Shannon learn to ski. It was really stiff and sore so I decided to take a few days off from the workouts to let it recover; sadly, however, those few days turned into a week.

I was actually going to start back up last night and thus shifting my chest and shoulders day to Mondays from Tuesdays but I ended up being a work until well after 10pm the last two nights (yes, on Sunday) so when I got home last night I went to bed. However, on Sunday while driving home from work I did get an unexpected leg workout. A guy's car had run out of gas on the main street I was on - it was around midnight but there was still quite a bit of traffic so I parked nearby and helped him push his car out of the way. There was a gas station about one block away so I suggested we just push it there. It turns out the road we had to push it up was a steeper incline than I realized. By the time we got the car up there my legs were like Jello, my breathing was stupid heavy, and I was dead tired. I stopped leaning on the car and was instantly dizzy. I really over-exerted myself pushing that damn car. I walked back to my car and by then the cold had settled in my lungs and I couldn't stop coughing. It was really uncomfortable. I actually had a cough through most of Monday. It is gone now though and my shoulder feels pretty good so I plan on starting back at "week 2" all over again since I have basically been off for 2 weeks. Expect an update tonight.

#workouts #exercise #P90X #skiing

This is just a very short update because my younger brother Justin is about to show up for a visit (he lives on the west coast so I don't see him often). I knocked out chest and back today and it still kicked my ass but I think I did more overall stuff this time (including the Ab Ripper X; my lower back isn't as bad as it was last week).

I still suck horribly at pull ups but I think I even did better with those even when I had to put my leg on the bar I felt like I was doing more with my arms and less with my leg. Overall it felt really good. I'm dead right now but I feel pretty pumped about the accomplishment.

There was no day 7 post because that was rest day or X Stretch. I chose to rest so there is nothing to say about it. I am going to be off, sort of, for the rest of the week since we are going skiing. However, I will be taking my resistence bands so that I can work on shoulders and arms on thursday and back on saturday. My legs, back, and abs will get plenty of work skiing I think.

#P90X

Ok, Kenpo is the easiest, by far, routine of the week. It had my heart rate up nicely, and sure I'm still not very flexible, but nothing really kicked my ass like some of the other workouts. I guess having naturally good cardio come in handy sometimes. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not ready to go defend myself with Kenpo after one day - I was fairly uncoordinated when having to punch or kick with my left side (just as I am with everything lefty) and at times I had trouble getting my feet back to the "starting" position; but overall I was able to keep up with the guys for the entire hour and never had to slacken my pace or drop out of a move early. Overall Kenpo felt pretty good.

I could tell it worked my lower back a lot so that will probably be pretty stiff tomorrow. In fact I think it probably worked my core a lot so I can see that it will probably help me with the Ab Ripper stuff tuesday. That's right, I don't have Ab Ripper again until Tuesday because today is the last official day of week 1. Tomorrow is rest day where I can choose to do nothing OR do the X Stretch. My choice is the X-Stretch since my flexibility is so bad. If the X-Stretch feels good I may incorporate that into my week more often; perhaps just before I do the workout routine.

I'm anxious to start week 2 - it will be a slightly abbreviated week becuase we are going on a Ski Trip next weekend starting thursday. However, the skiing should serve as great leg and core workout for the four days so I think I will just take the exercise bands and do some pushups on two of the days to work my chest and shoulders since that is where I need the most help. Then I will pick up in week 3 like normal (unless the doctor wants me to have surgery). I'm feeling great and can't wait to continue improving.

#P90X

OW! Legs and Back is a tough tough day. I worry that even after the four weeks of the first phase I won't be ready for the second phase. I am really weak; particularly my shoulders, arms, and back. Pull ups are really, really, really hard for me; regardless of the grip. Add on to those the very varied leg exercises I did which pretty much winded me and the pull ups were nearly impossible. I had to use a support bar on one foot for 99% of them.

My legs, which have always been the most fit part of my body, took a beating today with the leg workout. It is hard to believe that doing so much almost no free weights at all would be so hard. Gravity is a real bitch. To make matters worse for me today was also an Ab Ripper day which also beats the crap out of my quads. Oh e vay!

Ab Ribber is no easier the second time around - though I think I was able to do a little more if just barely. I am a little concerned about small hernia I have in my belly button and I wonder if doing all of this stuff is going to make it worse; so after my ski trip next weekend I am going to the doctor to have it checked. I would really prefer to not have a surgery but if my belly button is going to get worse to the point beyond repair then I think I should get it taken care of. I noticed last night, after the yoga that it looked a little bigger, but that this morning it was back to normal, so I'm really worried about what it will do on these Ab Ripper days. I'm trying hard to breath properly but, truth be told, it is hard to remember to breath sometimes when I'm trying so hard to complete the exercise properly.

Tomorrow is Kenpo which should be cool and should leave me feeling like an uncoordinated fool. I can't wait!

#P90X

I've never done Yoga before and I am about as flexible as a dead stick that's been sitting in the desert sun for 6 weeks so I was both excited about, and dreading, day 4. I got into the garage a little late and then found out the Yoga session was an hour and a half so before I even began I knew it was going to be a late night.

The main guy in the video, Tony, described some of the positions as advanced and, judging by my bodies inability to get into some of those positions with good form I believe him. At times I got pretty frustrated with the session because it took me so long to get into some of the positions that the guys in the tape were already moving on to the next position once I managed to do it. My form was almost never really good - but it was as good as I could manage considering my overall low levels of flexibility. I was also a little caught off by some of the names of the positions. It was tough trying to get into some of the positions the first time because I had to watch them do it and then, from the floor try to do the same things, while watching them even though, at times, my head wasn't supposed to be up looking at the TV. It was a pain.

The first half of the program was MUCH harder than the second half - sort of like the Plyo routine. The first half involved moving from the "Downward Dog" into a variety of warrior positions and holding them for long periods of time. My legs were burning and maintaining the positions was difficult especially with my poor flexibility since I couldn't put one hand on the floor as was the proper form. I don't own any yoga blocks so I was trying to do my best with a small cardboard box that was almost tall enough. Needless to say I have a lot of work to do on the Yoga front.

So far Yoga was the most trying workout of the bunch. I sweat more than I did doing anything else and generally don't understand how I can keep my face "calm" while I'm struggling so much.

I think I am going to have a love hate relationship with Yoga. I love what it is doing for me (improving my flexibility) and I'll love when I can actually do some of the positions fully - but my legs sure did hate it when I was doing it. The only part I was good at was the balance positions in the second half. The bright side was that my body felt great this morning and most of the pain I was in from the earlier workouts was gone. Today I get to replace some of that pain as I work on back and legs.

#P90X

Before I even started today my shoulders and arms were sore. My left shoulder, which has long given me trouble, was not feeling good at all. It cracks, grinds, and pops all the time so I was a little nervous about todays workout. Fortunately the video does include time at the beginning for stretching and warm-up. All of the stretches are pretty much targeted to the days exercises and the exercises themselves kind of ease you into the more difficult stuff. I remembered from day 1 to pace myself so I managed to get through this workout a little more smoothly than the last. However, that isn't necessarilly a good thing.

To support the idea of this workout I went to the store today and bought some cheap free-weight dumbbells. They are fine and the weight range I have (upto 27.5 pounds per bar) is plenty sufficient for me at the moment. However, the video's pace is pretty fast and I like keeping with that pace because I feel like I'm really attacking myself. However some of the exercises are easier than others so I really have to change the weights at times to push myself (or to make them do-able at all) so I found myself hitting pause a lot today. I also bought some resistance bands which I was able to use at times - but it was hard to get those evenly distributed between my arms whenever I had to loop it to increase the resistance. Overall I got a little frustrated by the weight changes and the pausing.

I also was scheduled to do the Ab Ripper X today as well but I forgot to bring that video home with me so I had to do what I could remember - which, sadly, wasn't a whole lot. I remembered in/outs, leg raises, some variant leg raise where I lifted my but way off the ground, cement-punchers (or something like that), odd sit-ups with my arm extended, and the leg climbers. I did one set of each of those plus these killer crunch things I used to do in cross-country back in high school. I'm sure I didn't do nearly as much as I was supposed so I will make sure I keep the Ab Ripper video at home from now on because that is the one place I most want to improve (well that and my left shoulder).

It is already 11pm and I just finished - it is taking me a long time to do these things but I am enjoying them so that is a plus. Tomorrow is Yoga - another session I really, really need because my flexibility is nearly non-existent. I am told it is pretty hard to hold some of the poses but that just gets me fired up to try it. I've never been good at being told I can't do something! While there is obviously no physical sign that I have been working out I have already been feeling more energetic in the morning and through the day. However, at around 8pm I've been getting pretty sleepy. These workouts right before I go to bed have definitely helped me fall asleep faster (around 1hour compared to 3 hours) but, with all the water I've been drinking I've been getting up at night to take care of unwanted pressure. The rest of this week consists of Yoga, Legs Back Ab Ripper, Kenpo, and Stretch X (my rest day). After the Stretch X session I'll be putting up my second photo. I should have weighed myself when this started as well. Maybe I'll start doing that next Tuesday.

#MyLife #P90X

Last night was day 2 of my P90X experience and it was a night of Plyometrics (or Plyo for short). Plyo is basically a series of exercies that uses your own body and gravity against you. The entire evening workout required no more equipment than a rolled up towel (or some other small item you can sort of run around). I was warned by a friend that Plyo would kick my but however I'm glad to say it wasn't that bad. Sure, it got my heart bumping and my legs were fairly jello-y at times but overall I think I did pretty well.

One of the guys in the video was doing 360 jumps while I was exhausting myself on 180's and one of the other guys only had one leg yet never slowed down so I felt pretty motivated to keep moving. The only exercises I really had fatigue issues with, that caused me to stop just short of the full 30secs were the squatting jumps. I was taking my squats pretty low so around the 27 second mark my legs were pretty dead.

Overall Plyo lived up to my expectations. It was hard but fun and very entertaining. My legs are starting to get sore so I know I did some good work and I think, as I go through the program, my moves in the Plyo will get much more dynamic so no matter how good I start to feel I know I'll be able to still push myself. I think that is what I like about these videos so far. Each and every exercise, while hard, isn't impossible - or if it is there is an alternate version of it you can do so that you're still pushing yourself; plus, as you get better, there are harder modifications to keep your body fighting. It's pretty cool.

Tonight is "Arms and Shoulders" plus another round of Ab Ripper. My chest and arms are pretty sore today from two days ago so it should be a real challenge tonight.

#P90X

So I did day 1 just now and I am amazed my arms are able to reach the keyboard to type this post. It will be short and sweet most likely. If the X in P90X means extreme then it is an appropriate name for the first days work out. There were 12 different chest/back exercises - almost all of them were a variation on a push-up or a pull-up though I needed dumbbells for 2 exercises (I still don't have any so the 1 gallon paint cans still had to fill the void).

The workout consisted of doing all 12 exercises 2 times and they just compound upon one another to make the next exercise that much harder. Once you are done with that you have a 16 minute ab workout from hell called Ab-Ripper-X which, supposedly, does 340+ ab/core exercises and I believe them.

At this point it is hard for me to get off the ground my arms are like noodles and my chest has nothing to offer in terms of assistance. My abs are dead and I was barely able to do some of the ab exercises - they are just hard to do. I don't know what they were all called but some of the ab exercises I had never seen before and they are really, really, really hard. I can't imagine not getting good results from this program if each day is this hard (or harder).

A friend lent me a pull up bar station so I was able to do each of the pull up exercises - though for many I needed to use the foot bar so that I could actually complete a few reps. I am in really bad shape it seems. I'm actually a little nauseas so maybe I should do this before dinner in the future? Actually, here are my results so you can judge for yourself.

Round 1:

standard push-ups: 20

wide front pull ups: 5reps 1 leg

military push-ups: 6

reverse grip chin-ups: 8reps 1 leg

wide fly push-ups: 6

closed grip overhand pull-ups: 5reps 1 leg

decline push-ups: 3

heavy pants: 20 @ 0lbs (didn't think of paint)

diamond push-ups: 5

lawn mowers: 15 @ 0lbs

dive-bomber push-ups: 5

back flys: 8 @ 11lbs (found paint)


Set 2

wide front pull-ups: 7reps 1 leg

standard push-ups: 4

reverse grip chin-ups: 8reps 1 leg

military push ups: 1

close grip pull-ups: 5reps 1 leg

wide fly push ups: 3

heavy pants: 10 @ 11 lbs (paint)

decline push-ups: 3

lawn mowers: 18 @ 11lbs

diamond push-ups: 2

back flys: 13 @ 11lbs

dive-bomber push-ups: 3 on my knees

I will definitely be feeling this tomorrow when I go to do the Plyometrics. The only guy I know who is actively working on this program with me is in much better shape than I am and he only finishes half of the plyo routine so it should be a real challenge.

#P90X

Tonight I am starting a fitness regimen called P90X. Should I be doing so? I'm not entirely sure but I do know that the only way I ever really get into shape is by diving in head first and giving it my all and that is what P90X supposedly demands of me. To start with I have to take a fitness test to see how I stand (and to make sure I'm ready for the program). I know I probably am not ready but that is what the whole head first thing is all about.

Toward the end of fitness and transparency into the program and my results I am going to log my results here. Many of the readers of this blog may really not want to read these posts so you will know when it is a P90X post because every post about it will start with the prefix of P90X: just like this one is.

The fitness test has one part I can't do because I don't own any kind of dumbbells at the moment; I also don't have a pull-up bar so I tried to do some on a wooden thing that hangs in my garage and that is covered with some plywood - it tore up my hands but I did what I could (perhaps I should have worn gloves). I am doing the rest so here are my initial "day 1" results:

I'm sorry this table is so ugly: I'll make it look nicer as soon as I can.

Overall my impression is one of being pretty out of shape. But, with the exception of the pull-ups I did the minimum for P90X readiness so that is a good basis to start from. I'm in bad shape but not horrendous!

Tomorrow I start the first days exercise: Chest and Back with AB Ripper X. Sounds fun! If you are really interested I will put up 2 photos at the start of each week so we can see if there is any physical change in me over the course of the 90 days. [My P90X Photos]

#MyLife #P90X