Week Two

Oh, thank god week one is over... I haven't felt that sore in a long time (if ever.)

Week 2 is in the books now and I've seen mostly gains as far as reps all across the board from week 1.
I'm going to ask my wife to help me figure out how to post my results on the spreadsheet I'm using instead of typing them here. I'm really glad I've kept a written track of every exercise so that I can try to improve from week to week.

CHEST & BACK
Most of the pushups I'm doing are on my knees so I can perfect my form. Once I'm getting enough reps, I'll go on my feet for more difficulty. When that becomes a breeze, I'll just do them faster!
As far as pull-ups and chin-ups, I've nearly doubled what I did in week 1, so I'm pretty proud of that. Week 1 seemed like a bit of a trial week because this was the first time I did all of these workouts and it was a little confusing and hard to keep up with Tony, but week 2... I knew exactly what to do! My favorite workout here is "Heavy Pants." You step one foot in front of the other and squat down like you're tying your shoe, except you're holding 30 lb. dumbells. You pick them up while bending over and lift them to your waist as if you're pulling up your pants. My least favorite is Decline Push-Ups... ugh!! You're in regular push-up form, except your feet are up on a chair, thus the decline. I can't even squeak one out... or one that I would count anyways (yet!!). I'm finding that if I do faster pushups, I can do more.

PLYOMETRICS
Not too much to say about this workout. It wasn't near as bad as last week, so I'm improving there as well. I really got my heart rate up during plyo and I sweat (sweated??) ...whatever. There's a lot of jumping and lunges here, but Tony makes it even more crazy by making me land softly like a cat instead of pounding on the ground (which is better for the joints as well), but man, oh man, those soft landings really work the calves!

SHOULDERS & ARMS
I'm going back and forth between weights and resistance bands until I figure out what works best for me. What's funny is that the relative whom I borrowed the dumbells from laughed at me when I wanted the 30's for curls... Week 1, round 1 (in & out curls) I pumped out 16 reps using 20 lbs., round 2 I did 11. Week 2, round 1 I did 14 using 20's, round 2 I tried the bands and did 16. These are a good number of reps if I want to "tone," but I'm looking to bulk up fast, so I need to be doing 8-10 reps with the last couple being really hard. Week 3, I'll be using 30's. I think this is one of my favorite workouts. My poor skinny arms really took a beating after week 1... especially after this particular workout, but I feel great now and am noticing a little definition in my tricepts already. Nothing anyone would notice yet really, but it's something!

YOGA-X
Geez, Louise this is tough! Balance is not my forte, but I'm working on it. The first half hour is like standing on one leg (bent) with the other straight in the air behind you while your arms are spread out and you're looking behind you and BREATHE!! The rest is mostly stretching, which is ok with me even though I've lost a lot of flexability over the years. Anyone who thinks Yoga is just a bunch of streching and chanting hasn't done Yoga-X.

LEGS & BACK
I improved on every single exercise during this workout this week, except for a couple, which I matched week 1. There are a lot of lunges (again) and pull-ups here and it's still quite tough, especially on my legs. At least the soreness isn't lasting days... only minutes! I'm using a chair for support for my pull-ups and will wein myself off of it when I feel like I can do some properly.

KENPO-X
This is not my cup of tea and I feel like a little girl trying to do some of these things, but I'm trying. This really gets my heartrate going... it's killer! Tons and tons of punches and kicks. I love how they've composed the music to the beat of the workout! Jab, punch, uppercut... Jap, punch, uppercut...

AB RIPPER X
This is done on the same day and directly after the Chest & Back, Shoulders & Arms and Legs & Back workouts. I am crazy impressed with this week's improvement! On some of the workouts, I wish there was more time so I could do more! The only exercise I'm struggling with is the V-Up/Roll-Up Combos. You lie down on your back, legs down, hands reaching up in the air as you sit up, touching your toes. As you come back down, you lift your feet up off the ground and then "pulse" up to your toes which are now in the air! The sit up is a breeze, but that pulse up is killer! I could only do 2 on week 1 Monday. On Wed., I did 7, on Fri., I did 7 again. Week 2: Monday I did 6, Wednesday I did 11 and Friday I did 12. Everything else has just that kind of improvement. I really love this workout because it's fast (only 15 minutes) yet it's intense. I'm anxious to see that 6-pack!

The seventh day is your choice of either rest (no workout at all) or Stretch-X. I had so much crap to do that I decided to rest.

More difficult that the workouts themselves is trying to figure what to eat (and what not to eat too.) I made a spreadsheet which lays out exactly what I eat in a day, but it's proving to be pretty expensive and very time consuming. Not to mention a big bummer for the kids since I had them try a couple days worth of Lemon Garlic Tilapia, Turkey Burgers and Butternut Squash Soup. They're not fans. Now that I have an understanding of what is good and bad to eat, I think I'm going to ditch the precise calculations of calories and the percentages of proteins, carbs and fats and just eat healthy. I've got my protein shake and bars and I've got the will power to abstain from McDonald's and Wendy's. It's just a matter of making good choices about the foods I eat. I don't need to loose weight, so I'm not needing to be as strict as other people might be with their diets.

Week 3 will be an even better improvement overall, then it's recovery week and a whole new set of exercises. BRING IT!!!