Week 8 - Recovery Week & 60 day photos

This was a really tough week to get through with what I'm doing at work. On friday, we were slammed with school being out for Good Friday, and our printer decided to break down. The Fuji tech wasn't going to be able to fix it until Saturday morning, so I had to take all of our print jobs over to our Tallgrass studio and was there until 11:58 pm printing. I was in no condition to do the scheduled Core Synergistics workout at 1 am when I had to be up the next morning at 5:30.

Well, the tech didn't arrive until about 11:00 on Saturday, I think, and we were of course slammed again with customers coming in for their final opportunity to get Easter pictures... next to Christmas, one of our busiest days of the year. Unfortunately for me, I didn't have enough of a certain chemistry mix on hand in my studio and neither did our sister studio across town, so I had to drive about 100 miles to Emporia to meet someone half-way from a Kansas City studio (thanks, Sharice!!) with the stuff I needed. Side note: on the way, my car hit 100,000 miles and I took a picture while going 75 mph on the Turnpike!

Anyway, I made it back to work that afternoon and we got the printer up and running, some orders started printing, but with the volume from the remainder of the unprinted Friday night orders and the stack of Saturday's jobs yet to be done, there was no way of catching up, so I worked another 16 hour day on Saturday. People wanted their photos for Easter so bad they waited until midnight in my studio until I could get them printed. Sheesh!!

Needless to say, I missed two days of workouts (Core on Friday and Yoga on Saturday), so i did Core on Easter Sunday instead of resting and also took my 60 day photos. I have to say, I'm a bit disappointed with this phase. I guess I'm disappointed in myself for not following the nutrition guide to a "T" like I did for the first few weeks, but it got to be too expensive and way too time consuming. My results from day 30 to  now aren't nearly as noticeable as the results from day 1 to 30, but I'm still seeing some improvement, especially in my abs.

My youngest brother, Kenny said he's going to start the program as well as my sister and maybe her husband too. Apparently a cousin of mine has also started P90X and was impressed with my results thus far. I hope they all stick with it like I am and BRING IT because I have! I'll tell you, after 60 days of P90X, I feel so much better. I don't wake up in the morning stiff as a board. I have energy throughout the day, more stamina where stamina is appreciated *wink, increased overall strength and balance, better self-confidence and self-conscience, and I'm making better choices about what foods and drinks I consume. I'm really glad I started P90X and I know that all sounded a little commercial, but it's true!

Phase 3, here I come!!

Week 7 - Let's try that again.

Week 7 is the final repeat of the prior weeks and on the first day of this week, I was laying on my side in bed reading Stephen King's Under The Dome (a really good read, by the way) and I twisted my neck to pop it and ended up really messing up my lower neck/upper back. I don't know if I gave myself a bit of a subluxation, but I was in quite a bit of pain and could barely hold my head up without feeling sharp pain.

I've done this before years ago and knew right away that I was in trouble with my workouts. Sure enough, after waking up the next morning, I realized I wasn't in any shape to continue working out until I healed up. Not only that, but I came down with a mild cold and was pretty congested, which is no fun when doing cardio. I skipped the second day of the week and tried to catch up during day three, but couldn't.

I decided to go ahead and take a break re-do week 7 this week (should have been week 8). I'm glad I did, because I'm all healed up now and was able to really concentrate on this week and push really hard.

Yet again, I'm still showing gradual improvements in the number of reps as well as my form. I feel stronger every day and am looking good in the mirror too. My weight really hasn't changed all that much since day one, but again I'm not focusing on the whole weight-loss thing anyway.

Week 8 is recovery week and the final week of phase II. It's also going to be pretty challenging for me because it's the week before Easter which will be extremely busy for me at work, so I'll be working longer hours and doing some of the hardest exercises P90X has, but I'm ready to bring it!

Week 6... overdue post!

I STILL DIDN'T MANAGE ONE ONE-ARM PUSHUP!!!  Arggg! Man, I really tried too, but it just didn't happen. Maybe next week.

Week 6 is a repeat of week 5. Did I improve over last week?

CHEST, SHOULDERS & TRICEPS, AB RIPPER X
Well, I gained reps or achieved my 8-10 goal on everything except the one-arm balance push-up (and the one-arm pushup... arggg again!) A couple of exercises needed more weights than I used last week. Some of the pushups are still being performed on my knees. I don't really care though since I'm feeling the burn.
As far as ab ripper... I'm still not doing every single rep like Tony & the gang, but I'm getting closer each time. This was the first day I did all 25 hip rock 'n raise ans well as all 25 pulse ups.

PLYOMETRICS
What's to say? I did it with good form and really pushed myself as I always do. I drenched myself in sweat too.

BACK & BICEPS, AB RIPPER X
Another great workout and more increases in weights this week too, so I'm happy with that. There are 24 exercises and almost half of them are different types of curls. The full-length mirror on the back of the bathroom door fell off the other day, so I've been using it in the living room to watch myself doing P90X, especially during this workout where form is so important.
No change in ab ripper... still bringing it!!!

YOGA X
Yoga's starting to get on my nerves. I don't know if it's just too long, too boring or just killer on my legs, but I very nearly quit after about 2/3 of the way through this dvd this week. I'm glad I didn't though. I liked it at first, but maybe I'm just not clearing my mind of the outside crap going on in my life and focusing on the workout. I'll try to make sure I'm not distracted next week.

LEGS & BACK, AB RIPPER X
Ohhh, my teeny-tiny bird legs really feel this monster of a workout. All those lunges and wall squats are killer. I've been feeling some sharpness in my right knee, especially when I do the speed squats and side lunges, so I'm not going to over-do it and risk injury.
Ab ripper saw improvements on the V-up/Roll-up combo (I did 14) and the Oblique V-ups (up to 15 on each side). Other than that, everything else is the same. I'm still knocking out all 50 Mason Twists at the end too!

I am so glad blogger auto-saves because my computer crashed a minute ago and had to restart, otherwise I would have lost all of the above!

KENPO-X
Still one of my favorites and with the mirror, I'm improving my form quite a bit. I pitty the fool who gets in my way during Kenpo!

As far as nutrition, I've made some bad choices with fast food, but I'll keep trying. Next week is another repeat of this one.

Still alive after week 5!!

It's been a week since I switched from morning workouts to evenings and I'm wondering why the hell I didn't do that earlier. I've always been an insomniac night-owl anyway. Unfortunately, the wife has given up on accompanying me after 3 1/2 weeks. She took a business trip to OKC for a week and didn't get to (or didn't want to... I'm not really sure) work out down there. After that, she never picked it back up. I'm trying to get her back into it, but so far to no avail.

As I stated in my previous posts, recovery week (week 4) was no walk in the park, but at least I wasn't doing any heavy lifting of weights. Well week 5 threw me back into full force with some intense workouts:

Monday: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps plus Ab Ripper X
Oooohhh the burn again! Some of the workouts include:

• Slow-Motion 3-in-1 Push-Ups - Start in wide push-up position, lower your body slowly (count 4 seconds) to the floor, then raise slowly in 4 counts again. Do the same in both military and standard push-up positions. I thought I was getting much better at pushups until I did these! Sheesh!
• In & Out Shoulder fly
• Chair Dips
• Plange Push-Ups - Just like military push-ups except your hands are further back next to your rib cage with your fingers pointing out. You then round your back at the top of the push-up.
• Pike Press - Your toes and hands are on the floor and your butt is up in the air so your whole body is in the shape of a "V". Keeping that form, you do a push-up so the crown of your head taps the floor (or at least mine does.)
• Scarecrow - Holding weights in each hand, you raise your arms so they're parallel to the floor but your elbows are bent at 90 degrees. Keeping elbows, wrists, and upper arms locked, you rotate the weights up and back as far as you can. Slowly return the weights to starting position and repeat. It reminds me of Beavis & Butthead when one of them says, "I have TP for my bunghole!!" I can't remember which one.
• Two-Twitch Speed Push-Ups - Do 4 fast and 3 slow standard push-ups. Repeat as many times as you can.
• Side-to-Side Push-Ups - Wide-feet, wide-hands position, you walk both hands to the right, perform a push-up, then walk both hands to the left and repeat.
• One-Arm Push-Up - I CANNOT DO ANY OF THESE!!! Not even on my friggin' knees! It makes me sick that I can't even squeeze one piss-poor formed one out, but I sure can't. Maybe next week. Frustrating!
• Clap Push-Ups - You clap your hands in mid-air between push-ups.
• One-Arm Balance Push-Ups - You perform a push-up, then twist up with one arm to perform a one-arm balance (like Jesus on the cross but with one hand on the ground and the other skyward.) You come back down and do another push-up, then another one-arm balance on the other side.

There's more... lots of flys, rows, presses and other stuff too. What's missing from this workout is curls and pull-ups, but there's every other move under the sun!

Tuesday - Plyometrics
Wednesday - Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
Thursday - Yoga X
Friday - Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X
Saturday - Kenpo X - I had a tougher time and didn't enjoy this as much as I did two weeks ago when my son did it with me :(
Sunday - Rest or X Stretch (I rested... again)

Next week is a repeat of the above. My goal... do a one-arm pushup!

30 day photos

This really shows me what areas I need to work on and it's a great motivator too! Things area progressing and I can't wait to see what my results will be in another 30 days! You like the frown/smile? Typical for before & after photos, right? You'll need to click on the photos to see the whole thing.

"Recovery Week"? Yeah, right!

After three weeks of taking a pounding, my body was begging for some relief. Week four is called Recovery Week and it's supposed to allow my body to recover from the hard resistance training and enhance my adaptive process. According to the P90X fitness guide, this week focuses on tightening the entire midsection into a "hard, ripped sheet." Core strength, balance, and flexibility are the focus of the week as my body increases its stabilizer-muscle strength during recover and ab focus.

Day 1 of the week was Yoga X, which I enjoy although it's quite a challenge still.
Day 2 was Core Synergistics, the first time for this workout. This was the toughest workout yet, I think. This workout focuses on strengthening the lumbar spine and trunk muscles. Some of the exercises include:

• Stacked Foot Pushups - standard pushup position, but your right arm is out in front of your body while your left hand is tight beside your rib cage and you stack your feet one on top of the other. Tough stuff!
• Bananna Roll - Tougher yet! You lie on your back with your legs & arms extended straight out approx. 6-12 inches off the floor (biceps should be beside ears) and hold for five counts. Then you roll to your side side, keeping legs and arms extended and off the floor. Roll to stomach, keeping legs & arms off floor. Hold for 5 counts. Continue to roll to the other side, maintaining form, until ending up on your back in original start position. You repeat this process, rolling back to the start position. Sounds easy, but try it for yourself.
• Prison Cell Pushup - You start standing then bend forward, place your hands on the floor, jump back to plank position, perform a pushup, then bring your right knee in towards your chest, then put it back. Do another pushup, then bring your left knee in, put it back, do a third pushup, then jump up to standing position. And that's one rep... ugh!
• Superman Banana - Just like the banana roll, but you try to get as much of your body up off the ground as you can while on your stomach, then roll to your back.

There's lots more, but those are the doozies for me. It's a 57 and a half minute workout.

Day 3 - Kenpo X. I'm liking this more and more each time I do it.
Day 4 - X Stretch
Day 5 - Core Synergistics again
Day 6 - Yoga X
Day 7 - Rest or X Stretch

Now here's the bad news for me. I had to take a week off from the program due to a business (and pleasure) trip to Florida. I tried to consider how I was going to perform week 5 at the hotel, but it really wasn't feasable. I really prefer weights over the resistance bands now and being that week 5 is the start of Phase 2 and includes some new workouts, I decided to just take a week off and get right back at it when I got back. Also, there was no dvd player in the hotel room.

Oh, by the way, PHASE ONE IS DONE!!! That means I have to take 30-day photos... They'll be posted next!

Week 3 in the books!!!

I think one word can sum up week three: progress.
I'm really starting to feel like I'm accomplishing something now. I have the same desire and excitement about this program now as I did before day one and I can't wait until day 90. I'm kicking out more and more reps, increasing my weights, and improving my form daily.
Don't get me wrong... this is tough stuff and from other blogs I've read, it's not going to get any easier. As Tony says, "Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was your body." As long as I keep my enthusiasm and determination up, I'll keep pushing play on that DVD player and keep pushing myself as hard as I can to get the results I'm looking for.

Below are my results so far. You'll have to click on each chart to see it in its entirety.

CHEST & BACK

SHOULDERS & ARMS

LEGS & BACK
(Some of these exercises are left blank as they aren't counted)

 
AB RIPPER X
 

 
Next week is recovery week and then after that, I'll be in Florida on business and I'm going to figure out how to get my workouts in while I'm down there.

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!!!