Day 44 (Plyo), Day 45 (Ab) Commitment is...

Did Plyo on Friday as normally schedule.  I was to do Back/Biceps today, but I moved it back to Thursday because I drove 12 hours to Florida today.  However, I couldn't do the Ab Ripper portion because I had already done it on Wednesday as a part of flipping my schedule around.  OK, so that is way confusing and not very important.

The important thing is that I actually drove 12 hours to vacation, was worn out, felt like crap, the last few hours didn't go as planned and I still managed to do the workout I was supposed to do.  That means I made it 45 days (halfway through to 90) without missing a single workout.  I feel pretty good about that.

Nothing special about Plyo except that I didn't have to pause the DVD once.  I wrote out a cheat sheet of the exercises to mentally prepare myself.  Many of them are fairly easy so I consider them mini breaks.  By writing the whole thing out, I can push myself through absolute exhaustion during the hard exercises because I know when I will get a breather.  The only real modification I did in the workout was that I simply couldn't get all the way to touch the floor for the rest of the routine after the second round of Squat Reach Jumps.  If I were to go all the way to touch the floor after that, I wouldn't be able to get back up.  So I would just go down to just below my knee.  That is the best I can do. 

Melanie and I are in Panama City Beach for a week.  But I always get up quite a bit before her and I plan to continue workouts while I'm here.  Tomorrow is Yoga.  I brought weights and the portable pull up bar for Legs/Back on Monday.  Kenpo on Tuesday will be easy.   Wednesday is rest (although I may do the stretch).  Then I move on to the rest/recovery week.  Thursday is Yoga.  Friday is Core.  I am swapping Saturday and Sunday to make Saturday stretch (which I may skip or do Wednesday because I am driving home this day) and then do Kenpo on Sunday.

Day 43 (Back/Biceps) P90X injury report!

Today was Back/Biceps...probably my favorite routine.  It is one of the shortest, it goes very quickly and it is very simply...do a bunch of curls and a bunch of push ups.  This workout was actually for Saturday but I moved it up to allow for the drive to Florida.  After Plyo tomorrow, I'll be right back on track for Yoga on Sunday and then my normal schedule.

As far as the injury, well it may be minor but I definitely did something to my shoulder yesterday.  I didn't feel it during the workout, but this morning I had a lot of tenderness in the right shoulder as I lifted it up into a fly motion...like you are raising your arm to get something off a shelf.  It isn't the soreness of working out...it is definitely a minor injury...a zing during that fly range of motion.  It didn't keep me from my workout today and it might not affect anything as I only have Plyo, Yoga, Legs/Back and Kenpo and then I'm into a recovery week.  It might affect Core, but that isn't until next Friday.  I hope it is healed by then.

Day 42 (Chest/Shoulders/Triceps) Don't smash your face

As I mentioned before, had to shuffle to workouts to accommodate my drive to Florida on Saturday.  Today was Chest/Shoulders/Triceps.  Pretty straightforward.  Not much of an improvement from last week, but I am definitely pushing myself to muscle exhaustion throughout the workout.  For instance, I tried Plyo push ups on my feet today.  They come in the later half of the workout so by that time I'm pretty fried.  Outside of the workout, I had found I could do them on my feet and not on my knees, so I figured I would "bring it."  Well, I was a little too fried apparently.  I went down, pushed up, got some air, barely got my hands together, came back down and my arms collapsed and I ate carpet.  Needless to say I finished on my knees.

I also tried one-armed push ups on my feet.  I had also done this outside of the workout and wanted to try it.  Unfortunately, I was too fried by this time to accomplish it.  However, I'm good enough on my knees I can do it almost indefinitely.  I just have to find some way to transition that to my feet. 

All in all, this was a great workout.  I pushed as hard as I could and didn't leave anything back.  I won't see this workout again until the second week of Phase III. 

Day 41 (Kenpo) Six weeks down

Yesterday was Kenpo.  Not much to report.  I have to go faster and push myself harder than what is going on in the video in order to keep sweating.  If I do that, it turns out to be a decent workout.  I can tell my balance and coordination is getting better.  I can focus on my whole body while doing the kicks...focusing both on balancing on my standing leg, leaning over and getting my kicks up there.  That is something I couldn't previously do.  Before, it was more just about getting my foot up there somewhere.  So all of that is a great improvement and something I didn't anticipate coming.  I had been toying with replacing this workout with Core Synergistics, but I think I will stick with Kenpo through the remainder of the 90 days and I'll see what happens.

So six weeks down with no missed workouts.  Even through severe allergies.

My schedule for the next few days will be modified.  It would normally be:
Wed: rest
Thurs: Chest/Shoulders/Tri
Fri: Plyo
Sat: Back/Biceps

But I need to drive 12 hours to vacation in Florida on Saturday.  So I'm shifting the rest day to Saturday and moving everything up one day.  Not sure how well that will work.  I am still sore from Legs/Back on Monday and doing Plyo so soon (on Thursday) is a little scary.  Plus, I may need to mow the grass on Thursday before we leave.  So Plyo and then grass?  God help me.

Day 40 (Legs/Back) Two steps forward...

...and one step back...but I think it is a good thing.

What I am referring to is a phenomenon that I'm seeing in these workouts.  You do them once...they are HARD.  You do them again and you start getting better at the first exercises, but once you get tired during that workout you start to drop off a cliff a little and you actually get worse at the second half of exercises.  However, as you continue to work out, that cliff gets a little later and later.  My assumption is that it will disappear and then I'll get better at the entire workout from beginning to end.

This is what is happening to many of the workouts and today's was no exception.  Many of the exercises in Legs/Back require balance as well as strength.  I had neither when I started P90X.  I developed strength first and now the balance is coming.  I'm no longer afraid to go lower in the lunges.  I actually feel my knee getting stronger.  I'm started to use weights in many exercises to make them harder.  Of course, this means I'm getting more wasted as the workout progresses.  But as I said, I think that point will move more and more forward.

Another thing that is allowing for progress...using a chair on pull ups.  Today I was able to start off with 10 unassisted pull ups.  My goal is to always to twelve so I finished with two using the chair.  As the workout went on, I was able to do less and less unassisted, but I still tried to finish with twelve even if I had to use the chair.  I truly believe I was making no progress just maxing out at 2-4 unassisted.  I really need to get 8+ reps in any way I can in order to make progress.

As I said before, my balance is improving.  I am able to complete 1. Balanced Lunges, 11. Deadlift Squats (one legged) and 11. Toe Iso-Lunge without (mostly) using a chair for balance.  This allows me to put more into it and feel the effect more.

Another note...I've stopped counting calories.  I'll post more about nutrition in a week or so when I have time, but I've been eating ~3500 calories a day and burning on average 700 or so.  My weight has stayed steady.  I have a general idea of how to eat to maintain this, so there is no real need to keep counting.  Also, it seems like counting is making me eat more...it is a psychological thing where I know if I can eat more, I will.  I'll keep with a diet that typically is 20-25% protein, 25% fat and ~50% carbs.

Day 39 (Yoga)

 Finished Yoga today.  Got though the Right Angle Pose grab stuff without tumbling.  Still couldn't get the balance to do the Prayer Twist from Runners Pose.  Made some improvement on Warrior 3, but with the right leg down I still couldn't hold Half Moon.  Was a little better at Twisting Half Moon.  I had to come down a few times from exhaustion in my right hip.  When I switched to standing on the left leg, the reverse happened...I couldn't hold Warrior 3, but I actually was better at Half Moon and Twisting Half Moon and I don't think I had to come down at all.  All of this is a significant improvement.

Anyhow, I think it is time to use a Yoga block.  Well, not a real one...that would be a waste of money.  It turns out that my individual season sets of Star Trek: The Next Generation are about the same dimensions. 

I've learned something about the balance poses (other than I suck at them).  They start with you standing on the left leg...bad idea as you just ended the whole Warrior 3/Standing Splits/Half Moon/Twisting Half Moon thing on your left leg.  It is fried.  I would recommend starting on the right leg as it has had some rest.  I was able to do crane a few times for a few seconds.  My limitation isn't really balance.  It is really putting a lot of strain on my wrists.

I also think I need to change the surface I'm working on.  The first time I did this, it was on carpet.  Well, I didn't want to destroy our carpet with sweat stains, so I put a cheap area carpet down and I've been working on that.  There are two problems with that.  First, during the Asanas I find my hands slipping on it.  Second, during the balance poses I think it is too soft which affects my balance.  I tried a Yoga mat a while back on the carpet and it didn't seem to help.  I'll have to think about how to solve this one.

Day 38 (Back/Biceps) P90X and SEX...

P90X and sex...

Both have the letter x in them.

Per google stats, I sucked in about a bazillion people with the "I quit" post...I was wondering how many I would suck in with this one.

Did Back/Biceps today.  Used the chair for pull ups in order to get a decent rep count.  This is the only resistance exercise where I actually feel the post workout ache DURING the workout.  I think that means I am doing it right.  Burned 748 calories.

Did Ab Ripper right after in order to get it over with for the day.  Burned 203 calories because my HR was still up.  If I do it in the evening, I think I only burn 100.

Some info regarding calories burned...somewhere in the P90X workout literature (I think it is in the diet guide), the estimate that you burn on average 600 calories a day during the program.  That is probably right when you average in the rest day.  For the past two weeks, I've probably averaged eating about 3500 calories a day.  Subtract out that 600 calories and I'm netting 2900 calories a day.  Previously, I've found that I maintain a steady weight (no gain or loss) at about 2200-2300 calories.  So, I should be gaining weight on my current diet.  However, I'm not.  We'll see if that continues over the next several weeks.  I've tried to stack my diet with protein.  I'm averaging 25% protein, 25% fat and 50% carbs.  I've cut out practically all junk food except for a few hundred calories of Coke I haven't been able to kick.  I also find myself eating small portions very frequently through the day...meals with lots of high protein snacks mixed in.

Still not seeing much of a physical difference.  I don't comment much about that because previously I've found that it takes about 3 months of an exercise to start noticing a change.  It probably isn't coincidental that the P90X program is 3 months.  My expectations are actually low.  My guess is that my waist fat will remain the same but I will build more definition (although not much size) when this is all over with.  But my knees and back are way better than when I started so even just that would make this worth it.

Here's the workout sheet for today: