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.
