Week 2! Day 7 (Chest and Back)...pushing more

First, thank you to all of you reading the blog.  I can see from the stats that a number of people are following and I hope this will help you.  I believe you can now leave comments in the blog without registering.  Please feel free...I can always use the extra encouragement and/or advice if you have it.

Started second week today which is identical to week one.

Today's workout (Chest and Back) is basically push ups and pull ups with some extra stuff mixed in.  I totally did NOT feel like doing this when I woke up.  But once you get through the warm up (9 minutes), you feel a lot better.  However, it is still hard to do those first few pull ups.  By the way, it didn't help that I put in the wrong DVD and went though 9 minutes of the wrong warm up.  Oops!

To review, the workout today is 12 exercises and then you repeat them with more intensity.  The idea is to pace yourself through the first repetition.  Last week, I paced myself too much (made it too easy) the first time around so I pushed my self a little harder this time.  Even so, I found I could actually do less pull ups today than I could last week.  It may be because those are incorporated into two workouts a week so I've done them twice in the past seven days.  Still, it is a little embarrassing to see a 3 or a 4 as the repetitions I write down.  But what can I do?  That's the best I had this morning.  I did a lot better with the push ups.

In the second half, I really tried to get past the psychological block to quit when things got hard.  If I had done 15 push ups and I was dying, I pushed myself to do 5 more.  That definitely had an effect...I couldn't lift my arms in the shower later on!

One thing I learned today...I need more weights.  I did not have enough weight to push myself on the deep pants or the lawnmowers.  I would like to shoot to max out at 8-10 reps and I could do way more than that.  Today, I used 15 and 20 lb dumbbells.  I need to get enough weight to increase those in 5lb increments.

Ab exercises tonight and then plyo tomorrow.  I'm actually looking forward to those.  I think the pull ups are my Achilles heel.

Day 6 (Kenpo)...one week done!

Today was Kenpo.  It is all punches, blocks and kicks.  One move builds on another and there are a bunch of combinations.  In between sets is some light running and jumping jacks.  It was actually a nice workout...about 45 minutes with warm up and cool down and some stretches.  My HR monitor says I burned 860 calories...not sure how accurate that is.  I didn't have to take any breaks, but cardio is probably my strength right now.

One thing to note about Kenpo...once again, sometimes it is hard to completely understand what they are doing...which hand are they starting with?  Which foot kicks in which direction?  I've learned the secret is to make a mental note of which hand/leg is first and which hand/leg is in front before they start.  It seemed to work.

One week is done.  I am definitely feeling it...sore all over...but it isn't too bad.  That tells me that I've actually done something.  I'm looking forward to next week which is identical.  I know what to expect, I've filled out the sheets and know what weights to use and I know what my current limits are.  I think I will get a LOT more out of next week.

One thing I am really happy about is that my knee held up.  None of the exercises were too taxing on it.  Part of it was because I didn't get too low and I didn't push it (the knee) when I started to feel discomfort.

Thanks for reading.  Tomorrow is a break.  Next week starts Thursday morning.

Thanks for reading.

Day 5.5 (Abs)...Stick figures work!

Tonight was a 15 minute Ab routine night.  I mentioned before that I was stuck watching TV too much for this, trying to figure out what they were doing.  Well, I made a stick figure cheat sheet and it was like day and night.  I'd highly encourage it.  I could just look down and know exactly what the exercise was and then focus completely on doing 25 reps instead of rushing to try to figure it out.  Got a LOT out of the routine.

It makes me think that all the workouts will get better as I get to know them more.

Tomorrow morning...Kenpo.  Previewed the disc.  It looks way easy.  However as I got further into the disc I could see the models were sweating profusely.  Maybe it will surprise me.

Yoga Moving Asanas Cheat Sheet

This is what I have from my notes of the ~40 minutes of moving asanas.  This isn't perfect...just a startign point to help me prepare for the moves.  I may edit this later.  Other descriptions are in the P90X book starting on page 53.  These aren't descriptions of the poses, but rather what you are made to go through to get to each one.

Remember, except for some of the twists, your forward arm is always the same as your forward leg.  For instance, if your right leg is out front and an arm is to be pointed outward, it will be your right arm.

Runners Pose

1. Plank
2. Vinyasa
3. Upward Dog
4. Downward Dog
5. Right heel up
6. Swing right knee forward (I will call this the forward leg)
7. Go back to #1 and repeat with left heel/leg

Crescent Pose

1. Go through Runners Pose for right leg
2. Rise to Crescent Pose right
3. Revert back to Runners Pose for right leg
4. Repeat but with left leg

Warrior One

1. Go through Runners Pose for right leg
2. Rise to Warrior One right
3. Revert back to Runners Pose for right leg
4. Repeat but with left leg

Warrior Two

1. The exact same as Warrior One except right after you pose Warrior One, you switch to the respective (left or right) Warrior Two and then go back to Warrior One and continue.

 Reverse Warrior

1. The exact same as Warrior Two except right after you pose Warrior Two, you switch to the respective (let or right) Reverse Warrior and then go back to Warrior Two and continue.

 Triangle Pose

1. Go through Runners Pose for right leg
2. Rise to Warrior One right
3. Go to Warrior Two right
4. Go to Reverse Warrior right
5. Straighten forward leg
6. Revert to Reverse Warrior right
7. Revert to Warrior Two right
8. Straighten forward leg
9. Reach forward hand out and down to ground and the rear hand up
10. Come back up to previous position (with straight forward leg)
11. Revert to Warrior Two right
12. Reverse Warrior right
13. Warrior 2 right
14. Warrior 1 right
15. Revert back to Runners Pose for right leg
16. Repeat but with left leg 

Twisting Triangle (less positions...wonder if they were deleted in error...end up in same triangle position but with hands reversed so your torso is facing a different direction)

1. Go through Runners Pose for right leg
2. Rise to Warrior One right
3. Go to Warrior Two right
4. Straighten forward leg
5. Rotate torso to facing forward
6. Reverse hands...now back hand (left) is front and goes down instead of the right in Triangle
7. Come back up to previous position (with straight forward leg)
8. Revert back to Runners Pose for right leg
9. Repeat but with left leg 

Chair to Twisting Chair (Prayer Twist)

1. Plank
2. Vinyasa
3. Upward Dog
4. Downward Dog
5. Jump up to hands
6. Chair pose (like you are sitting on a chair with hands up)
7. Up to tip toes with hands up
8. Back down and twist to right
9. Up to tip toes with hands up
10. Back down and twist to left
11. Up to tip toes with hands up

[ NOW 30 MINUTES INTO THE DVD...15 MINUTES MORE ASANAS TO GO]

Right-angle Pose to Extended Right-Angle Pose and Grab

1. Swan dive down
2. Up to flat back
3. Down to plank
4. Vinyasa
5. Upward Dog
6. Downward Dog
7. Right heel up
8. Swing right knee forward but keep foot off the ground
9. Runners Pose (right)
10. Warrior One (right)
11. Warrior Two (right)
12. Reverse Warrior (right)
13. Warrior Two (right)
14. Reach with forward hand (right)
15. Forward elbow on forward knee
16. Forward hand on floor, back hand up
17. Back hand forward
18. Back hand up
19. Back hand behind back
20. Forward hand between legs, grab back hand and clasp
21. Unclasp, back hand up, forward hand on ground
22. Warrior Two (right)
23. Reverse Warrior (right)
24. Warrior Two (right)
25. Warrior One (right)
26. Go gack to #3 (plank) and repeat with left 

Prayer Twist from Runners Pose to Side Arm Balance

1. Go through Runners Pose right
2. Left elbow on forward knee, hands in prayer
3. Back to Runners Pose right
4. ? Need more notes
5. Repeat but with left 

Warrior Three to Standing Splits & Half Moon to Twisting Half Moon (seem to be combined)

1. Go through Runner's Pose right
2. Crescent Pose right
3. Lean forward
4. Warrior 3
5. Fingers on the floor
6. Rotate away from forward leg
7. Half moon with rear hand up
8. Fingers on the floor
9. Rotate into forward leg
10. Twisting half moon with forward hand up
11. Fingers on the floor
12. Revert to Crescent right
13. Repeat with left

 [NOW 45 MINUTES INTO THE DVD]

Next...

10 minutes balance postures
18 minutes floor work
7 minutes Yoga belly
5 minutes stretches
5 minutes complete B.S.

Day 5 (Legs and Back)...something is better than nothing

This morning I woke up and the thought of doing a bunch of pull ups was not that excited.  I was just not feeling it.  In my mind, there was a child screaming, "No!  I'm not going to do it!  You can't make me!"  But I turned on the DVD player and started going through the motions.

The legs and back workout is mainly lunges, stuff up on your toes, squatting stuff and pull ups for the back.  I will admit, I didn't push myself on the pull ups as much as I should have.  But as I put in the title of this blog, I am assuming that something is better than nothing and I'm glad I got through the workout.

Another thing I am learning...this first week is really more about figuring out what your are supposed to do (and how to do it) rather than really making tons of progress.  Many of the lunge exercises I simply couldn't do well because I didn't have the balance I needed.

A second thing I learned today was to wear solid footwear.  In previous workouts (except for Yoga), I had been wearing loose fitting wrestling shoes.  For today's workout, I really needed tight fitting tennis shoes and a solid surface to stand on.  Without that, you are falling all over the place when you are trying to balance.  Another thing that affects balance is trying to watch the TV.  Hopefully as I progress, I will remember more of the moves and not have to watch.

One thing that went better than expected was my right knee.  I've learned that I avoid pain if I keep the right form.  I really need to make sure my knee movement is aligned with my toe.  If I do that, the pain rarely comes.  I only had to stop doing one of the last exercises...the 80/20 split lunges.  But I might not have had my form correct for that one.  I actually think these exercises will help my knee.

Anyhow, I got through it and I'm looking forward to trying it again.  I've saved the Ab ripper for tonight.  I'll look over my notes for it and be more mentally prepared for each exercise.

Day 4 (Yoga)...Intense! Could use better organization.

I was fearing today from what others had told me.  I wasn't even sure what Yoga was.

Going in, all I really knew was that I would be working on it for 90 minutes.  That scares the hell out of you when you are 20 minutes in and sweating your ass off.  What sucks is that there wasn't a clear description of how that 90 minutes was going to be broken up.  For anyone out there who will try this, let me explain.

• You start with a very short warm up with some basic stances and movement.
• You then have about 40 minutes of "Moving Asanas."  These remind me of katas.  They are precise movements that end up into poses.  Many are very repetitive.  They seem to help build strength, flexibility and balance.  You will be sweating.  Some are complicated and you won't get them if you are watching the DVD for the first time.  I was actually getting frustrated because I couldn't always figure out exactly what they were doing.  I had to go back and watch the DVD while taking notes tonight (kind of what I did with the ab ripper DVD yesterday.  You really can't be watching the DVD and trying to figure it out on the fly if you are going to get anything from it.  I tried that at first and got very frustrated and almost quit.  But I got through it and at least got the idea of what was going on (although I'm sure I missed a lot of repetitions and sides).  It was during this that I thought, "oh no...I'm going to have to do THIS for 90 minutes????  Thankfully that wasn't the case.
• About 45 minutes into the DVD (45 minutes left) you do balanced postures for 10 minutes.  These are the crazy Yoga poses that you might have seen before.  I don't think I could do any of them.  It was then that I had to admit to myself that I simply won't be able to do some of this stuff for quite a while.  At least I tried each one and when I'd fall, I'd get right back and try to get back into the pose until they were done.  These take major coordination, strength and balance.
• At about 55 minutes in (35 minutes left), you do floor work which is essentially stretching and some held poses.  Challenging stuff but some of it is a bit of a nice break.
• At about 73 minutes in (17 minutes left), you do "Yoga Belly" which reminds me of Ab Ripper but slowed WAY down.  This goes on for about 7 minutes.
• At about 80 minutes in (10 minutes left), you do stretches.
• At 85 minutes in (5 minutes left), you do some poses that don't seem to do anything.  I think they are just ritual.  I'll probably skip these next time.  I mean "corpse pose?"  "Fetal pose?"  Really?  I don't think my 90 day picture will be different if I don't do these.

Some things I learned:

1. Don't wear shoes or socks.  I started with both and realized everything works better in your bare feet (which is also what they use in the DVD).
2. There are no real breaks.  You have to pause the DVD if you need one.  I never did really other than to towel off some sweat.
3. Almost all the routines start with one foot/side and repeat with the other foot/side.  However, it is very hard the first time to understand where one routine starts and ends.  There is a timer at the bottom with titles which has actually been very useful with the other workouts.  However, it doesn't seem to be correct in this workout most of the time.  Most of the time, there will be a number of seconds up there that doesn't correspond with anything.  I would recommend actually watching the DVD once before you work out and taking notes to the movements.  It will soon seem clear how things are proceeding.  My notes are at the bottom of this blog.
4. Don't get discouraged.  Do as much as you can with the idea that you will get better as time goes on.  This stuff is hard.  If you can't do a pose, just keep trying even if you keep falling.  Just keep getting back up and try to get into it again.  Don't give up.
5. Yoga blocks are bullshit.  You don't need one.  They are supposed to be used in poses if you can't touch the ground...you just hold on to the block.  You can use almost anything instead of a real yoga block.  I used the box my free weights came in.
6. Yoga mats are bullshit (mostly).  I am doing everything on carpet.  I'll admit that sometimes my back foot slips a little.  But I think that is only because I'm on a pool of sweat.  It would be worse if I were on a mat.  I would NOT want to do this on a hard floor.
7. It will take a WHILE to get the breathing down.  Right now, I'm going to focus on getting through the routine correctly and having the right form.  I'll try to get the breathing correct here and there, but I'm lucky if I can get through the routine correctly.

Here are my notes on the Moving Asanas:

You will see a TON routines begin and/or end with this:

1. Runners Pose
2. Plank
3. Vinyasa
4. Upward Dog
5. Plank (perhaps followed by a push up)
6. Downward Dog
7. Swing heel up (routines always start with right first, then repeated with left)
8. Bring knee up into Runners Pose (with right knee used first, then repeated with left)

Nail that down because you will be doing it over and over.

OK, so I just realized that I have 7 pages of written notes for the Moving Asanas.  It is getting late so I'll type them up tomorrow (for you and for me).

Later!

Day 3.5...getting used to Ab Ripper

The Ab ripper routine is a 15 minute disc tacked on to 3 of the 6 workouts you initially do.  Tonight is my second night doing it.

The routine has 11 different moves with 25 repetitions each.  It moves very quickly...VERY quickly and has no breaks.

Since it moves so quick, I've found myself trying to figure out the proper move/form as they are starting and then never really being able to focus because I'm too busy watching the TV.  And many of these these seem really hard, at least for me.  Without the focus and being able to really push myself, I'm not able to keep form or complete even close to 25 reps without a break.  And if I take a break, they are running on to the next exercise before I get done.  Then I'm even more behind on the next move trying to figure out form...etc.

So that's two Ab workouts done and I don't think I've gotten much out of either.  Kind of discouraging.

In order to get around this, after I was done I skipped through the DVD and copied down little stick figures and notes for each move.  I can now look over this and get used to exactly what they are doing and not have to watch the TV.  Hopefully, I'll be able to focus more on what I'm doing and get more out of the workout.  We'll see if this works the next time this comes up which is Monday.

By the way, here are the moves (writing this to help me remember):

1. In and outs.  You sit on your rear, balance with your hands at your sides to the floor and bring your knees back and forth toward and away from your chest without letting your feet hit the ground.
2. Bicycles.  Same form as #1 but you hold your legs out and pedal your feet forward 25 times and then revers 25 times.
3. Crunchy frogs.  same form as #1 but instead of balancing with your hands, you hold them out to your sides and then hug your knees as they come in to your chest.
4. Cross leg/wide leg sit ups.  Lay on your back with your legs spread.  Sit up and then touch one of your toes 25 times for each toe.  That is the wide leg form.  If you cross your legs, it is harder.
5. Fifer scissors.  Lay on your back.  Both legs straight...one hovering just above the ground and one pointed straight up.  Hold and switch every few seconds without letting either touch the ground.  25 switches.
6. Hip rock and raise.  Lay on your back, arms to your sides with your knees apart but your feet together (making a diamond).  Lift your feet up essentially bringing your knees up toward your chest and then push your feet to the ceiling.  Then pull your knees back down and return to beginning position.
7. Pulse ups (heels to heaven).  Similar to #6, but start with both legs straight and pointed to the ceiling.  Then push your heels up up to the ceiling, lifting your lower back off the floor and return.
8. V-up/roll ups.  lay on your back, arms to your sides, legs extended.  Do a normal sit up but when the small of your back hits the ground on your return, lift your legs (still extended) and try to touch your toes again.  Then lower back into starting position.
9. Oblique V-ups.  Lay on your side, bottom arm to your side along the floor and top arm bent with elbow out and hand to your neck.  Keep your legs straight and feet slightly off the floor.  Then try to touch your elbow to the side of your leg by bending your body into a V toward the ceiling.
10. Leg climbs.  Lay on your back with one leg straight up to the ceiling and one leg bent with foot on the ground for support.  Use your hands to climb the extended leg and touch your toe and then return.
11. Mason twists (40 reps on this one).  Sit on your rear with your knees bent.  Clasp your hands together.  Lift your feet slightly off the ground and move your hands over your body, touching the ground to the left and right of where you are sitting.

Do you see how you might not master the moves immediately?