Day 33 (Legs/Back) Cottage cheese before a workout

I'm not sure what I was thinking.  Shortly before my workout today I ate about 1 1/2 cups of cottage cheese and washed it down with a 90 calorie Coke.  Then I had some type of allergy related coughing fit.  So I took a swig of Robitussin and I was ready to go!

It didn't take long before the mixture of cottage cheese and Coke along with the lingering taste of Robitussin in my mouth reacted very negatively to huffing and puffing through pull ups, lunges and squats.  After about 20 minutes, I thought I was going to puke my guts up.  Somehow I managed to make it through the workout.  I'm bummed because I couldn't really concentrate on the exercises.  But I still did everything including improving on a number of things and burnt 834 calories.

One major thing I did was use a chair for pull ups.  I see them do it in the video by facing the chair away from them and then using one leg on the top of the back of the chair.  I am way too tall to do it that way (and my pull up bar is not mounted at 9 feet like the ones in the DVD).  The best way I found was to place both feet on the seat of a chair facing towards me and perform the pull ups while trying to put NO weight on the chair (I tried using only one foot, but I felt it pushed me off balance).  It worked very well.  I was able to complete 10 reps of the pull ups and 8 reps of the switch grip ones.  I could have probably done more but the cottage cheese / Coke issue was getting in my way.  I really think it is critical to do this.  It makes no sense to do only 2-3 reps of any exercise.  I simply can't build off of that.  But if I can do 10+ reps, I can slowly incorporate taking the chair away.

Other issues I have in this workout relate to balance.  Exercise 1 balanced lunges are difficult for me.  I have a chair beside me for balance and I am trying to not use it.  But that will take some time.  I figure it is better to use something for a little balance rather than not be able to do the exercise with proper form.  Exercise 11 deadlift squats are also difficult although I'm able to do more now without the chair than when I started.  Exercise 17 Toe-roll lunges I was also able to make some progress without a chair.

I also plan on adding weight next time for 7 Step back lunge and 8 Alternating side lunge.

The cool thing about this workout today is that I felt no pain in my knees and I was able to squat lower and lunge lower than I ever have before.  I used to also have noise in the knees and that has dramatically been reduced.

I also did Ab Ripper X this evening.  I checked the calories burned and found it to be 124...not even enough to count.

Day 32 (Yoga)

Completed Yoga.  Burned 699 calories.  Made it through the asanas past right-angle-pose-reach-and-grab without stumbling.  But I couldn't get through prayer twists out of runners pose (where you are doing prayer twists in a lunge).  Man those are hard to balance.  It probably doesn't help that my head is all stuffed up.  And of course, I couldn't do Warrior 3.  I just can't keep the balance.  The whole sequence after that for me is quite a mess.  I can do standing splits, but I keep falling out of half moon.  I'm actually better with twisting half moon.  I really want to get these, so I think I'll just go through these sequences on Wednesday night.

The balance postures after the asanas are tough in a different way.  I'm not sweating or anything, but I just can't stay balanced.  I am better at tree, but I haven't improved at the standing leg extensions.  I was able to get fully into crane a few times (before crashing).

In browsing comments from people doing P90X, it is really sad that many of them are trying desperately to escape doing yoga.  They try so hard to see if there is something else they can substitute.  I wonder if they avoid it because either they never tried it or it was too hard.  Both excuses are sad.

I would attribute a DRAMATIC improvement in my knees to Yoga X.  My balance is also improving and I am learning techniques (like focusing on breath) that helps me tolerate discomfort in all the other workouts and enables me to perform better.  I'm not really buying into all the meditation just yet...maybe I should.  I am more practical...I am just seeing improvements.  Plus, I feel so...I don't know...groovy...at the end of the workout.  Today I actually continued on the DVD through "corpse" pose into lotus.  It was pretty relaxing after killing myself for 90 minutes.

Day 31.5 (Ab Ripper) Making it harder...+ nutrition update

 I don't usually update the Ab Ripper portion of the workout on this blog...I do the normal workouts in the afternoon and then Ab Ripper 3X/week after the kids go to bed.  I tried doing it right after a workout once...then I learned it is best to save it after I've rested and can focus on it.

I've dramatically improved on Ab Ripper since I started.  I have no problem completing all the reps and workouts (I'm not sure if I've ever had to take a break during it) and I'm starting to incorporate variations that make the exercises more difficult...things like holding the hands above the head during the first few (in/outs, bicycles).  I'm also able to focus more on keeping my legs vertical at the top in scissors and heels to the sky.  Tonight I tried to do the leg climb with no climb (just going straight up) but found that too hard right now.

I've mentioned that I've been keeping track of nutrition using Myfitnesspal.com.  I'll probably make weekly posts on my progress there, separate from the workouts.  It would be too boring to be daily.  I've had some real up and downs with this.  I hate it...HATE it when I grossly underestimate calories for something.  Today I was doing great...actually running at 25% protein and less than 50% carbs (by total calories).  Then I had some Uno's pizza.  Little did I know it was almost 700 calories...PER SLICE.  Three slices alone were almost a whole day's food.  Not to mention all the freaking fat that is in it.  There isn't much that is more discouraging than killing yourself to meet a goal and then blowing it...almost DOUBLING it at 7:00 PM.  Kill me now.

Day 31 (Back/Biceps) Last new workout!

Per design of the P90X schedule for Classic, this is the last new workout I'll be doing.  After today, I don't need to learn any new routines.  That is quite a relief as it never seems like you do the workout well the first few times you are learning it.  You just can't put your all into it.

Today was tons of different types of curls and pull ups.  Over the past few days, I tried the new pull ups and didn't have a problem.  Of course, that wasn't after I killed myself with curls.  Needless to say that I couldn't even bring myself up to the bar after the first set.  So I'm making a change...I'm using the chair from now on.  It does me no good to kill myself to do 2-3 pull ups.  I'm just not making any gains.  At least I can get the reps up by putting my foot on a chair.  Then I can try reps without a chair.  It doesn't make sense to keep doing an exercise in a way where you can't make gains.  I'm over four weeks in and almost worse that when I started.  We'll see if this will help. 

I pushed myself harder today.  The P90X literature suggests putting more effort into phase II so that's what I'm doing.  I'm trying to max out at 8-10 reps every time.  The only major problem (other than pull ups) was the last exercise...a strip set that requires four dumbbells.  I only have three, so I had to change weights at least once after I got things set up.  But the real problem is that I can only really curl 20 pounds 8 times after working out for an hour.  After I drop 5 pounds for each of three more sets of eight reps, I'm down to a ridiculous 5 pounds which is like using no weight.  I am going to try to increase my beginning weight next time, but I'm toasty toast by that time of the workout.

One last thing...during these resistance workouts, I will pause the DVD if necessary to make sure I've got the right weight for the exercise.  I think this is critical and this is advice I would give to anyone doing this.  There is no huge rush.  Even with the pauses, my HR monitor still said I burned 617 calories.

One other note...still sick as shit.  Allergies.  Ugh.  It was hard to get started today.  But I tried to pick the time I felt the most energy.  Once I got started, I forgot how bad I felt.

Day 1 vs. Day 30 pictures. Difference?

So the pics are below that I took at day 1 and day 30.  I took them first thing out of bed so forgive me if I don't look my best.

I've stared at the pictures over and over and I can only see a slight difference...I look a little wider.  Do you see anything?

Scroll down.  The pics are below:






































Day 1



Day 30

Day 30 (Plyo) when you are sick as @#$%

Well, one third of the way done!  Took some 30 day pics...probably won't post any until I've done the full 90.  Measured my waist and I'm down just under an inch.  That is fine as long as I'm not losing weight in other areas...actually I'd like to gain weight elsewhere.  I picked up some high protein snacks to try to replace the Cokes...maybe actually increase calories, but with GOOD calories...ones that can build muscle and not just fat.  In the upcoming days I'll be snacking on yogurt, hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, tuna, etc.  I am really focusing on nutrition through the rest of the 90 days (and on after that).

I'm proud of myself for today.  Allergies are killing me...it is like a BAD cold.  I wanted to do Plyo this morning but I felt like hell.  I came home early from work, caught a nap and had another slot to try it.  It was then or never.  And I made it.  At several points I wanted to die.  At one point I think I actually did die for a few seconds.  But I soldiered on.  Actually, I did better than I ever have at several moves.  I got deeper and jumped higher.  I was able to do the rock star hops for the first time.  I was able to touch the floor or my feet on several moves where I previously just got to my lower legs.  When it was all said and done, I burned 1059 calories.  I'm still pretty exhausted, but I'm glad I did it. 

Tomorrow is the first day of back and biceps.  After that, I will have performed every routine I will do in P90X at least once.

Day 29 (Chest,Shoulders,Triceps) Working through allergies

It sucks working out when you are sick.  I've had horrible allergies (for those who don't have them, it feels like a horrible cold) for the past week.  Practically everyone I know started suffering to some degree at the same exact time, so it seems pretty clear it is just seasonal allergies.  It just hits me worse than most this time of year.

I've been able to stay on track with the P90X though, mainly because I've switched these workouts to the afternoons where I have more energy.

Started Phase II today so two of the resistance workouts are different.  On day 1 of the week, I'm doing today's workout.  I was pretty intimidated when I looked at some of the exercises (plyo push ups, one-armed push ups), but I studied everything last night and tried a few reps to prepare.

The tricky thing about starting a new routine is knowing what weight to use.  Luckily some of the exercises overlap Shoulders and Arms, namely In/Out Shoulder Flys, Chair Dips, Side Tri-Rises and Lying Tricep Extensions.  So I already knew the weight to use for those.  For the rest, I had to guess and then pause the workout if I needed to adjust.  This happened several times, but I wanted to get the right weight instead of pushing ahead with something too light or too heavy.

I actually did better with this workout than I expected.  All of the weight exercises went very well.  I will admit I struggled with the push ups.  I didn't really fall apart until I got to the "two-twitch speed push-ups" which involve four very fast push ups followed by three very slow ones and then repeats.  I didn't make it to the repeat.  This was the 10th exercise and I was already starting to feel a little fried.  I was able to do 6 right and 6 left one-armed push ups although I didn't go super deep.  The secret to these is to do them on your knees and to twist your body away from your push up arm (they show this in the video).  It isn't too bad then.  I was able to at least make some hand-to-hand contact for the plyo push ups (I did 15 of these) although I had to go on my knees again.  By the time I got to the one-arm balance push ups (the 22nd exercise), my arms were "toasty toast" as Tony Horton would say.  I could only do 2...my arms could barely hold me up.

One thing that was surprising was the number of calories I supposedly burned...703.  And that was with numerous breaks to change weights.  Right now, it looks like I'll need a 5, 10, 15 and 20 lb setup.  I only have three dumbbell bars, so I can see I'll have to change weights at least once.

Didn't eat so hot today.  With the calories burned, I still net a few hundred over maintenance.  That isn't such a big deal by itself but a lot of those calories were Cokes...I MUST cut those out.  They don't do anything for muscle growth...I've got to find some protein rich foods to replace those calories with.

Tomorrow is Plyometrics.  Haven't done that in quite a while.  Looking forward to burning 1100 calories and hopfully replacing those with non-Coke calories.