P90X: Week 11

alright, 3 weeks left, the end is in sight!

unfortunately, i've developed some pain in my left knee. it hurts when i bend it about 30 deg, but then if i bend/squat further, its fine, and can come back up pretty pain free. its kinda odd. but i'm pretty bummed out, because i'm going to need to modify these last 3 weeks. i'm supposed to Plyo tonight, which most likely isnt going to happen. i have an appt with a doctor of physical medicine and rehab on Aug 14th (the earliest date he had!!). i should be just about done by then, i hope it holds up. for the time being, i'm doing a regular routine of stretching, taking MoveFree (Glucosamine, Chondroitin and MSM supplement) and icing. hopefully this will carry me through.

on a more positive note, i did Shoulder & Arms (for the last time!!!) last night, at the gym. and man oh man, what an improvement! i was doing more weight, and was able to last through each workout and keep up with the reps. i was amazed. especially my biceps, which i feel are one of the hardest parts of my body to develop. i had energy throughout the routine, and i didnt feel tired or wasted at all. it was great. and can i just say, i really liked what i saw in the mirror while working out, all pumped up and stuff....haha. and i even did some cardio (interval training) afterwards, for 15min. solid, solid day yesterday.

i'm wondering if i can do the remaining resistance days at the gym....

P90X: Phase III

Phase III, (week 9, day 57) started for me last night, revisiting Chest & Back, and Ab Ripper X. I can confidently say I completely "crushed" this workout last night! ok, maybe not, but let me just say how much i've improved since the last time I did this exercise, which was back in week 3. 2 significant improvements- 1) i did ALL the push ups, NOT on my knees. compared to phase I, where i did the majority of the workout ON my knees.
2) I was able to do the Dive Bomber push-ups, BOTH rounds. In phase I, i was barely able to do 1, in the FIRST round...

Still struggling to do pull ups tho (probably due to my weight...), and can still only achieve 1 unassisted. the rest were chair assisted, but i do have the chair further away and am making a conscious effort to not step on the chair TOO much. Diamond push-ups are still a struggle as well, so i do have my hands a little further apart.

Still hovering around 221-223 pounds (depending on the day and what i ate the night before), and fat percentage is in the 23-25% range (again, previous night's dinner dependent).
I'm satified with those numbers so far, remember, i started at 230.8 @ 27.5% fat. i have not followed the prescribed meal plan, but have been trying to limit my carb intake and eat every 3-4 hours, and not eat as much.

Oh, and i've also decided i'll replace Kenpo with Core Synergistics, since i am not a huge fan of Kenpo X.

P90X Update

Well, it feels like its been a long while since i've updated. maybe because it has. but Phase II has taken a little longer than scheduled due to my schedule. so what i did in week 7, was i strayed a bit from the routine and doubled up on the strength portion. so it went something like this:

Chest, Shoulders Tri's; Ab ripper X
Back & Biceps
Yoga
rest
Chest, Shoulders Tri's
Back & Biceps
rest

I can do a ton more push-ups than i could when i started. and i'm accomplishing more reps in the bicep exercises, meaning i can probably start upping the weight. Ab ripper X is still a pain in the, err...hip flexor? haha....but again, it is still slowly progressing.

Going to take another rest day tonight (due to schedule) and then start on week 8, which is the Phase II recovery week. Yoga kicks things off tomorrow.

I weighed in at a feathery 221.8 lbs this morning, making it 9 pounds in a little more than 7 weeks. definition in the arms is definitely coming through, and my gut is almost completely gone. still a long ways to go, in terms of fat %, but its getting there.

Another day of Yoga X

I did the full 90 min of Yoga X again yesterday, and man, it felt great. i am still AMAZED at how much i sweat during the first half of it. i think i sweat as much as plyo. crazy. but some of the moves are getting easier, partly due to the fact that my belly is getting smaller, so it allows for easier twisting and what not. and the 90 minutes go by pretty quickly now.

Up next: Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X.

One more thing....

How did i forget? i've lost an inch off my waist!! whoo hoo!

P90X Day 31: Back and Biceps, Ab Ripper X

Lets just get this out of the way: I'm weak.

Back, bicep, bicep. Back bicep bicep. thats pretty much how this workout goes. 24 different exercises, 1 set each- almost to failure, ideally. i struggled with this cuz i still can't do a "real" pull up. so they are chair assisted. but even so, my form is suspect. i might go back to the bands for a while. i was down to 10 lbs on the dumbells toward the end for the bicep exercises. and the last one, the strip set curls? forget it!! hah....i was done. workout did not go as well as i would have liked (becuase i'm a weakling). will need to work up the strength and endurance.

i realized what i struggle with most in Ab Ripper X now is not in my abs, but my hip flexors and abductors, which get super sore right from the start. Fifer scissors are the hardest because of that. but overall, still seeing progress!

Up Next: Day 32- Yoga X

P90X Day 29: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps (and Ab Ripper X)

So, after slacking off during recovery week, I am into Phase 2! kicking things off with chest, shoulders and triceps. This was very tricep intensive, and i was very, very fatigued by the end, so much so that i was using 5 and 10 pound weights. it was a good workout tho, got everything going. i felt like such a wussy cuz i couldnt keep up with the "kids". trying not to let that get to me. push ups are still a bit of a struggle, but i can DEFINITELY do more than i could 2 weeks ago. the craziest move was the ONE ARMED pushups. i saw that and was like, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME??" so i did normal pushups while they all went nuts on the video doing one armed ones.

and of course, this was all followed up by Ab Ripper X. i can get through more of it, little by little. the oblique v-ups definitely. i can do about 15 on each side now. when i first started? ZEROOOOO.

up next: Day 30, Plyometrics.

P90X Day 23: Core Synergistics

first of all, highly unadvised to do P90X during a heat wave. second of all, also as highly unadvised to do P90X after having all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ. with that, onto my summary.

Core Synergistics is just that, working the core, and working it all at once. given my above preface, i was unable to finish the entire video. stopped with a little more than 20 min remaining (a 55 min workout, after warm-up). it has some pretty intense holds and moves. includes some push ups and lunges, etc. this one pretty much wraps everything together into one. it really does get your core (everything between your chest and knees) fired up. i was sad i couldnt do the rest of the video, as there were some pretty challenging moves (which looked like a lot of fun, and which i probably could have done, given more favorable conditions). you'll sweat a ton from it, at least i did. and i love working the core.

i think its pretty deceiving that this is done during the "recovery week". there is nothing "recovery" about Core Synergistics. BRING IT.

Week 4: Phase 1 Recovery Week

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, i have completed Phase 1 (well, the bulk of phase 1 at least)! so far, i've dropped about 4 pounds, a % of fat or 2 and i'm feeling good. here are some notes:

-Kenpo X: yea, i tried it, and yea, corny as heck. Plyo is gonna replace this from now on.
-i'm slowly able to keep up better in Ab Ripper X. i can now do the "mason twists" for 10 second spurts. remember i couldnt even do it AT ALL in the beginning. i anticipate this progression to continue, but in NO WAY do i feel this will be "easy" by the end.
-i need some SEEEEERIOUS chest work. i think i might throw some bench presses in during this recovery week.
-i've started to do Yoga X in 2 parts (since the video itself has 2 parts).
-i'm starting to see some tone in my arms (i can start wearing sleeveless t's again....), and my stomach is DEF. smaller. its flatter in the upper portion, tho the inner tube around the lower abs and obliques is still there.

So, week 4 will consist of: Core Synergistics, Stretching, Yoga and some Kempo (plyo for me). Then its the start of Phase 2 and all new workouts.

Week 2 (and 3 also)

I'm into week 2!! only 12 more to go....weeks 2 & 3 are the same as week 1. So, i'll check back at week 4.