Day 85- Cardio X

Happy Sunday! I decided to do Cardi oX today. Just too much going on.

Got a nice sweat going. I really like the variety in this workout. It keeps things interesting. I love the core work in this one as well. The steam engine move kicks my ass every time. This is a move where you put your hands together behind your head. Then you bring your knee up to your chest and bring the opposite elbow down to your knee. If they touch- even better! You do one side, then the other and repeat for 50 reps, getting faster as it goes. WOW! It's a killer.

Anyway, I believe tomorrow is the Core Synergistics workout. I like it, even though it is tough. So, I'm looking forward to it.

See you tomorrow. Go Steelers!

Day 84- Rest Day

Today is a scheduled rest day for the program. I tried my best over the past few days, but I didn't exactly keep to the diet as strictly as I would have liked.

So, instead of resting today, I decided to go for a run. I ran for a little over two miles today. It was pretty cold out, but I bundled up and took the iPod and did my best.Got a great sweat going and burned some calories. I didn't push it too hard, but wanted to try and work off some of the extra calories I took in.

Anyway, I feel pretty good right now. i weighed myseld and am still coming in at 198.5 lbs- up 0.5 lbs over the two days. So, I feel like I got through the holiday pretty much ok. I'm still on track heading down the home stretch.

Tomorrow begins the last recovery week/last week of P90X!

Day 83- Kenpo X

Friday was Kenpo X. I was excited to get down in the basement and wrk off some of the thanksgiving meal.

I sweated my butt off! I really tried to go through everything with as much intensity as I could. We are actually having two Thanksgiving meals- one on Thanksgiving, one on Friday with my family. So I was trying to minimize the damage as much as possible.

Overall , I felt like I accomplished my goals. I was sore from Legs and Back the day before, but pushed through it. My inner goin/thigh area was really sore, so the side kiks were tougher then normal.

I tried a lot of extreme variations during the workout. On the three directions kicks, and the knee/back kick moves, I never let my foot hit the ground. It made it a lot tougher.

See you later!

Day 82- Legs and Back

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was my last dance with the legs and back routine for this 90 day program. I'm not sad to see it go. It's a tough workout. But mostly, after 90 days I'm bored with it.

If I had to be crtical of P90X (and it's hard to be), one of my biggest complaints would be the lack of a second legs workout for variation. For all the other weight moving workouts, there are two different workouts and they are alternated depending on what week orphase of the program you are in. However, for all 13 weeks, you do the same legs and back workout. So, a little more variety on this one would be nice.

I had a great workout this morning. I'm wearing a sleeve on each knee now and it seems to have helped with my knee weakness during my workouts. I really felt the calf raaises today. I tried to "peak" each one hard to really make my calves explode. Boy did they burn after!

Today was also the last round of Ab Ripper X. To date, this was the best I've ever done. I added extra stuff to the first three moves, plus raised my arms. I got through all the other moves. And then came the Mason Twists. I usually can only do the 40. I've never been able to mkae it into the bonus ones. Today I did 10 extra at the end! I tjpught I was going to puke! It was great.

I feel good right now. Still tipping the scales at 198 lbs. I plan to go shower up and then get ready for the in-laws to invade the house as well tear into some turkey and watch football. One plate for me today and that's it! And no pie! It's going to be tough.

To anyone who is reading this, I hope you and yours have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 81- Cardio X

Today I decided to do the Cardio X routine instead of Yoga. Again, with all the crab we needed to do to get ready for Thanksgiving, plus working today, I just didn't have 90+ minutes to devote to Yoga.

I really like the Cardio X workout better anyway. You still get the meat of the Warrior poses from Yoga. Plus you mix in Kenpo, Plyos, and Core Synergistics. What's not to love?

I really pushed it hard today- not stopping for any water, etc. I wanted to burn as many calories as possible because the next two days we have Thanksgiving dinners to eat. I want to try and soften the blow as much as possible!

I was the lightest I've been yet today. I dopped another half pound to go to 198 lbs even. That's 15 lbs lost on P90X. I need to keep it going though. I'm sure to pack on a few pounds after the two day eat-a-thon!

I'm going to get up and knock out my last go-round with legs and back tomorrow before the eating and football watching begin.

Take care!

Day 80- Back and Biceps

80 days down, 10 to go!

Today's workout was the "glory" muscles- back and biceps. I like this workout better then the other bicep workout. It has a lot of curls and variations. I really get a nice burn. I'm not so excited by all the pull up variations in this one though. Those corn cob pull ups are impossible for me without a chair. I tried today without and could only get one!

Another session of Ab Ripper went by. Which means I have only one session of Ab Ripper left in the program. There are no ab ripper days during the recovery week. This is sad as I have grown to love and respect the power of Ab Ripper X. I am sure I will continue to use it regularly. I have come too far with getting my stomach flatter to let it go away.

Gotta run- I have a soccer game in a little while. See you tomorrow for Yoga (or Cardio).

Day 79- Plyometrics

Today was the last tango with the beast- Plyometrics.

I can't believe it's been almost 80 days. I meant to get this post up last night. But after pushing it hard in Plyos I ate dinner and fell asleep on my couch (I was exhausted).

Plyo kicked my butt Monday. It was tougher as I tried every advanced or extreme variation of every move. I was jumping and squatting all over my basement. Domininc had nothing on me( he's the leap-frog like guy on the video).

Did well on the diet. Stayed in range calorie wise and had a decent balance. Weight is still holding steady at 198.5lbs.

See you later!

Day 78- Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps

Today was the chest, shoulders, and triceps workout. Of all of the muscle-building workouts, I think this is my favorite. Most of the workout is variations of pushups, but they are cool and unique. I really feel like my chest muscles and triceps are going to explode when I am finished.

I think one of the best moves in this workout is the fly push ups. For this move, you use a plastic plate under one of your hads. As you go down for the push up, you slide the plate out to the side, putting a fly move into the push up. It is intense. You switch the hand with the plate after every 4 reps. I also enjoy the clap or plyo push ups a lot too. They really kick your ass.

I did fine on the ab ripper again. I added extra in and outs, bicycles, and crunchy frogs to the beginning. I really got a great burn going in my abs. My form and stamina during this workout have come so far over the last few months. It really is amazing.

I did ok on the diet after some slight slip ups at the wedding yesterday. Protein shake for breakfast along with some fresh fruit (I combined the breakfast and morning snack since I slept in!). Lunch was some grilled chicken on a low carb wheat tortilla. Snack was a banana. Dinner was some grilled chicken and a small red potato. Overall, I was within my calorie range and felt great all day.

Catch you on the flip side for the plyometric workout!

Day 77- Rest Day

Saturday was a rest day. I went to Philly for my cousin's wedding and had a blast.

Day 76- Kenpo X

Feeling much better today. I blasted myself with chicken noodle soup, orange juice, vitamins and rest and I think I got control of my cold.

So, today was Kenpo X. I love it! I get so excited to do this workout in particular. It feels great to let off some steam at the end of a stressful week by throwing punches and kicks. My favorite move is the jab-cross-hook-uppercut move. The music in the video helps with this. You can stay in beat with the drum part and match the tempo of your punches to the beat. It's fun.

I find that if I really concentrate on throwing each punch or kick as hard as I can (yet in a controlled manner) I really feel the burn. By the end of this workout I'm usually drenched in sweat. Also today I took no breaks. During every break on the video, Tony tells you to get some water and towel off, but he never does. He stays running in place then into jumping rope, then into jacks, ten into the Xs. So I matched him today- ass kicker! But fun.

After the kenpo was finished I made up my ab ripper from yesterday. I added in some extra in and outs and bicycles for fun. I was feeling good!

Tomorrow is a rest day and I am off to Philadelphia for my cousin's wedding. I'm packingmy protein bars and hoping I can eat healthy at the reception. Take care!

Day 75- Legs and Back

Thursday's workout was Legs and Back. About halfway through the routine I realized I was sick. Not sick because I was pushing too hard, but actually SICK. My head was pounding and snot was running down my face uncontrollably.

I did my best to fight through the workout. I'm not going to lie- I didn't finish some of the moves. And I didn't do Ab Ripper after. I was too tired/sick.

After finishing what I could, I went to bed.

My plan is to add Ab Ripper X after Kenpo on Friday.

Day 74- Cardio X

I opted for Cardio X. I'm super busy and it was a challenge just to fit this in!

I felt great doing the Yoga at the beginning. This probably would have been a good day for me to do Yoga considering how I felt. But I didn't have 90 minutes to kill!

The Kenpo stuff was fun as always. These 5 are some of my favorites. I really love the jab-cross-hook-uppercut move. I always get really into it.

The plyo stuff was fine. I don't like the wacky jacks- I have trouble with my coordintion on them.

The core stuff was fun as usual. I think these are some of the toughest moves in the entire P90X program. The Drea Roll is just a total bear. I did well on it today- even adding some air to the jumps at the end.

See you tomorrow for Legs and Back!

Day 73- Shoulders and Arms

Tuesday was the shoulders and arms workout. I actually posted a nice blog yesterday, however, some sort of error on the Blogger site wiped it out and I was too tired to stay up an re-write it.

Needless to say I had a good workout. Upping or matching reps/weights. Got a great burn on Ab Ripper too.

Still haven't firmed up plans for my Post P90X program. I had considered doing P90X+ but I have a vacation (award trip for work called President's Club) the last week of January, and I know I am not going to want to work out while on it. I will probably do some sort of hybrid of P90X up until I leave. and when I come back from the vacation I'll probably push it with P90X+.

Day 72- Plyometrics

Hello and thanks for reading! Today was the Plyometrics day and it was as good/bad as always. It's good because it is a tough workout that kicks your ass. It's bad because it's a tough workout that kicks your ass!

I had some Nano Vapor pre-workout to get my energy level up. I brought it hard during the workout. I got as deep into the squat moves as I could- pushing anf fighting to get evry inch I could. My knees are both bothering me still and I wore a brace on both for the workout. It helped a little, but I could feel the lack of stability, etc. But I did my best and forgot the rest!

Again, my favorite stuff is the sports-related moves. The lateral leapfrog squats are great because they are really similar to some of the defensive shuffle drills we used to do in college for lacrosse. And the monster truck tire moves are straight out of practice as well. Then throw in the bonus moves at the end (the pitch and catch, the jump shot, and the football hero) and you have all sorts of great sport-related moves to keep you going.

See you tomorrow for shoulders and arms.

Day 71- Chest and Back

Today was back to basics with the chest and back workout. This is the very first workout in P90X and it is intense. You go through 12 different exercises, and then you repeat them! The trick is pushing hard in the first go round, but leaving some in the tank for the second round. The first few weeks, this was difficult for me. but I'm stronger and fitter now, and I'm better at finding that fine line.

Just for comaprion, I will compare my total number of push ups and pull ups from week 1 vs week 11 (current week).

Week 1 Total Push Ups Completed: 94
Week 11 Total Push Ups Completed: 195

Week 1 Total Pull Ups Completed: 43
Week 11 Total Pull Ups Completed: 84

As you can see, I'm doing a lot more now in both!

also, on the good news front is that I'm down another pound. My current weight is 198.5 lbs! That's down from 213 lbs on Day 1. And I've done it all averging 2,700-3,000 calories per day.

I was soild on the Ab Ripper tonight as well. I did the first three moves (in and outs, bicycles, and reverse bicuycels) all with my hands raised and I was able to still do the corssed leg sit ups again. Plus I'm making it through all moves with complete reps. This is a drastic improvement over week 1 when I did Ab Ripper for the first time. For anyone interested, go back and read my first day experience with Ab Ripper and you will see how far I've come.

See you tomorrow for Plyometrics!

Day 70- Rest Day

Today is a res day on the schedule and I'm taking full advantage. See you tomorrow!

Day 69- Kenpo X

Happy Friday! It's Kenpo X day!

I had one hell of a day. just a long day with work that made today both long and stessful. I got hom tonight close to 8pm after leaving the house at 6:30am. Then the wife wanted my help running errands, etc. I thought about making today my rest day and doing Kenpo tomorrow. But then I just decided to squeeze it in before I hit the sack.

Both my knees are a bit tender. I think I've been pushing it too much during plyos and legs. I may go back to a small brace on both of them during workouts. Regardless, I did my best and forgot the rest.

I had some trouble with the kicks (all of them) tonight due to my knees. I felt like I had a good intensity level, but form was bad due to knee pain. I really pushed it in the block series, elbow series, etc. Got a great sweat going.

For having such a crazy day, I still ate well. Breakfast was a protein shake. Snack was a protein bar. Lunch was a turkey burger and a side salad. Snack was a fruit cup. Dinner was some shrimp salad on wheat bread and some fruit salad.

Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day. My knees are looking forward to it!

Day 68- Legs and Back

Today was the legs and back workout. This was definately not one of my better days. I'm going to chalk this up to just having an "off" or bad day.

I got little sleep last night. My wife had her knee lock up on her in the middle of the night- so I was awoken by some screams of pain. At like 1:30m! Then I had to be up early for work, os I never got my full amount of rest. Add to that a crazy day where I was unable to take in my normal amount of calories, and you have the perfect recipe for what happened today. I struggled.

Also, my left knee (my normally healthy knee) was acting up today. I think I was feeling the effects of pushing too hard in the Plyos on Monday. It really hurt during a lot of the leg work- making today even more miserable. I pushed through it the best I could- but it wasn't a great workout.

The only saving grace was the Ab Ripper. Even though my main workout had been subpar, I decided to put it behind me and try and rock the ripper. I did really well. I put my hands in the air for the in and outs and both sets o f bicycles. And for the croos leg or wide leg sit ups, I did the cross leg variety for the first time. Tony says this is harder- and it was. I felt a great burn.

See you tomorrow for Kenp- hopefully my knee will cooperate!

Day 67- Cardio X

Due to time constraints today, I opted for the Cardio X workout instead of the full-blown Yoga workout. The Cardio X version has Yoga in it, mostly the Warrior stuff. So, I still got some of the core work from the Yoga, while not losing over an hour and a half of my life today.

As I have stated before, I love the Cardio X video. The workout is short and intense, with no breaks. It combines Yoga, Kenpo, Plyos, and the Core Synergistics workout. It is fun and has a lot of veriety- which helps keep it interesting.

I did really well on the Warrior poses for the Yoga section. In the Kenpo stuff, I pushed every move hard, oftwn going faster then the folks in the video allowing me to put some extra reps in. During the plyo stuff, I got a really nice burn going- especially during the jump shot moves. And in the core stuff, I really pushed in the squat x-press move, getting lots of air on the last 10 reps.

Diet went well today. Protein shake for breakfast. Midmorning snack was a protein bar. Lunch was a turkey sandwich on wheat with lite mayo and dijon mustard. Afternoon snack was a recovery drink. Dinner was two turkey burgers topped wit a little barbeque sauce.

See you tomorrow for Legs and Back!

Day 66- Back & Biceps

Today was the back and biceps workout. I think this workout is ok, but gosh there are a lot of pull ups. Tons, and tons of pull ups. Wide grip, switch grip, towel pull ups, corn cob, max rep... the list goes on.

And then there are just about a million curls- because you ARE working the glory muscles after all. And Tony likes his biceps a lot.

Anyway, I had a pretty good workout. I started using the black bands on some of the curls and lawnmowers today. These are the hardest resistence bands in the set. I really got a great burn going today. I upped all the other moves in terms of reps today too. I think it was the Nano Vapor and the Halo. They are wonderful supplements- except the Halo makes me so sleepy wfter my workout. It takes me a good hour to clear my head.

I did really well on the Ab Ripper today. I even put my hands in the air for the in and outs as well as both sets of bicycles. It was intense. I highly recommend it!

Diet went well today. No major screw ups. I'm sort of in a plateau right now with my weight. I seem to be stable at 199.5 lbs. I think I need to cut back on some calories or carbs or both and keep shredding as I'm not near defined enough yet, and I'm not light enough yet.

See you tomorrow for the dreaded Yoga....

Day 65- Plyometrics

First let me apoligize for the confusion of two posts today. Somehow, my post last ight got saved as a draft and never posted. So I just posted it! Now I'm doing Monday's write up.

Today was the"east" Plyometrics day. I love this workout. We used to do a lot of plyo training in high school and college for soccer, so this is always fun. I did well tonight. I tried to keep up with the one guy on the video named Dominic, who is like a frog. He has crazy hops and is always doing the advanced options for the moves. On the jump knee tucks (Tony calls this the "mother of all the plyo moves"), I was able to do the intesified version both times all the way through. Also, just for the record, on the second round of Rock Star hops, Dominic quits early! CHEATER!

Anyway, I did well today overall. I felt like I got really deep in all the squats and got a lot of air in all my jumps. In fact on the front to back spins, I was able to do the full 360 spin like Dominc was doing. I got a bit dizzy by the end, but it was fun to push it.

Diet went well. It was a challenge as I was in the OR for the entire day (8 am til 6 pm). I had a protein shake in the morning before Ileft. Then I brought two protein bars with me in my bag. I ate one for a mid morning snack. I had a tuna salad on whole wheat sandwich and a side salad with fat free ranch for lunch. I ate the other bar for afternoon sanck. AndI'm having filet for dinner. See you tomorrow!

Day 64- Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps

On Sunday, Day 64, the workout was the Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps workout. Of all the muscle-building workouts, this is probably my favorite.

I worked my ass off in this one. All the push up variations really bust me up. I did really well, upping weight and reps on almost everything. I did really well on the slow mo push ups at the beginning. This is where you go down for 4 counts slowly, then come up for 4 counts slowly. You do 4 wide, 4 regular, then 4 military style. HURTS! But in a good way. I also rocked the slow and fast twitch push ups. This is where you do 4 slow ones like before, followed by 3 fast ones. This one is really hard and my arms start shaking right away. You know you're working!

I did well on the Ab Ripper. My wife (Danielle) tried the ab ripper tonight too. She has always had great abs and almost completed everything on her first try. I hate her! : )

See you Tuesday for Plyo Day!

Day 63- Kenpo X

I swaped the rest day that should have been today for yesterday. I just flat had a crazy day yesterday, os this made things a bit easier.

So, today I rocked the Kenpo. I had a bit if trouble with Kenpo today. Usually, I love this workout. But for some reason, my legs are REALLY sore from Thursday's legs workout. I think it's because I pushed it really hard Thursday. Regardless, it made all the kicks and twists in Kenop challenging.

Also, my knee started acting up near the end when I had to hold the horse stance for a long time during the elbow and block series. I fought through it, but it was tough.

See you tomorrow!

Day 62- Rest Day (not Kenpo)

Today was supposed to be Kenpo day. however, my day got a little crazy and I had to make today the rest day. So I swapped tomorrow for today basically. I will rock out the Kenpo tomorrow.

The diet went well today. I'm still avering between 2,700- 3,000 calories. I may try and back it down a little just to shed more weight in the last 30.

Day 61- Legs and Back

Today was the first day of the home stretch. I have started the last 30 days and am excited to see how far I've come. I hope to keep the remarkable progress going and to look as healthy as possible come day 90.

Special shout out to those of you who regularly read this blog (Jeff, Matt, TCMG, and anyone else I may have missed). You guys have been awesome.

Today was legs and back. I struggled today. I think I'm getting sick or something. Regardless, I did my best. I matched or exceeded reps on every move. I really felt the burn in the one legged squats. It felt like they went on for ever!

Ab Ripper hurt tonight (in a good way). My whole body was shaking at the end of the Fifer Scissors. But I got through everything with full reps.

Diet is going well. No major screw ups. I'm thinking about going back to the phase 1 diet plan to shed more weight. I'll let you know what I decide.

Day 60 Photos

Here are my pics. I tried editing them the best I could. To remind you, when the Day 1 pics were taken, I weighed 213 lbs. At Day 60 I weigh 199.5. I can see my love handles are smaller and I'm tighter overall. I'm fairly pleased with the results so far. But I gotta keep pushing play!

Day 60- Cardio X

Today I opted to do the Cardio X workout instead of the Yoga workout. I just didn't have enough time!

I also popped in the Yoga Belly portion of Yoga X so I could get some ab work in.

Nothing eventful with the workout. Cardio X is great. I feel kinda funny doing the "wacky jacks". It's such an un-natural movement. But I love the Kenpo aspects and the plyo stuff.

I took my Day60 pics and hope to have them up soon.

Day 59- Shoulders and Arms

I decided to not switch today and stay with the schedule. That means I did the shoulders and arms routine. I did really well on it. It was easier then I rememeber- or I'm just stronger and fitter!

Anyway, I did well, improving reps and weight on all moves. Got good burn during Ab Ripper as well.

Heading to a soccer game now. Wish me luck- it's a big game.

Oh, and make sure you vote if you haven't already!

Day 58- Plyometrics

Monday was plyo day. I got back late from Atlantic City and hadn't splet much. Not because I was up gambling and drinking, but because the guy I had to room with snored and talks in his sleep! I got no rest, so I struggled with the plyos.

Nothing major to report about the workout. It was nice to get back into some workouts with more intensity after the recovery week.

Tuesday I have a big soccer game with major playoff implications in my league. Combine that with a busy day and it means I may swap in Cardio X on Tuesday and then do the shoulders workout Wednesday.

Day 57- Chest and Back

Today was back to the week 1 schedule. That means I started with Chest and Back.

I forgot how hard this workout it. The reason it kicks your butt is that you go through the entire workout, and then you repeat it. So if you blow it out the first time through, you are toast in the second round.

I did very well, matching or excedeing all reps. The one I showed the most improvements on was the decline pushups. This is the move where you put your feet up on a chair and then do push ups. Usually I do ok the first time through, but in the socond pass, I have only managed to push out 4 reps. It's a killer. But today I hit 11 reps the secind time through. This shows me I'm getting stronger, fitter, and am able to recover better then a month ago. It was exciting!

This week also marks the return of the Ab Ripper. I seemed to struggle with it today. I still managed to do all reps on every move, but I had to take a few more breaks then normal. That rest week always makes it tough to get back into the ripper.

I'm heading to Atlantic City today for a work meeting. So I did my workout this morning. Tomorrow I won't be working out until the evening, after I get back from my trip.

See you all tomorrow for the beast!

Day 56- Cardio X

I did Cardio X today in place of Yoga. We have a wedding later so I didn't have a lot of time for a workout. Cardio X is shorter, incorporates some Yoga, and gives me a better sweat.

I love this workout so much. A little Kenpo, a little Plyo, a little Core all rolled into a sweet little package.

Broke a nice sweat today and could really feel my heart rate was up in the zone.

Day 55- Rest Day

I switched my rest day this week from Saturday to Friday. I did so because I had a crazy work day followed by getting the kids ready for Halloween, etc. Tomorrow I plan to do Cardio X.