P90X Round 2 Day 3: Shoulders and Arms

Daily Workout Summary:

Today was the shoulders and arms workout for me. I love this workout. I like trying to burn out my shoulders and biceps. I keep hoping one day they'll be nice and big!

I brought it pretty well today. I felt like I had a lot of energy (in part o the NOXplode and the Volumaize). I was busting through the moves and equaled and/or exceeded what I was doing before I got sick. I think I can see the benefits of the nitrix, CellMass, NOXplode, and Volumaize already. I was getting great "pumps" in my workout and felt like I was recovering very quickly. Overall I think it was a great workout and I love being back on the "X"!

Ab Ripper X was a different story. The good news is I did full reps on all the moves. the bad news is I had to hit pause a few times and let my screaming abs recover. It seems like of all the gains I "lost" while on my various breaks, the one I lost the most was with my abs. It will be a while until they feel tight and strong again. But I know it will come if I stick to the program!

Diet:

Solid diet day. Protein shake for breakfast (no milk). Turkey jerkey for snack. Lunch was some of the leftover turkey and corn/peas from dinner last night. Snack was a protein bar. Dinner was a grilled chicken salad with fat free ranch.

Favorite Move of the Day:

Deep Swimmers Presses

This move is a lot tougher then you realize when you see Tony do it. It is especially difficult if you don't bring the dumbbells all the way down and instead turn it into a sort of concentration move as well. But when you do this move you really feel the burn in your shoulders right away. And the twisting motion really helps bring that extra deep burn. I love this move!

P90x Round 2 Day 2: Plyometrics

Daily Workout Summary:

Today was the dreaded Plyometrics workout. This is always a butt-kicker. And while still recovering and with a 2 week lay off, it worked me over pretty good. As I sit here, a few hours later, I can feel myself getting sore already- never a good sign.

I worked out later n the day then I like. This actually forced me to eat dinner later, etc. I was just so busy with work that I did the best I could. I used the NOXplode again today- though I backed off on the number of scoops. Went with 2 today instead of 3. 3 caused me to have some issues falling asleep last night. But I still felt energized during the workout and was able to "bring it" as much as possible.

Diet:

Diet went pretty well today. Breakfast was a protein bar and an EAS Carb Control protein shake. Snack was a few pieces of turkey jerkey. Lunch was two veggie burgers topped with mustard. Snack was some pine nuts. Dinner was a turkey tenderlon and some corn and peas.

Favorite Move of the Day:

Lateral Leapfrog Squats

I love this move. It isn't all the challenging, but it's fun. To make it harder you really need to sit down deep into the squat while keeping your back straight. When i do this move it brings back my college lacrosse days when we used to have to practice moving our feet while playing defense and having to shuffle back and forth between cones. Fun times!

P90X Round 2 Day 1: Chest and Back

Daily Workout Summary:

Today I "rebooted" on P90X. So, I am back on Day 1 which is Chest and Back. Oh how I've missed it!

I am definately feeling the effects of the illness and the layoff. I am still a bit run down and had trouble breathing on some of the Ab Ripper, but I pushed through. I actually managed to do a lot of the same number of reps as when I left off of P90X 2 weeks ago, so I'm hopeful I didn't lose too much.

This time through I'm also adding quite a bit if supplements to my workout. I've started taking Nitrix, NOXplode, Volumizer, and CellMass. I've used other pre-workout stuff before, with mixed results. Today was my first day on NOXplode. and boy does it rock! At the 30 minute mark I could feel my blood pumping and my energy level jumped! It really helped compesate for the effects of the walking pneumonia I'm still recovering from.

Diet:

Not a good start to the diet today. I'm a medical sales rep and am often in cases in the operating room. today, I had a bunch of cases at two different hospitals. My early morning cases ran late which made me late for my afternoon cases. So what happened was I had a whole wheat english muffin for breakfast at 7am and didn't get a chance to eat again until after 4pm. On the day, I really didn't hit my caloric target and my carbs and proteins were all out of whack. It sucks because I can't exactly take food into the OR, so I had no way of eating. I'll try and get on track tomorrow.

Favorite Move of The Day:

Decline Push Ups

I actually HATE this move. It makes my arms and chest burn like hell. But I guess that's a good thing. I try and leave the tops of my feet on the chair instead of just the toes. They said that makes it harder. I'm usually burning badly by rep 6, so I have to try and breathe and just battle through these. For whatever reason, these have always been one of the worst push ups for me.

P90X Reboot

Hello all! As you read in previous posts, I recently came down with a case of walking pneumonia. Because of this, I basically missed 2 weeks of workouts.

The good news is, I'm feeling a lot better and am ready to start up again. The bad news is, I missed 2 weeks! I debated long and hard about what to do. Should I just pick up where I stopped? Should I pick up where I would be in the program if I hadn't stopped? Or should i start over?

I went to Houston to visit Jeff (Dangle The Carrot) this past weekend. We talked about it and I have decided to start over. The theory behind the muscle confusion is based upon working your muscles for s et period of time in a certain way and then changing things up. I had basically stopped for 2 weeks, so the element of confusion would be lost. So, as of today, I'm back to day 1.

Still Sick...

Still sick guys. Sorry I haven't been posting. I found out today I have walking pneumonia. The doc gave me some strong antibiotics. I should start feeling better this weekend. It's hard to workout when you have no energy and can't breathe! Let alone the strong coughs!

I'm going crazy not being able to workout like I want to. I was just starting to get my groove back with P90X. I can't wait to start feeling better so I can start "bringing it" again!

Sick....

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. In my post on Monday I referenced feeling like I was coming down with something. That would be an understatment! I've been hit hard by a nasty bug. I've tried working out but have little energy right now to get through it. Today (Thusday) I'm feeling a little better and I plan on trying to do something either later today or tomorrow. I'm dropping weight badly right now as I really haven't been eating. Fever, jont aches, coughing, sneezing, runny nose...good times!

P90X Round 2 Day 15: Chest and Back

Daily Workout Summary: Well, after a long day Sunday playing a lot of indoor soccer, I decided to take the rest of that day off. I was just too exhausted and beat up to try and fit in a P90X workout. So, today (Monday) I did my Chest and back workout. I had considered doubling up today (doing the C & B in the morning and Plyo at night), but I am too tired. This is because of two things: 1) I'm starting to get sick (sapping me of my energy) and 2) we got hit with a bunch of snow and I had to do a lot of snowblowing and shoveling today.

I did the chest and back workout early, which made running the snowblower and shovel a lot of fun later on. In retrospect, it was probably good though. Because after clearing my driveway and sidewalk (twice each), I would not have been able to bring it with good intensity.

I did pretty well today. I am matching or exceeding reps on all moves. One issue I'm faced with is the lawnmowers and heavy pants moves. I used bands for pretty much all of round 1. this round, I'm usin dumbbells. My wife got me an adjustable set that goes from 5-25lbs. This works for most everything I've been doing, but with moves like these two, I just don' have enough weight. The last two weeks, I've done at least 20 reps on heavy pants each round at 25lbs, and I'm not getting any burn. If I keep going until I burn out, I end up having to pause the DVD for a while. So, I may have to keep an eye on sales at Dick's to see if I can go get some heavierweights at some point.

Ab Ripper was a bit of a bear today. I got through it, but with the soreness of all my games yesterday, it was a challenge. I knew I was in trouble with the Pfifer Scissors when I was burning in my abs at rep 6! i got through them without stopping, but I was STRUGGLING! It hurt so good! But next time I'd prefer to make it until rep 15 or 20 to feel like that!

Diet: Solid diet day. breakfast was a protein shake. snack was a protein bar. Lunch was some grilled chicken and some carrots. Snack was an EAS CarbControl protein shake. dinner was some chicken and a small salad.

Favorite Move of The Day: Pfifer Scissors. I figured since I struggled with these today, I'd talk a little about them. From everything I've heard, this is probably the move that most people struggle with. I have good days and bad days with it. to be honest, it was the bane of my existence during round 1. However, around week 5 or 6, I realized that the key to getting through it is to breathe! I don't mean just breathe inand out. I mean to inhale as you switch legs, and exhale as you hold. If you slowly exhale and concetrate on your breath and abs, you gain more control of your core and the pain associated with the move. Whenever I struggle, I just remember to breathe and focus on the breathe- not the pain. It usually helps me get through it.