P90X Round 2 Day 26 and 27- Core Synergistics and Yoga

Hello All!

This week has been nuts- so nuts that I've barely had time to breathe. But after this holiday, things will be much easier to manage and daily posts WILL be the norm again.

Anyway, on Thursday I decided to actually do the Yoga instead of Core Syn (I just switched them). This was because I knew we were leaving for the beach on Friday and I would not have 90 minutes to do Yoga. But I did on Thursday. So I made the executive decision!

Daily Workout Summary (Thursday):

Yoga still sucks. I don't care what Jeff and some of the others say, I don't think I'll ever "grow to like it". The workout is just too long. I have a short attention span and need to have variety to keep me interested. The first 45 minutes of Yoga are all a variation on the same thing. So it gets old really quickly. However, the last half is much better. When you get into the balance poses, it becomes both challenging and exciting as you move from pose to pose- even getting some ab work in with the Yoga Belly X. Much better for someone like me.

I felt like the workout was good. I'm making gains in my flexibility and overall core strength. I still struggle with the Crane, but every time is an improvement!

Daily Workout Summary (Friday):

I freakin' LOVE Core Synergistics. Seriously- I love it. I could do it every day. It works your entire body- there's nothing spared. Arms, Legs, Shoulders, Back, Abs/Core- it's all there. And it sneeks up and kicks your ass just when you think it's not too bad.

I used my NOXplode and tried to really bring it today. Just because it's a recovery week, doesn't mean you can't work your ass off. So I got hopped up on my pre-workout drink and pushed myself. I did more push ups on all of the push up type of moves then I did earlier in the week. And I had an extreme sweat going today- good times.

One of the keys to this workout is making an effort to really engage your core on every move. For some of the moves, this is easy. But for others, you really need to concentrate on it and keeping your form. The easiest way to do this is to..... remember to breathe! I know Tony talks about this all the time, but it's really true. If you don't keep your breathing regular, you don't fully engage your core and your posture and form suffer. So for those of you who are newer to the workouts, please KEEP BREATHING!!! : )

Post Workout Rambling:

Just as an FYI, I'm going to be at the beach this weekend celebrating Easter with my wife's family and our kids. Since I'm at the beach, instead of resting, I plan to go for a nice jog along the beach. Maybe I'll see some dolphins or whales or big fish while I'm running. Anyway, if I don't post again until Monday, I hope everyone has a Happy Easter (or Happy Passover for all the folks out there who may be Jewish)!

P90X Round 2 Day 23 and 24- Core Synergistics and Kenpo

Work has been crazy this week. So my plan to post more regularly got fouled up yesterday. I got my Core Synergistics wokout in, but didn't get a chance tyo post. I had a late soccer game. So as soon as I finished work, workinging out, and getting a quick bite to eat, I was heading out the dorr to my game. I'm actually playing soccer 5 nights a week on top of the P90X- so I'm keeping busy. To be fair, even though I'm not quite 30 days in, the only reason I can play so many nights is because of the fitness base I got from my first time through P90X as well as the few weeks I've been on it again. Before P90X, there was NO way my body could have handled that much. But now the lighter, fitter me is going balls to the wall and loving it!

Anyway, Kenpo today was fine- nothing special to it. I worked it hard and got a nice sweat. But yesterday's Core Synergistics was something else! I really forgot that Core Syn is a TOUGH workout and I also forgot how much I liked it.

The toughest move of the day for me (outside of the stupid Drea Rolls- which I struggle with and hate) was the prison cell push ups. For those of you who are new to the "X" and haven't done core Syn yet, the prison cell push ups are TOUGH. You start at a standing position, drop down and do a push up. Then you bring one knee in, do a push up, bring the other in, do a push up, then jump back to your feet. Now, REPEAT for about a minute. It's an absolute killer. I was sweating like a pig and when I was done, I was doubled over with my hands on my knees gasping for air. The funny thing was that I started off well. I did like 3 times through really fast and thought, "thisisn't so bad". Then I hit the wall. It felt like someone threw a piano on my back. I struggled the rest of the way.

Anyway, tomorrow is a stretch x or rest day. I'm probably going to go for a run if it's nice. Plus I have a soccer game tomorrow night (shocker, right?). Talk to you soon guys and girls!

P90X Round 2 Day 22- Cardio X (plus catching up!)

Hello all! Sorry I've been absent from the blog for the past few days. Things have been crazy. There's been a lot of stuff going on at work plus at home. The good news is I've been keeping up with my workouts. the bad news is I haven't been able to find a few extra minutes to update my blog.

Anyway, things have settled down here a bit so I wanted try and post just to stay in the loop. Today was the first day of my recovery week. Due to some time issues today I only had time to fit in Cardio x instead of the scheduled Yoga. But, with this beignthe recovery week, I'll see Yoga again later on this week. So this way it won't be boring (at least AS boring!).

Overall things haven't been too bad. I've dropped about 4-5 pounds the first 22 days- and that's without being as strict as I'd like to be with the diet. I started this round of P90X at about 204 pounds. I'm down to about 199-200, depending on the morning. The last time my most significant weight loss came during the middle phase, so I'm hopeful I'll continue to drop a few pounds. I plan to go really low carb for a while after this recovery week as well, so that will help me drop some weight as well.

Also, I've been using the WorkOutSoft sftware to track my workouts. It's pretty cool stuff. I hope to post some screen shtos or something in the next few days and will give soem inital thoughts on it as well.

Anyway, this is just a quick post. I should be back to more normal posting routines come tomorrow. Take care!

P90X Round 2 Day 15: Intervals (not Plyo)

Daily Workout Summary:

Due to tim constraints I opted to go with Intervals (from P90X+) today instead of Plyometrics. It saves me an extra 20-30 minutes. But it is no way easier- in fact I still think it's the hardest single workout Tony has put together in either of the P90X series.

During the video, Tony talks about studies that have shown that interval training is 2-3 times more effective in regards to cardio training then anything else. From personal experience, I can attest to that- and not just with this workout. Back in college, we used interval trainng in the pre-season for my lacrosse team to get in shape for the season. It was a different type of training then this. It mostly invovled track workouts (running different distances within set time limits- mixing short sprints and longer distances). But they were always killer.

This workout is just balls to the wall for 38-42 minutes (with warm up and cool down). You do 12 exercises at three different intensity levels, take a water break, and then do those 12 again in reverse order. It literally leaves me gasping for air and shaking all over. Of all the workouts, this is still the one I have trouble getting through no matter my fitness level. It really is that tough.

I prepared with my NOXplode and did the best I could. My bad knee decided to act up today, so some of the moves were a bit painful and I had to modify a few. but overall I brought it with a pretty good intensity level and felt like I got in a pretty good workout!

Diet:

I had a solid diet day today. Breakfast was a protein shake. Snack was a protein bar. Lunch was a large Galdiator Protein Shake (banana strawberry!). Snack was some turkey jerky. Dinner was fun. It was very spring like tonight so I fired up the grill. I cooked some hot dogs (for the kids and wife). I also made some turkey hot dogs and some turkey italian sausagues. I had one of the turkey dogs on a whole wheat bun with some mustard and I had one of the sausages. Plus a salad. I have to admit, the turkey dogs were pretty bland (especially as I could SMELL the hot dogs!). But the sausgae was excellent!

Favorite Move of the Day:

Tires

This is a take off of some of the moves from plyo and cardio x. The first 20 seconds are some easy tires standing in place (think slow high knees). The second 20 seconds were a very fast high knee/run in place like you were running in place with your feet in some truck tires. the last 20 seconds are the "wacky jacks" from cardio x as fast as you can go. This move killed me today for some reason. I could really feel my obliques being hammered on by the wacky jacks. Good times!

Soundtrack of the Day:

Mama Said Knock You Out- LL Cool J.

Another classic- probably my favorite LL song. This song just makes you want to go kick someones ass! It's a must-listen for me when I workout and it keeps me pumped. This came on halfway through Intervals, and really heped re-energize me and keep me going.

P90X Round 2 Day 15: Chest and Back

Daily Workout Summary:

Today was the last time with Chest and back until week 9. For some reason, I have been CRUSHING this workout. Maybe it was the rest day yesterday. Or maybe it was the three scoops (as opposed to my normal 2) of NOXplode. Either way, I was rocking it again.

I added 20 more total pushups in the day to bring the grand total up to 218 (versus 158 from week 1!). But I just felt more pumped, stronger, and felt like I was recovering more quickly. I think all the supplements I'm taking are really helping and I know I'm starting to feel great again.

Did well on Ab Ripper X also. Very few breaks and again all reps on all moves. I'm thinking I may start to add in some abs Core Plus from P90X+ on some days to push the abs even more!

Diet:

Decent diet day. Breakfast was a banana and a wheat english muffin with peanut butter. Snack was a protein bar. Lunch was a small salad, some chicken salad, and a small bowl of fruit salad. Sanack was some turkey jerky. Dinner was some grilled chicken topped with a little crab meat and some fat-free cheese.

Favorite Move of the Day:

Standard Push-Ups.

Nothing exciting or sexy about this move. Just some good old-fashioned push ups. ButI felt like I had a ton of energy and rocked out a personal best without completely killing myself for the rest of the workout.

Soundtrack of the Day:

Slam- by Onyx.

This is a little old-school but it's got a great beat and gets your head bobbing while you rock out on the pull up bar or on the push-up handles! Just really got my grooving today!

P90X Round 2 Days 12, 13, and 14- Legs and Back, Cardio, and Rest

Hello all. I've had a few crazy days and the ability to sit down and blog about my workouts was pretty limited. Now that all my commitments, etc are over for the last few days, I have a few minutes to get caught up. So, here's a quick update.

Friday was Legs and Back forme. I have always liked this workout. AsI mentioned many timesbefore, I was a soccer player and my legs have always been my strongestmuscle group. However, this week I decided to take it easy for the workout. I was committed to play in a soccer tournament on Saturday and didn't want to be too sore for the day long event. Got through the workout using body weight resistance only (no weights added). It was still a tough workout and was feeling it after! I also got through Ab Ripper with no fuss, taking less breaks and doing all reps. Progress is being made...

Saturday was supposed to be my Kenpo day. However, I never did it. That's because I spent all day playing in an indoor soccer tournament. I actually played on two different teams. One was in the Men's Open tournament (ages 18-whatever) and the other team was in the O-30 tournament. all teams are guaranteed 3 games and then more if you make the playoffs. both of my teams made the playoffs, so I was there for a while. We both ended up getting knocked out in the first round, but it still meant I played 8 games. By the end of the day I was wiped out. I figured I burned plenty of calories so I'm counting that as my workout!

Sunday was a much neeed rest day. Again, at some point I'm going to skip a rest day to have my weeks start on a Sunday, but not this week. I was so sore, bruised, and banged up, I needed today to recover. Spent thday up in Pennsylvania visiting my sister and her husband and then a quick stop over at my parents' house to let them give my kids their Easter baskets. So, I just got home a little bit ago and am finally able to post. I'm looing forward to feeling a little less sore tomorrow and "brining it" for chest and shoulders!!!

P90X Round 2 Day 11: Yoga (and a little more Shoulders and Arms)

Daily Workout Summary:

Because ofsome unforseen interruptions yesterday, I didn't complete the Shoulders and arms workout yesterday. I did some of it and then work isses arose and I had to bail and never finished. So today I doubled up. I re-did the entire shoulders and Arms workout in the early morning and then did Yoga after work.

I felt strong during the Shoulders and Arms workout. I was able to up some reps and some weight on a few exercises. I also completed all reps on all moves of Ab ripper with the least amount of breaks thus far this round of the "X".

Now, if any of you have read some of my older posts from my first time through the program, you would know that I hate YogaX. and really, nothing has changed. But I did the entire 92 minute workout today and survived. I still hate it, and am not sure I'll ever love it. But one thing that made it bearable today was listening to my own music. At least during some of the painful and/or boring parts I was able to listen to some music and forget about how much I hated what I was doing for a second. It really helped!

Diet:

I rebounded from yesterday with a better diet today. Breakfast was a proetein shake. Snack was a protein bar. Lunch was a small salad. Snack was a string cheese. Dinner was some grilled chicken and some salad.

Favorite Move of the Day:

Tree

I like the balance moves in the Yoga workout much more then the Warrior stuff. The warrior stuff is too repetitive and is just plain boring. The balance poses are different poses that work on both your balance and your core. Out of all of those, my favorite is Tree. Youbalance on one leg with the other leg folded inward and your ands up in the air. I can actually do this pretty well, so that' s pretty much why I like the move the best!

Soundtrack for the Day:

Jaco's Ladder- Huey Lewis & the News

I am a sucker for '80s music and one of my favorite bands from then was HLATN. This song hapened to shuffle on while I was working out and it kind of summed up how i feel about this P90X journey. I'm climbing and climbing and all I want is to get it better then today. And I do it step by step. Makes sense to me. And in that "spiritual" moment of clarity while doing Yoga, this song really seemed to hit home!