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 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!

P90X Round2 Days 10 and 11: Shoulders and Arms and Yoga X

DailyWorkout Summary: Sorry for the combined posts for these two days. When I tried to post on Tuesday for Shoulders and Arms, the site failed as I pushed "post" and everything I had written vanished! It was late and I was too tired to write it all up, so I figured I'd combine it with my Yoga write up.

So, on day 10, I rocked the shoulders and arms workout. I love this workout. During the first time I did P90x, my shoulders and back were probably the two sets of muscles that went through the most dramamtic change. I've always had sort of broad shoulders for my size, so it's nice to finally get them looking decent.

On day 11, I did Yoga x. It's been a while since I've done the Yoga orkout. Ususally time constrainst force me into cardio (ok, who am I kidding- a lot of it is purely my choice!). But last evening I spent the tiemto go through the full Yoga X. I won't say it made me love it- but I at least will admit I need to do a better job of adding it in moreoften. tony Horton always talks about Yoga being the fountain of youth. Flexibility and core strenght are the key to good health, so Yoga is here to stay!

Diet: No major issues with the diet the last few days. I'm sill on the low carb portion (Phase 1) so I've been trying to limit my carb intake as much as possible. On tuesday, my breakfast was a protein shake followe by a piece of low fat string cheese for snack. Lunch was a two turkey burgers. Snack was a Carbcontrol protein shake. Dinner was a texmex salad with fat free ranch.

On Wednesday my breakfast was a protein shake. Snack was a protein bar. Lunch was a grilled chicken breast and some broccoli. Snack was another CarbControl shake. dinner was two turkey burers and a salad.

Favorite Move of the Day:
For Shoulders and Arms: Lying down tricep extensions. I love this move. It comes at the end of the round when you are flat busted in terms of your energy. But yet as you power the dumbbells up, you feel your triceps explode!

For Yoga X: Tree. I like this balance pose. It's tough but nto so tough you can't do it. I fall out some times (as does Tony), but it's calming and if you concentrate you can feel your core muscles working.

P90X+ Day 12: Yoga

Friday was Yoga Day. I did the best I could. I was feeling completely exhausted from the past 2-3 days. I fit in my workout, gave it what I could, and moved on. Yoga is not my favorite thing to do and I struglle every time with my focus. It just isn't entertaining.

Day 90- Yoga X

Today is Day 90. It was a Yoga day.

I still hate Yoga. But I got through it. I figured I should close it out right. I did fine on all the Warrior poses. Worked my tail off in the balance poses. I held a crane for over 10 seconds today which is my best ever.

Overall, even though I hate Yoga, it has probably made the biggest difference for me in the program in terms of overall health and flexibility. I was the world's least flexible guy before this. I couldn't touch my ankles, let alone my toes. Now I can grab my toes. So I can see the improvement big time!

Since today is the last day, I will be posting my photos soon. I will probably check in sometime soon to give my final measurements, etc as well as discuss my overall review of P90X. Then I'm taking a week off to rest before starting on P90X+ with Jeff and Matt on the 15th of December.

Day 50- Yoga X

Today was another round of the Yoga workout. I made it through- even though it is still too long and too boring.

I actually did pretty well on it. I really pushed myself on the Warrior stuff and worked up a pretty nice sweat.

The balance poses went ok. Had some trouble with Royal Dancer tonight. This is strange because I usually do well with it. But I got a crance for 5 seconds and did great on the plow to trough moves with the splits, etc.

I can tell my flexibility is improving. I can almost touch my toes now on the hamstring stretches (I use a strap to help stretch). When I started, even with the straps I could barely get my ankles. Now I can touch my big toe for seconds at a clip.

The Yoga Belly stuff rocked as usual. It was tougher then usual tonight- maybe because of my soccer game earlier. But regardless, I really struggled. But I did my best and forgot the rest.

See you tomorrow for Core Synergistics!

Day 39- Yoga X

Today was another Yoga day. I still don't like this workout and think it's too long. Maybe if they shortened the Warrior stuff, I would like it more. The Warrior poses take SO LONG!

I did fine though. Held a crane pose in the balance poses for like 5 seconds and fell on my face again. Good times.

Diet went well. No major slip ups! Still taking in a nice balance of carbs and protein with as little fat as possible and keeping it between 2,700-3,000 calories.

Day 32- Yoga X

Today was the dreaded Yoga day. It's not that it's hard (well, it is really hard), it's that it's too long and very boring. That being said, I'm seeing improvements.

One pose I love is Frog. I really feel a great stretch.

I did great on the warrior stuff today. I even did push ups on almost every Vinyassa. I felt stronger during that part.

The Yoga Belly 7 is still the ass-kicker in this workout. It may seriously be as tough as Ab Ripper X if not tougher. I did my best (and forgot the rest), but it was a struggle as always.

Diet is still on track. I had a protein shake for breakfast. A protein bar for snack. Lunch was some sliced turkey on a low carb wheat tortilla. Snack was some turkey jerkey. Tinner was some ground turkey tacos on the low carb wheat tortillas.

Jeff (Danglethe carrot) will be heading here tomorrow from his home in Houston. We will both workout on our own tomorrow, but on Friday we plan on doing the Kenpo together before heading to a bachelor party this weekend. Should be fun to do Kenpo with someone else!

Day 27- Double Dip

On Friday, I was so upset about having stopped my workout, that I decided to "double up" on to make up for it. So I decided to re-do the Core Synergistics workout plus add in the regularly scheduled Yoga workout. Biy, that was a dumb move.

It wiped me out! Literally kicked my ass.

I did the Yoga in the morning. Things went fine. I did ok on Warrior stuff. The balances poses went better then normal (except for the damn Crane move). And YogaBelly X was ok.

Then in the evening I did Core Synergistics. I was pumped. I had dumbbells and everything. I guess I never realized how much the Yoga works your core until I had to push it again the same day.

I was so wiped out by the workout I ended up goingto bed an hour after at like 9pm. The wife was not happy asI barely even hung out. But I was wiped!

Day 18- Yoga X

Today was my least favorite of all the routines- Yoga X. I hate this for a lot of reasons. I'm not at all flexibe so many of the poses aren't comfortable. Also, this workout is over 92 minutes long- which is a huge time committment. Also, it's just not fun. He gets ver spiritual and stuff at the end.

I made it through ok- though I struggled with the yoga belly stuff. Some of the poses are harder the ab ripper! The warrior stuff sucks, but I'm getting better at it. The balance poses are cool I guess. But the crane is impossible!

Diet is going well. I had a whole wheat english muffin and peanut butter plus 3 turkey sausages for breakfast. Protein bar for snack. Salad with grilled chicken and fat free honey mustard for lunch. Cheese stick for snack. I'm sauting some garlic shrimp for dinner. Should be good.

Day 4- Yoga X

Ok, so the dreaded Yoga day came. I made it through. I am the world's LEAST flexible person so I was dreading this day. It was basically 4 sections- 1) movement poses 2) balances poses 3) ab work 4) stretching. The movement stuff was REALLY hard and I worked up a good sweat. The balance stuff was tough too. I fell on my face trying to do the "crane"!

The ab work was rough as my abs are still tender from the ab ripper workouts. The stretching stuff was pretty nice though. I actually felt pretty good following the workout.

My biggest complaint about the Yoga X is that it is just too damn long. It's over 90 minutes which really requires a major time investment. The other bad thing is that I was completely unfamiliar with any of the Yoga stuff, so it took me a while to really understand some of the movements and poses.

Anyway, back and legs tomorrow and Kenpo on Friday! I'm doing well with the diet too. Did a cheese scrambler for breakfast. Some string cheese for a snack. Chicken salad for lunch and dinner with a bowl of mixed fruit.

Also, I weighed myself today and I was down to 208lbs. That's 5 pounds off the starting weight prior to Day 1! Not that I am expecting to keep that kind of pace up, but it was nice to see that the switch in diet and exercise was already paying off.