Day 5...Legs/Back/Ab Ripper X

Hello again. Day 5 is here and it's time to tackle the workout I was fearing the most...Legs and Back. Duh duh duhhhhhh!!

When it comes to leg workouts I absolutely despise lunges. So you can imagine my dismay when I saw the exercise guide for Day 5. Lunge after lunge after stinking lunge, and a little bit of pull ups on the side. I wasn't going to workout until mid-afternoon but as I was drinking my coffee while watching TV, I came across the P90X infomercial again and it made me want to workout. This workout is HARD on your quads, especially during the wall squats which nearly killed me...the two position wall squat is quite the challenge. Today's workout consisted of doing two leg exercises followed by a pull up for your back. Now you know that I suck at pull ups after reading my post about the fit test I took, so I have to use the chair when I do these. Problem is that you use your leg to assist the pull up, so with today's workout being leg-heavy I was feeling the pain during the later sets. Dead lift squats were painful today as well as the 80/20 Cyber Speed squats when they started going airborne. Just a tough workout through and through, and I was sweating through my shirt something fierce! 

Ab Ripper...what can you really say about it? That sucker is a challenge every time. Steph joined me today and both of us grunted, yelled, and swore at the TV together trying to achieve the rep counts. Hardest exercises for me are still the Roll-up/V-Up combo and the damn Wide Leg Sit-up. I'm getting better at the Mason Twist...45 reps here I come!

Today's Meals

Breakfast: 2 Whole Wheat Waffles with light syrup. Glass of Juicy Juice. Cup of black coffee.

Snack: Recovery Drink. Celery with peanut butter.

Lunch: 2 Tuna Samiches with pickle stacker's on wheat bread. Apple on side.

Snack: Protein Shake (Skim Milk, Berries, Whey, Ice). Cup of Pistachios.

Dinner: 5 Potato and Cheese Pierogi with reduced fat sour cream. Green beans on the side. 

I was very hungry today and nothing I ate really satiated me. Maybe it's because I worked out so early or maybe I just didn't eat enough protein. It's about 7 pm right now and I am going to have a Protein Shake as a snack. I already ate dinner but that was almost 2 hours ago. I ran a bunch of errands today and it screwed up my schedule so I never ate my 2nd snack. Anyways, tomorrow is my final day of week 1! Kenpo X awaits and I am looking forward to this new challenge. Thursday is my rest day and I am going to do X Stretch in preparation for Week 2. I felt that week 1 was just me getting acclimated to the program and just surviving. I am going to really try to BRING IT for week 2 as my muscles stop aching and I know the workouts better. I am almost done with the hardest part of the entire 90 days, the rest will be about concentrating on the task at hand and BRINGING IT every single day! I can't wait.

Day 4...Yoga X

Another day, another workout. Today was Yoga X and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I've never done Yoga before so this was new to me, but I felt very invigorated after doing it. 

The hardest part for me was just understanding the moves and how each one flowed into the other. Once I figured out the overall pattern I could stop watching the TV and just concentrate on my breathing and the move itself. And I sweat...A LOT! Yes folks, this is quite a workout. For the muscle heads who think that Yoga doesn't fit into their workout plans, I say NAY!! Learning to control your body and breathing is essential for ANY workout and Yoga gives you the discipline to maintain proper form for any exercise. Needless to say I had a lot of fun with it. And then I had dinner...

Today's Meals

Breakfast: Protein Shake (Whey, Berries, Skim Milk, Ice)

Snack: PB&J Samich on wheat

Lunch: Chicken Salad with apple

Snack: Activia Yogurt and cup of diced peaches. Recovery drink before and after Yoga.

...Dinner was a mistake. Shouldn't have done it and am now regretting it a lot. Steph's parents took us out to Olive Garden. That in itself is not bad because there are healthier things on their menu, but what I choose was not one of them. I only ate one bread stick and a bowl of minestrone. Not too bad. My entree was Shrimp Caprese. I only ate half of the serving because I subconsciously knew that it probably wasn't good for me. I searched the nutrition guides for the dish and this was the result....

Calories: 1533  (Ouch! That was a kick to the nuts)

Calories from fat: 430 (Not good)

Total Fat: 47.9g (WTF?!)

Saturated Fat: 22.9g (Olive Garden just lost me as a customer)

Cholesterol: 437mg (You're only supposed to have less than 300 per day...Fuck Shrimp Caprese!!)

Sodium: 1249g  (Was someone hosting Salt Fest 2009 when this dish was created?!)

Carbs: 193.5g  (I suspected it was bad...Olive Garden is a pasta place after all)

Okay, that sucked. I'm just glad I had the foresight to only eat half that entree and cut those totals in half as well. But seriously, WTF?!?!?! Are all restaurants like this? Treating yourself is one thing, eating your entire daily amount of Calories for the day in one sitting is another. That's it, I'm done. I simply cannot eat out anymore. The next time I do will be for my bachelor party but that's all! I cannot flush all this hard work down the toilet for one stupid, over-priced meal at a chain restaurant. I'm sorry Tony! I have sinned!!!

Anyways, tomorrow is Legs/Back/Ab Ripper X. You better believe I'm going to BRING IT to make up for this sorry ass entree choice. And my leftovers from tonight? Already in the trash.

Day 3...Shoulders/Arms/Ab Ripper X

Alright folks, onto Day 3. 

Woke up with soreness in the Tri's and shoulders still. It's probably going to be that way for at least a week because of the shock my body took doing those exercises for the first time. Ab's hurt a little more than yesterday but legs were not that bad. I'm hoping the soreness doesn't creep up on me for my Plyo workout. After a great day of work I got home and made my Recovery Drink, which I drank half of before and the other half after the workout. My friend Jason had me over his house for tonight's festivities because he is on the same schedule, just a week later. 

I liked today's workout a lot! It was nice to be doing exercises I was familiar with like bicep curls and tricep extensions. Don't get me wrong...I worked my ass off tonight and was definitely BRINGING IT! Absolutely KILLED the Chair Dips exercise which surprised me. A few of the shoulder exercises, the fly's in particular, were very hard and some I resorted to using Jason's bands to maintain good form. It actually felt good to do these exercises because they loosened up my sore muscles a lot. Ab Ripper followed and once again it was a very unforgiving 16 minutes. Some of the moves I can do for 3 seconds and then the burning in my core becomes unbearable. I really tried to Bring It this time but it's still a killer workout. My new yoga mat made it bearable because I wasn't getting rug burn tonight...so that's nice.

Today's Meals

Breakfast: Scrambled Egg Beaters on Wheat Bagel with Turkey Bacon and Berry Juice. I also had a cup of coffee black. I tried to make a cup yesterday but I forgot to run water through my new coffee maker before brewing for the first time. I was left with plastic-tasting coffee. MMMM!

Snack: 3 Pieces of String Cheese...2 just doesn't cut it.

Lunch: Turkey samich on wheat with romaine, tomato, and mustard. Apple on the side.

Snack: Recovery Drink before and after workout. Used it to boost my energy without eating food.

Dinner: Boneless Chicken breast with Cajun rub. Peas on the side.

Special Note: I don't drink anything but water for my meals unless noted. 

I just want to say that even though I'm sore as hell, I still feel great after working out and eating well. I'm starting to see the slightest bit of definition in my arms and that is very encouraging. I was telling Jason tonight that every morning I wake up and say to myself "There's no way I can work out today." And every day I suck it up and BRING IT! If any of you are trying P90X and are struggling through the early days, I will say take it one day at a time and stick with it because nothing worthwhile is ever easy.......I freakin' sound like Tony Robbins. 

See you tomorrow for Day 4...Yoga X! Dhalsim would be so proud!

Day 2...Plyometrics!

Day 2 is in the books and I am exhausted. Before I get to the workout let me just give you a little insight into my morning.

Woke up around 5 am...NOT my scheduled wake up...could not get back to sleep for almost two hours thanks to a persistent burning pain in both my triceps and a little in the shoulders. Definitely not a "Oh shit I'm injured" kind of sharp pain, just dull, burning, irritating pain that would not stop. I rolled out of bed and noticed that when I bent over to pick up some socks...oh yeah, I also did Ab Ripper last night and here's the reminder! Trying to suck it up and head to work I found that turning the steering wheel was a challenge. No heavy lifting for me today, just walked around stretching as much as I could. Tri's and Delts are still feeling the most soreness, but after today's workout I imagine my legs won't be far behind. 

Plyometrics is dynamic jumping cardio and you will ping pong in front of your TV for about an hour with only a few 30 second water breaks...I took a couple more though...thank you pause button! My fiance Stephanie agreed to join me for today's workout and we both huffed and puffed through each lunge, jumping squat, and hot foot that was thrown at us. REALLY sweat today! Plain and simple, I've NEVER sweat that much in any workout. I took Tony's advice and made my well-earned Recovery Drink and guzzled it down. Made some dinner and after this post I will hit the shower and then the bed. Saturday night party? Nope, working out and getting to bed early. Like I said I am here to make a lifestyle change and it doesn't make sense to do all this work only to get drunk and consequently hungover and miss a day of my workout. Screw that! I'm Bringing It!!

Today's Meals

Breakfast: 2 Whole Wheat Waffles with light syrup and light Country Crock. Juicy Juice Berry to wash it down.

Snack: 2 Pieces of Low fat String Cheese....not enough food! Need bigger snack. Me growing boy!

Lunch: Turkey Sandwich on Wheat Bread with romaine, tomato, and mustard. Apple on the side.

Snack: Cup of baby carrots with hummus...tasty!

Pre-workout snack: 1/2 an apple with 1 TBSP of Peanut Butter. (I only did this to give me more energy for the workout...I was feeling very hungry. Next time I will drink my recovery drink throughout the workout period as recommended by Tony). After Plyo I had my Recovery Drink which I needed badly.

Dinner: 3 oz. Salmon Fillet with a side salad. Salmon was broiled with Olive Oil, Rosemary and Garlic powder on it. Salad was 3 leaves of romaine with 2 slices of tomato and 1 TBSP of Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette. Very tasty!

It's time for my shower. Tomorrow I will join my friend Jason for Day 3 which is Shoulders and Arms. I think my arms might actually fall off or at least explode due to the stress they've already been under after yesterday. We have Tri exercises tomorrow...WHOOPPEEEE!! Can't wait for THAT pain! The only way to get through this is one day at a time so I will suck it up and Bring it for another day. Have a good night!

Day 1...ouch

Day 1 of P90X is done...and I can hardly lift my arms above my shoulders. 

A lot of anticipation leading up to today's workout and it was pretty much what I expected...a lot of hard work. I am doing P90X Classic with the Energy Booster Nutrition Plan. The nutrition has been easy to follow and the meals have been great tasting, but I have noticed that I still feel hungry a lot. I think I am going to increase my calories per day to prevent any out-of-plan snacking. On to the workout...

Day 1: Chest and Back

I drank a few glasses of water and ate an apple about 20 minutes prior to the workout in preparation. Friends have told me they ran out of steam halfway through because they hadn't eaten enough and I didn't want to make that mistake. I set up my Iron Gym pull-up bar, got out a couple dumbbells, and my newly-acquired push up bars ($14.95 at Dunham's and worth it!). Day 1 is all push ups and pull ups, with a couple of back exercises using dumbbells. Using the push up bars was great because it reduces stress on your wrists while giving you about 6 more inches of motion in the move. I tried pacing myself for the first set of 12 exercises but I still felt wasted during the second half. The highlight...or low light...was when I tried doing the second set of decline push ups and face-planted on my rug....where's a camera when you need one...that is a $10,000 AFV winner! So yeah, I hate declines and diamond push ups with a passion thanks to this workout. 

After Chest and Back, I had to pop in the Ab Ripper X and grit my teeth through another 16 minutes of hell. No breaks, no warm up, just Tony Horton and his physically fit lackeys rocking through each core exercise and proving to you how much of an out-of-shape asshole you really are. All the while spouting out phrases like "Just keep breathing, that will get you through these moves." Bull-fucking-shit! Breathing will not help me get my "heels to the heavens" or "V-Up" any better. It didn't help that I didn't have an exercise mat yet and I was getting rug burn. Ughhhh...Ab Ripper X sucks. But I am feeling great..weak...but great.

Today's Meals

Breakfast: Egg Beaters and Turkey bacon sandwich on Wheat Bagel and Juicy Juice Berry.

Snack: Protein Shake (Whey, Mixed frozen berries, 1/2 cup skim milk, water)

Lunch: Chicken Salad

Snack: Accelerade Recovery drink and pistachios

Dinner: Healthy Request Grilled Chicken and Sausage Gumbo Soup with crackers

So that's that. Day one is over and tomorrow will be a challenge...I have Plyometrics. Otherwise known as "The Beast." And I will most likely be very sore from today. To get my mind off of that I am going to have some beers tonight with friends. I have promised myself I will only drink once a week and when I do no shots and no heavy beers. Either wine or a very light beer with the lowest possible calories. It's okay to treat yourself once in a while, because if you didn't you are more likely to get off track with the plan. At least that's my excuse for drinking. 

See you tomorrow for Plyo! BRING IT!!!

17 hours and counting...

Pretty sad sight huh? Trust me, I won't look like this in 90 days! As of right now I am 17 hours away from Day 1 of P90X. Getting a little nervous about it. After reading and hearing soooo much about this program it's very strange that I am so close to actually beginning the plan. 

Last night and this morning I did the P90X prep work, which consisted of taking pictures of my flabby body, weight and body fat checks, and a surprisingly tough Fitness Test. I say surprisingly because I didn't know I sucked so much at doing pull-ups. If I struggled that hard on the fit test, I cannot imagine how bad it's going to be tomorrow as I dive head-long into Day 1. Damn you Tony!! I did 2...yes 2 pull-ups, 15 push-ups, 29 in-and-outs, and lasted a minute on the Wall Squat. I am not a fan of working out in the mornings and that test is proof of that. 

Today's meals:

Breakfast: 5 egg whites scrambled with 2 pieces of Turkey Bacon and a glass of Juicy Juice Berry...delicious!

Snack: Cup of Activia Raspberry Yogurt and Cup of Diced Peaches

Lunch: Chicken Salad with Sun Dried Tomato Viniaigrette and one Orange

Snack: 2 Cups Baby Carrots with 4 Tbsp Hummus

Dinner: 2 Tuna Sandwiches on Wheat Bread, pickle stacker's, 3 cups Peas.

Well, hopefully I will be able to lift my arms and type my next post tomorrow after Day 1. But I probably won't and will have to post with my tongue or something. Raise a glass and toast to pain, suffering, and getting ripped! BRING IT!!!

Program begins in 2 Days!

Okay, so I received my P90X package today! With my work schedule the way it is I will start the program on Friday with Thursday's being the rest day. I work 12-8 on Thursdays, I don't have quality workouts early in the day, and I really don't like working out that late in the night. 

Yesterday I borrowed my friend Jason's Nutrition Guide so that I could shop for groceries that would fit the plan and get my supplements. I went to Vitamin Shoppe and picked up a 5 lb. barrel of Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey Protein (Double Chocolate...not a fan of Vanilla). I also needed to pick up a Recovery Drink that would be comparable to the one designed for P90X. The clerk suggested a product called Accelerade which he said had similar ingredients to the P90X Recovery Drink and it was the one his friend was using for his P90X. Total sale of about $85...buying supplements sucks. I dropped an additional $80-$100 at Wal-Mart for groceries which were straight out of the meal plans. 

Today's Meals:

Breakfast: Toasted Wheat Bagel with Peanut Butter and cup of Berry Juicy Juice

1st Snack: 2 Pieces of Low Fat String Cheese

Lunch: Turkey Sandwich on Wheat bread (2 slices Tomato, 2 leaves of Lettuce, Mustard) and an Orange

2nd Snack: Celery sticks with Peanut Butter

Dinner: Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast with Cajun Rub. Peas and glass of water. 

The meal plan is really easy to follow and I prefer it because I have a hard time planning out my meals in general...which is why I lived on carry out and fast food for a long time. I never once got tired from overeating and crashing. I still think I need coffee in the morning though, but I will drink it black from now on. Tomorrow is another day of work and more of this meal plan. I am going to do some stretches with a piece of rope tomorrow in preparation for Day 1 of P90X which is going to kick my ass if everything I've heard is true. And yeah...I can't wait!

Introductions and greetings...

Hello hello hello! Thanks for checking out my blog!

My name is Kevin and the purpose of this blog will be to give you, the reader, an insight into the grueling and somewhat masochistic world of the P90X home workout.

First a little background. I am 27, I am engaged to a beautiful woman, I have two cats, and I bought my first house a year ago. I have done workouts before; been a member at a few gyms, but over the last few years I have fallen into a steady sloth-like existence of beer, bad food, and general inactivity. I am not fat by any means, but after a recent visit to the doctors office for a physical I found out that I have high cholesterol. This, on top of a persistent heart palp that would appear on occasion, has pushed me into getting myself healthy again. AND I'm getting married, so needless to say I don't want any heart attacks for at least 60 years. After that...whatever. Not many people like being 90 anyways.

So all of that leads me to P90X. Like a lot of people I first heard of P90X on their morning infomercials, which are very effective in their marketing of the product. However I shrugged it off many times as just another workout DVD that sucks and is overpriced. After a few unsuccessful attempts at starting a workout regiment that was effective and after seeing a couple of my friends purchase the program I became interested. More viewings of the infomercial combined with reading other blogs, especially 90dayreview.com, spurred me into buying it over the phone. That was last Monday.

So as of this post I am waiting for my P90X to be shipped, which according to the customer service rep. I talked to today, is currently in Ohio. Yes indeed, I am excited to start this thing. And I am assuming my excitement will reach a fever pitch until the moment I press play and realize..."Oh shit, this is gonna kick my ASS!" For any of you (All 2 of you at this point) who know anything about P90X, you must realize that this program is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. And frankly, as much as I have heard about it, I don't think I understand just how hard it will be. However I am looking forward to the challenge because I've never pushed myself hard enough in any workout and I have about 100 days before the wedding. It's time to get to work.

So...every day of the workout I will post an update of how the days workout went, what food I ate, and how many times I shouted obscenities at the TV. Plus I will post the classic P90X before and after pics so you can gawk at how my flabby/scrawny form transformed into a lean, ripped , and much more sexually appealing body.

I look forward to starting the program on Friday (3 days) and feel free to give me any feedback as the weeks go on. Be prepared to BRING IT!!!