Day 12...Legs/Back/Ab Ripper X

The days are just flying by aren't they? Not really, but I'm trying to forget the fact that it's snowing outside today...in April...technically Spring. When I'm at day 90 it'll be summer and I will be much happier. Just have to take it one day at a time.

Today was Legs/Back/ARX again and it was easier this week. I think all the Plyo and Yoga is increasing my leg strength because I was able to complete most of the exercises with full rep counts. Two position wall squats were still very challenging but at least I was able to push through the pain this time without taking a break. The good news is I only have to do this workout one more time next week and then I get a couple weeks of break from it...which is nice.

Ab Ripper went great today! I struggled in the beginning because the bicycles use the legs and mine were feeling the burn from the workout. However, when it came time to do the Mason Twist I was FINALLY able to do all 50 reps!! I collapsed to the floor and yelled out in triumph! HEYAHH!!! Great feeling indeed! I had my recovery drink as a reward and I will chill out tonight with Steph and a glass of wine...I love days off!

Today's Meals

Breakfast: Cheese Scrambler with turkey bacon, wheat toast, and Juicy Juice.

Snack: Protein Shake (Whey and Skim milk)

Lunch: Vegetarian Chili. Steph's recipe and it's delicious!

Snack: Accelerade and 1 piece of string cheese.

Dinner: Chicken Pita from the Nutrition guide. I love it!

I received my P90X protein bars today and I will use them as my a.m. snack here and there. I needed more protein so this will be a great addition to my plan. Tomorrow is Kenpo X again, which I am looking forward to, and then I will only have one more before I get the rest week. Later.

Day 11...Yoga X

Namaste everyone! You can call me Dhalsim tonight, if you wish, because I completed my first full Yoga X workout! I find it amusing that every time I post on here it seems like I'm always saying "Tonight's workout was hard...I'm exhausted." Which leads me to believe that an "Easy" day of P90X doesn't really exist. 

Yoga X is an amazing workout! Serious willpower and determination needed to get through all the Downward dogs and Half moons...it was tough. When I did Yoga last week, I had to cut the workout short because Steph asked me to go with her and her parents to Olive Garden, and you know how that ended. So tonight was my first full Yoga x workout and I loved it! Of course I stumbled more than a few times and my legs were absolutely BURNING during the Half Moon's, but I felt very refreshed afterwards. This is an intense, sweaty, somewhat uncomfortable workout that doesn't pull any punches until the last 15 minutes or so. All the moves flow into one another with little to no break, and it took a lot out of me. Nonetheless, it was a nice change of pace from the resistance training and the manic action of Plyo. Tomorrow is Legs/Back again and that makes me sad...I really despise it. Oh well.

Today's Meals

Breakfast: Whole Wheat bagel with peanut butter and a glass of Juicy juice berry.

Snack: Activia Raspberry yogurt and a cup of diced peaches.

Lunch: Chicken Salad (Romaine, Spinach, Tomato, Cucumber, Dressing) with an apple.

Snack: Baby carrots and hummus. Accelerade after Yoga.

Dinner: Broiled Salmon with peas.

Salmon has become one of my favorite meals after starting the Nutrition plan. All I do is buy the 3-4 oz. fillets and broil them in my toaster oven for about 12-14 minutes. I put a tbsp. of Olive Oil on it and season it with Cajun rub and a little garlic powder. It is delicious! I will usually eat it with brown rice or peas, and possibly my Sun Dried Tomato Dressing as a dipping sauce if I need more flavor. Great protein and Omega 3's in the dish and it very easy to make. Highly recommended if you are doing these workouts!

My legs will take another beating tomorrow, but maybe I'll do better after the workout they've been receiving through Plyo and Yoga. We'll see. Good night!

Day 10...Shoulders/Arms/Ab Ripper X

I am exhausted right now so I think I'm going to make tonight's post short. It's about 11:30 pm, I just got home from watching Wrestlemania (Which sucked by the way), and supposedly we are getting 3-6 inches of snow tonight...in APRIL!! Yayyyy!! I love Michigan weather.

Tonight's Shoulders/Arms workout was tougher than last week for some reason. I actually was under some of last week's rep counts on a couple of the exercises which bugged me. Whatever the reason, I still tried my damnedest to get through the exercises with perfect form...which in this workout is very important. When performing the Fly's you need to control the motion to achieve the most results, but a lot of times you end up using your back and swinging your arms, which cheats yourself out of the move. Maybe I wasn't maintaining perfect form last week and that's the difference? Whatever the case may be, I got through it and it was still a great workout. Ab Ripper was Ab Ripper. I did full rep counts on bicycles and wide leg sit ups, which was a major accomplishment for me today. I'm still striving to improve on the "Heels to the Heavens" and especially the Mason Twist.

Today's Meals

Breakfast: Cheese Scrambler from Nutrition guide, with Turkey bacon and Juicy Juice.

Snack: Protein Shake (Whey and Water)

Lunch: Turkey Samich on wheat with Romaine, Tomato, and mustard. Apple on the side.

Snack: Two Activia Raspberry Yogurts.

Dinner: Don't judge me but I had 3 slices of Pizza and a couple of wings from B Dubs. And 2 Miller Lights....if I don't treat myself once in a while I will fail at this Nutrition thing. I'm not making excuses...well, maybe I am...who the hell cares if I am or not? I've lost 5 lbs. and I was hanging out with friends for Wrestlemania...pizza just fits into that equation. And by the way, it was friggin' delicious!

I have Yoga X tomorrow and then I have two days off of work! Too bad there will be snow on the ground. Later.

Day 9...Plyometrics

"The room is starting to spin...I think I need some air."

Those words were uttered by yours truly tonight right around the beginning of the cool down portion of today's Plyometrics workout. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I pushed as hard as I could tonight and the result was a slight wave of nausea and tilted vision. I had to step outside and get my bearings because my living room turned into a sauna...a sweaty sauna...with no ventilation, and I was huffing and puffing through the last 15 minutes. 

No one says Plyo is easy...at least no one I know...and frankly I wouldn't want to meet the person that does think it's easy because they're most likely an alien or at least a mutant of some sort. Either way they'd be weird and distrustful. As far as the workout is concerned, the damn Mary Katherine Lunges and the Squat Jacks are the absolute worst, and pushing through them with full rep counts takes serious will power and a smidgen of masochism. 

Even if I WANTED to go out tonight, I don't think I would stay out late because I'm completely drained. The most activity I have done tonight was making my dinner and typing this post. I watched MSU defeat UCONN (Not that I really give a crap about college hoops...because I don't) and I will be taking a much needed shower in a few minutes. I can give you a quick update on my progress in P90X so far.

I have lost 5 lbs. and 1 belt notch. I am starting to see some serious definition in my chest and well as the delts, bi's, and tri's. During Plyo today I was able to stay with the group for most of the exercises...excluding MK Lunges...and I increased my rep counts yesterday during Chest/Back. I am VERY happy with this program so far and I can't wait to see the end results.

Today's Meals

Breakfast: Bowl of Multi grain Cheerios with a cup of skim milk. Protein Shake (Whey, Skim Milk)

Snack: 2 Pieces of string cheese

Lunch: Chicken salad (Romaine, Spinach, Tomato, Cucumber) with an Orange.

Snack: Celery sticks with Peanut butter. Accelerade after the workout...MUCH needed!

Dinner: Tuna Samich with 2 cups of Bush's Grillin' Beans, Steakhouse Recipe.

It's shower time! Tomorrow I have Shoulders/Arms/Ab Ripper X and then I'm going over a friend's house to watch Wrestlemania 25. I don't even watch wrestling anymore but I always get together with friend's for 'Mania...it's a tradition. Later!

Day 8...Chest/Back/Ab Ripper X

I am posting Day 8 a little early today because Steph and I are getting together with friends for a party, and the last thing I'm going to do is jump on the computer for 20 minutes blogging. So I'm here now, with week 2 underway and dinner in an hour. 

So we celebrate the new week by repeating the last and that means today was Chest/Back/Ab Ripper again! (Cue trumpets and confetti) During the workout Tony makes a comment about the Chest/Back workout being "The Mother of All P90X workouts." I would like to revise that proclamation by adding the word "FUCKER" between Mother and Of. Then and only then will you understand how I feel about this one. I went into today feeling pretty good and energized, but I STILL struggled through the Diamond push ups and most of the 2nd half. With the other resistance days, they're challenging and sometimes painful, but I can still get through them doing most if not all the reps. Chest/Back makes me feel very weak and pathetic. The people in the DVD are pushing out 30 reps for a lot of the exercises, and I'm only clearing 10-15 at the most...sometimes 6-8. The push ups kill me...absolutely KILL ME every time.

The two bright spots for me were 1. Recognizing the fact that I was able to at least increase my rep counts from the previous week...displaying some level of improvement...however trivial it may seem to me. 2. I was able to do a set of Decline Push ups in the 2nd set this week. If you recall, I fell flat on my face last week during the same point in the workout. 

Getting in the shower I noticed that I was having a hard time washing my hair again because my arms were completely shot. I wonder if I will wake up tomorrow with pain again? I hope not.

Today's Meals

Breakfast: 2 Whole Wheat Waffles with syrup and a little bit of Country Crock. Protein shake with it. I had to use water this time because I ran out of Skim Milk.

Snack: Apple with Peanut Butter. Accelerade before and after workout.

Lunch: Turkey Samich on wheat with Romaine, Tomato, and mustard.

Snack: Baby carrots with hummus.

Dinner: Chicken Pita from the Nutrition Guide. Delicious!

Tomorrow is Plyo again and I'm excited for it! I know what to expect and I plan on really trying to BRING IT for the entire hour of jumps, squats, and lunges. As always I will keep you posted. Later.

Day 7...X Stretch and Week 1 Recap.

Day 7 is the rest day. However I chose to pop in the X Stretch DVD instead and prepare my slightly sore muscles for week 2. It was an amalgamation of Yoga X and all the stretches you perform before and after the various workouts. Nothing too unfamiliar here but I have to say I am not a fan of the Frog stretch. I can see why its important...you don't want to pull a groin muscle...but that doesn't make it any less painful. Otherwise the workout is about 50 minutes of stretches that cover your body top to bottom and was pretty therapeutic for me because of slight stiffness and soreness I am experiencing in my legs from Kenpo. 

Speaking of soreness, my upper body is finally free of it after the brutal Day 1, which is just in time for me to do Chest/Back again! Yaaay! I am going to try to push harder tomorrow and top my rep counts from last week because I felt like I held back a bit. Decline push ups and Diamond push ups are still my nemesis and I shall conquer them! We shall see...

Today's Meals

Breakfast: Multi Grain Cheerios with cup of Skim Milk. Protein shake (Skim milk and whey)

Snack: PB&J Samich

Lunch: Uncle Ben's Ready Rice Whole Grain Medley with an apple.

Snack: Celery with Peanut butter

Dinner: 4 Potato and Four Cheese Pierogi. Green beans on the side. I treated myself to a bottle of MGD 64 beer because I had a shitty day at work. I HATE being stuck indoors while it's 65 and sunny out. 

Week 1 Recap.

Overall week 1 of P90X was tough, sweaty, painful, and rewarding! Bottom line is that I didn't expect this to be easy. I had heard enough about it from friends and on blogs to understand the commitment that this program demands. There's no way I'm quitting before Day 90.

Day 1 was hard as hell because I don't think I've ever done that many push ups and pull ups...my muscles were screaming at me, and then they just stopped working. Waking up the next morning was unpleasant to say the least and having to jump (quite literally) into Plyometrics that night was not fun at all. Day 3 was nice because of the familiar exercises and having Jason there to push me. Having the nice change of pace that is Yoga is great after you are sick of resistance training, but there's no way I could call it easy and keep a straight face. I absolutely despised Day 5 with all the friggin' lunges and squats and I am not looking forward to doing it again this week at all. Kenpo was fun as hell and tiring at the same time...just a great calorie burner. And rest days? I've rested enough for the last few years. Doing the X Stretch today got me up this morning and kept me in the P90X frame of mind. 

Week 2 begins tomorrow with Chest/Back/Ab Ripper X. I have 3 weeks before the beginning of Phase 2, so I have a lot of work ahead of me and I'm looking forward to it. Good night!

Day 6...Kenpo X

One week down and many to follow! I was looking forward to Kenpo X more than any other workout because it's unlike anything I've ever done before, and most people find it to be quite enjoyable. 

Once again, I went over Jason's house for this one because it's nice having someone to workout with because they will push you to work harder than you would by yourself. The only hazard was the very real possibility of planting a kick to his torso, so we maintained quite a wide berth between us. The warm up is classic P90X...throw you right into it and get you sweating. My quads were killing me during the downward dog/runner's pose stretches, and the whole time I'm wondering why the warm up is so painful. Well it's because when you are kicking later in the workout, the last thing you want is to pull your groin muscle trying to kick a little higher for increased intensity. Oh well, I'm only bitching because the term "flexible" has never been associated with me and probably still won't until Day 85 or so. 

Kenpo was awesome! Loved the moves and loved the intensity it demanded of you. I probably sweat more today then Plyo even....of course I wasn't dying a little inside like during Plyo. Punch, kick, block, punch punch punch, it was straight out of Karate Kid or some shit...Tony even had us yelling and grunting at the TV...that must've been a sight to behold. After 50 minutes of living out Street Fighter fantasies we retired to the kitchen for the always needed Recovery Drink. I got home, made dinner, took a shower, and watched South Park...which was hilarious tonight!

Today's Meals

Breakfast: Wheat Bagel with Peanut Butter. Glass of Juicy Juice Berry.

Snack: 2 Pieces of String Cheese

Lunch: Chicken Salad and 1 cup of Healthy Choice Country Veggie Soup. I forgot my apple today.

Snack: Baby carrots and hummus. Protein bar. Accelerade before and after workout.

Dinner: 3 oz. Salmon fillet with brown rice.

I was hungry all day today. I think I do better when I have a larger breakfast like egg whites and turkey bacon. Otherwise it feels like I am playing catch-up with my stomach for the rest of the day. The protein bar was one of Jason's and it hit the spot PERFECTLY...I had a lot of energy for the workout. Also, I put an order in to BeachBody today for a box of the P90X Protein Bars. I need more protein for my nutrition plan and this seemed like an easy way to get it. 

A quick note about headaches.....I am prone to tension headaches that appear halfway through the day. I had one on Day 1 and it wasn't pleasant pushing that hard with a pounding headache. I felt one form today and I chose to take an Excedrin. I don't recommend this because those suckers are loaded with Caffeine which is a diuretic. Basically, it dehydrates me and makes me jittery. Unfortunately, its the only headache remedy that works effectively for me. I don't think that its good to take when you are doing such a hard-ass workout like P90X but I had no choice because if I don't nip these things in the bud, it will only get worse as the day goes on. I think the headaches are a result of lack of caffeine...I don't drink soda anymore and I have cut back on coffee. So I'm going to try drinking coffee in the mornings to avoid this issue in the future. I'll keep you posted.

Tomorrow is a rest day but I think I am going to choose to do X Stretch in the morning in preparation for Week 2. Until tomorrow, have a good night!