Day 56...Rest Day and Phase 2 Recap

I took the rest day yesterday because I didn't feel another X Stretch was necessary. So that means I have officially completed Phase 2 of P90X! All of these small victories, minor accomplishments, they are adding up and it all leads to the next 5 weeks of punishment.

Phase 2 Recap.

As much as I struggled during the first couple weeks of the program I almost felt like Phase 2 was more challenging. My body had really come around during the final two weeks of Phase 1 and I was optimistic about how the next phase would go. But as previously stated, Chest/Shoulders/Tri's humbled me quite a bit.

Chest/Shoulders/Tri's- The hardest P90X workout...PERIOD! Three exercises into the workout and I was feeling whipped. From the Plange Push ups, Pike Press, Plyo push up, One Arm push up...this workout killed me every time! Although I was able to increase my reps for most of the exercises each time I did the workout I still felt unsatisfied with my performance...I thought I was better than this! This workout was a reality check...this program does NOT get easier!

Plyometrics- I really got into a groove with Plyo during this Phase. I've gone beyond the days of dizziness and struggling to keep my form and am now jumping and squatting for full reps. MK Lunges are still the most challenging but like everything else I am getting better. "The Beast" pushes you hard but the feeling you get once you've completed it is amazing! As Tony says, "Take in the fact that you just did that!" Of course he was referring to the Half Moons in Yoga but it's a similar feeling for Plyo.

Back/Bi's- The last new workout in the program was quite the challenge...but the reward is awesome! Trust me, I will never refer to my arms as "Guns" or shit like that, but I will venture to say that my biceps have never looked better. All you do is curl after curl after curl with a few pull ups for levity. I liked this workout a lot and the results are unlike anything I've experienced going to the gym.

Yoga X- My great P90X stress reliever! Yoga went pretty well during Phase 2 and I was able to complete a few new moves. By far the biggest accomplishment was completing the damn Right Angle Poses which was right up there with the still unconquered Half Moons. I held Crane for 30 seconds the other day and Wheel for 5 a week ago. When it comes to Yoga I take my small victories and feel good about it because you can't expect to complete this workout with perfect form on Day 1. Every time I start the workout I make sure to set a goal in my mind....Hold Crane longer, attempt Wheel again, complete Half Moon, etc. Unlike Kenpo which is quite easy, Yoga is a challenge every time and I love that! This is my favorite workout!

Legs/Back- I no longer despise this workout, probably because my leg strength has greatly improved. The Single Leg Wall Squats are still hard but the lunges have become much easier over the last two months. It was during Phase 2 that I started doing the pull ups without the chair and I improved those unaided reps by a couple each week. Once again, these are small victories but I will take them when I can get them.

Kenpo X- This is just a fun workout and I sweat a lot! At this point the only way to make it more challenging is to buy ankle and hand weights, which I have yet to do.

Ab Ripper X- I saw improvements during ARX. I can now complete every exercise in full except for Reverse Bicycles, Crunchy Frog, and on occasion Fifer Scissors. That will change in the next few weeks I promise!

Overall Phase 2 was challenging as hell, but VERY rewarding! Back in 2007...at my heaviest...I weighed in at 178. I weighed myself this morning and it said 166 with 12% body fat! That's almost 5 percent less body fat then when I started! I look forward to posting my Day 60 pictures because there are definite improvements. Once again thanks to you guys for reading these posts! I started this blog to keep myself honest during this program...not letting myself skip days or get off track. I never thought anyone would even read this, so thank you for the support! I look forward to the final phase and I will try to BRING IT every day! Later!

Day 35...X Stretch and Week 5 Recap

Steph and I went out last night for a friends birthday and we stayed out later than we expected. As a result I had absolutely no plans to do X Stretch this morning, but surprisingly I woke up early and with energy to spare. So I popped it in and it was nice to do the stretches after such a challenging week. The last time I did X Stretch as the optional choice was the final day of week 1 when my body was in complete shock. So it makes sense that I did X Stretch after doing these harder resistance workouts this week. The only snag I ran into was that my hamstrings were very tight and those particular stretches were quite the challenge. I wasn't able to keep a straight leg with holding my toes, which I normally do during Yoga. 

Today's Meals

Breakfast: Wheat bagel with peanut butter. Juicy juice berry.

Snack: Protein shake

Lunch: Turkey sandwich with an apple

Snack: PB&J Sandwich. Pistachios.

Dinner: 3 Potato and Cheese pierogi and a bowl of peas.

So that completes Week 5! Time for the Recap:

Chest/Shoulders/Tri's- Considering I have to do this tomorrow I will just say that it is one of the most challenging P90X workouts and I hope I'm able improve a little bit this week. Those damn Pike Press' kicked my ass last time!

Plyo- What needs to be said about Plyo? It doesn't get easier. I improved on the MK Lunges; that is a victory in itself. The person who invented Plyo is evil.

Back/Bi's- I joined Jason for this workout and I felt MUCH better about it than the first day. All those curls suck but I was still able to do them...the push ups from the first day were very hard to keep up the rep counts.

Yoga X- I really struggled with Yoga this past week and that makes me angry. I love this workout and it's a shame that I performed so poorly this time. I don't think my head was in the right place...I just couldn't hold a lot of the moves this time, including the warriors. I will try to Bring It this week!

Legs/Back- I increased my pull up rep counts this time and did all the reps on the Sneaky Lunge. Overall I felt good about this one...but the day after my Glutes were hating me. 

Kenpo X- Rocked it! Released some anger, sweat a ton, had a really good workout! From this point on it's going to be about adding hand and ankle weights to increase the intensity.

Ab Ripper X- I can't end this recap without mentioning ARX! The only moves I cannot complete with full reps are Fifer Scissors, Backward Bicycles, Crunchy Frog, and V-Up combos. I am slowly conquering this workout and the definition it's creating on my stomach is all the proof I need to tell me it's working! As Tony says...."Get it up! This is AB RIPP-ER X!!"

Tomorrow begins Week 6...I'm about half way there! The dreaded Chest/Shoulder/Tri workout awaits me and I will try to kick its ass this time! Have a good night!

Day 21...Rest day and Week 3 Recap.

We are into Recovery Week! 

I was feeling quite run down this morning so X Stretch was out of the question. I am glad I decided to set up my schedule as is because there is no way I could do one of these workouts on Thursday morning...I hate feeling rushed before work. Besides, I have never had quality workouts in the morning so it would be a waste. With that said...onto the Week 3 Recap.

This week went by fast!! If you read the P90X fitness guide it talks about the Adaptive and Mastery phases of the plan. The adaptive phase is the first week or two of your schedule in which your body is getting used to the workouts and is generally sore from the stress. The mastery phase, usually around week 3, is when your body stops feeling sore and gets used to the rigors of the workouts...before the next adaptive phase begins. Needless to say, I strongly felt that my body was in full on Mastery phase during Chest/Back/ARX on Friday. I was pushing out reps left and right without feeling wasted. After the previous weeks it was nice to know that I was making some improvements. Plyo was a great workout other than the fact that my feet and ankles felt like they were taking a beating on our bare floor. Hopefully the carpet in my new workout room will alleviate the stress. Shoulders/Arms is one hell of a workout, and afterwards leaves me feeling pumped beyond belief. Yoga is hard.....no witty comments or funny quips...it's just a hard ass workout through and through! The half moons are still my nemesis because my quads feel like they're on FIRE through most of it. I was able to overcome some of the more difficult exercises during Legs/Back, like the Seiber Speed Squats, but the 3 position lunges were still painful. And trying to do ARX afterward is a challenge...a Double Dare physical challenge...kind of like the 1 ton human hamster wheel. Finally, Kenpo proved to be the most entertaining workout again...but I promise I will make it more challenging by adding ankle and hand weights over the course of the program. 

Today's Meals

Breakfast: 2 Whole Wheat Waffles with light syrup. Juicy Juice and coffee black.

Snack: 2 pieces of string cheese.

Lunch: Chicken pita with an orange.

Snack: Protein Bar

Dinner: Chicken Burrito from the Nutrition Guide.....and it was DELICIOUS!! I added Jalapenos for extra kick and it made a hell of a difference!

Tomorrow is Yoga X...the first day of the recovery week. I originally thought is was Core Synergistics, so I'm glad I glanced at my workout calender before I did the workout. It's supposed to be beautiful out tomorrow so yard work will be in my plans, but I plan on doing Yoga sometime in the afternoon. I'll keep you posted. Later.

Day 14...Rest Day and Week 2 Recap

Nothing much to report today because I decided to take a rest day instead of doing X Stretch. I didn't feel like getting up early and it's already 9 pm by the time I get home on Thursdays. So it's time for the Week 2 Recap.

Week 2 was challenging...I'm not going to lie to you. The soreness from Week 1 has disappeared but the workouts seemed harder this week for some reason. Chest/Back was a struggle and I'm glad I will have a break from it after tomorrow. I noticed improvement when I reviewed my rep counts and saw that I increased them from the previous week. Plyo was great/killer this week. I pushed as hard as I could throughout the workout and my reward was dizziness. I had to go outside because my living room was stifling...next time I'm opening a window and turning on a fan. Shoulders/Arms was harder than last week and I plan on improving on my sorry performance on Sunday. My first full session of Yoga kicked my ass, in a good way, and left me feeling refreshed...and exhausted. My focus on Monday will be to improve my form on the Half moons which were my bane this past week. Legs/Back was better this week and I am seeing improvements thanks to the amount of leg work involved in P90X. Kenpo yesterday was fun and is probably my most enjoyable workout. Finally, Ab Ripper was hard as usual, but doing the full 50 reps on Mason Twist was a BIG accomplishment for me! I want to see what other ARX exercises I can dominate!

Today's Meals

Breakfast: Wheat bagel with peanut butter and Juicy Juice

Snack: P90X Protein Bar.

Lunch: Leftover Spaghetti with an orange.

Snack: 2 pieces of string cheese.

Dinner: Chicken Pita with Garden Veggie Baked Wheat Thins.

2 Weeks Down!!! I have two weeks left of Phase 1, another repeat and one rest week, and then the program switches up on me...the whole "muscle confusion" thing. I've noticed some muscle-building and slight slimming down, but nothing breathtaking yet...not that I expected that after only two weeks. My problem area is my gut...thanks to beer...and I can't wait for it to disappear. I just want to get these next two weeks over with so that Phase 2 can begin and I can start some new workouts and see some serious body transformations! See you tomorrow for Chest/Back/ARX again! 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!