Day 49...Rest Day

Alright folks, onto the second recovery week! 

I didn't feel like doing X Stretch this morning. It's not that I don't like it but rather I am not a fan of working out early in the morning before work. So I took my rest day and tomorrow I do my Yoga as day 1 of the recovery week. 

Today's Meals

Breakfast: 2 wheat waffles with light syrup. Juice and coffee black

Snack: 2 pieces of string cheese

Lunch: Lean Cuisine Pizza

Snack: 2 Granola Bars

Dinner: Mostacholi

Have a good night, I will see you tomorrow for Yoga.

Day 48...Kenpo X

Kenpo was a nice challenge today...I really worked up a sweat! What I like most about it is that it's an hour workout that seems like 20 minutes. You blaze through the moves and work your ass off (literally) in the process, and all of a sudden it's done. 

Today's Meals

Breakfast: Cereal with coffee black

Snack: I need to go grocery shopping

Lunch: 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with skim milk

Snack: Accelerade after workout

Dinner: 5 cheese and potato pierogi with green beans

I have the optional X Stretch tomorrow or rest, and that means I am done with another week.

My second rest week is next which means more Core Synergistics! Superman Banana here I come!

Day 47...Legs/Back/ARX

Let me just go ahead and say it...Jury Duty is one of the most inane, mind-numbing, complete wastes of time. Sitting around for almost 8 hours with nothing to do is a serious test of your patience. I completed my vows in about 2 hours and suffered until the lunch break, after which I brought along a book to read. However, an hour after that I actually got called into the courtroom with a group of 30. The judge interviewed the prospective jurors and either approved or dismissed them based on their answers. You could tell the people that didn't want to do it...they were the one's coming up with some whoppers. One girl even played the damn race card...seriously how f**king desperate to not get picked do you have t be to claim that you are racist in front of a group of 30 people?!? I bet she was proud of herself after when the judge dismissed her. Anyways, I wasn't picked so I went home stressed and in need of a workout.

Legs/Back was good this week. This being my last resistance training day until Phase 3 I really tried to use perfect form, increase pull up rep counts, and increase weight on the lunges. It was tough because I didn't eat much at friggin' jury duty, and what I did eat was Taco Bell because our break was short. Thus I was really struggling to keep up the intensity for the workout. I never realized how hard it is to do these workouts when you don't have a proper nutrition plan for the day. I can say that I am doing more unaided pull ups now and when I do use the chair I push it way back to make it harder. I was happy to do Ab Ripper and get off my feet for a little bit. Reverse bikes killed but I did full Fifer Scissors and V-up/Roll ups. My improvements are very evident during ARX.

Today's Meals

Breakfast: Wheat bagel with peanut butter and coffee black

Snack: No snack...damn jury duty

Lunch: Taco Bell...damn jury duty

Snack: Accelerade after workout. I was starving at this point!

Dinner: Grilled sirloin burger with peas. Absolutely delicious after how little I ate today!

No more jury duty for at least a year so that's nice. I can't handle that crap!

Day 46...Yoga X

I'm going to make this post quick because I have to wake up early tomorrow for jury duty! Bastards finally got me after a decade of having a drivers license! The nice thing is I don't have work tomorrow, the not nice thing is that I get paid a whopping $25...BIG MONEY!! I think I'm going to spend the hours in the jury room writing my wedding vows. I know, that's not a very romantically inspired place to do that but it needs to get done and I will have a lot of time to sit and write. 

Yoga today...Lot's of fun actually. Except for the Half Moons but that's neither here nor there. When I have bad days at work my Yoga sessions tend to be amazing...it's a great stress reliever! I sucked at Crane today and my Wheel aspirations are still pretty lofty and unattainable, but I went through the Warriors with no problems and even the Right Angle poses were better today. I will say this...there is no relief sweeter than when you finish the Right Angle Pose section and go back to plank...if my quads could talk they would say "Ohhh YESSSS!!! I don't have to support this bastards weight anymore!!" Relief...thy name is plank.

Today's Meals

Breakfast: 2 Wheat waffles with juice. Coffee black.

Snack: Wheat thins and an apple

Lunch: Chicken Burrito

Snack: No 2nd snack, I need to go grocery shopping again

Dinner: 2 slices of pizza. See above.

One more day of resistance for Phase 2 and then I get a break. Tomorrow is Legs/Back/ARX and I will be trying hard to get those rep counts as high as possible for the pull ups. Also I will let you know how jury duty went...civil service at it's finest. Later! 

Day 45...Back/Bi's/ARX

Alright...it's time to stop, take a deep breath, and take in the fact that I'm officially HALF WAY through P90X! 

And to mark this auspicious occasion I had to endure Back/Bi's/ARX again today, and boy do I hate those Corn Cob Pull ups! Considering this is the "Mastery" Week I was increasing my rep counts for the exercises when I could but this is one of the harder workouts so it's a challenge just getting through it. My first day of P90X I was using 20 lbs. for the Lawnmowers and I increased that to 40 today...and I will go higher the next time. The improvements are no longer subtle, it's like my body is really starting to adapt to these moves and **gasp** become Stronger! I've never had the muscles that I have now so needless to say I'm pretty happy with how things are going. 

Today's Meals

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

Snack: PB&J Sandwich

Lunch: Turkey sandwich with Wheat thins

Snack: Protein shake and Accelerade after workout

Dinner: Salmon fillet with corn.

I only have a few more days and then I'm into the second recovery week. Then I get to do Chest/Back again! Diamond push up...I'm going to conquer you! Have a good night!

Day 44...Plyometrics

With my parents in town I had a very tight schedule yesterday after work. As soon as I got home from work I immediately started Plyo. It was a very tiring workout this time and I was surprised by that. I had been going through this workout pretty well for the last few weeks and I felt that I was passed the point of feeling like death during some of the exercises...but I was wrong. The Squat Stance pickups really kicked my ass this time and the MK Lunges...well those are never easy. Recovery drink was a must after so I chugged it down, hopped into the shower, and left the house for dinner. Barely any time to breathe!

Yesterday's Meals

Breakfast: Wheat bagel with peanut butter. Juice. Coffee.
Snack: 1 piece of string cheese with a yogurt.
Lunch: Leftover smoked sausage with a orange.
Snack: Wheat thins and Accelerade after workout
Dinner: 3 Cheese Enchiladas with some nachos. Delicious!

Tonight I have Back/Bi's/ARX for the last time until Week 10, so I have to make it good! Pushing to fail every exercise and Bringing It! Later!

Day 43...Chest/Shoulders/Tri's/ARX

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGxL5AFzzMY

Click the link and take a gander at Jack Palance at the Oscars for a second. I'll wait................


.....So yeah, I had to do these again on Friday and trust me I can't hold a candle to Jack Palance. Of course who can? Palance was a man's man, old school Hollywood, and a helluva host for Ripley's Believe it or Not in the 80's. But I digress...

I went over Jason's for this workout and it definitely went better this time. I increased rep counts on a lot of the exercises and the one's that I didn't I increased my weight. The Pike Press was still a downer and the One Arm Push ups were almost impossible, but on most of the other exercises I made some improvements. There's just no getting around the fact that this workout is the most challenging because of the wide variety of hard ass push ups and shoulder exercises. Well, at least I have a three week break before I have to do it again.

Friday's Meals

Breakfast: Cheese Scrambler with turkey bacon. Juice and coffee black.
Snack: PB&J Sandwich
Lunch: Chicken pita with an apple
Snack: Protein shake and Accelerade after workout
Dinner: Grilled Smoked Sausage