Day 29: (Yoga X)

Yoga continues to get better and better. I upgraded my Yoga block today to a Oster Stainless Steel Toaster! It was the perfect height to help me complete Half-moon and Twisted Half-moon. My flexibility has improved greatly. My strength is getting much better as well. I attempted and successfully pulled off Crane or the first time today. I only held it for about 3 seconds, but that was a first for me.

I am ready to be able to pull off Wheel Pose. I am not even close right now though. The upper body and arm strength just isn't there yet.

I plan on weighing and measuring in on Sunday for our ONE MONTH mark.

I cant believe its been a month already. I can feel and tell a major difference.

I cant really SEE much of a difference yet though. Hopefully that will come soon.

(Crane Pose - Left) (Wheel Pose - Right)

Day 28: (Core Synergistics)

If you are like me you saw the title of this workout and though..."What in the world is that?" After piecing together a few pieces of information: 1) This was to be the begining of our recovery week 2) Synergistics sounds cool 3) Wishfull thinkings. I summized that this would be a fairly light "recovery" style workout...pshh.

It wasnt the hardest workout we've ever had, but it wasn't a 'recovery' workout either. As Tony describes in the video your 'core' s everything between your pectorial muscles and upper thighs, mainly your abs and their connecting muscles.

He puts you through some very interesting positions in this workout.

Overall I thought it went pretty well.

The first day of a new workout is always a tad bit frustrating, trying to learn how to do each particular move and all.

Yoga X tonight...recovery week continues.

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Day 24 & 25 (Yoga & Legs)

It seems like a trend of being to busy to post on Thursday and Friday is developing.

Don't fear, we didn't skip our workout. We busted out our 3rd (and 1/2) week. We are now starring into the eyes of our first change of pace, Recovery Week. I am not sure what that is all about. I was finally starting to feel like I was in a grove and fully comprehended all of the workouts and the different maneuvers they were asking me to do.

But alas, this week will be nice. I think it involved a lot of Stretching, Yoga and something called a Core Synergistic. I'm not entirely sure what that is, but we will find out on Tuesday.

As for our two previous workouts: Yoga is becoming more doable every time we complete it. If you were to take out "Half Moon" & "Twisting Half Moon", I would be able to pretty much keep up with the pace and positions in the workout.

Tip: If you are new to Yoga and aren't an extremely flexible person already I would really invest in a set of those Yoga blocks. I'm am pretty convinced that would cut your learning curve and frustration level in half.

The problem is, if your hamstrings (and other leg muscles) are tight, then you aren't able to reach the floor and balance your self in several of the exercises. Thus the blocks, these allow you to still do Half Moon and its variations without falling and getting mad.

Legs: Stacy and I both can tel la huge difference in our durability in this workout. When we first started the Wall Squats and Single Leg Wall Squats were completely debilitating. Now, they are only mildly debilitating. They still hurt and are difficult, but they are much more manageable. Same goes for the extreme amounts of lunges here as well

Stacy says here biggest physical change so far is in her legs. She can tell they are stronger and more tone after only 3 weeks.

Consider yourself updated. Hopefully I can refrain rom skipping multiple days of posting from this day forward.

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Day 23: (Arms & Shoulders)

Not much time to write today.

great workout. It seemed like it FLEW by today. This is definatly the "easiest" workout of the bunch. Low impact and nearly no cardio. I think doing this right after Plyometrics makes it seem easier as well.

I did nearly all the excersises with 20lb weights and the Triceps with 10lbs.

The Static Arm curls are the toughest, i had to drop down to the 10's for that one.

BTW: My abs are killing me!

Yoga tomorow!

45min worth in the morning & 45min in the evening.

Untill then..

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Day 22: (Plyometrics)

Third time is a charm!

Today I made it all the way through the workout without any additional breaks. That is quite an improvement from the first time we went through Plyo. Week 1 we added 8-10 additional breaks to the workout. Week 2 we added 1-3 additional 30 second breaks. Week 3 no additional breaks.

It is an intense Cardio workout. I even managed to keep pace for the most part with the video and the number of reps. I would say I'm at 80% on reps.

Stacy was bit by the nausea bug again today. She forgot to eat her afternoon snack and only managed to get halfway through the workout before her body shut down.

Its pretty cool to see several family members starting up on P90x as well. Its motivational to know other people that you are related to are going through the same thing.

Arms & back tomorrow

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Day 21: (Back & Chest) + Ab Ripper

69 Day left!!

This was our 3rd time through this workout and what a difference a few weeks has made. The workout still kicked our butt but we are at least able to keep up with the pace of the workout. Unfortunately, next week is a recovery week and the next week the next week the workout changes completely.

I guess that is the novelty of this program, just as soon as you get comfortable with a routine it changes. Hey, as long as it works I'm cool with it.

Our nutrition is still going well, we are staying in line with the plan overall.lyo Stacy has been cooking like crazy!

Tomorrow = Plyometrics

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Day 19: Kenpo X

Well, I'm not going to lie. We missed our Day 19 Kenpo workout. It was very busy the last 4 days and we just didn't fit it into our schedule. However, we will be back tonight for Day 1 of Week 3 (Back & Chest).

As I though in the beginning, the hardest part so far is rearranging our life to get a 1 Hours workout in.

See you tonight after the workout..

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Day 17 & 18: (Yoga/Legs)

It has been a very busy last few days. But we have managed to get our P90x workouts in. Week 2 is officialy over. Here is an abreviated recap:

Yoga Day 17:
THis is by far the most technicaly challenging of any of the workouts. Not neccesarily the hardest or physicaly demanding. For me though it is the toughest to duplicate what Tony and the other guys do in the video.

I can see where this will greatly increase out core strength as well as flexibility and balance. We can already tell a pretty major difference in our flexibility. Before we started the workout I couldnt do a simple toe grad (with leg extenses). Now I am able to grab each foot with each hand and flex. Its pretty cool to see results that quick

Legs/Back Day 18:
Legs and Back is one of my favorite workouts. The wall squats and chair pose are the toughest. There has to be some serious strengthening going on durring this workout. I cant really tell any major differences. I am not sure that I will be able to, out side of more definition. We rocked this workout for the most part.

Stacy messed up and didnt eat right and she had a rather tough time with the workout after the halfway point. Its a pretty major difference when you do and dont eat correctly.

Kenpo X tonight.

See you afterwards...

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Day 16: (Arms & Shoulders)

The workout:The strengthening continues. We havent been doing our worksheet to keep up with out reps and weights, but we need to start. I probably increased weight/reps 20% just fomr the first workout to the second.

The difficulty of this workout is pretty low. After doing Plyometrics the day before this workout is a breeze. Form is very important with the Arms & Shoulder not speed and reps like some of the others.

The aftermath:
I can really feel my triceps, shoulders and biceps tightning up after this workout. Its a pretty significant difference. I like it! After Mondays Chest & Back workout my chest muscles are pretty sore. So, I wasnt sure how well I was going to be able to do todays workout. I was suprised though that it didnt affect me much at all

The nutrition:
I mentioned the shake yesterday. I didnt realize how much fruit we go through in making them. We have already finished off out MONTHS supply of strawberries and bannanas. I am going to have to run to the store after dinner and pickup $29 worht to get us thourgh the rest of the month.

Otherwise, the nutrition part is going well. We are probably sticking 80% to the diet. Not hardcore but the over principles we are following. I have cut out nearly all of my soft drink intake. On the weekends ill cheat alittle and have one or two. For the most part though its water and juice.

Tomorow is Yoga...ugh

Its along workout so we are going to split it up. 45 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes in the afternoon.

See you then.

Day 15: (Plyometrics)

Round 2 on Plyometrics and things were MUCH better. I am not sure if it is the nutrition element that is in place now and was not the first go around, or if there is usually such a dramatic improvement from week 1 to week 2. Either way things went much better today, for me at least.

Stacy seems to have caught my nausia disease. She made it 20 minutes into the workout before she fell plague to the stomach ailment. I really wish we could figure out what is causing this. Nutrition? Exhaustion? Out of Shape? I dont know.

Anyway, i feel like my endurance is increasing and my overall strength is improving.

It was tough getting started back after the injury layoff, but I feel like we have fallen back into the grove fairly quickly.

One thing we discovered yesterday is the P90x Shake in the Nutrition guide. This thing really is amazing.

1 Cup Milk
4 Strawberries
1 Bannana
1 Cup Ice
2 Scoops of Vanilla Protien Powder

And blend till its liquid.

Pour and ENJOY!!


See you tommorow.

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Day 14: (Arms & Back)

Wow....what a difference a week (or two) makes. The first time we went through this workout it was really tough. As in, barely made it halfway through, tough. However, even with out 5 day layoff due to injury it was much better this time.

We could see a noticable difference in the number of pushup reps we were able to do. Pullups, not so much of a difference though.

Last week I ate wrong an was naucious halfway thourgh. This time i waited until 5 minutes left to get naucious. I dont understand why I got naucious this time though. I ate right and did the workout to a T. But, 5 minutes left I was on the floor in cold sweats and shakes. That is very frustrating.

Anyway, Plyometrics tonight.....yay!

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Day 14 (Ready to Resume)

After a 5 day Injry break we are ready to resume. That muscle referenced in the last post has now decided to stop hurting and we are able to commence working out. I REALLY hated to take a break but I physically could not do the workout with the pain that was shooting through my leg.

So, we are going to start back on our schedule tomoorow and wind the clock back to Day 8. Back & Chest followed by Ab Ripper are on tap for.


See you then


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Day 8: (Injury Report #2)

I am feeling better today. The back losened up quite a bit by the end of the day yesterday. I am now having some very odd pain in the muscle around the area diagrammed below.

However, we have taken off two days in a row now due to this injury and its time to quit complaining and get back to work. This stage of a workout is very important. If you sit out for too long you risk not starting again. So we are going to pickup with the notmal routine for today, which is (Arms & Shoulder + Ab Ripper X).

I am not going to push it too hard because I dont want to re-agrivate the injury.

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Day 7: Injury Report

Last Nights Workout


Injury Report:

I was standing in line at the U-Haul store and it hit me. The back tenses up and within 3 hours I was on my hands and knees crawling (litteraly, ask Stacy) to my bed.
It didnt happen durring a workout, not while running or doing some strenuos activity. It happend while I was completely still and standing....ridiculous.

I laid in bed the rest of the night, woke up this morning and I am feeling marginaly better. We'll give it another day to heal and be back to the workout on Wednesday.

Nutrition:

On the Nutrition front, we picked up our Protien Bars, Recovery drink & Protien mix yesterday at Wal-Mart. Our shopping is now compelte, its time to start eating right.

Ill let you know how that goes.


Till tomorow...


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P90x: Day 6 (Kenpo X)

7 Days down and 83 more to go!

I wasnt too sure what Kenpo X involved but a quick YouTube search shined a light on it. Its basically alot of kicking and punching. Think Tybo. Or click below for a quick preview.





Overall a pretty good workout. One of the easier ones in this first phase but it was actually somewhat enjoyable at times.

As you can see by the date of this post we had another scheduling issue. So insteand of busting out Kenpo yesterday we tried a early morning workout. We will be doubling up today as we are suppose to be doing Arms & Back today as well.

On the diet front, we are starting to get into the swing of things. Our first grocery store visit since starting the workout was Friday. We loaded up on a bunch of things we normaly dont eat or drink. Stacy is not looking forward to the big change in cooking.

We are planning a trip to GNC tonight to pickup our recovery drink and protien bar. After that we should be thoroughly equipped to jump into the diet.


Overall, the first week went well. Plyometrics was definatly the most challenging.

Cya back here tonight after (Arms & Back)

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P90x: Day 5 (Legs & Back)

When we were deciding which workout/nutrition plan to 'signup' to, we both thought the hardest part wouldn't be the actual work but fitting in the work into our day to day life. The last 2 days have proved that true so far.

Dont get me wrong the workouts are tough, but the hardest part is blocking out the time in your life to get them done. Thursday I didnt get home until 10:30 and that was suppose to be Yoga day (1:30min). That almost happnened again today but we managed to squeeze in the workout

We started around 8:20 and finished up right at 10:00pm.

The main workout, Legs & Back, was pretty good. A LOT of pushups and lunges. I didnt have as much trouble with the leg work as I did with the 120 or so pullups. That part is pretty tough for me. After the first few sets I have to use the chair to succesfully execute even one full pullup.

After the hour and half Yoga workout yesterday, todays workout flew by in no time. However, it was followed by Abripper X today. And....oh my. It was tougher today than any of the other 2 times we have done it so far. I think that is because while you are doing the Ab workout you use many of the same muscles that were used in the Leg Workout (Quads etc.)

Im feeling good overall. I had a bicep issue yesterday with some extreme tightness. But after Yoga and a good nights sleep that has seemed to work its way out.

Tomorow is Kenpo X. I have no idea what that even is but im looking forward to it....


Later.

P90x: Day 4 (Yoga)

Yesterday got crazy and we wound up taking a rest day early. So we have moved each workout up a day and taken out the Day 7 rest.

Yoga was awesome!

I kept hearing horror stories of how excruciating it is. Now, don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy. But it was relaxing in a weird kind of way. I could feel my muscles becoming more flexible and there was a noticeable different by the end of the workout.

This workout was a good bit longer. It was 90 minutes instead of 60, but I actually enjoyed it.

Got to run, supper time!

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