P90x Chest/Shoulders/Triceps

If you've been reading this blog, you know this is the workout I like the least. I managed to drag myself out of bed this morning, determined to bring it and I did. My numbers weren't as great as last time, and I reduced some dumbbells a little, but I pushed hard and had a much better workout than I expected.

It's been 6 hours and I'm starting to feel it already. Gonna be sore tomorrow. Had a decent go with Ab Ripper completing over 300 of the 349 moves. Considering my lower back is still sore, I was satisfied with those numbers.

Here are my stats:


I'm looking forward to pushing harder next time and returning most of my dumbbell weights to their previous highs.

P90x Rest

I really wanted to stretch this morning as my back is still tight, but I just didn't make it out of bed early enough, or with enough motivation. So today became a rest day.

Tomorrow is CST(Chest/Shoulders/Tris). After previewing it earlier today, I remember hating it even more.

P90x Yoga

As I feared, not enough time to get everything in. As usual, I made it through the first half and select parts of the second.

Tomorrow is my last day of recovery before starting phase 2. I really don't like phase 2. Chest/Shoulders/Tris (CST) sucks. Back and Bis isn't bad. I have to be honest, I don't miss my inability to do pull ups either.

Lower back is still stiff. Better than yesterday, but not great. Hopefully tomorrow's stretch will help.

P90x Core Synergistics

What a great workout that is. I was a bit sluggish getting up this morning and have to do a little work this morning, so I kept with the regular schedule and did Core this morning. My lower back is still tight, so I was hoping this would help loosen it up. It didn't bother me much during the workout, but is already getting tight now. Maybe I'll have to do stretch again tonight.

Started strong, 30 of the staggered push ups. By the end, I was sucking wind bad. It is HOT and Humid here, even in the morning, so I was sweating buckets. On top of that, my body has gotten used to working out starting at 5 and eating breakfast around 6:30. If I sleep in a bit and don't workout till 6:30 or 7:00, I'm HUNGRY partway through the workout and will sometimes run out of gas toward the end. I was borderline today.

Loving my protein shake now.

P90x Stretch

Thank god today was stretch day. Yesterday afternoon my back started tightening up and this morning it was tied in knots. Worse than it has been in over a year. Struggled through a few of the stretches, but it definitely helped. Hopefully I'll be better tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow is Core, followed by Yoga on Monday. I'm thinking of switching them so I can be sure to have the time to complete yoga. My only concern is a bunch of push ups for core, a day of rest, and then starting Chest/Shoulders/Tris(CST for short), my least favorite workout.

P90x Kenpo

Had yesterday and today off, so we packed as much as we could into it. Discovery Museum, Mall, and over an hour in the pool. After hopping around in there, while holding both of my kids, my legs were tired this morning. They were ok for Kenpo, but much to my surprise, my lower back tightened up, a lot. I'm not sure if I did it in kenpo, the pool, or is related to something from core. Anyway I look at it, it's tight and the wife wants to spend an hour in the car today. Gonna be a long day.

Time for breakfast, and then the beach.

P90x Core Synergistics

Today was Core Synergistics. Another workout I enjoy. It was 80+ degrees and 1000% humidity in my family room. I'm dripping like I just got out of the pool.

Prison cell push ups and plank to chataranga run, so challenging. I'll do it again in a couple days.

I do enjoy recovery week. When I first started P90x, it was so hard. Now, while it is challenging, my body appreciates the change of pace.

P90x Yoga

Day one of recovery week. I managed to get up early enough to do yoga, which is the appropriate workout. I felt good today. My push ups were strong and other than a little pain in my right shoulder, which I've had for years, everything was good.

I still need to work on that last set of vinyasas.

P90x Rest

I overslept a bit this morning and while I doubted I'd get to Stretch tonight, I waited till I was sure I wouldn't get to it to post.
So today is a rest day.
Tomorrow starts recovery week. If I get up early enough, it will be yoga as scheduled. Since I have Thursday off, if I oversleep a little, I'll switch Core and Yoga and do Core tomorrow and Yoga Thursday.

P90x Kenpo

Yesterday was a very busy day. After legs in the morning, my wife joined me a little later for Ab Ripper X...she hates me today. Then it was race around to setup for Father's day. Needless to say, I was wiped out by last night.

I really like Kenpo after legs. I know I've said it before, but it really works for me. Legs are STIFF today, so Kenpo loosen them a little.

I've decided I really don't care for Wesley Idol. The workout isn't that hard, but he's just not bringing it. Even more annoying to me is the fact he has trouble keeping pace. His timing is frequently off. Certainly, he doesn't teach kenpo as a cardio workout, so all this can be forgiven, even if it does annoy the crap out of me.

Stretch tomorrow and then recovery week!

P90x Legs/Back

Another great workout today. I was slow to start, but once I got going, had a great workout. Sometimes I think this is mental and directly related to the amount of sweat on my shirt. Well today, being a bit warmer and more humid than it has been, I don't have a dry article of clothing on my body.

Off to prepare for all the Father's Day guests and for any fathers reading this, Happy Father's Day!

Future Workout Routines

Yesterday a friend mentioned he had heard about Beachbody making a new P90x. I was immediately excited as I really enjoy the routines, but a little variety could certainly spice things up.

A little Google-Fu and I found part of a video from a Beachbody Coach event.

At around 6:30 of the way in, they start talking about what we want to hear about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex8lgqX2aPw

Highlights include
1. Late 2010/early 2011 - Insanity Sequel - I don't see how they can make this much harder without real concern for injuries.

2. They will also start work on a Shaun T one-on-one series(Insanity Asylum), with monthly videos.

3. At some point(Soon I think), they will start releasing Volume 3 of one on one with Tony Horton, however, they are rebranding it as P90x one on one.

4. Those videos will contain segments of the creation of P90x Next. He talks about more muscle confusion, but holds that the setup of P90x just works. I saw somewhere else online they mention it will be another 12 DVDs, so a whole new regime. Unfortunately, that won't be out till Fall 2011. I can hardly wait.

P90x Yoga

Woke up feeling pretty good this morning. Got through the first half with minimal problems. I doubt I'll ever be great at it, but I'm making very slow improvements.

I finally managed to finish a complete yoga workout. No soccer or other time limits. Both kids got up during it, but were good, so that always makes it easier.

P90x Shoulders/Arms

Another workout I'm going to miss. Such a good workout that I enjoy doing. The only complaint I have is setup/cleanup. I use 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 lb dumbbells. They're a pain in the but to drag out.

I was afraid after mowing 2 lawns yesterday that I would be having severe allergy problems today, but it looks like the zyrtec kicked in as I feel pretty good and went up in a lot of exercises.

Here are today's stats:

P90x Plyometrics

Having today off, I slept in a little...an extra 30 minutes. I expected to wake up feeling pretty refreshed and ready to go. That could not have been further from the truth. I felt like I was trying to start an old car that had been sitting for years today.

I've been blaming allergies for the past couple weeks, so I finally started taking Zyrtec to see if that would help. No dice so far. I'll give it another couple days.

As much as I struggled, I worked insanely hard. In fact, I sweat more than I did for Insanity. My shirt could not have been more wet if I thrown it in a pool.

Recovery next week, so that means a week off from plyo. I'll miss it, I enjoy kicking my own but. By the way, for the record, 46 Jump Knee Tucks on the first pass and 36 on the second! Now I just need to work on getting my knees higher.

P90x Chest/Back

This is one of my favorite workouts, which makes me sad since I don't do it again till week 9! That's right, 6 weeks. That sucks. So made made sure I brought it today, going up in almost every chest exercise.

I want to add a note here about pull ups. At 6'-3" and 250lbs, pull ups are definitely on the things I want to do better list. So to further that goal, I go very slow, especially on the negative...several people have posted on the P90x forums that this is the best way to make good gains at pull ups. It has definitely helped me. I can do 2 chin ups now.

Here are today's stats:



It's hard to believe recovery week is right around the corner.

P90x Stretch X

I was really happy to head to bed early last night so I could get up and get this in. I feel great now, very relaxed.

I want to add, this is a great workout. My glutes were still tight when I started, but feel so much better now. My hamstrings are looser than they've been in weeks as well.

P90x Kenpo

I really enjoy the combo of Legs/Back followed by Kenpo. I'm ALWAYS sore after legs and Kenpo really does a nice job of helping stretch me out. They have to be paired this way for that reason.

Here is a little P90x trivia. Did you know KenpoX was originally billed as a boxing video. I think it was XBox...Ironic, it's pretty far from a video game. Anyway, do a youtube search for the making of p90x and you'll find a series of clips. At least one of them uses that name when discussing the workouts.

Stretch tomorrow, hopefully I'll get it done.

P90x Legs/Back

I don't know what it is about this workout. I really enjoy it. It's hard, but not so hard that you're dying or you want to quit. For me, it goes fast too.

Added some dumbbells in this week for a few of the exercises. I also added shrugs during the slow part of the calf raises. All in all, a great workout, hopefully enough to work off all the beer I drank and crap I ate at a picnic yesterday.

P90x Yoga

I didn't miss this workout yesterday, I did, once again, run out of time and have to cut it short. Fortunately, it was the last week of soccer, so next time I should be able to do the whole thing.

I worked through the first half and then ran out of time. I had hoped to come back to it after soccer, but that didn't happen. So it goes, I got the hard part done.

P90x Shoulders & Arms

Wow, what a great day! Brought it and pushed hard. Added the 40's in for a couple exercises and moved a couple biceps to 35s. Surprised myself a little.

Another early soccer game for my daughter tomorrow, hopefully I can get up early enough to get all of yoga in.

P90x Plyometrics

Woke up feeling good this morning. Brought it!

I have to say that Insanity definitely helped my cardio capacity. I'm still working with plyo as there is a lot of power associated with so many of the moves. But I'm able to catch my breath better than before.

There aren't any stats to keep for Plyo, but my brother and I still compete with at least one exercise, Jump Knees Tucks(JKTs). Today I got 45 on the first round, I went the whole 30 seconds without stopping. The second round I made it to 30 before taking a quick breather and then tacking 5 more on for a total of 35. A very good showing. Now I have to work on getting my knees higher.

P90x Rest/Stretch

Unfortunately, yesterday ended up being a rest day. I really wanted to get stretch in, but by time the kids were in bed and I had helped my wife with her math homework, it was bedtime.

P90x Chest/Back

Alright, yes, I'm messing a little with the order. I'll be up late tonight and won't have time tomorrow morning to workout. So in case I don't get to workout at all, I shifted rest/stretch to tomorrow and did chest/back a day earlier. No big deal.

I brought it big time this morning. My body is already getting back in the groove. Net increase of 20 push ups and 10 more on my knees(diamonds). Also went up a dumbbell size.

Here are the stats:

P90x Day 6 Kenpo X

Woke up this morning and my legs, particularly my hamstrings and glutes were pretty tight. I definitely felt them during the Saunder's Cycle at the beginning. But that helped loosen them up as did all the kicking.

My brother(who also does P90x) and I have considered swapping out kenpo in favor of something more difficult. Lets face it, this is not a hard workout. But it does do a great job of helping recover from legs and back, which is the day before. So we leave it in, and are happy for an easier day.

Stretch tomorrow, every time I say I'm going to do it, and every time I sleep in. Lets see what happens tomorrow.

P90x Day 5 Legs/Back

I like this workout. It's hard, but doable. The only problem is I hurt the next day...even after doing 2 straight rounds of P90x, this workout still left me sore every time.

Tomorrow will be no different. My legs were a little stiff going in and halfway through, my hamstrings were already starting to feel tight. I dread tomorrow and the next day.

I'm already tired of summer, I sweat so much this morning, I was dripping on the floor.

I did skip the weights for all exercises today, except calves. I also merged a shrug in with the slow calf raises.

P90x Day 4 Yoga

Time was tight yesterday morning, so I didn't get a chance to post, but I did get yoga in. I had to skip a couple moves or we would have been late for soccer, but so it goes.

Yes, yoga is hard, but at the end, I felt great. Fairly well stretched out and relaxed.

P90x Day 3 Shoulders/Arms

My chest and back are still extremely sore. The jumping jacks during warm up were actually painful until I got warmed up. Legs feel pretty good, with a little soreness settling into my glutes.

I like shoulders and arms. It's not a terribly difficult workout, but you can get great results if you put the effort in. It's 4 rounds, each with a shoulder, then bicep, then tricep exercise. Repeat them, move on. There is also a 5th, bonus, round. Did it all, definitely lost a little, but also could have pushed a little harder. Stats are below.

I'm looking forward to yoga tomorrow. I know it's long, I know it's hard, but I also know I'll feel so much better afterward. My biggest problem is my daughter has an 8 am soccer game. Not sure if I'll be able to get up early enough.

P90x Day 2 Plyometrics

Wow, lets start by saying I brought it hard yesterday and definitely feel it today, a lot. Chest and back are stiff and sore, shoulder joints hurt from all the push ups. I can't wait to get my push up mojo back. I understand why people who have never worked out a lot quit here.

Let me start by saying, after completing Insanity, I expected Plyo to be a piece of cake....I could not have been more wrong. I'm still having allergy issues, and the humidity was like drowning. Plyo, while much more slower paced than Insanity, has a lot more power requirements. Lots more squatting/lunging/jumping. On the upside, I only had to stop for a couple seconds once or twice to catch my breath...right after Jump Knee Tucks(the mother of all P90x exercises), and this was probably from allergies.

I really like Tony. He does a great job of acting as an instructor and he does a much better warm up/cool down than Insanity. With Insanity, I swear you needed to warm up before starting the video.

Anyway, I can feel my glutes already getting tight. Tomorrow morning is going to be brutal, I expect that, and I know that's when a lot of people quit After day 2, everything hurts. But things start to settle down with day 3, get through the first week and you're well on your way.

P90x Day 1 - Chest/Back

Wow, that was a lot harder than I remember. I had to be very careful with the shoulder I hurt as I could definitely feel its weakness. despite the night I had, I still put up pretty respectable numbers.

Got to bed at 1:30am, and my daughter threw up at 2:30, 3:45, and 4:45. Then got up at 6:30. The wife was wiped out, so I let her sleep in a bit. It helps that I have the day off.

Had a terrible allergy cough develop halfway through. Hacked up lots of phlem, which will help in the long run, but even now, 30 minutes later, my belly is not happy.

Here are my numbers, I'm trying to publish a google spreadsheet. Results from last round and now this one. Don't forget, I took a week off after the last round, then did Insanity, and then took another week, so I have had some rest.