I came into today pretty sore. Not having that rest day between Plyocide and Total Body left me feeling it, even after yoga yesterday. I did make some good improvements today. I think more familiarity with the exercises is a big part of it.
No pull ups today, but plenty of full body moves. Lots of plank and sphinx moves. One thing that has troubled me in the past was doing push ups on dumbbells. Today I tried wrapping some thick socks around the handles. My grip was not as good, but I certainly got a lot more reps. I will definitely continue this practice.
Rest tomorrow and it couldn't come a day too soon. My body is looking for it.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
X2 Yoga
This post is a day late, but far from a dollar short. Yesterday was X2 yoga for me. It was definitely a challenge, particularly how quickly you go through all the warrior one poses. In the end, I definitely did better than last time. Can't say I did great as Yoga is a huge challenge for me. Both my body type and lack of flexibility really make it difficult.
I did have to come out of downward dog several times as it is a tough pose for me to hold long. Tony mentions during the workout, "downward dog is a rest pose for some people." I wish I was one of those people, but sadly, I am not.
I did have to come out of downward dog several times as it is a tough pose for me to hold long. Tony mentions during the workout, "downward dog is a rest pose for some people." I wish I was one of those people, but sadly, I am not.
Friday, April 27, 2012
X2 Total Body and Ab Ripper
I brought it today. I dug deep, pushed hard, but still only showed moderate improvement. I suspect I'll do better on improvement with the resistance phase, but right now, my body is feeling it. I'm starting to get the hang of some of the new exercises. One thing I don't like is there isn't always extra time to get in a few more reps. They really push you to up your weights in that regard.
I thought I'd start breaking down the workouts now that I've given them each a basic review. This workout is 12 exercises, repeated.
First exercise is one arm chest press on the stability ball. I've done this in the gym on a bench and the difference isn't that great. It is a very good exercise as it works so much more than just a bench press.
Next up, 4 position pull up. I've only got a straight bar, so this becomes 3 position for me..wide, narrow, and chin up. I still suck at them.
Third exercise is the first killer and the one that scares me the most. Med ball, push up, side arm balance. Having to balance on a med ball while doing a side arm balance is just scary for me. I know if I slip or slide off the ball, there is a good chance I'll snap my wrist like a twig. Use a bigger medicine ball for a slightly easier time.
Following that is the switch lunge press. This puts my heart rate into the stratosphere. Lunge forward, shoulder press, stand back up, lunge back, Arnold shoulder press. Stay on the same leg for the whole exercise. Switch legs during the repeat, so your leg is on fire.
Exercise 5, on the same leg as above, Warrior 3 Tricep kickbacks. Pretty much like the name says, warrior 3, on the same leg as above, and throw in some tricep kickbacks. Once again, same leg as above, no switch till round 2.
Wrap up the first half of round 1 with Warrior 3 curls. Luckily you switch legs as your right is a puddle of goo by this point.
I'll comment on the last 6 exercises next time.
You are supposed to wrap up with Ad Ripper. I had no energy and no time for that today. There is a slim chance I'll squeak it in tonight.
I thought I'd start breaking down the workouts now that I've given them each a basic review. This workout is 12 exercises, repeated.
First exercise is one arm chest press on the stability ball. I've done this in the gym on a bench and the difference isn't that great. It is a very good exercise as it works so much more than just a bench press.
Next up, 4 position pull up. I've only got a straight bar, so this becomes 3 position for me..wide, narrow, and chin up. I still suck at them.
Third exercise is the first killer and the one that scares me the most. Med ball, push up, side arm balance. Having to balance on a med ball while doing a side arm balance is just scary for me. I know if I slip or slide off the ball, there is a good chance I'll snap my wrist like a twig. Use a bigger medicine ball for a slightly easier time.
Following that is the switch lunge press. This puts my heart rate into the stratosphere. Lunge forward, shoulder press, stand back up, lunge back, Arnold shoulder press. Stay on the same leg for the whole exercise. Switch legs during the repeat, so your leg is on fire.
Exercise 5, on the same leg as above, Warrior 3 Tricep kickbacks. Pretty much like the name says, warrior 3, on the same leg as above, and throw in some tricep kickbacks. Once again, same leg as above, no switch till round 2.
Wrap up the first half of round 1 with Warrior 3 curls. Luckily you switch legs as your right is a puddle of goo by this point.
I'll comment on the last 6 exercises next time.
You are supposed to wrap up with Ad Ripper. I had no energy and no time for that today. There is a slim chance I'll squeak it in tonight.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Plyocide and Rest
As I commented on last post, I had a very late night Tuesday and there was no way I was getting up Wednesday to workout. So I took Wednesday off(using it as my rest day) and did Plyocide today.
The group of guys I've been working out with all think Plyocide is easier than P90x Plyometrics. I was thinking about it today as I was busy panting during the workout. First, the actual working out part is shorter. There is more warmup and cool down. I think plyocide has some exercises that are harder, but that P90x Plyometrics in general is harder.
Lets look at a little math. In Plyocide, you do 5 groups, of 4 exercises. Each exercise is roughly 1 minute, so that is 20 minutes of high impact exercise. In plyometrics, you also do blocks of 4 exercises, however, you end up with one extra minute of workout per block based on how the exercises are scheduled. Additionally, there is one extra block of exercises, so you're looking at almost 10 more minutes of almost equally intensive high intensity exercise.
The last part of the equation is doing p90x chest/back and then plyometrics leaves you much more tired than doing p90x2 core followed by plyocide, so that probably comes into the mix as well. Anyway, I've rambled enough for now.
Total Body and Ab Ripper tomorrow.
The group of guys I've been working out with all think Plyocide is easier than P90x Plyometrics. I was thinking about it today as I was busy panting during the workout. First, the actual working out part is shorter. There is more warmup and cool down. I think plyocide has some exercises that are harder, but that P90x Plyometrics in general is harder.
Lets look at a little math. In Plyocide, you do 5 groups, of 4 exercises. Each exercise is roughly 1 minute, so that is 20 minutes of high impact exercise. In plyometrics, you also do blocks of 4 exercises, however, you end up with one extra minute of workout per block based on how the exercises are scheduled. Additionally, there is one extra block of exercises, so you're looking at almost 10 more minutes of almost equally intensive high intensity exercise.
The last part of the equation is doing p90x chest/back and then plyometrics leaves you much more tired than doing p90x2 core followed by plyocide, so that probably comes into the mix as well. Anyway, I've rambled enough for now.
Total Body and Ab Ripper tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Week 2 - Core
This was my second time diving into this workout. To be honest, there were very few specifics I remembered going into it. I was surprised to feel that my upper body was a bit tired from Balance and Power a couple days earlier.
My numbers did improve for many of the exercises, but not like I had expected. In the past, doing workouts like chest/back, I would see gains of 20 or more push ups in the total count. I did not see improvements like that.
The dreya roll still eludes me, even with the medicine ball to assist. So I went back to the original, where I could use my hands to help push me up. The last exercise, the medicine ball, one legged, burpee is also still an immense challenge. Moving up to the 10lb ball helped as I gained a slightly large surface to spread my hands out. I managed 6.
I had also inflated my stability ball a bit more and that definitely helped.
Tomorrow Plyocide is scheduled. I will likely swap it with rest on the following day as I have some friends over tonight and will likely be up late.
My numbers did improve for many of the exercises, but not like I had expected. In the past, doing workouts like chest/back, I would see gains of 20 or more push ups in the total count. I did not see improvements like that.
The dreya roll still eludes me, even with the medicine ball to assist. So I went back to the original, where I could use my hands to help push me up. The last exercise, the medicine ball, one legged, burpee is also still an immense challenge. Moving up to the 10lb ball helped as I gained a slightly large surface to spread my hands out. I managed 6.
I had also inflated my stability ball a bit more and that definitely helped.
Tomorrow Plyocide is scheduled. I will likely swap it with rest on the following day as I have some friends over tonight and will likely be up late.
X2- Rest
Yesterday was day 7, rest or mobility and recovery. I had hoped to skip this day and do Core, but my body thought otherwise and after oversleeping a bit, was happy to have a day off.
There really isn't much more to write other than it was a nice break before week 2.
There really isn't much more to write other than it was a nice break before week 2.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
X2 - Balance and Power
I can sum this workout up in 5 words...."Plenty of room for improvement."
You once again start with the standard warm up. It's growing on my, but my stability ball with sand in the bottom sure does warm my shoulders up fast. Speaking of the stability ball, after the past couple workouts, I think this is the accessory to buy, if you're only going to buy one for X2. Yes, the foam roller is used every workout, but for making things hard, the stability ball rocks.
There are plenty of interesting, challenging, combo exercises in this routine. There are several one leg hopping or bending over exercises, that were tough. I think the worst exercise, for me, was the decline sphinx plank press. It's basically a sphinx push up with your feet on the ball. Lots of struggle for me. This workout, more than any of the other ones definitely highlighted the extra weight in my midsection.
Another highlight of my weight is there are several exercises where you use push up stands or dumbbells as push up stands. Putting 265ish pounds onto the palm of my hands is not remotely comfortable. Hopefully I will get back to eating better and drop a few pounds to make this workout a bit easier.
All in all, a good workout, probably the hardest so far. The addition of the medicine ball to so many exercises really had my core working hard.
As an fyi, I have a scheduling conflict Tuesday night(I'll be up really late), so that makes working out Wednesday very hard. I may skip rest/mobility and recovery tomorrow and jump right to Core, moving rest to Wednesday. We'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow, but week one, pretty much done!
You once again start with the standard warm up. It's growing on my, but my stability ball with sand in the bottom sure does warm my shoulders up fast. Speaking of the stability ball, after the past couple workouts, I think this is the accessory to buy, if you're only going to buy one for X2. Yes, the foam roller is used every workout, but for making things hard, the stability ball rocks.
There are plenty of interesting, challenging, combo exercises in this routine. There are several one leg hopping or bending over exercises, that were tough. I think the worst exercise, for me, was the decline sphinx plank press. It's basically a sphinx push up with your feet on the ball. Lots of struggle for me. This workout, more than any of the other ones definitely highlighted the extra weight in my midsection.
Another highlight of my weight is there are several exercises where you use push up stands or dumbbells as push up stands. Putting 265ish pounds onto the palm of my hands is not remotely comfortable. Hopefully I will get back to eating better and drop a few pounds to make this workout a bit easier.
All in all, a good workout, probably the hardest so far. The addition of the medicine ball to so many exercises really had my core working hard.
As an fyi, I have a scheduling conflict Tuesday night(I'll be up really late), so that makes working out Wednesday very hard. I may skip rest/mobility and recovery tomorrow and jump right to Core, moving rest to Wednesday. We'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow, but week one, pretty much done!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
X2 Yoga - aka Downward Dog Yoga
Many a P90X'r has been foiled by yoga. It's hard to stand still, in an uncomfortable position, and relax. Tony claims it is an integral part of the program, and I certainly agree that there are great benefits from yoga, I just wish I was better at it.
X2 yoga weighs in at 65 minutes, not the 90 from P90X or the 45 from the one on one yoga. I was looking forward to it. After doing the one on one for a long time, I missed the balance postures from the 90 minute version, but just couldn't commit to the longer workout.
The workout starts with a deconstruction of a sun salutation. You spend a long time in downward dog. I had to come out of it a few times. After a few more salutations, the speed really picks up to the point I was struggling to keep pace. My shoulders were screaming from so many push ups(I did them all) and then having to hold downward dog.
You spend a long time performing warrior one. I think you end up in the pose 6 times, before doing anything else. Most of those 6 times, you're not in it for very long, but the vinyasas push you hard. After that, you jump to warrior 3 and all the love that goes with that, culminating with crane...twice. After that, you race through the rest of the poses and move into yoga belly 3, just three ab moves, tough enough.
Then it's onto some more extended stretches, 90 seconds of Frog and pigeon again...that's just too long for me. Followed up with plow to shoulder stand and then wraps up with my preferred ending of corpse pose and ohms.
For me, the jury is still out on this workout. I like the 60 minutes, but he moves so fast through some things, and then holds downward dog forever that I really struggled. Being my first time through the workout, I expected to struggle, I'm just not sure that much. I do feel good though.
Balance and Power tomorrow.
X2 yoga weighs in at 65 minutes, not the 90 from P90X or the 45 from the one on one yoga. I was looking forward to it. After doing the one on one for a long time, I missed the balance postures from the 90 minute version, but just couldn't commit to the longer workout.
The workout starts with a deconstruction of a sun salutation. You spend a long time in downward dog. I had to come out of it a few times. After a few more salutations, the speed really picks up to the point I was struggling to keep pace. My shoulders were screaming from so many push ups(I did them all) and then having to hold downward dog.
You spend a long time performing warrior one. I think you end up in the pose 6 times, before doing anything else. Most of those 6 times, you're not in it for very long, but the vinyasas push you hard. After that, you jump to warrior 3 and all the love that goes with that, culminating with crane...twice. After that, you race through the rest of the poses and move into yoga belly 3, just three ab moves, tough enough.
Then it's onto some more extended stretches, 90 seconds of Frog and pigeon again...that's just too long for me. Followed up with plow to shoulder stand and then wraps up with my preferred ending of corpse pose and ohms.
For me, the jury is still out on this workout. I like the 60 minutes, but he moves so fast through some things, and then holds downward dog forever that I really struggled. Being my first time through the workout, I expected to struggle, I'm just not sure that much. I do feel good though.
Balance and Power tomorrow.
Friday, April 20, 2012
X2 Total Body and Ab Ripper
I believe this is the longest day of phase one. Weighing in at 1 hour and twenty minutes, you're spending a fair amount of time with Tony and the kids.
The workout starts with the same standard warm up. Some of it I like, some of it I don't. Since I didn't have any sore spots, I skipped the foam roller and did some stretching instead.
This workout continues the core/balance theme of phase one. First exercise, one arm chest press on the medicine ball and moved on from there. If you aren't pull up capable, like me, you'll have to modify a couple exercises, but otherwise, a good workout. There are some tough ones, medicine ball, side arm balance, push ups. I had to work hard to not slide off the ball and break my wrist. There are a few exercises done from the warrior 3 position as well, which really works the leg/glute/core.
One thing to be mindful of is switching legs. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. Since this is a repeat workout, you'll do the right leg only, for a couple exercises, and the left leg only, the second time through.
For those of you that missed the prison cell push up from P90x Core Synergistics, you'll be more than happy with the mule kick burpee as a replacement.
This workout wraps up with our first shot at Ab Ripper X2. I wasn't a huge fan of Ab ripper in P90X, mainly because of the additional time commitment. I will say, so far, I like the X2 version a bit better as there is someone demoing a modified/easier version of most exercises. Not being flexible enough to straighten my legs, really hampers the ability to do some of the exercises.
Overall, a good workout, with plenty of hard moves. I do miss the focus on certain body parts. For example, when I did P90X and did chest/back, I was wiped out, I had to dig deep and really work those muscle groups. We haven't had that deep focus on a body part yet. I believe we won't see that till phase 2.
The workout starts with the same standard warm up. Some of it I like, some of it I don't. Since I didn't have any sore spots, I skipped the foam roller and did some stretching instead.
This workout continues the core/balance theme of phase one. First exercise, one arm chest press on the medicine ball and moved on from there. If you aren't pull up capable, like me, you'll have to modify a couple exercises, but otherwise, a good workout. There are some tough ones, medicine ball, side arm balance, push ups. I had to work hard to not slide off the ball and break my wrist. There are a few exercises done from the warrior 3 position as well, which really works the leg/glute/core.
One thing to be mindful of is switching legs. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. Since this is a repeat workout, you'll do the right leg only, for a couple exercises, and the left leg only, the second time through.
For those of you that missed the prison cell push up from P90x Core Synergistics, you'll be more than happy with the mule kick burpee as a replacement.
This workout wraps up with our first shot at Ab Ripper X2. I wasn't a huge fan of Ab ripper in P90X, mainly because of the additional time commitment. I will say, so far, I like the X2 version a bit better as there is someone demoing a modified/easier version of most exercises. Not being flexible enough to straighten my legs, really hampers the ability to do some of the exercises.
Overall, a good workout, with plenty of hard moves. I do miss the focus on certain body parts. For example, when I did P90X and did chest/back, I was wiped out, I had to dig deep and really work those muscle groups. We haven't had that deep focus on a body part yet. I believe we won't see that till phase 2.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
X2 Recovery and Mobility
I don't get it. I tried, I did the whole workout, but I just don't get it. And I really wanted to love it.
Lets start with the fact that I'm not the most limber person. I wasn't able to touch my tows till P90X. But I will say I did enjoy the Stretch routine from P90X, on the rare occasion I did not sleep in and skip it on rest day.
The workout runs around 55 minutes. You start with a few sun salutations. The first of which is so long you want to beat Tony with the foam roller you thought you needed to buy. After that, you jump into a few easy "mobility" exercises that aren't taxing. You eventually return to these and I think the point is to show you how much better off you are.
After this, it's foam roller time. For something like 30 minutes, you roll around on the ground with the roller. I felt like I was cheating on my wife. To start, Tony doesn't demo. He wanders around, "coaching" the other people, which is nice, if you have a clue what you're doing. Finally, after 4 minutes of working the roller on one leg, he sits down and shows you how to do it on the other leg. I feel nothing but discomfort. And maybe this is where I don't get it. As I understand the roller, you're supposed to use it for self massage. But all he really tells you to do it roll around till you find a sore spot, and then push on it with the roller. Maybe the fact I'm not sore is the problem. But the only spots I could find that hurt weren't muscular so massaging them wasn't doing any good.
You wrap this up and do a couple of the exercises you did at the start. The "kids" all say how much better they feel. But there's still 12 or 15 minutes left? Now you get into the really long stretches. The ones you hold for 90ish seconds. There are 6 or 7 of them. Then it's wrap time.
I've read some other reviews online and people love it. So far, I don't, and I'm disappointed in that, you do this twice a week and I really wanted to feel as great as people say they do when they finish it. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I couldn't wait to finish.
I will not give up on it and plan to try it again, the next time it is scheduled.
Please comment if you've done this and what your experience was. Thanks.
Lets start with the fact that I'm not the most limber person. I wasn't able to touch my tows till P90X. But I will say I did enjoy the Stretch routine from P90X, on the rare occasion I did not sleep in and skip it on rest day.
The workout runs around 55 minutes. You start with a few sun salutations. The first of which is so long you want to beat Tony with the foam roller you thought you needed to buy. After that, you jump into a few easy "mobility" exercises that aren't taxing. You eventually return to these and I think the point is to show you how much better off you are.
After this, it's foam roller time. For something like 30 minutes, you roll around on the ground with the roller. I felt like I was cheating on my wife. To start, Tony doesn't demo. He wanders around, "coaching" the other people, which is nice, if you have a clue what you're doing. Finally, after 4 minutes of working the roller on one leg, he sits down and shows you how to do it on the other leg. I feel nothing but discomfort. And maybe this is where I don't get it. As I understand the roller, you're supposed to use it for self massage. But all he really tells you to do it roll around till you find a sore spot, and then push on it with the roller. Maybe the fact I'm not sore is the problem. But the only spots I could find that hurt weren't muscular so massaging them wasn't doing any good.
You wrap this up and do a couple of the exercises you did at the start. The "kids" all say how much better they feel. But there's still 12 or 15 minutes left? Now you get into the really long stretches. The ones you hold for 90ish seconds. There are 6 or 7 of them. Then it's wrap time.
I've read some other reviews online and people love it. So far, I don't, and I'm disappointed in that, you do this twice a week and I really wanted to feel as great as people say they do when they finish it. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I couldn't wait to finish.
I will not give up on it and plan to try it again, the next time it is scheduled.
Please comment if you've done this and what your experience was. Thanks.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
X2 Plyocide...where's my 30 seconds!?!?
Not at all like I expected.
First off, I had little to no soreness from the Core workout. I was expecting some. So I had fewer excuses for this 55 minute workout.
The warmup is the same as the day before. Some more with the stability ball followed by some with the foam roller. I'm still not sold on the foam roller, but we'll see tomorrow as I guarantee my calves will be screaming. Then he dives into a few more of the same stretches, inch worm(hate it), scorpion(like it), groiners(eh), and there might be one or 2 more. I know all you P90x fans will be sad, no lunge sequence. So it's 10-12 minutes till we are into the workout.
The workout consists of 5 blocks, each with 4 exercises, each lasting a minute. What happened to,"You can do anything for 30 seconds"? The first of which is not a plyometric exercise. So it breaks down to 20 exercises over the 25-30 minutes you are sweating. He dives right into it with the Killer Katherine Lunge. It's a Mary Katharine Lunge with a medicine ball that you shift from side to side. It's a tough starter in my opinion. A couple exercises later and it's slalom time, jump left to right, moving forward and back in groups of 4, just like a skier. My calves were dying by this point. I will definitely try to stretch them next time.
There are several moves you're going to have to concentrate to do. He does break into the equipment pile again, using the stability ball, foam roller, medicine ball(a 4lb will do), and a plyo box. I didn't have a plyo box handy so I just used the single step that separates our family room with the room I workout in. Not as high as Tony has, but high enough.
One thing I did like was there were a couple balance exercises where he said, every time you touch the floor, you owe 2 pushups. The first exercise, I only had 4 to do. The second, a whole lot more. But it was an interesting twist.
The cool down and end stretch, I'm not sold on. The workout ends with over 10 minutes left on the clock and after a quick cool down, we move into a new stretching philosophy. I forget what he calls it, but there is pushing and relaxing and you need a towel or a band of something like that. My towel now looks like I walked on it as well as threw it in the pool.
Overall, a good workout. Lots of new moves to learn, I did do some watching to get the hang of a few of them. I am definitely feeling it more than Core.
Tomorrow...Rest day already. X2 Recovery and Mobility
First off, I had little to no soreness from the Core workout. I was expecting some. So I had fewer excuses for this 55 minute workout.
The warmup is the same as the day before. Some more with the stability ball followed by some with the foam roller. I'm still not sold on the foam roller, but we'll see tomorrow as I guarantee my calves will be screaming. Then he dives into a few more of the same stretches, inch worm(hate it), scorpion(like it), groiners(eh), and there might be one or 2 more. I know all you P90x fans will be sad, no lunge sequence. So it's 10-12 minutes till we are into the workout.
The workout consists of 5 blocks, each with 4 exercises, each lasting a minute. What happened to,"You can do anything for 30 seconds"? The first of which is not a plyometric exercise. So it breaks down to 20 exercises over the 25-30 minutes you are sweating. He dives right into it with the Killer Katherine Lunge. It's a Mary Katharine Lunge with a medicine ball that you shift from side to side. It's a tough starter in my opinion. A couple exercises later and it's slalom time, jump left to right, moving forward and back in groups of 4, just like a skier. My calves were dying by this point. I will definitely try to stretch them next time.
There are several moves you're going to have to concentrate to do. He does break into the equipment pile again, using the stability ball, foam roller, medicine ball(a 4lb will do), and a plyo box. I didn't have a plyo box handy so I just used the single step that separates our family room with the room I workout in. Not as high as Tony has, but high enough.
One thing I did like was there were a couple balance exercises where he said, every time you touch the floor, you owe 2 pushups. The first exercise, I only had 4 to do. The second, a whole lot more. But it was an interesting twist.
The cool down and end stretch, I'm not sold on. The workout ends with over 10 minutes left on the clock and after a quick cool down, we move into a new stretching philosophy. I forget what he calls it, but there is pushing and relaxing and you need a towel or a band of something like that. My towel now looks like I walked on it as well as threw it in the pool.
Overall, a good workout. Lots of new moves to learn, I did do some watching to get the hang of a few of them. I am definitely feeling it more than Core.
Tomorrow...Rest day already. X2 Recovery and Mobility
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
X2 Core
Core has always been one of my weak areas...probably my weakest area. This workout showcased that.
The first time I go through a workout, I tend to go about 70-75%. I'm still learning the moves and don't want to overdue it that much. I tried to do that today, but there were a couple exercises I really had to work at to get right.
On to the meat of the workout. It starts simply enough with an interesting warmup. Have your stability ball handy, and make sure it is fully inflated for later in the workout. Mine was a little soft for a few exercises. You then move into a short segment with the foam roller. I can't say it did much for me, but I don't have any sore spots to workout on the first day. Maybe next time.
The workout runs for 55 minutes, with a 15(!) minute warmup and around 5 minute cooldown. In the 35 minutes you're working out, there are 17 exercises and some of them will really test you. However, Tony said it best, this workout "sneaks up on you". I can't point at a specific exercise that wiped me out, and I can't say that I am wiped out, but my shirt is soaking wet.
The last exercise is one leg, med ball, burpees. I think I got a total of 5, poor ones. The burpee was less of a problem than the med ball push up.
Tomorrow, Plyocide.
Plyometrics + Suicide = Plyocide....I can hardly wait.
The first time I go through a workout, I tend to go about 70-75%. I'm still learning the moves and don't want to overdue it that much. I tried to do that today, but there were a couple exercises I really had to work at to get right.
On to the meat of the workout. It starts simply enough with an interesting warmup. Have your stability ball handy, and make sure it is fully inflated for later in the workout. Mine was a little soft for a few exercises. You then move into a short segment with the foam roller. I can't say it did much for me, but I don't have any sore spots to workout on the first day. Maybe next time.
The workout runs for 55 minutes, with a 15(!) minute warmup and around 5 minute cooldown. In the 35 minutes you're working out, there are 17 exercises and some of them will really test you. However, Tony said it best, this workout "sneaks up on you". I can't point at a specific exercise that wiped me out, and I can't say that I am wiped out, but my shirt is soaking wet.
The last exercise is one leg, med ball, burpees. I think I got a total of 5, poor ones. The burpee was less of a problem than the med ball push up.
Tomorrow, Plyocide.
Plyometrics + Suicide = Plyocide....I can hardly wait.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Setting Goals
Throughout P90x, Tony Horton talks about setting goals. In the past, my goals were pretty much get through the workout and improve my performance...more reps, higher weights, etc.
This time, in addition to those goals, I intend to eat much better. I will keep track of my weight, but I suspect it will not reduce so much as move around and transform from fat to muscle. I could easily say my plan is to lose 30lbs, and it probably is, but my real goal is to take all those tight pairs of pants, and require a belt to wear them.
I have taken before pictures, but will spare you the sight until I can show my progress\transformation.
Background
Tomorrow, myself, my brother and 2 of our friends begin dedicating 90 days of our lives to P90X2. This blog will cover my efforts, trials, and tribulations.
I thought I'd give a quick introduction about myself and my plans. I just wrapped up my 5th round of P90x, but not without taking a month+ break, at the end, to deal with some tendonitis in my elbow. As a prep for X2 and to finish this round, I did 1 week of phase 1, 1 week of phase 2, and 1 week of recovery. I am by no means in the shape I want to be in for this.
While I've completed P90x 5 times, I have never followed the diet, so I'm carrying around plenty of extra weight. As part of this, I intend to work much harder on my eating, but that's another post. For the record, I'm 6-3 and around 265, built like an ox.
I prefer to do my workouts first thing in the morning as I like to spend time with the family when I get home from work. I will do my best to post in the mornings, but no promises. I expect my first posts to be reviews of each routine as I do them.
Lastly, outside of the tendonitis, which is pretty minor now, I ruptured my achilles tendon about 5 years ago...it's almost back to normal. Otherwise, my limitations are my own physical and mental issues.
And no, I've never done a pull up, chin up yes, pull up…not even close.
I thought I'd give a quick introduction about myself and my plans. I just wrapped up my 5th round of P90x, but not without taking a month+ break, at the end, to deal with some tendonitis in my elbow. As a prep for X2 and to finish this round, I did 1 week of phase 1, 1 week of phase 2, and 1 week of recovery. I am by no means in the shape I want to be in for this.
While I've completed P90x 5 times, I have never followed the diet, so I'm carrying around plenty of extra weight. As part of this, I intend to work much harder on my eating, but that's another post. For the record, I'm 6-3 and around 265, built like an ox.
I prefer to do my workouts first thing in the morning as I like to spend time with the family when I get home from work. I will do my best to post in the mornings, but no promises. I expect my first posts to be reviews of each routine as I do them.
Lastly, outside of the tendonitis, which is pretty minor now, I ruptured my achilles tendon about 5 years ago...it's almost back to normal. Otherwise, my limitations are my own physical and mental issues.
And no, I've never done a pull up, chin up yes, pull up…not even close.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)