Day 36 Still at it, no time to blog

Hey blog readers, I haven’t dropped out after my 30 day milestone.  As a matter of fact I just finished my Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Ab Ripper X Day 36 P90X workout.  The Daylight Saving Time switch has really messed up my circadian rhythm so I have had to do my workout at night, since I sleep too late in the morning.  I can “Bring IT!” in the morning, in the evening…not so much.

Took my 30 day photos, but don’t want to post them until I write a thorough 30 day review.

Plyo tomorrow! Keep pushing play!

P90X Review Yoga X (Day 11 - Phase 1)

One hour and 36 minutes, that’s how much time you’ll have to set aside to do this P90X exercise routine.  My balance is improving on some of the poses, especially transitioning from runners pose to the warrior pose.  Last week I had to readjust myself everytime, this week was much better.  I’m really working on pushing myself to get a good stretch on all the moves.

This cold is still hanging around and going into the downward dog was really bringing on the sinus pressure.  I stuck in there and finished it off and started my Friday with a good workout.

P90X Review Chest & Back / Ab Ripper X (Day 8 - Phase 1)

I rested on day 7 (Monday), but was back at it on Tuesday morning.  On Monday, I felt like I was coming down with a cold, so I took some cold medicine and went to bed early hoping I could whip it over night.  No luck, I was sick.  I was dogging it all through the P90X workout.  I tried the tip that Chris had left in the comment section of this blog and it seemed to help get more out of the pull-ups.

When I started P90X, I purchased a set of push-up stands to enhance my P90X workout.  They arrived at the end of last week so I was looking forward to try doing push-ups with them.  They worked out great, I’m glad I made the purchase.  I’m not using them to extend the range of motion so much as to just take some of the pressure off my wrist.

I felt worse at the end of the work-out then when I started, but I was glad I completed the workout.  Making excuses to not work out is how I went from physically fit to out of shape over the years.

I made a protein shake for myself with the intention of drinking this on the way to work, but my stomach was so upset, I didn’t drink it until noon or so.

I couldn’t get my car started, so my wife had to take me to work.  This just added to the stress of the day… and week.

P90X Review Legs and Back (Day 5 - Phase 1)

This P90X workout hits the back using variations of pull-ups and the legs with variations of squats.  I’m sure I’m oversimplifying things here, but that’s what this video seemed like to me.  As a biker, I was ready to bring it on the leg portions.  Super Skaters was a bit of a challenge since the movement was unfamiliar to me.  Tony warns that it will be awkward at first, but improve over time.  My right knee was popping and creaking for some of the exercises, but I kept up my pace with the rest of the class.  I did better with the single leg wall squats than with the double leg wall squats. Really felt the burn in those wall squats, something tells me I’ll be feeling it tomorrow.

I’m feeling frustrated with the pull-ups.  Well I should say I’m feeling frustrated that I can’t do the pull-ups without the chair.  I know a lot of people start with the chair, but I feel like I’m assisting myself too much with my leg resting on the chair.  I’m thinking of buying the resistance bands so that I can work the muscles of the upper back without having to lift my own body weight off the floor.  Anybody else have that problem or frustration?

Ab Ripper X follows the Legs and Back routines.  I did a little better on the Crunchy Frogs with better form and better extension.

Wow, one more day and I’ll have completed my first week with the P90X fitness system.

P90X Review Day 1 - Phase 1

“Ready boys and girls? OK,  here we go…5,4…3,2″

If you’ve been doing P90X more than a week, you’ll know this is Tony Horton leading a P90X extreme fitness routine.  If you’ve been doing P90X for awhile you probably hear Tony’s voice in your sleep.

Well I had plans on doing my first routine in the early AM, but I overslept and didn’t have time.  I had a busy day at the office and I’m working on two design projects with a pretty tight deadline.  The stress of that and the repetitive movement of my arm scooting the computer mouse around made my shoulder felt like someone was sticking a hot poker in my shoulder.  I was determined to start P90X no matter what, so I took some pain reliever at dinner and waited for my turn with the TV and the DVD player.  With a wife and kids and all the things that come with that, it was later and later.

Finally everyone cleared out and I was ready to “Bring It”.  It’s been awhile since I’ve had a regular workout schedule so I’ve spent the month of January doing some of the routine I used to do when I was in better shape. Free weights and cardio on the stationary bike. I thought I was ready, boy was I was wrong.

The first time through the exercises, I tried to pace myself and not push myself too hard.  Even with the flyes, military presses, and bench presses I had been doing prior to P90X, I was struggling on some of the moves.  I’ve got a long way to go on the pull-ups. It was almost discouraging on how few pull-ups I could do.  I’m focusing on quality this week to get the moves done right.  Throughout Tony does sprinkle in a little encouragement and at the end he gives you a little pep talk.  Telling you it’s OK if you don’t keep up with the students on the screen.  Do your best and forget the rest!

I found the diamond push-ups particularly difficult.  It seemed like the wider my hands are, the easier it is to perform the maximum reps.  I also do push-up with my hands closed in a fist instead of an open hand.  This technique is easier on my rest and duplicates the position your hands would be if you were using push-up stands without the extended range of motion.

On to Ab Ripper X.  I had been doing crunches preparing for P90X and these Ab Ripper X was hitting muscles I wasn’t working on the assorted core exercises I’ve been doing since the beginning of January.  Crunchy frog was the exerise that proved the most challenging on this DVD.  I did my best and forgot the rest.

Overall, the workouts were as challenging as I thought they would be.  It would have been nice if they showed a camera angle from the top down on some of the ab exercises so I could check my form.

I’m going to attempt to get up early tomorrow and get the P90X workout in before the day wears me down.

Day one down, 89 more to go.  Decide…commit…succeed!