Today was Shoulders & Arms along with everyone’s favorite - Ab Ripper X. Shoulders and Arms went well and now that I have two sets of dumbells, I can use the heavy weights on the curls and the presses and the lighter weights on the triceps moves. My reps went down by about 5%, but the weight I was using was almost twice the weight I was using before so I felt like I was in the right reps/weight ratio for building mass. I can tell I really worked the arms today. I felt like I did the first day I completed this P90X routine, very sore in my arms and shoulders.
Completed Ab Ripper X. It’s still a challenge for me to complete all the reps of all the exercises. That’s a good thing. I’m out of shape and if it was easy, I’d be disappointed that the program wasn’t tough enough. My nine year old son did the entire Ab Ripper X workout including the bonus Mason Twists last night without much effort until he finished the last couple Mason Twists. He said he wanted to turn his four pack into a six pack. I remember those days. He has the same build and metabolism that I had when I was his age.
Wow…less than a week now and I’m at the 30 day point. I told my wife that I was going to go out clothes shopping to reward myself for doing P90X for 30 days and eating clean the whole time. I need new pants, the pairs I have now are getting too big - that’s a good thing! Over the years I’ve been buying pants with slightly larger waist every once in awhile. Then I discovered men’s maternity pants. You guys now what I’m talking about? They have the hidden waistband that expands. Instead of the waistband pinching into your gut and telling you that you’re getting chubby, it just grows right along with you. It’s time to say good bye to those khakis and donate them to charity.
Plyometrics really gets my heart pumping. The first couple of weeks I really dreaded this P90X workout, now I’m getting a little more accustomed to the high impact jumping. I say a little more because I have a better pair of shoes, but my knees are still taking a beating. When I make it through this program, I may have to really modify the stress my knees are enduring jumping up and down. The crackand creak throughout the workout and they are sore for most of the day. I’m afraid that if I modify it too much, I’ll diminish the aeorobic benefits of the exercises. I wouldn’t be able keep my heart rate in the zone. What does Tony mean by “are you in the zone?” He’s referring to the heart rate zone. Here’s a graphic I borrowed frrom the Beachbody message board to help you figure out the right heart zone for P90X Plyometrics. I like to keep it in the 70-80% of my Maximum Heart Rate. The easiest way to calculate your maximum heart rate is with the following formula:
217 - (your age × 0.85) = MHR
What zone (%) does everyone else shoot for?
I guess I was too rested on Tuesday since I overslept instead of getting up at the crack of dawn for P90X Chest and Back. That was a first for me, I haven’t slept through the alarm and missed a workout yet. Over course that meant I had to come home after work and complete the workout.
On the way home I stopped by Sears and bought a new pair of New Balance running shoes for my workouts. The shoes I have been using, I am ashamed to admit, were about six or seven years old. I’m sure you’re imagining some really ratty looking shoes. They really look pretty good. I rarely wore them outside so they look new. However, most of the articles I have been reading about how to cure shin splints suggest replacing your gym shoes. I found a pair with great heel padding so I’m ready to bring it with my new kicks.
I hate working with spectators around and my wife found great amusement in watching me do Dive Bomber Push-Ups. She really exercised great self control and didn’t critique my form at all during the work-out. She did show me that some of the Ab Ripper X exercises that I said were really hard, didn’t seem so hard for her. She’s been doing the Hip Hop Abs workout while I’m at work and the kids at school and she’s getting great results.
Speaking of results, Tuesdays are weigh-in nights. My wife and son are fans of the show Biggest Loser and they get a kick out of seeing dad stepping on the scale to check his progress. I often have a hard time seeing the scale’s display because they want to see the numbers first. A cheer went out when we saw that I had dropped 3.5 lbs since last week. That has been the largest one week weight loss since I started P90X. It was a great way to end the day. Really got me motivated to keep pushing play!
I chose to take advantage of the rest day on Monday. I’ve had a VERY stressful week and it was great to just relax and recharge. I finished up the projects I’ve been working on at work, so it was truly a rest day.
Well Sunday was supposed to be Kenpo X, but with thought of another day with shin splints after doing this P90X workout, I decided to substitute another form of exercise for today. I bike a lot in the summer, in fact I often bike my 14 mile commute on the nice days. When I was getting ready to take on P90X, I would often spend an hour on the stationary bike and the next day free weights, alternating between the two. I’d keep my MHR in the 70-80% zone for a great aerobic workout. I’ve been missing that ride, and I just don’t have time in the day to do both, so the bike won on Sunday.
Kenpo X will have to wait for another day.
