Back in the saddle!

The refueling outage at my work is complete, and I'm back to doing P90X again!  About time!  I'm back up to 248 pounds, so I didn't do well between the end of my first run and now.  However, I hope that I learned some valuable lessons about how to conduct myself.  I won't be following the P90X program forever, so unless I want to gain all the weight back and lose my fitness gains, I'm going to have to figure out how to eat right and get enough exercise to maintain these gains.  I'm not sure what that's going to look like yet, but I need to start thinking about it, anyway.

I'll post more updates as needed.

Dan

P90X Round 2: Week 5

The week started off great!  Monday through Thursday I had great workouts and ate much better.  However, Friday through Sunday were bad.  I didn't do the workouts and ate bad about 1/2 of the time.  I know I need to do better, but I cannot get the motivation up.  It's so frustrating!

All I can do now is not let the past affect the future.  I need to work my hardest each day to work up the motivation to get the workout done and have control of the eating habits.  I know I can do it...just need to figure out how do actually do it every day!

Dan

P90X Round 2: Weeks 3/4

Well, week 3 started out pretty good, but didn't end well.  I let the lazy Dan talk me into not doing the workouts anymore...I'm ashamed.  So, I spent all last week telling myself that I "just wasn't motivated" to do the workouts.  Hogwash!  I was making excuses so I didn't have to do them.  Also, since I wasn't doing the workouts anymore, I was eating pretty much what I wanted.  At work, I was still eating good...probably so my co-workers didn't know about not doing the workouts.  Again...ashamed.

Well, today I'm stopping all that crap and going back to the "new" Dan, who does the workouts every day and eats like he should!  I missed an entire week (plus Yoga and one Ab workout during week 3), so I'm onto week 5 now.  I did Chest, Shoulders and Triceps today.  Pretty much sucked at it, but that's what I get for quitting!  It's only uphill from here!

Dan

P90X: Round 2: Week 2

I had an OK week this week...still not eating nearly as good as I'd like to be.  As I said last week, that 6-week in-between period really screwed me up and had my mind telling me it's OK to eat that way...I've already lost 50 pounds!  True, but I really want to get down below 200 and that will take another 27 pounds.  I don't think I'll get there eating like this.  I'm not sure how to fix it...but I need to...soon.

As for the program, I had to adjust again.  Monday was our last Senior legion baseball game so I missed that workout and moved everything out.  Then, it was so hot Wednesday night (when I was supposed to do Plyometrics...which I have to do in the garage) that I did Kenpo inside instead.  This was supposed to push Plyometrics to Friday but it was 100+ degrees again and I decided to do Yoga...hoping it would be cooler on Sunday...which it was.

Basically, as you can see below...I did no workout on the day it was originally scheduled.  :)  Oh well, I got them all done, so that's the important thing.

Monday: Chest and Back No Workout
Tuesday: Plyometrics Chest and Back
Wednesday: Shoulders and Arms Kenpo
Thursday: Kenpo Shoulders and Arms
Friday: Shoulders and Arms Yoga
Saturday: Yoga Legs and Back
Sunday: Stretch Plyometrics

I think I'm going to try to do Stretch tonight if I have time to (which I should).  I really enjoyed it last year, when it was the only workout on Sunday and especially after I did Legs and Back, which leaves me sore every time.

Dan

P90X: Round 2: Week 1

I've come to the end of my first week of P90X round 2, and boy was it painful!   I wouldn't think that taking 6 weeks off between would make such a big difference, but I was really sore this week...just like I was during the first week of round 1.  Now it's Sunday and I'm feeling much better...with the usual glute/upper leg soreness from Legs and Back.  I'm hoping that week 2 is much easier and less sore like it was in week 1.

As for eating, I'm not doing as good as I should be.  Not horrible, just not as good as I'd like.  The 6 week period between rounds has brought back some bad habits that I need to rid myself up pretty quick here.

As for the program, I've made one simple change.  I've swapped Yoga and Kenpo around.  I now do Kenpo on Thursday and Yoga on Saturday, when I have more time for a 90 minute workout.  Kenpo is <60 minutes, so it just makes sense.

So, one week down...12 to go.  I'm really excited about where this round is going to take me and my fitness level.  I'd love to see my abs, but if I don't, that's ok because I still will have worked my ass off during that 13 weeks.

Talk to you next Sunday!!

Dan

T-14 Days and Counting!

Well, I'm 2 weeks out on starting round 2 of P90X, and I can't wait!  I'm really excited to get started again and to really push myself to get in really good shape.  I weighed myself this morning, and I'm still at 226.4, which is 47.6 pounds down from when I started.  I'm going to ramp back up the healthy eating this next two weeks, and I'd love to be at or below 224 (50lb lost) by the time I start.  I'd like to get below 200, but I'm not making it a goal because I don't want to limit myself...I'm going to work my butt off and see where it takes me.

Dan

New P90X Plan

After looking at the schedule, I've decided to start a new P90X program on July 16th.  This is near the end of the baseball season and will end right when the refueling outage at my work starts.  I'm working 60 hours a week during that outage, so being done before that starts is a huge plus.

So, I have three weeks left before that happens.  I haven't done any additional P90X workouts whild I've been off, so that's not good.  But I am determined to complete another round, so I'll enjoy this 3 weeks and then get back into it.

Dan

Stop the Insanity!!

Ok, I've finally come to my senses. Coaching baseball and P90X at the same time is not a good idea.  I really like both, but I can't get these games in and then start up a workout at 10:30-11pm at night.  This week is so busy with games, that I was considering doing chest and back at 11pm tonight, and then plyometrics at 4am tomorrow.  That's crazy

Therefore, I'm going with my initial idea of waiting until baseball is over before starting up with P90X again.  If it turns out that I can control my eating during this lull, I guess I'll gain the weight back.  I'm tired, and it's not great on the family life either.

Dan

Round 2, Day 7: X Stretch

As usual, X Stretch on Sunday evening was just what I needed.  As I've mentioned numerous times on this blog before, my glutes, hamstrings and quads are always sore on Saturday and Sunday after Legs and Back on Friday.  I feel so much better after doing this workout.

Also, this workout produced two firsts:  1) I touched the floor with my toes on plough for the first time and 2) I was able to do Camel by going back onto both feet for the first time.  This may not seem like much, but to me it's more evidence that this program is still producing steady improvements.

Well, one week of round 2 down, and it went very well.  I've got new batteries in the body fat scale, so I'm going to take a peek at that and see where I'm at.  It will be interesting to see, as I've not been as "straight and narrow" with the eating as I was the first 2/3 of round #1.

Off to bed, as I have a busy week ahead of me (big surprise, right?).  Baseball games tomorrow, Tuesday and Thursday.  Avery also has at least one game this week as well.

Dan

Round 2, Day 6: Kenpo X

Didn't get up early Saturday to get this workout in, but I did have some good luck...for P90X anyway.  We were supposed to have a Senior Legion tournament in Falls City Saturday starting as noon, and just as the first game was winding down, we got about 1.5 inches of rain...in the span of about 30-40 minutes.  Needless to say, the tournament was cancelled so I had all kinds of time in the early afternoon to workout.

Kenpo...well, it's Kenpo.  It's a fun workout and I have a lot of areas to improve.  For example, my side and back kicks with the left leg are still ugly and wouldn't be very effective in a real situation.  I also need to try and improve my hip and feet movement during some of the punch sequences.  All in all, though, the goal is to burn calories, and I certainly did that.  My heart rate monitor showed 75-85% max heart rate most of the time, so that's very good.

I'm just getting ready to do my X Stretch, so I'll be shooting off a post on that later this evening or tomorrow.

Dan

Round 2, Day 5: Legs and Back with Ab Ripper X

Well, just like the Yoga workout I did today, I "nailed" the legs and back workout too.  Again, I don't know what it is, but I was really going after it tonight.  I would have expected that with my doing two workouts today, I may have trouble with legs and back, and I guess some of the "usual suspects": were still harder than others (I really stink at balance lunges), but again I was huffing and puffing after this workout more than I ever did the firs time around.

Ab Ripper was pretty much a carbon copy of Wednesday's workout.  I did all of the reps with a couple going past the "time limit" imposed on the TV.  None more than 5-10 seconds, though.

Maybe this is a sign of what's to come.  I really have a great feeling about how I'm going to feel when day 90 of round 2 rolls around.  I have 2 goals.  1) I want to go below 200 pounds. 2) I'd love to see my abs.  I don't know if either are possible, but they are goals that I can shoot for, right?

Kenpo tomorrow morning, as I have a busy Saturday planned.  Baseball tournament, wedding reception, and Wendy's 20 year class reunion.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Dan

Round 2, Day 4: Yoga X

All I can say is WOW!  I've never had a Yoga X workout like that before!  I don't know if it's just my energy level today (can't be that...I've had 11.5 hours of sleep the past 3 days) or what, but I "brought it" during the workout today.  I was down farther than I'd ever been before on the Crescent/Warrior poses.  The only thing I can this of is I was really trying to work on my breathing during the poses..that and closing my eyes when possible.  I've been told it helps...maybe they're right!!  I sweat my "you know what" off!!

Report for Legs and Back coming up!!

Dan

Round 2, Day 4: Baseball!!

We had a juniors-only double-header Thursday night in Holton, KS.  Beat 'em 13-2 and 11-0!  Got home a little after 11pm.  I considered doing the Yoga workout, but I would have ended at nearly 1am (too late) and I also had another job to do.

We are using iPads to keep our baseball scorebooks this year.  The app we use is good, but it takes some getting used to...I still get stuck with it sometimes.  Anyway, last night the Seniors had a double-header too...at home against Hiawatha, KS.  The senior coach usually keeps the iPad for our junior games, but of course he wasn't there.  I could have kept it, but I was coaching 3rd base, and it's hard to relay signals when you have an iPad in your hands and are trying to keep score.  So I had one of the parents of a junior player keep the book on a regular paper book.  Because we send our results to the newspaper and radio guys in town, I needed to get the results from the paper book into the iPad, so I spent some time doing that rather than the Yoga workout.

I have to go into work for a bit this morning, so the plan is to do Yoga around lunch time and then do the regular Friday workout, Legs and Back, later this evening.  Should the situation arise where I only have time for one workout, I'll do Legs and Back.  I don't mind the Yoga workout, but my goals with this program are to 1) Lose weight and 2) Build muscle.  The Legs and Back workout better supports those goals, so I'll pick it if I'm forced to choose.

Dan

Round 2, Day 3: Shoulders and Arms with Ab Ripper X

Great workout tonight!  I upped many of my previous weights, and was still able to complete the exercise in the 8-12 range.  Many of the curl exercises are now done with 30lb weights, where I used 20lb weights before.

Ab Ripper was great as well.  On fifer scissors, hip rock and raise, and pulse ups, I was a little short of the 25 reps when the DVD exercise was done, but I went ahead and took a few extra seconds to get to 25, which is fine by me.  I'm doing extra reps, which is never a bad thing, right?

I'm really starting to feel now like I'm turning a corner with my fitness because of this program.  I have a ton of motivation this time around, and I'm really excited to see what my "day 180" pictures and weight/body fat percentage will be.

Yoga is on the menu for tomorrow.

Dan

Round 2, Day 2: Plyometrics

Well, it's day 2 and I've already had a schedule adjustment.  Last night, we had Senior Legion baseball games (we won both!) so I didn't get any supper after work and didn't get home until after 10pm.  Since I was doing Plyometrics, I also didn't want to workout too soon after eating.  So, I went ahead and did the workout on Wednesday morning.  I was a little worried about not having much energy, but it went pretty good.

Speaking of the workout, I experienced the same slight decline in performance in Plyometrics that I saw in Monday's workout.  Not much...probably just a few percentage points...but it was noticeable.  I again chalk this up to being off from this workout for a few weeks.  I expect next Tuesday's workout to be back to where I was when I ended round 1.

No baseball tonight, so Shoulders and Arms should go off tonight as scheduled.

Dan

Round 2, Day 1: Chest and Back with Ab Ripper X

Feels great to be back doing P90X again!  As you know by now, I'm starting up sooner than I had expected, but I had to make an executive decision before all of the work I put into round 1 was put into jeopardy.  What thrills me the most is that I now have friends doing the program too!  I can't wait to see how Day one went for Kyle and Carly and how Day 3 went for Darin tonight!  Best of all, Wendy did the workout with me tonight!

As for me, the Chest and Back went pretty good, considering I hadn't done this workout in nearly a month (May 14th to be exact).  Most of the number are down slightly from that last time, but that's OK.  Shortly, I'll be back to those number and will be exceeding them.

Ab Ripper was a little off as well.  I could also tell it had been nearly 2 weeks since I last did it.  I did 343/349 reps, so not too shabby for Day #1, right?

On to "the Mother of all P90X workouts" tomorrow.  Plyometrics!

Dan

P90X: Change of Plans

Well, during the first "post-P90X" week, I quickly learned that the structure that the P90X program provided me was more important than I thought.  My eating habits, while still good at work, quickly started to slide back toward the negative side.  Also, I wasn't as willing to do those "extra" workouts I posted about on day 91.

Therefore, I'm starting over with a new P90X program today!  I'm actually pumped about it because I now get to see the new me even earlier than I had planned.  And, I'll be complete with it about a month before our refueling outage starts here at the plant.

I'm also excited because three of my friends (two co-workers and one wife of a co-worker) will be doing the program as well.  We can help keep each other accountable.

As before, I'll be posting updates here on the site.

BRING IT!!

Dan

Days 90 & 91: Yoga X and REST!!!

Sorry for the last post, folks, but this was an extremely busy weekend.  Falls City hosted a 6-team American Legion Junior baseball tournament.  3 teams from Nebraska (Falls City, Auburn, and Tecumseh) and 3 teams from Kansas (Sabetha, Holton, and Doniphan County).  The teams from each state played each other on day 1 (Saturday) and then today we had the 5th, 3rd, and 1st place games pitting teams from each state against each other.  We were fortunate enough to not only win the tournament (we beat Doniphan County 10-6), but Auburn and Tecumseh also won, so it was a clean sweep for Nebraska.

Because we hosted the tournament, we all spent all day Saturday there, and all Sunday afternoon and evening as well.  Therefore, I got up early Saturday morning the completed my final Yoga X session for this round of the P90X program.  It really feels good to get the workouts done in the morning, and not have to worry about doing them so late at night.

For Sunday, I fully planned on doing X Stretch when I got home from the games, but I'm spent, folks!!!  I'm going to go ahead and take option #1 of that "Rest or X Stretch" wording in the P90X workout guide.

As for final results, I had a slight problem with my scale.  It decided to crap out on me with dead batteries, and it uses the watch battery style.  Therefore, I fell back to the Wii Fit scale.  While it does read about 10 pounds light compared to my regular scale, I did have an early March (when I started the program) weigh-in on the Wii to refer to.  Therefore, according to the Wii, I lost 46.1 pounds total (265.7 to 219.6). Awesome!!!  Of course, it doesn't measure body fat, so I'm going to have to replace the batteries in the regular scale to get that.

Also, I have updated the final pictures to the website as well, and they are accessible from the "P90X Pictures" link at the top.

What a ride this has been for me.  I've been looking so long for something to help me get in better shape and lose weight, and this program nailed it for me.  I'm so happy that I stumbled upon those commercials way back when.

Where do I go now?  Well, I can pretty much guarantee that this will not be the only time I follow the program. As for when I start again, I was first considering the end of baseball season.  However, the nuclear plant I work  at has a refueling outage coming up in October.  As I work 60 hours a week during an outage, I don't want to be spending an additional hour doing workouts.  I then considered just starting up again, but baseball keeps me so busy that I really need to conserve my free time.

Therefore, here is the current plan:

1. Do Plyometrics, Kenpo, Cardio, or Core Synergistics 2-3 times as week as time permits
2. Eat the same healthy foods I ate during the program.
3. Start up with the next round of P90X after the refueling outage.

This plan should help me to still drop weight (slower of course) until I'm ready to start up with the program again.

Thanks for following me throughout this journey!

Dan

Day 89: Core Synergistics

Another workout retired...this time it's Core Synergistics.  I've really kind of grown to like this workout!  Not that I don't like the resistance workouts...trust me, I do.  But the cardio workouts (Core Syn, Kenpo, Plyometrics) really make me sweat and work off those extra pounds I've been keeping around for all of these years.  So, they have an extra-special place in my heart!

Actually, I'm considering doing each of those 3 workouts once a week during my down-time after this round of P90X is complete.  I want to make sure I at least maintain my new weight, and don't gain any back.  Continuing to eat well (with reduced snacking) and doing these cardio workouts 3 nights a week should do the trick!

All I have left is Yoga and X Stretch.  Since we have a baseball tournament all day tomorrow, I'm getting up nice and early and getting Yoga done.  I need to be at the baseball field by about 7:30 or 8:00, so I'll probably start about 5:30 or 6am tomorrow.  This will work just fine, because I should be able to get to bed plenty early tonight...I've already done today's workout!

Dan

Day 88: X Stretch

Actually had a day off from baseball on Thursday!  Got home from work and had a nice walk with Wendy, Avery, and Bingo (the Jack Russell).  Megan didn't want to go, so she stayed home!  It's been cool here the past few days, so we had out jackets on during the walk...it felt great!

I did the X Stretch workout about 9:30pm or so (guess I'm just getting used to doing these late!)  I was still a little sore from the Core Synergistics workout I did on Tuesday, so again the X Stretch workout was just what Dr. Horton ordered!

Just three workouts left until I "graduate" P90X!  What a great feeling!!!

Dan

Day 87: Kenpo X

Well, I got the workout in plenty early tonight!  Our baseball games were postponed due to rain, so I was home nice around 7:30 and got to spend some time with the family.  I still have difficulty doing side and back kicks with my left leg, but it's been that way the whole program.  I feel like my ball kicks are higher than they were when I started, and the (right foot) side and back kicks have much better form.

Still eating healthy meals, but haven't kicked the habit of snacking on not-so-healthy stuff every now and again.  This is something I really need to bear down on now because when I go off of the program in a few days, it's going to be that much harder, I'm afraid.  I have to believe that the progress I've made and the great comments I've been getting from people will help keep me true on my diet.

I'm still trying to decide what I'm going to do for exercise starting next week.  I've considered walking, running at the high school track, or even doing Kenpo X and Plyometrics on nights that I don't have games.  I definitely want to ensure that I'm exercising at least 3 times a week during my P90X downtime, because I certainly do not want to regress.

4 days to go!

Dan

Day 86: Core Synergistics

It's late, so I'm going to make this quick!  :)

If I haven't mentioned it before, this is a good well-rounded workout.  Kind of a nice hybrid between the other workouts in the P90X program.  Except for Kenpo moves and Pull-ups, it has it all!  I'll be doing it again (for the last time) in a few days.  The only real issue I had was I tuckered out at the end of the prison cell push-ups.

Kenpo tomorrow...after another set of games.  We won 6-5 (juniors) and 10-0 (seniors) tonight!

Dan

Day 85: Yoga X

Had a great Memorial Day holiday today!  Slept in...until about 9:30.  Hit the baseball field for an informal throwing session.  Went to a Memorial Day dinner (ate pretty good...had a piece of apple pie, though.  Too good to pass up!), took the kids to the pool for a few hours, did some work around the house, watched some NBA playoffs, and finally did Yoga X!

Not much has changed on the Yoga X workout.  I still struggle with the same balance issues I've had pretty much throughout.  I do know that I've improved over these 13 weeks, so that's all I can ask for.  I've really tried to push myself each time I've done the workout, so there had to be some improvement.

Day 2 of the final week of this program is tomorrow...Core Synergistics.  Going to be a late workout, though, as I have baseball games at 6 and 8 tomorrow night.  Oh well...only 6 days to go, right?

Dan

Day 84 (part 2): X Stretch

Late night stretching!!!  Started after midnight tonight!  Had baseball today and then a family get together with the in-laws on the back deck with a fire in the chiminea.  After that I compiled some baseball statistics so I could send them to the boys and coaches tomorrow.  So, X Stretch got pushed way back.  It's ok, though, because tomorrow is a holiday and a day off so I can sleep in!

Well, today ended Week 12 of P90X, and al I have left is a recovery week next week.  2 Yogas, 2 Core Synergistics, 2 X Stretch and a Kenpo.  It's pretty amazing to look back on all of the work I've put into this program over the past 3 months!!

Off to bed!  I really need my beauty sleep...ask anybody!  :)

Dan

Day 84 (part 1): Kenpo X

Did Kenpo X this morning, as I had hoped to do.  Forgot to put on the heart rate monitor, so I don't know how that was, but I'm pretty sure it was good as I really "brought it" during the workout.  I still have trouble with kicks with the left leg for some reason.  It's been that way the entire time.  I also have trouble with glut stretch when I cross the left leg across my right thigh.  Also pidgin is hard for me when I tuck in the left leg.  I think that leg is either just really badly inflexible or there's some sort of physical issue with it.  Another odd thing...I'm left-handed but kick with my right foot.  Most left-handed people kick left, so it could be that this issue (whatever it it) has been with me since I was young and caused me to learn to kick right instead.

I'll be doing X Stretch tonight when I get home from the baseball games.  That will catch me up from the missed workout I had on Wednesday of this week.

Dan

Day 83: Legs and Back with Ab Ripper X

Did the workout after I got home from a busy day Saturday.  Had the baseball tournament in the afternoon...2 games (see update), and then a family get-together in the evening.  The workout, last one, went good, as usual, as this workout really doesn't give me many problems.  The balance lunges are always tough for some reason at the beginning, but no real big problems.

As for Ab Ripper X, the pulse-ups (20/25) kept me from getting 349 for the last workout for this round of P90X.  No worries, though. I maxed out twice, which was my goal so I'm happy.  Also, no more Ab Ripper X workout for a few months until I start up again!

Dan

Falls City Legion Baseball Update 5/27/2012

First loss of the season for the Falls City Juniors Legion baseball team...10-8 to Nebraska City.  That takes our record to 4-1 on the season.  In this game, we had an 8-1 lead early but couldn't hold it!  In the 5th inning with us winning 8-6, they loaded the bases so I brought in our ace pitcher and he gave up a grand slam on the first pitch!  What a punch in the gut!  Oh well, we're gonna take it out on Syracuse this afternoon and take 3rd place.

Our senior team also lost on a home run...a walk-off 3 run homer with 2 out and 2 strikes in the bottom on the 7th inning!  Don't see many home runs in these leagues anyway, but to see two in two consecutive games...and both to score the winning runs?  Unheard of.  Seniors also play Syracuse this afternoon.

Day 82: Yoga X

Another late night workout!  Just finished at a quarter until 1am!  Hoorah!  Despite the late hour, this was the easiest (and quickest) Yoga X to date.  Now, the question is can I get up early enough to do my Legs & Back workout (with Ab Ripper X) before leaving for the baseball games?  I'm thinking I can.

BTW, Wendy and I went and saw What to Expect When You're Expecting in St. Joseph Friday night.  Pretty good flick...lots of funny parts.  Elizabeth Banks is hilarious in this movie!

OK, so off to bed.

Dan

Day 81: Back and Biceps with Ab Ripper X

Back on track tonight...because there's no late baseball!  :)  Did the final Back and Biceps workout tonight, and it went pretty good.  I'm up 10-15 lbs in almost every exercise in the workout, and the new band is really giving me some extra resistance I didn't get with the old one.

I don't think I told you about the band...I was working out to one of the back exercises a little more than a week ago and my band broke!  Luckily it broke right by the handle and not in the middle.  Gave me a little scare for a split-second there, but nobody was hurt!  So, I got a new band at the new Dick's Sporting Goods that opened up in St. Joseph about a month ago.  It's one that has the handles that can be placed on any band.  I'm using the green band, which I think is 80 or 90lb of resistance.

As for Ab Ripper, I barely made 349/349 again.  During the pulse-ups, my last two "reps" were done after Tony and the gang were done.  Not exactly what I wanted, but I did do 25 reps!

OK, on to Yoga tomorrow.  Again, a good day for it because we have no games or practice tomorrow.  Saturday (Legs and Back with Ab Ripper) and Sunday (Kenpo & X Stretch) we have a tournament in Auburn.  I'm hoping to get the workouts done in the morning so I don't have to worry about them.  Doing that last Saturday made such a big difference!

Dan

Day 80: No Workout

Well, work and baseball games dominated the day today.  I didn't get home until 10:30pm and hadn't eater supper yet.  Therefore, I'm pushing the scheduled workouts back a day and plan on doing Kenpo and X Stretch on Sunday...one in the morning and one in the evening.

Speaking of baseball, we beat Doniphan County tonight 4-0 to up our record to 4-0 on the young season.  Our Seniors also won 2-1 and are 2-1 on the season (isn't that weird???).

So, Back and Biceps with Ab Ripper X tomorrow (no baseball...should be good!)

Dan

Day 79: Plyometrics

Great Plyometrics workout tonight!  The heart rate was really good (between 80 and 90% of max) and I continued to do some more double-time exercises (Mary Katherine, Knee Tucks, Rock Star).  Unfortunately, this was the last time I do Plyometrics for this round of P90X.  Really?  Why couldn't it have been my last Yoga?  :)

Eating has been OK, but still doing some snacking.  It's got it's foot in the door and it's been a bear getting it back out.  I'm sure I won't match the monthly weight loss average I obtained in the first 60 days of the program, but I'm still going to lose 40+ pounds, so how can I be upset about that?  :)

Back and biceps (for the last time) tomorrow!  We also have baseball games at 6 and 8, so it's going to be a late workout!

Dan

Day 78: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps with Ab Ripper X

Big day today!  Not only did I "retire" another workout, but I reached my Ab Ripper goal of 349 reps!!  For the Ab Rippers, my last couple of reps for pulse-ups were weak, but my legs were off the ground and my butt also came off the ground, so I counted them.  I really pushed myself vocally before each of the exercises where I'd been short recently, and apparently it helped!  My goal now is to maintain the 349 reps for the last two times doing the workout.

On the resistance workout (Chest, Shoulders and Triceps) I did about the same as in week 10 (Day 64).  Some I did better in, like the pike presses and the side-to-side push-ups.

My favorite, Plyometrics, tomorrow!  It will also be the last time for that workout!  :(

Dan

Day 77: X Stretch

Not much more to report since I just posted a few hours about about Kenpo and how the weekend went for me.  I did X Stretch and my post-Friday soreness feels better.  :)

Last week of Adaptive phase work next week.  Then, the following week is the recovery.  It's been a long journey and it's nice to finally see the end of the tunnel.

Chest, Shoulders and Triceps on the schedule for tomorrow.

Dan

Day 76: Kenpo X

Well, I did it!  I actually got up early yesterday morning and did my P90X workout!  I went to sleep about 1am the night before, and was up at 5:30am to do Kenpo.  I was a little tired, of course, but the workout went really well.  Besides X Stretch, Kenpo X is the easiest workout to keep up with, but it does work you pretty well.  I had plenty of energy to "bring it" the whole time.

I'll be doing X Stretch here in a bit and will post on that soon.

Baseball-wise, the Juniors team I coach is now 3-0, as we beat Tecumseh 10-5 on Saturday night, and then defeated Syracuse 4-0 this afternoon.  Very proud of those guys so far...great group.  The Seniors team, which I help with also, were "lightning-ed out" last night and lost a tough one to Syracuse 3-1 today.

Dan

Day 75: Legs and Back with Ab Ripper X

Another late night workout today, as I started up after 10pm.  I think I'm getting used to it, though, because it doesn't seem to bother me as much as it did before.  And doing it this way lets me spend max time with the family as well, which is a big priority for me... especially since baseball is taking up a large part of my time too.

Legs and back was pretty much the same as usual.  I did do a little better with the balance lunges which had given me problems in the past.  One thing that has given me problems recently is my left hip.  Whenever I do a low lunge with my left leg back, it gives me a small pain there.  I've also felt some numbness there, so I'm not sure what that is all about.  Didn't bother me at first, but is giving me a occasional twinge now and then.  Something to monitor.

I'm up to 340/349 on Ab Ripper X now, and I have three more shots at that elusive 349 number.  Cautiously optimistic that I'll get there.

Lots of baseball this weekend, with two games in Tecumseh tomorrow night and 2 games in Syracuse Sunday afternoon.  I wouldn't have it any other way, though.  Baseball rules!  :)  I also play golf tomorrow and have to be there at 8:30, so I'm going to need to get up in the morning and do Kenpo because I won't be home until after midnight more than likely.

Dan

Day 74: Yoga X

Well, I did a weigh in yesterday morning, and I'm now down 38 pounds from "Day 0" of the program.  That's down 4 pounds from day 60, so the progress has slowed down somewhat.  But, as you  know from previous posts, my eating has been sliding slightly the past few weeks for some reason.  Still, I'm losing weight and feeling and looking much better.  I really couldn't be much happier!

Did Yoga last night, and it was a little tougher for me than it had been the past few weeks.  Again, I did it late, so that may have been a factor...but I did complete it.  Only three more of those left...not that I'm counting or anything!  :)   One positive on the workout was that I didn't have to use a block on any of the exercises (triangle, half moon, right angle, etc.)  I was able to get the other hand into the air just fine without needing the block, so that's good.

Anyway, on to today's "bun bruising" Legs and Back workout and another Ab Ripper!

Dan

Day 73: Shoulders and Arms with Ab Ripper X

Another one bites the dust...  -Queen


Another workout can now be retired, as tonight was my last Shoulders and Arms workout.  Again, I'm pretty amazed at my progress...largely on the amount of weight I'm using for each exercise.  Many of the exercises are now done with the 30lb weights I have.  This includes the static arm curls, which I have to admit are tough with 30's right now.  But I was doing 20's and thought it was time to move up in weight.  Obviously, this workout (along with the other arm workouts) was huge for me, though, because I can really tell a big difference in the definition of my arms.

On to Ab Ripper.  My goal is still to be able to complete all 349 reps in the allotted time for each exercise.  Tonight, I upped my previous best from 332 to 336.  I'm only short now in 3 exercises (Crunchy Frog 20/25), Fifer Scissors (20/25) and Pulse-Up (22/25).  We'll see how Friday goes.

Not the greatest day eating today.  Had a good, normal, breakfast and a good lunch.  For supper, I had another of my "snack" binges.  Then, after supper Wendy asked me to get her something for dessert, so I got her a Snickers blast from Sonic.  She couldn't eat it all, so guess who finished it.  Grrr.  I don't understand why the willpower is lessening now...I've done so well so far.  Something to really focus on these last few weeks and after as well.

Tomorrow is Yoga!  Yay!  :)

Dan

Day 72: Plyometrics

Much better Plyometrics workout last night than last week, as this week my heart rate was up higher (around 160-165) and I felt I had more energy.  I have been getting a little more sleep the last few days, so that's probably part of it.  During last night's workout, I actually started the jump knee tucks doing double-timers.  I didn't end the 30 seconds that way, though!  I don't do Plyometrics during the recovery weeks, so I only have one left!  Makes me sad, because it's my favorite!

I'm thinking I may do a weigh-in here in the next few days to see how things are going.  I'm still eating well, but have been eating small amounts of not-so-healthy foods here and there.  Not whole meals or anything....just "snacks".  I've stopped that in the past few days, but for awhile there it was becoming a problem.  Therefore, I expect the weight loss will be a bit less than it was before.

My last Shoulders and Arms is tonight!

Dan

Day 71: Chest and Back with Ab Ripper X

Today I "graduate" from my first workout as this was the last time I do Chest and Back.  Looking back on how I started this workout on day 1 (Day #1 Blog Post) it's pretty amazing how far I've come.    One Day #1 I did 9 standard push-ups total in 2 rounds.  Tonight, I did 32.  Now 32 is one round for the guys on the video, but that's a huge improvement for me!

How about some of the other push-up exercises:

Military push ups?  I did one rep (non-knees) in the first three weeks!  Tonight I did 8.
Wide fly?  Three total (non-knees) the first three weeks.  24 tonight.
Decline?  1 rep total the first three weeks.  10 tonight.
Diamond?  Averaged 7 (non-knees) per week in weeks 1-3.  Did 19 tonight.
Dive bomber?  Averages 11 in weeks 1-3.  15 tonight.

As for the pull-ups, I'm still using the band, but have moved back to get more tension and am now doing the same amount I was doing with less tension earlier in the program.

Ab Ripper was a new rep record again tonight...332/349.  Getting there...want that 349 by day 90!

Plyometrics tomorrow!

Dan

Day 70: X Stretch

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
I guess this is some proverb that is believed to have originated with a Saint many many years ago.  For me, it had to do with that missing Ab Ripper X workout from Wednesday.  If you read my post from yesterday, you'd know that my intention was to do it yesterday morning before we headed out to Central City.  If you've been reading my posts, you'll also know that I've been really struggling with getting adequate sleep lately...with the late workouts and the 4am wake ups.  Well, in the internal struggle between an extra Ab Ripper X workout and extra sleep, the extra sleep came out on top.  Live and learn, I guess!

Had a great day in Central City. I'd never been there before, but it is actually a pretty nice little town.  Very clean from what I could see.  We got there early, so we took the girls to a nice little park by the county courthouse and let them play for awhile.  The middle school where the commencement was held looked brand new.  I didn't see the population of the town, but for reference the senior class size was 54 students.

On the way back, we stopped at Grisanti's for a Mother's Day dinner.  It was good!  I had a Mediterranean Salmon Salad (with feta cheese crumbles and cucumber).

Again, I was pretty sore in the backside and legs yesterday.  My back was also pretty tight.  As usual, the X Stretch really made me feel better!

10 weeks down, 3 to go!  I'm ready to tackle week 11!  Bring it!

Dan

Day 69: Kenpo X

Another long busy day...man I sound like a broken record, don't I?  Both Legion baseball teams won today...Juniors 8-0 and Seniors 5-4 in our first regular season games.  Now we get 8 days off before a quadruple header next Sunday in Syracuse and Tecumseh.

As for the workout, I started it about 9:30 after we got home from watching Dark Shadows in Hiawatha.  Pretty good movie...not spectacular, but entertaining.  Anyway, the heart rate didn't get above 140 tonight...maybe again because I've been lacking sleep lately.  I got a good workout none the less.  I'm going to be getting up early to do Wednesday's missed Ab Ripper Workout before we head off to Central City.

Going to bed...I'm pooped!

Dan

Day 68: Legs and Back with Ab Ripper X

"2nd verse...same as the first"
Another busy one today...which resulted in me starting my workout after 10pm.  Ugh!  I think I'm just going to have to accept these later workouts based on how busy I now am with work and coaching baseball.  Guess what?  This weekend isn't going to give me any relief.  Tomorrow are two baseball games at 1pm and 3pm.  then Sunday we are going to Central City for a graduation ceremony for one of Wendy's former students.  Central City is a 3.5 hour drive from Falls City!  :)

The workout went well tonight, even with the late start. I did much better on the balance lunges than I had in the past.  I also did some leg lifts with Eric (the guy on the video) during the leg lift squats.  Toe roll iso's are tough on the right leg for some reason.  I'm not sure if it's because that leg goes 2nd, or if that leg really is inferior somehow.  Oh, and my resistance band broke at the end by the handle.  Good thing I have a Dick's Sporting Goods card!

On Ab Ripper, I was a little short of my record I set on Monday, but still 2nd best ever.  Oh, and for clarification...when I count the Ab Ripper X reps, I only count what I can do by the time the people on the video get to then end of their reps.  I could max all of them, given more time.  But this is how I'be counted them all allong, so I'm not changing now!

Have a great weekend everyone!  Kenpo tomorrow!!

Dan

Day 67: Yoga X

A busy day today!!! Worked for 1/2 a day. Then helped out at Avery's field day at North School. If you're wondering, she got 3rd in her class in the frisbee throw and also competed in softball throw, football throw and soccer ball kick. In the running events, she did the 50yd dash and the sack race. After that, I had baseball practice until almost 6:00 and finally Megan had a South School Musical at 7:00! What a day! To top it all off, I got the distinct privilege of doing Yoga X! All kiddIng aside, this Yoga X workout was better than some in that it didn't seem like it took as long. I'm not sure why but I like it! Nothing really changed tonight...still got up into wheel (for a few seconds) and did crane some. Still cant get my feet or knees down in plough. Also, I'm using the yoga block for both hamstring stretches now. I'm almost to the heel of the block on the left foot so I may soon be rotating it to get more reach. Work day tomorrow, so I'd better get to bed. Legs and back tomorrow. Night all!! Dan

Day 66: Back and Biceps with Ab Ripper X

I love this workout!  Like Tony says, we are working out the "glamour muscles" during this workout.  And I've noticed that I've moved up in weight in many of the exercises and am very close to the 8-10 rep zone I want to be in.  For the last exercise, you do 4 sets of 8 bicep curl reps with 4 different weights.  Because I'm limited in selection, I did 30/20/20/20.  If I had a 25lb weight, that would help with this (and other) exercises where 30 is too much but 20 is too light.

For a couple of reasons, I was unable to do the Ab Ripper workout last night.  I'm thinking I will now do the two remaining workouts for this week on Friday (regularly scheduled) and Sunday morning.

Also yesterday, we had supper at the Mexican restaurant and I had my regular chicken taco salad.  Afterwards, I had a craving for ice cream, so I had a cyclone from Frosty Queen.  Heath bar with some hot fudge.  It was very good!  My excuse was that I'd done so good eating so far, I deserved a little reward.  I'm not too worried about this as I really have been doing very well with my nutrition for the last 2+ months.  However, I also want to be cautious that I don't start slipping on the other facets of my eating. As long as this was just a true isolated "reward", then it's fine.

Yoga today.

Dan

Day 65: Plyometrics

Another Tuesday...another round of Plyometrics.  As I was yesterday, I felt a little fatigued before I started the workout.  However, I had no problem completing the exercises.  In fact, I did better than usual on the rock star jumps and the jump knee tucks.  As usual, the exercise that left my legs the most fatigued before the exercise was complete was the squat switch pickups and the 180 jump switches.  These are basically the same move, with the latter going 180 degrees and the former just switching which leg is in front in the run stance.  I did them all, but boy were the legs crying before it was all over.

Wendy made turkey burgers on the grill tonight for supper, and they were great!  I had one of those (and some of Avery's too!), some salad and some reduced fat baked beans.  We'll have to have those again soon!  I love burgers!  Last night and tonight we ate on the patio table on our deck.  The weather has been so nice that it was a pretty easy decision.

Break from baseball practice tomorrow, but now my sister has busted the screen on her laptop, so I'm going to have to work on getting that replaced.  Some "day off", huh?  :)

Back and Biceps tomorrow!

Dan

Day 64: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps with Ab Ripper X

Got the workout started at a "better" time tonight...9:15.  Better than 9:30 or 10, right?  Well, my "scores" for this workout were a step back from week 9 for some reason.  Almost across the board they were the same or a little less.  Less energy?  Mowing yesterday?  Who knows.  Doesn't matter...I did the best I could!

As for Ab Ripper, a new record for reps again!  330 tonight after setting the previous record on Friday of 325.  I really think me pushing to beat the rep count has me working that extra bit to get those few extra reps.  I'd like to say that my goal is to hit 349 by the end of the program, but those damn Crunchy Frogs are really tough for me.  I did get 18 tonight, which is 1 better than I had been doing for the past month it seems.  Progress, at any speed, is welcome, right?

Well, another 4am rise tomorrow, so I'm off to bed.  Night all!  Plyometrics (aka SYAO) in store for tomorrow!

Dan

Day 63: X Stretch

Apparently something in the Legs and Back workout really works my glutes, hamstrings, and quads...because for the past few weeks when I've done that workout, they have really been sore Saturday night and into Sunday.  This weekend was no exception!  I would have thought by now that those muscles would be used to those exercises and wouldn't be as sore, but it's a good thing that X Stretch is on Sundays because stretching it out really helps!

For the workout, Camel and Plough are the only two stretches I'm still not able to fully complete.  I did touch both heels in Camel tonight, but couldn't hold it for more than a few seconds, so I just stayed in the "Phil" position (if you've seen the video, you know what I mean!).  I think I'm getting closer to touching the floor with my toes in Plough, but not yet.  As the gut gets even smaller, this should be one I can do.

Ate great today, and had a pretty good weekend.  Really happy with the choices the past few days.

9 weeks down...only 4 to go!  90 days seemed so far away on Day 1...now it's less than a month away!!!

I have Chest, Shoulders and Triceps tomorrow.

Dan

Day 62: Kenpo X

Kenpo!  Great workout tonight...started after 10pm!  :)  We spent quite a bit of time chatting with the family at my grandfather's 80th birthday party and didn't get home until around 9.  Having said that, it was a good workout!  Even if it was done late, I felt great!!

I got a lot of great compliments from family tonight who hadn't seen me since I started the program.  It feels pretty good and make all of the hard work, sweat, and healthy meals worthwhile!  By the way, I had 3 smoked ribs, 4 small pieces of pork loin, some lettuce salad...another broccoli salad and fruit salad.  Very good...great job on the meat, dad!!

Unless we get rain, I'll be mowing at the cemetery tomorrow.  I'm going to attempt to do my X Stretch workout before I go so I don't have to worry about it tomorrow night when I'm spent from all that mowing.

Dan

Day 61: Legs and Back with Ab Ripper X

Well, I am caught up with workouts now!  I didn't do Ab Ripper yesterday because I had already done Yoga in the morning and Legs and Back in the evening.  I did it this morning.  Now, when I do Kenpo tonight I'll be back on schedule.  Whew!  I'm really going to try and focus on getting these workouts done earlier so I don't run into these problems again!

Legs and Back went just fine, as usual.  I'm doing more reps now on the pull-up exercises with the bands.  I'm excited to see if I can do one "real" pull up during my post-fit test.  I'd at least hope to be able to do one!

At the dinner for my mom's birthday last night I had a very good dinner!  I had grilled salmon with some teryaki sauce, some steamed broccoli and a salad.  Very good!

Ok, so Kenpo tonight.  I have baseball scrimmages today at 1 and 3 and then an 80th birthday party for my Grandfather after that.  I hope to be home by 8 at the latest, which won't be too bad.

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Dan

Day 60: Yoga X

Well, I'm pulling double-duty on an off-Friday again.  I didn't do Yoga X on Thursday as scheduled, but instead did it this morning.  First of all (as as before), it's mostly the same issue of not getting enough sleep.  I really would like to do the workouts earlier in the evenings, but I don't want to infringe on family time, so I wait until they go to bed.  Then, I get done with the workouts late.  Some days I get up at 4 so I can leave work early enough to make morning baseball practice.  It all adds up to not enough sleep.  Not sure how to fix it...but I definitely need to do something!

Secondly, we went to the brand new Dick's Sporting Goods in St. Joseph yesterday after work!  I could spend hours in that place....there's so much to look at!  I needed a new ball glove anyway, as mine was pretty much toast after 10+ years of use.  We didn't get home until about 9:30, so the combination of the last of sleep the night before and the late hour pretty much knocked me out.

So I did Yoga X this morning, and I still struggle a lot with it...by far the most of any workout in the program.  I don't feel to bad though because I've heard from a lot of people that it's the toughest for them as well.  Like I've always said, it's a great opportunity to improve myself in the areas of flexibility and balance.

DAY 60!! The official weight loss numbers are 34.3 pounds lost and 3.9% body fat shaved off...I'm now below 35% body fat!  34.3 pounds was more than I expected, so I was happy about that!  Also, the new pictures went up last night and can be viewed from the "P90X" Pictures link at the top of this blog.  You can definitely see improvements in the back flex pictures and in all pictures, you can see the reduction of the spare tire and general loss of the gut.  There's still plenty there, but it's certainly getting smaller.

OK, so now I need to mow that jungle I call a front yard.  Take Megan to the dentist...and then do Legs and Back before we head to Auburn to have a birthday dinner with my mom!  Busy day!

Dan

Day 59: Shoulders and Arms with Ab Ripper X

Had a pretty good...but long...day today.  We had an intra-squad scrimmage tonight, so I was at the baseball field until after 8:30.  Then, I had supper (grilled steak and vegetables...very good!).  I started the workout around 9:45 and finished just after 11.  I know that's late, but on days like these...I have no choice!

On the workout, I found that going up 10 lbs in some exercises wasn't too much weight.  That means that I'm getting stronger!  I knew it!  :)

Ab Ripper X was another record setter...up to 323/349 reps now.  I maxed out on all exercises except for Crunchy Frog (17/25), Fifer Scissors (20.25), Hip Rock and Raise (20/25), Pulse-Up (20/25) and Roll-Up/V-Up Combo (22/25).  I've really been working on getting the form better as well, so making good progress there.

Day 60 tomorrow!  New pictures will be taken sometime tomorrow evening and I'll be stepping on the scale tomorrow morning. I know what I was about 10 days ago, so I want to be below that a little bit, but again I'm not making any goals or getting my hopes up for some number.  As I've said before, the goal is to follow the program for the full 13 weeks.  If I do that, I'll be happy no matter how much I lose.

Yoga is tomorrow's workout.  Yay!!!

Dan

Day 58: Plyometrics

Wow!  I guess 4 hours of sleep last night didn't really help me out during Plyometrics tonight! I did about the same as I always do, but my heart rate was up higher than it has been the past few times.  Also, the legs seemed a little "rubberier" (is that a word)...more rubbery too.  At any rate and like always, I pretty much was drenched in sweat when it was all over.

Two days until day 60, which signals another round of pictures and another official weigh in!!  I'm excited to see how much more progress I've made!  I know I promised I'd put pictures into some of these posts to break up the boring text, so here's one I took with my iPhone after cool down tonight:

No, I didn't oil up...that's real "DNA removal" as Tony Horton would say!

Back to Shoulders and Arms tomorrow!

Dan

Day 57: Chest and Back with Ab Ripper X

Ok, so recovery week is nice and all..and I really do like the Core Synergistics workout...but it feels so good to be back doing resistance workouts again!  Tonight was Chest and Back..the first workout I ever did almost 2 months ago.  Remember when I couldn't do any push ups?  Well, I can do more now.  In fact, here are some stats from the first 3 weeks and tonight.  The numbers for each week are the average number of reps per set (2 sets per workout).  A push up from the knees counts as 1/2 of a rep.

Standard: W1-8, W2-5, W3-7, W9-12

Military: W1, W2-2, W3-2, W9-6

Wide Fly: W1-4, W2-3, W3-4, W9-11

Decline: W1-0, W2-0, W3-0, W9-3

Diamond: W1-3, W2-5, W3-7, W4-9 (many of these were 1.2 way down the first 3 weeks)

Dive Bomber: W1-6, W2-5, W3-6, W9-7

Decent improvement.  I'm sure it's a mix of less weight to push up and stronger muscles.  At any rate, I'm happy about that progress.  As for pull ups, I'm still using bands and I pretty much did the same, though now I've moved back farther to get more resistance in the bands.  I'm not going to do a "real" pull up until the post program fit test to see if I can do some.  I'm hoping for similar improvement here that I've had in push ups so far.

For Ab Ripper, I set another record for reps...316 this time.  I was able to max out on bicycles for the first time, and got 45/50 on mason twists again.

Eating I've kind of fallen into a little snafu where I've told myself it's OK to eat more carbs.  I've also caught myself having a small bite of some other foods that I probably shouldn't.  Nothing major like 10 cookies or anything like that.  Just little stuff that I need to correct.  I'm really overall very happy with my eating.  I've never done this...EVER...so anything like this is going to be tough.  Like I've said before, I'm going to make this a life habit and not just "during P90X".

Time for bed.  Plyometrics tomorrow!

Dan

Day 56: X Stretch

Thanks goodness Prom (and Post Prom) is over!  Don't get me wrong, I had fun and so did the kids.  However, the lack of sleep on my part certainly made Sunday an interesting day!  I got home around 4:30am and got to sleep after 5.  I then woke up around 8:30 and of course couldn't get back to sleep.  So, I spent Sunday running on 3+ hours of sleep.  I actually didn't really start to feel it until the early evening, and I did sleep really good last night!

I did the X Stretch workout at around 9pm...mostly because we weren't home until then.  We took Brandt's prom date back home and had dinner with her parents who are friends of ours (I work with her dad).  Luckily it was just X Stretch and not something else like Plyometrics or Kenpo because I wouldn't have had the energy!

Today starts the third and final adaptive phase of the P90X program.  This time, it's 4 weeks long compared to 3 weeks the first two times.  Weeks 9 and 11 are identical to weeks 1-3.  Weeks 10 and 12 are identical to weeks 5-7.  The final week, week 13, is another recovery week.

Have a good week, everyone!

Dan

Day 55: Yoga X

It's been a busy day, but the night it still young!  In about 3 hours I'll be heading over to the high school to help out with the Post Prom party.  Brandt is a Junior this year, so us Junior parents get to help out.  I'm not sure what I'm going to help out with exactly, but I hope I get to watch the laser tag, which is the big thing this year.  Some outfit out of Kansas City brought a laser tag setup that supposedly takes up the entire gym floor.  Should be lots of fun.  Breakfast is at 4am, so I won't be home before then.  I should have napped earlier today, but I'm pretty much unable to sleep during the day.  I could try and nap now, but with 3 hours until I have to be there, it wouldn't do much good.

I did the Yoga X workout this afternoon after lunch.  As I've mentioned before, it appears to be getting somewhat easier, but it still pretty tough for me.  One thing I was excited about though...I DID WHEEL!!  Ok, so it was for about 3-4 seconds, but it was the first time I was able to get up into it.  Other than that, everything was about the same.

X Stretch tomorrow then back to "work" next week!

Dan

Day 54: Core Synergistics

You know how Tony says "Ab Ripper X...I hate it but I love it" before the Ab Ripper X workout?  Well, that's kind of how I feel about Core Synergistics.  It's the workout that I don't want to do before I start, but I'm thrilled I did it afterwards.  If I was still having the same issues with push ups that I had when I started, then I wouldn't like it as much.

Big day today!  Not only do I have the 90+ minute yoga workout, but we have Avery's dance recital and Prom today.  Avery is also supposed to have a soccer game, but the dance recital is probably going to take priority.  Also, I'm working post-prom tonight, so I'll be at the high school from 11:45 until about 4am.  Hoo-rah!  Good thing I only have X Stretch tomorrow!  :)


Oh yeah...Kansas City beat Minnesota 7-5 yesterday for their third victory in a row!  Oh yeah!!!

Dan

Day 53: X Stretch

Nice easy stretch workout tonight.  Had to do some of the workout on the laptop so I could have the TV on the NFL Draft.  (enter your favorite sports geek joke here).  The only stretch I can't completely do is Camel.  I can get one hand on my heel but not both.  Other than that, I can do them all....even Back Hero...all the way down!

I don't know if I mentioned this dish yet, but we've been occasionally having some turkey pepperoni and mushroom pizzas...had one for dinner tonight!  We take whole wheat tortilla shells (they are not round, but almost oval) and put a little EVOO on them and bake them at 350 for 7 minutes.  Then we take them out, and place pizza sauce, turkey pepperoni, mushrooms and reduced-fat mozzarella cheese on it and bake it again at 350 for another 7 minutes. They are very good!

Back to Core Synergistics tomorrow.  I may try to do it after work..around 4:00...because we have an intra-squad scrimmage until 8 and I'd rather not do that workout at like 9:00..even on a Friday.  We'll see how the day goes.

Oh!  And the Royals won again!!  2 in a row!  That's a winning streak!

I'm pooped.  Bed time!  :)

Dan

Day 52: Kenpo X

ROYALS WIN!!! ROYALS WIN!!!

Ok, wanted to get that off my chest first!  :)  If you don't follow baseball (shame on you!), my favorite team, the Kansas City Royals, snapped a 12-game losing streak tonight by winning in Cleveland 8-2.  What a relief!  Time for a winning streak!

Ok, now on to P90X.  I'm feeling great today, because I had at least three people tell me they can really tell I've lost weight!  I knew I had because the scale told me so...and I'd seen a few things in the mirror but apparently it's getting obvious now.  How exhilarating it feels to hear those things.  It really makes all of the sore muscles and late nights and sweat all seem worth it that much more.

Did Kenpo tonight...can't say too much about it.  It's an easy and fun workout that makes you sweat a lot!  I did notice one thing tonight.  When I went to do the pigeon (is it pigeon?  or some other bird?) stretch where you have to bend your leg under your torso and then stretch over it, I couldn't bend my left foot under at all.  Right leg, no problem.  Also, whenever I do side and back kicks with my left foot, they aren't nearly as good and crisp as the right leg.  Same thing with glute stretch...it's much harder to do when I cross with the left leg.  Apparently it's not as flexible or something, but this "bird" stretch really opened my eyes to it.

Oh well, on I go.  X Stretch tomorrow.

Dan

Day 51: Core Synergistics

I knew there was a reason why I use the double quotes when using the phrase "recovery" week!  It's because Core Synergistics is probably the most butt-kicking workout in the whole program!  Put it this way, I couldn't even do the glute stretch very well because my arms and legs were just covered with sweat...my crossed leg kept slipping out!

Still making quite a bit of progress on the push ups.  I can't wait until next Monday when Chest and Back returns so I can see how much progress I've made since I did it in weeks 1-3.  I really feel like I can do a lot more...we'll see.  Don't want to get too far ahead of myself!

Also, I've gotta give a shout out to my wife Wendy and my girls.  They've sacrificed a lot to allow me to spend about an hour each day on this program over the past 7+ weeks.  If I do the workout early (before the girls go to bed) then Wendy makes sure they have baths and have their homework done.  If I wait and do it late, then I can help with the girls but Wendy and I don't get the chance to have any time together before she falls asleep (she almost always falls asleep first).  I really appreciate them allowing me to do this.  Love you guys!!

Kenpo X is up tomorrow.

Dan

Day 50: Yoga X

Had a pretty good day today...day #1 of the 2nd recovery week (and day #1 of week #8 overall) of the P90X program.  This week, I do Yoga X twice, Core Synergistics twice, X Stretch twice, and Kenpo once.  You still work your butt off...just a limited number of resistance exercises...all in the Core Synergistics workout.

Unfortunately, I really see no tangible progress in Yoga X.  As I've mentioned before, I get the double whammy on this workout because 1) I'm not very flexible and 2) I have poor balance.  This is why postures like Half Moon give me fits.  A few of the postures (i.e. Shoulder stand, crane, etc.) I do see some small improvements.  However, easier postures like getting down to 90 degrees in the crescent and warrior postures sometimes seems to get worse!!  In spite of all of this, I trudge on faithfully following the program...realizing that any of these workouts I do only help to improve upon these shortcomings.

I haven't posted much about my nutrition lately...only because I really haven't eaten anything different.  I'm actually quite lucky that I'm not one of those people that can't eat the same thing every (or every other) day because I'd probably lose it.  I still have turkey bacon and cottage cheese for every breakfast during the week and most weekends.  I still have either a Boca burger or a turkey sandwich for lunch.  I still quite often have BBQ chicken for supper.  Pretty exciting stuff, huh?

Off to bed...we have early practice tomorrow, so I'm up at 4am (4.5 hours from now).

Core Synergistics tomorrow.

Day 49: X Stretch

7 weeks down...6 to go!  Today marks the end of the 2nd adaptive phase of the P90X program, and tomorrow starts the 2nd "recovery" week.

I stepped on the scale this morning, and I'm now down to 247.7 and 31.0% body fat. This is from starting values of 274.0 pounds and 33.8%.  That's a total weight loss of 26.3 pounds!  Hell yeah!

Today our Falls City Legion baseball team had our first scrimmage against another team in Auburn.  I tell you this in this blog post because I want to show you a picture:

That's me last year at about this exact time...it was taken during our first scrimmage of 2011.  Anyway, that jersey is an XL and as you can see, it didn't fit me to well.  Needless to say, I had to "upgrade" to the XXL jersey for last season.

I'm now happy to report to you that the same jersey you see in this picture, is now my regular jersey for the 2012 season, and it fits just fine!  I don't have a new picture yet , but I'll have someone take one so I can post it on here.

Oh, and we won both scrimmages...Juniors (my team) 10-4 and Seniors 9-0!  DO WORK!

Dan

Day 48: Kenpo X

Another busy day for me today.  Brandt, my brother in law Dustin, and I spend some time mowing the cemetery.  It was actually a good day for it as it wasn't hot at all.  In fact, it was cool enough in the morning that we had sweatshirts on...and were still a bit cold.  Put it this way...we had work gloves on but not because we were protecting our hands from blisters!

At 4 we had a soccer game, and when we got home from that, I should have done my workout, but I waited until about 9:30 again.  Obviously, something I really need to work on!  I noticed that my heart rate didn't get quite as high as it has in the past for this workout.  Maybe because it was too late.

Baseball scrimmages in Auburn this afternoon and then X Stretch before I begin recovery week #2. tomorrow.

Dan

Day 47: Legs and Back with Ab Ripper X

Just a short note, as I'm in a hurry to get up to the Husker baseball game.  I was able to get the lawn mowed, watch Megan at a track meet, and still get in the Legs and Back and Ab Ripper workouts!  Pretty busy day!

I really pushed myself on the pull ups (still with bands) and beat all of my previous reps on each exercise!  Yeah!  On Ab Ripper X I really pushed myself and bested my previous goal ( I was shooting for 300) by 12 reps!  307!!!  Still working on form.

Off to Lincoln!  Kenpo tomorrow!!

Dan

Day 46: Yoga X

Well, I had my first P90X program "boo-boo" yesterday.  I was so tired from the limited sleep the night before that I fell asleep last night without doing Yoga!  Around 9pm, Wendy asked me if I wanted to watch Modern Family on our DVR.  As it's our favorite show, I made the mistake of saying "yes" and got into bed to watch it with her...fully planning on doing Yoga after it was over.  Oops!  Obviously, the issue of doing the workouts as early as possible is a concern, because I don't want this sort of thing to start becoming a habit!  I need to work on my procrastination!

Therefore, I did Yoga X this morning, and will be doing today's regularly scheduled workout, Legs and Back, after lunch.  I would wait a little later in the evening, but our baseball team is going to Lincoln to watch the Huskers play Purdue tonight, and I won't be back until probably Midnight at the latest.  Don't want to wait that long.

Not much change on Yoga, though I did do Crane for a bit longer than I have in the past.  It helped to touch one toe on the floor when I felt I was coming out of it and then went back up again, which helped reduce the down time.  I also tried Wheel, and I can get into position, but can't get the head off of the floor.  I'll have to continue to work on that one.  Also, Half Moon seems a bit easier...I remember at the beginning I couldn't do it at all!

I'll be back in a few hours with the Legs and Back post!

Dan

Day 45: Back and Biceps with Ab Ripper X

Wow...busy day yesterday.  Following work we had an intra-squad baseball scrimmage from 6 to about 8:15. After cleanup, I was home around 8:45.  Then, I was able to eat my supper (chicken breast and a dill pickle).  Then, at about 9:30 I did my workouts...ending a little before 11.  I finally went to sleep around midnight.  Best of all (yep, that's sarcasm) we have early practice today so I got up at 4am so I could get to work early and leave early enough to get to practice.  Whew!  Luckily, we only have these 6-8 scrimmages once a week!

The workout went well last night.  I moved up from 20-30lb on some of the exercises and again got closer to the 8-10 rep level I'm shooting for.  The only exercise that I need more weight for is lawnmowers.  30lb isn't quite enough.

Ab Ripper was a struggle during some exercises as usual.  I did get 292 reps, which is 3 off of my max for the program so far.  I certainly feel the ab muscles working more than they seemed to when I started the program.

Yoga time!

Dan

Day 44: Plyometrics

Another pretty good day today!  I had a small issue with some crackers and peanut butter before dinner, but I handled the situation the best I could!  :)  I have to remove this little "it's OK to eat just a few of these" voice from my head right now, before it gets too loud!  Curse you peanut butter!!

Beside the issue above, the only other concern right now is the fact that I've been doing the workouts late in the evening.  I knew this coming in, but I believe that I'd have more energy doing them earlier.  But, with baseball practice four days a week now, there's no way to do it...at least on days that I work.  I guess all I can do is continue to "Bring It" the best that I can every day with nutrition and that day's workout!

Pretty standard Plyometrics workout tonight.  Still struggle a little with the knee touches and the rock star jumps.  I also experience some pretty good fatigue in my legs during the run stance moves where you squat and then jump and turn for each rep.  Doing much better than the first few weeks, tho.  I can do almost all of them now.  BTW, in case you are wondering my heart rate maxed at 172 (a little more than 90% of max).  This has been the norm for at least the last 3-4 times I've done plyo.

Back and Biceps on the menu for tomorrow, which is day 45...the half way point!

Dan

Day 43: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps with Ab Ripper X

Great day!  Full productive day at work...great baseball practice...good healthy meal (chicken breast with barbecue sauce and a bit fat dill pickle)...and a great workout!

I'm really happy with my push up progress these last three weeks.  During the first three weeks of the program, I could hardly do any push ups at all.  Now, I'm able to do quite a few.  I even did my first one arm push ups tonight, though I only went down about half way on them...at least I was able to do some!  I'm also happy that I've been able to keep moving toward finding the right weights to get me into the 8-10 rep category on a lot of the resistance exercises.

As for Ab Ripper...I guess slow and steady wins the race, right?  I did 294 reps tonight, which is one short of my record for the program thus far.  Like I've mentioned multiple times (for multiple workouts) things seem to be getting a little easier all the time.

On to Plyometrics tomorrow evening.

Dan

Day 42: X Sretch

6 weeks down...7 weeks to go.  I'll be hitting 50% complete with this program on Wednesday of this coming week!  Seems like these past two weeks have just flown by compared to the first two weeks.  I guess that's a good thing.  Also, I'm really starting to notice my "fat loss" now.  My pants and shorts are starting to become really loose now, and I'm starting to not recognize the face in the mirror!  Great progress!  Can't wait to see the Dan after day 90!!

X Stretch tonight.  It was twice as nice because Wendy did it with me!

Chest, Shoulders and Triceps tomorrow!

Dan

Day 41: Kenpo X

Much better on the food front today.  Not perfect, but improvement.  I had a good breakfast and lunch...right on track.  For supper, Brandt and Wendy decided to get some Breadeaux pizza and mexican  cheese sticks (yummo!).  I had two of the small corner pieces of the cheese sticks.  Other than that, super day!

Did great on the workout this evening.  We thought we might do some cemetery mowing today, but as some of you may know we had some strong storms roll through today and tonight.  Therefore, the mowing will have to wait until maybe tomorrow.

X Stretch tomorrow!

Dan

Day 40: Legs and Back with Ab Ripper X

Well, being away from home this past few days had it's downsides in the eating arena.  No, I didn't go to McDonald's and order two Big Mac's and a large french fries.  I did slip a bit, though.  I mentioned in yesterday's post about my meal at the Autism conference.  Today, I was pretty limited at breakfast.  The conference did a very poor job of providing food, and therefore the lines were horribly long and the food was horribly scarce.  What I ended up with this morning was some dry piece of yellow "cake".  So I had that and coffee.  For lunch, Wendy and I skipped the ling lines and went to Spaghetti Works.  I had a salad and a plate of spaghetti with regular red sauce.  Oh, and did I mention the piece of garlic bread?  On the way back to the conference we stopped at the Cookie Factory and shared a chocolate chip.  They are pretty big, but I would say my half was a little bigger than a cookie you'd get at Subway.  Tonight, we went to our hometown mexican place and I had chips and salsa along with my typical chicken taco salad with no sour cream or guacamole.  I did, however, eat half of the salad shell (I usually don't eat any of it).  I should have had the talapia with steamed vegetables I've had before.  But I talked myself into something else that wasn't as healthy.  Shame on me!

Not horrible, right?  Could have been a lot worse, right?  Right!  However, I don't eat that way anymore.  This was a regression (slight or not) to the way I was before I changed nearly 6 weeks ago.  And, as I've said in prior posts, I'm susceptible to increased regression if I give even an inch of slack.  Therefore, I'm upset about it but I will not let it affect my resolve.  Tomorrow I'll be back to my "new" way of eating.  The healthy way.

On to the workouts.  Pretty standard for me.  I'm trying to use some heavier weights where my logs show things may have been a bit too easy.  For some reason, the first exercise (the Balance Lunge with the chair) has been tough for me.  I have a hard time getting the non-chair leg out far enough so that when I lunge my knee isn't too far over the foot.  It's hard to keep my balance.

For Ab Ripper, I had 290 tonight, which is 2nd best to Wednesday's total of 295.  I really struggle with Crunchy Frog.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to make it easier, please let me know.  My biggest issue is I tend to want to lean back too far with my chest and I think that makes it tougher.  Other than that, things seem to be getting a little easier.  Still need better form across the board.

Kenpo tomorrow!

Dan

Day 39: Yoga X

Another day...another workout!  Yoga yesterday in my hotel room here in the Cornhusker Mariott in Lincoln.  Not much to say about the workout other than I still struggle with the same poses.  Last Thursday I was able to do the half moon (normal and twisting) as lot better.  Yesterday it was tough again.  That one leg that is down during that sequence gets on fire in a hurry!

For lunch yesterday I had chicken and steak fajitas with rice.  The fajitas had a little cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and salsa.  For dinner I had a salad and then a smothered piece of roast beef, mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. Obviously the gravy on the roast beef wasn't the greatest for me and the potatoes (I only ate half) busted my carb portions.  However, I didn't have a choice as to what was on the plate.  If you've ever been to any conference like this, they bring you the plate right to the table.  No worries, it was minor and it was one meal.  My goal is to continue to make the right choices when I do have a choice...which is the majority of the time.  I'm doing great on this so far, so I have no concerns.

Heading home later this afternoon and then I have the Legs and Back workout.

Day 38: Back and Biceps with Ab Ripper X

Great day!  Work was crazy busy, as I was in meetings pretty much all day.  In fact, I ate my lunch during a software demo I was attending.  This may seem normal to some of you, but to me it's a rarity.  Made the day go by faster anyway.

Not much to report on the workout, other than the new 15lb weights and the 30lb weights I made helped out nicely this time.  I now almost have everything I need to get to the 8-10 rep range I want to be in for this workout.

Set a new rep high in Ab Ripper X of 295 and I felt my ab muscles work harder tonight than I ever have.  Isn't it weird that on Monday I felt sluggish and had trouble with some of the moves, but yet tonight (2 days later) they seemed much easier.  It can't be the time, because I did them at pretty much the same time in the evening.  And I also eat pretty much the same foods everyday.  Oh well, no matter, I'm getting the work done...that's the important thing.

Yoga tomorrow in the hotel room.

Day 37: Plyometics

Not too much to post today...it was a pretty typical day for me.  Plyometrics seems to be getting a little easier each time I do it.  Tonight, I was able to do both of the high impact jumps (rockers and knee touches) for the entire duration...even a few double-time knee touch jumps!  There were just a few seconds during the entire workout where I took an "unofficial" break.

All in all, I'm feeling great about my progress in the exercises, on the scale, and in the mirror!  For the longest time, I've wanted to do something about it, and I just never was able to get motivated enough to do it.  Thank goodness I saw those P90X infomercials...and also for the "wardrobe malfunction" at work.  Without them, I'd be the same old Dan, and not New and Improved Dan!  :)

A first is coming on Thursday...my first P90X workout away from home.  Wendy and I have an Autism Conference to attend in Lincoln on Thursday and Friday (our middle child, Megan, has been diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum).  So, I'll be doing Yoga in the hotel room!

First things first, though.  Back and Biceps tomorrow.

Dan

Day 36: Check, Shoulders and Triceps with Ab Ripper X

Started the 2nd time through the 2nd "adaptive phase" yesterday, and Chest, Shoulders and Triceps was the workout.  I did about the same as last time....some exercises were a little better and some not quite so good.  Having the new 15lb weights helped a lot on some of the triceps exercises...getting me to that "8-10" rep area that Tony keeps mentioning in the video.

Ab Ripper was tough for me again.  I dropped about 12 reps from last week, with the same exercises (fifer scissors, crunchy frog, hip rock and raise, pulse up) giving me fits.  Again, on the scissors and pulse-up exercises, I can't even get my legs up to 90 degrees...let alone keep them there during the exercise.  The legs get fatigued in a hurry.  I guess the ab muscles are still just not yet strong enough to get (and keep) them up where they need to be.  I'd really like to see me get to 20 reps on these.

Plyometrics tonight after our first "official" baseball practice of the season.  I'm now the Head coach of our Legion juniors baseball team, so I'll be pretty busy this summer. Baseball is by far my favorite sport, so I love this time of year!

Dan

Day 35: X Stretch

We had a good day with both my and Wendy's families for Easter.  I had a few pieces of ham for lunch and the rest was salad (with fat-free thousand island dressing), celery, deviled eggs (without the "filling") and fruit salad.  Spent a lot of time outside at both places, hitting golf balls, shooting arrows, throwing the Frisbee and also watching a little Masters on TV.

The only real major thing to report on the X Stretch workout was that for the first time I used a Yoga block during my left leg hamstring stretch.  Of course, it was just the most narrow side of the block, but I was able to go to the heel, so I tried it.  I'm not as flexible on the other side, but I'm about half way down the foot on it, so maybe in a few weeks I can use the block on it too.  When I first started doing X Stretch, I could barely reach the left foot.  Now, I can use a block.  That's progress, folks!

On to week #2 of adaptive phase #2 of the P90X program.  Chest, Shoulders and Triceps!

Dan

Day 34: Kenpo X

We had a great couple of days in KC!  We ate at Ruby Tuesday's Friday night and I had salad bar and some white bean and chicken soup.  We had breakfast at the hotel and I had oatmeal, a banana and some yogurt.  They had biscuits and gravy, sausage patties and scrambled eggs.  Boy did I want some!  :)  Yesterday for lunch we ate at Golden Corral.  For my first plate, I had salad with some steak and chicken strips in it along with some cottage cheese. My second plate had peaches, pears and a little piece of pork steak.  For dessert I had a small chocolate chip cookie and a small vanilla ice cream cone.  Not too bad for a two day mini-vacation, right?

Made it back home about 5:30 or so last night.  After doing some mowing and relaxing a bit, I did my Kenpo X workout.  As usual, I had a lot of fun doing it and it went by really fast.  I again had sore buns and upper legs Saturday.  I guess the Legs and Back workout is doing something good!

Easter with family today and then X Stretch tonight.  Happy Easter, everyone!

Dan

Day 33: Legs and Back with Ab Ripper X

Got the workout done early today, since we are headed to Kansas City after lunch.  I did fine except I struggled a little bit with the wall squat...not sure why.  I wasn't able to hold it for the full 90 seconds today.  My legs also got a little rubbery at the end of the "marathon lunges" as I like to call them.

As for Ab Ripper X, at the beginning I really though I was hosed.  My legs and hip flexors were spent.  However, I was able set another new personal record for reps...288.  I upped my Mason Twist number to 45!  Now, as I've said before, the form still isn't there on these, so don't think I'm doing 45 like the people on the video.  I've never touched the floor on them because I can reach it.  I get by my hip and that's about it.  Also, I need to get my chest up more on the leg climbs...I barely get my shoulders up.  On the oblique V-ups, I can keep my legs together and keep them off of the ground, but I don't get my shoulders up off the floor much except for the first few reps.  In other words, I have lots of room for improvement.

Off to KC.  I don't know where we are eating, but as usual I'm going to get the most healthy thing on the menu!  I'm thrilled with my progress, and there's no way I'm reverting now!

Dan

Day 32: Yoga X

Another day...another Yoga workout.  I got some improvements in Crane, only held it for about 7-8 seconds, but it was better than nothing.  I also was able to hold half moon and twisting half moon for longer than I have in the past.  I still have trouble with plough (for reasons I have posted many times) and keeping both legs straight up on shoulder stand.  But, all in all, I'm happy with my progress.

Warrior 3	Bridge
Crane

Finally finished the mowing of the cemetery today!  I went out there for about 2 hours and man was it cold!  I almost needed a jacket.  The site is on a hill, so it's always windy up there.  (Makes it easier to blow the cut grass off of the grave markers).  Now, the part we did last Saturday is just about ready to go again!

Off to Kansas City tomorrow and Saturday to celebrate my Mom's birthday.  Luckily, I'm only staying one night, so I don't have to worry about doing any workouts away from home.  No worries if I did, though, because I have the band I can use in lieu of the weights.  Anyway, I'll be doing Legs and Back in the morning tomorrow before we leave and then I'll do Kenpo when we get back Saturday night.

Lastly, I was thrilled to hear that my buddy and co-worker Darin may be starting P90X.  I received a text from him last night that simply said "P1".  I knew exactly what he meant because people at work always ask me what P-number I'm on (how many days have I been doing the program).  He again texted me this morning and asked me what equipment he needs for Chest and Back.  I have a feeling that my progress has inspired him.  I hope he keeps with it.

Dan

Day 31: Back and Biceps with Ab Ripper X

Another great workout!  I'm really impressed with the quality of these videos.  Before I started, I was concerned that they would be above my level.  However, in every workout they show you a wide range of methods to complete the exercise from expert to novice.  They also show you how you can do many of the workouts with resistance bands if you don't have a pull up bar or weights.  And the leader, Tony Horton, is entertaining to watch.  During this last workout, he asked one of the other people if they had tickets...they said "to what"...to which he replied "the gun show".  Love it.

As for the workout, I'm still using bands in place of using a pull up bar.  I may be able to do one pull up now, but haven't tried since I did the fit test prior to starting the program.  One of the pull up exercises in this workout is called corn cob.  When you get to the top, you pull your head to the left and then back to the right before going back down.  Kinda looks like the bar is a cob of corn that you are eating.  This gives you an extra workout on your arms that I hadn't experienced with just the regular pull up exercises I had done before.

I also noticed that I need 15 pound weights.  I had many exercises where 20 pounds was a bit too much but my 10 lb weights was too little.  I also need 15's for my new Monday workout, so I'm going to need to get some this weekend.

I gained my 5 Ab Ripper X reps back, so I'm back to my high of 285.  Bicycles and Mason Twist are really coming along.  Still struggle with Crunchy Frog, Fifer Scissors, Hip Rock & Raise and Pulse Up.

Also, I'm going to try and spice up this blog a bit by having someone take a few pictures or videos while I'm working out.  Then I can add them to the blog post to give it a little more flash.

Yoga time!

Dan

Day 30: Plyometrics

Welcome back, Plyometrics!  I've missed you!  Seriously!  If Kenpo is my favorite workout, Plyo is #1a.  It's tough, and I still have a few moves that I can't keep up with the video, but I really like it!  I even did some double-time knee-ups (trying to be more like you, Cleveland!)

I weighed myself this morning, and I'm down 17.9 pounds (from 274 to 256.1) through the first 30 days of the program.  That's over 4 pounds a week...awesome!  Again, I'm not setting any weight goals for this program, so whatever I lose I can't be disappointed.  Ok, I'd be mad if I gained weight, but that's not going to happen.  The only 2 goals are: 1) Complete the scheduled workouts EVERY DAY (I might rest on Sunday of recovery weeks...but that's still legal!) and 2) Stick to the nutritional program EVERY DAY.  If I do those two things, this program will be a huge success, regardless of my weight or how much better I look.

Speaking of looks, Day 30 pictures were taken tonight, and are posted at the "P90X Pictures" link in the menu bar of the blog.  While the differences are not drastic, I can certainly see progress.  I think the most noticeable differences are in the Back Flex (better muscle definition) and side (smaller "gut").  Let me know what you think.

On to the 2nd new workout tomorrow, Back and Biceps.

Dan

Day 29: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps with Ab Ripper X

Back to work!  After my first day off of my P90X journey yesterday, I'm back to work today.  As I've mentioned in a few of my previous posts, I'm starting tow new workouts this week.  Today's new workout was Chest, Shoulder and Triceps.  If you've been paying attention to my other "Chest" posts, this workout had a lot of new Push Ups.  I'm happy to say that I believe I'm improving in the push up area.  I can't say for sure, but based on how I did tonight (and also during some of the push up exercises in Core Synergistics), I believe I would see some improvement over my numbers from the Chest and Back workouts I did during weeks 1-3.  I guess we'll see in week 9.  By then, I hope for some significant improvement.

Besides the push ups, there were also a lot of weight exercises for the Shoulders and Triceps part of the workout.  I found, however, that my 10 and 20lb weights weren't always ideal.  I could really use 15lb weights.  Maybe I'll check WalMart again before next Monday and see what they have.  I tried to order some 30lb weights online from Dick's Sporting Goods and realized when I got to checkout that shipping 60 lbs costs quite a bit.  Needless to say, I didn't order them.

As I expected, I regress a small amount on the Ab Ripper X repetitions, doing 5 less than I did 10 days ago.  I did seem a little tougher, but I was pretty close to the number and actually tonight was my 2nd best output so far for the program, so I can't get too upset, right?  Form still stinks on a lot of the workouts, but I'm doing my best to improve there too.  I expect a downturn in reps as I work to improve the form.

Still plugging away on the healthy eating.  Had some pork tonight that had a bit of fat in it, so that wasn't the greatest, but I'm not too worried about it.  I had steamed broccoli and cauliflower with it.  Very good.  For dessert I had a little rainbow sherbet, which is fat free of course.

Back to Plyometrics tomorrow.  One of my favorites.  I also do the official day 30 weigh in tomorrow morning and I'll do pictures tomorrow evening before Plyometrics.  I'm hoping for 20 lb, but if I get a little less, I'm cool with it.  I'm doing things the right way, so the weight and the muscle definition will come.  I refuse to get impatient or put expectations on the results.

Dan