Day 3: Shoulders and Arms

Wow, was I sore today!  I'm wondering now if I need a supplement to help me recover a little faster and alleviate some of the soreness.  A colleague of mine has been working out for about three years now and he suggested one that I'm going to look into.  If anyone has any other suggestions, please shoot me a comment.  I guess there's always the "P90X Recovery Drink" to look at too.

Had a very good shrimp stir fry tonight with some brown rice.  I think the rice put me over my carb intake for the day, but I'm not too worried about it.  It's better than a Big Mac, right?  (BTW, I LOVE Big Macs...if I go the entire 90 days without having one, it will be a pure miracle!).

Tonight's workout was a good one and was easier for me than Chest and Back.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well I was able to do the exercises after how my shoulders felt during the day.  I'm starting to realize that I don't have the exact weighted barbells I need, but I do have my resistance bands, so for now I'll use those if I think the barbells I have (10s and 20s) aren't sufficient.


Oh, and by the way Cleveland...you were right about distractions!


Ab Ripper seemed easier tonight, but when I summed up my reps, I actually did a couple fewer than Monday night.  I chalk this up to not properly counting the first time.  I'm convinced this is because I didn't know the exercises yet and frankly I was delirious during the entire workout.  Counting was the last thing on my mind.  Now that I think I have the exercises down, the numbers should be more true.

Also, and not surprisingly, my legs are now starting to feel the effects of yesterday's Plyometrics workout.  I can't wait to walk down the steps tomorrow morning for my shower.  NOT!

Lastly, I wanted to give some props to my wife who has made the decision to work on her fitness as well.  She's been working on our elliptical machine and the Wii Fit board doing cardio and yoga exercises.  And she's joining me in eating better foods too.  Good job, Wendy!  It certainly helps keep me on track when she is doing the right things.

On to Yoga tomorrow night!

Dan

Day 2: Plyometrics

The day started off pretty good!  I didn't feel much soreness at all, which began to worry me later in the morning.  Had I not "brought it" enough during Chest & Back and Ab Ripper the night before?  Well, by 3pm, my worries were all gone.  Shoulders, chest and abs were very sore by then are are still singing to me at every little move.  I'm thrilled, because it means I made progress.  We had a 90 minute baseball practice tonight too, so that helped loosen things up a bit.  My first throw during warm ups almost went straight into the ground!

As for the diet today, I staved off a few urges.  A couple co-workers celebrated service anniversaries today and pizza was brought in.  I was good and ate the turkey sandwich I'd made that morning.  Also, the lady who got the pizzas knew I was doing P90X, so she got some salad too.  Thanks, Kim!  Then, when I got home from work, the wife and girls were gone to Girl Scouts, and I had another urge to splurge.  Fought that one off too, and had a nice baked chicken breast with a little BBQ sauce and some cauliflower.

On to the workout.  It was tough, but I really enjoyed it.  I'd say that I completed about 70-75% of all of the moves with the people in the video.  In my opinion, that's pretty good for a fat dude on day 2 of the program.  Best of all, I had no nausea during or after the workout.  My heart rate stayed between 170-180 beats per minute during almost all of the water breaks.  This is a bit high, but I never felt that I was over-exerting myself.  I've heard somewhere to look to what your body is telling you, rather than what your heart rate monitor says.

More arm work tomorrow (Shoulders and Arms).  I hope the soreness wears off a little bit or it may be kind of tough.  Regardless, I'll "Do my best, and forget the rest."

Dan

Day 1: Chest and Back with Ab Ripper X

Well, I pretty much sucked...but I finished it.  Chest and Back today, with Ab Ripper X thrown in for good measure.  If you haven't done P90X, Chest and Back is pretty much all push ups and pull ups.  I can't do a pull-up (too much weight), so I bought a heavy-duty resistance band at Wal-Mart for the pull-ups and stretched it as far as I could to get the max resistance.  As for the push ups, I did pretty good, for me, on the first set of standard (8 reg, 10 on my knees).  After that, not so great.  But that's ok because push ups have always been tough for me.  I'll get better.

Ab Ripper X?  Holy cow!  Again, pretty good on the in-and-outs (20).  Lower back tightened up pretty quick after that.  Made a few adjustments (like 20/25 scissors with the down leg on the floor), which allowed me to still do something and not just wait until the next exercise.  Again, I just hope for gradual improvement.

Best of all, I didn't puke!  I certainly felt it coming after I was done, but I held it off.

If you're wondering about nutrition, I'm obviously Level III and am doing the portion approach.  I like the variety without having to prepare a recipe all the time. With the wife and kids, I hardly have time for the workouts, so not having to take a ton of time to prepare meals is a plus.  Not being able to eat many carbs is going to be tough for me because I'm a carb addict!  I love bread, crackers, all that stuff.  I'm also told that a carb crash is coming,  Hindsight being 20/20, I should have probably started the diet a few weeks early, but I'll fight through it.  Supposedly in 4-5 days, I'll be better.  Probably going to be a long 4-5 days!  :)

Plyometrics tomorrow!

Dan

Pictures

Below is a link to the page where I will post pictures as I progress through the program. While I'm not happy about how I look in them, I believe they are a great motivation.

Pictures

Dan

Non-Believers

Just wanted to add a short note about all of the people I know that think I won't last a week on P90X. When I think about it, I understand why they'd think that way. The "old" me wouldn't stick with this program too long. Difference is, I'm not the "old" me anymore. I look the same (for now, anyway), but inside I'm different.

Finishing this program on June 3rd is going to be such a big day for me. Can't wait to give them the old "told ya' so!"

Dan

P90X!!

Well, I'm back...and for a very good reason!  I'm starting P90X this coming Monday.  Why, do you ask?  Well, a variety of reasons, not the least of which turning 40 last month.

I plan to use this blog as a way to report how things are going.  I got this idea from Paul Piotrowski (paulymath.com) while I was looking for the P90X workout sheets.  Paul has a cool spreadsheet that helps you keep track of your progress if you are doing the P90X Classic program.  My inspiration for starting up this blog again is his daily updates on his progress.  I'm not sure I will be able to provide the detail (or frequency) that he did, but I'll do my best.  I'll certainly be posting a couple of my pictures as I take them before day 1 and then again every 4 weeks.

As for the program itself, I'm very excited to get started. Obviously, I have some reservations about how well I'll be able to do.  I did "pass" the fit test (could not do a full pull up), so I guess Beach Body considers me worthy.  It's obviously going to be a struggle (I suck as push-ups too), but I'm full of resolve! I've been making excuses for so long now...it's time to start making smart decisions!  Not just for me, but also for my family and friends!  I need them and they need me!

Wish me luck!

Dan

Football Is Here!

As you can tell, it's been awhile since I posted on this Blog. I was wondering if that would happen. But, I haven't given up hope! Here I am, blogging again.

The NFL season started in earnest today. My fantasy football team is doing great (spaking my opponent...my son Brandt), and my beloved Chiefs start their season tomorrow night at the "New" Arrowhead against the Chargers. Go Chiefs!

Also, about the Calvin Johnson "no-catch". I've read the rule and agree that it's an incompletion by rule. However, anyone that watched that catch thinks it should have been a game-winning touchdown. Unfortunate for Calvin and the Lions!

Until next time! Later!