Travel day today. Flew from Atlanta back home to South Bend. I am VERY tired today. Too many late nights and parties?

Rest day today and then I'll start bringin it again tomorrow. Bad day for diet today too. Ate like crap, felt like crap. Hmmm.. correlation?

Also, I have decided that extending P90X week 4 into a week of rest and then a modified week is not the way to go next time. I feel like I am out of whack and have lost some progress with weight and fitness. Next time this comes up I will do my best to stay with the P90X schedule and if at the end of that week I feel like I could not give it the proper effort due to travel, hotel, etc, I will then repeat that week when I get back. I read in the P90X book that repeating a week or otherwise extending a Phase is perfectly OK as long as you don't stay in one Phase longer than 6 weeks.

So... I am going to test that plan sooner than I wanted. Next week I will start P90X Phase II but the following week I must travel to Dallas, TX. I'll be doing Phase II week 2 in the hotel with Bands, etc. Maybe on plyo days I will just run at the hotel. When I get back from Dallas I will probably repeat Phase II week 2. Then I will continue as normal.

So the bottom line is that P90X will turn into PXXX for me. In computer science, as in Algebra, X is an unknown variable. Hence, P XX X. Right now it is P104X for me. I'm OK with that. As long I keep brining it I will be OK.

Till next time... Bring It!

Another cold day in Atlanta. Put on a long sleeve "T" shirt and a regular "T" shirt over it, threw on the shorts and my friend and I were FINALLY able to get that downtown Atlanta run in that we had been wanting to do.

It was cold and we were a bit tired from a late night the night before so we just did 20 minutes.

When we got back to the hotel I went to the gym and I did 3 sets of max chin ups and 3 sets max pull ups. If I were still on the P90X Phase II week one schedule it would have been a Back and Bi's day so I figured the chin/pull ups will kinda keep me on track. No time for ABX today though. Sad.

Till next time... Bring It!

First of all.... it's my Mom's birthday today... HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

My Mom suggested this program to me and without her I would not be doing P90X. Mainly because without her I would not be here and, like I said, she recommended it to me.

OK, today I got up early and was prepared to run outside in beautiful downtown Atlanta, but... beautiful downtown Atlanta had other ideas. The temp was 22 and with the wind chill it was 16. And... there was 1/2 in of snow on the ground! So much for going to Atlanta to get away from the snow.

So, my friend and I decided to run inside on the treadmills. Not a bad workout. Did some sprints, felt great.

Till next time... BRING IT!

This week I have decided to do a modified rest/workout and then start Phase II on Monday.

I was going to run with a friend this am. I got up early and did 15 minutes on the hotel gym treadmill as a warm up and then did some bench presses because today was supposed to be Phase II chest day and I want to stay somewhat on track.

Then I went down to the lobby to meet my friend at 6:30AM. It was pouring down rain and we had to skip the run. Bummer.

 I came up to the room and did 3 sets of max push-ups. First thing I noticed was that even after doing some bench press earlier that my max push-ups increased from 12 - 15 to 23. Nice.

Next I did Ab Ripper X (ABX) and then called it a workout. Noticed that ABX was easier too. Not that I can do all the reps but I can do more.

Till next time... BRING IT! 

Today was a rest day and since I had to fly to Atlanta today I actually did rest. No workout today... very sad...

So, this week is strange, it's recovery week. I was sooo getting into the hard workouts that it is really hard to slow down and recover this week. Feels strange. Well, I guess Tony Horton knows what he's doing so I'll trust the "X". That being said, I still felt like I needed more cardio on Day 23, 24 and 25. Sooo.. I ran after the workout on Day 23 and Day 24 and Day 25.

On Day 24 (yesterday) not only did I run for about 1/2 after the KenpoX workout but I also snuck in another cardio workout after work. I had been curious about the CardioX workout and was wanting to try it, so I did it after work. Starts out REALLY slow but I had a great sweat going by the end.

Today was XStretch and I REALLY felt like I needed more cardio so, like I said above, I ran for about 20 mins afterward.

I really can't put into words how much better I feel. All the warm ups, stretching and cool downs REALLY must make a difference. It sure seems like all my aches and pains are gone. I have not confirmed this yet but it even feels like my Carpal Tunnel is better. I can't remember any numbness is quite a while and that is rare. Is it the forearm stretches in XStretch? The Yoga? Who knows, but life is good.

One last note. I actually bought a Yoga block the other day. Only like 10 bucks a Super Target and so far it is worth every penny. I was using a Tupperware container and it wasn't cuttin it. This Yoga block is great. I must be careful though, I hear that this is a slippery slope. The Yoga block is the gateway drug that leads to feminine exercises just as Marijuana is to hard core drug use. The next thing you know I'll be buying one of those squishy balls women hold between their legs when they do Palates.

Oh yeah, I know this is a long post but one more thing...

I think I am obsessed with P90X. I spent quite a bit of time watching 24 or so 2 to 3 min videos about the making of P90X. They were here on YouTube... http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=JONandCARL

OK, I know I'm obsessed. I also watched this tip from Tony...

Motivation
How do YOU stay in the game?

And a bunch of the new "P90X Plus" clips on YouTube too. I can't wait to buys those! They look like an awesome next step/addition.

Phew, OK, that's all for now.

Day 24 and life is good. KenpoX today. I did notice one thing. I usually do KenpoX on Saturdays and I do it later in the day. Since I'm in recovery week this week and the schedule changed a bit I had to do KenpoX early this AM. I was VERY tight at the beginning of the workout. Had a hard time with the warm-up stretches. Then it took me a bit to get going and REALLY get into it. This is a workout that I really love. Usually. Today it took me a while to start enjoying it.

But, I never was much of a morning exerciser. I really enjoy working out later in the day. I only workout in the AM out of necessity.

Two days in a row where I got done with about 1/2 hour to spare so I had a nice 30 min treadmill run. I can't wait till the Spring/Summer when I can do the P90X and then go OUTSIDE for a run afterwards.

My only fear about the Summer is in maintaining my current schedule. Right now I have no problem going to bed at 9 or 10Pm. During the Summer it is still light out at 9 or 10PM. It will be hard to go to sleep while light. And if I don't? Then it's too hard to get up at 5AM and workout. And if I don't workout at 5AM? It seems something always comes up after work that gets in the way of my workout. Maybe I'll workout late at night in the Summer. Who knows. Guess I'll figure it out as I go.

Till next time...