KenpoX today felt great!

My back is feeling much better and probably at 95%.

Till next time... Bring It!

Core Synergistics today. My lower back is still hurting on the right side. Not nearly as bad as yesterday though. I'm hoping that it's back to normal by tomorrow cause I'm getting tired of modifying P90X workouts. It's only been two days of modification but that seems like an eternity! The is the LAST WEEK of Phase III and I REALLY wanted to Bring It extra hard this week. It's not working out too well.

I was able to do most of the Core Syn workout today but had to modify the Superman, banana, and a few other moves. All in all it felt like a pretty good workout but I still felt like I could only give it 90%.

Till next time... Bring It!

Sheesh, what a rough start this morning. I found it VERY hard to get out of bed at 5AM today. Probably because I stayed up too late last night. When I did get up I had that feeling like I was coming down with something. And the icing on the cake was a terrible back pain. I'm pretty sure that the back pain (which actually started yesterday) was caused by having my laptop backpack slung over my shoulder all day on Saturday while at a conference. My laptop is heavy and that is the only thing that I can think of that would cause this. It hurt so bad this AM that when I would sniff real hard to clear my nose (allergies) my knees would just about buckle due to the pain in the lower right of my back.

But... I DID get out of bed, and I DID do my YogaX workout. I had to modify YogaX a bit because of my back pain, and because of this I didn't get a very strenuous workout, but I felt better mentally afterward. I could not do Upward Dog AT ALL so I modified that and a few other moves.

The good news is now that it is mid-morning I feel MUCH better than I did this AM. I don't feel like I'm coming down with anything now. And thanks to Advil my back feels much better too.

Five days to go!!

Till next time... Bring It!

KenpoX today. This was one of those days that was hard to get motivated for my workout but once I got going I felt GREAT! And felt fantastic afterwards as well.

My diet was not so great yesterday. I was out of town and ate a bit of junk.

Six more days of cardio type workouts and it'll be time for more pics.

Injury report: My ITSB is MUCH better. Still not perfect but I hear these things take awhile to recover from. I have been taking it easy on that leg and it seems to be paying off. I hope that it is close to 100% before starting P90X Round #2 on 5/5/2008

Till next time...Bring It!

Well, with day 82's Back, Biceps, and Ab Ripper X workout under my belt I have completed all of the weight lifting workouts for the 90 days. I'll be out of town tomorrow (Saturday) and therefore will swap my KenpoX day with the rest day. So no update tomorrow, and Sunday is KenpoX. Then next week it's just cardio and Yoga type exercises till the end.

Woo Hoo!

I did feel a bit flat in today's workout. It seems like that usually happens when I get a bad night of sleep. Like last night. And in some ways today felt like graduation day. For example, today was my last Ab Ripper X workout for the 90 Days. Even though I felt flat I tried to push it so I could see how much progress I have made in the 90 days. I was surprised at just how much better I was at doing these ab exercises today as opposed to 82 days ago. Definite progress. I can't wait to see what another 90 days brings.

Till next time... Bring It!

YogaX today. Great workout. Felt much better than the fumbling and stumbling of last week. I still really struggle during that sequence of movements that are on one leg.

Not much else to say.

Till next time... Bring It!

Back, Biceps and Ab Ripper X

WOW... Day 80! Only 10 days to go. Today was another great workout. I reviewed my workout sheets from the past 80 days and noticed some considerable gains. I can't wait to see what the next round of P90X will bring.

I did struggle a bit during ABX today. Just a little fatigued. Was able to do 20 Masson Twists with my legs in the air though. I'm happy about that. Crunchy frog is still a major struggle.

One more workout with weights, Legs and Back on Friday, and then it's all cardio type workouts and YogaX till the end. The end is in sight!

I was able to get a second workout in yesterday. About 45 minutes of inline skating. Felt great.

Till next time... Bring It!

PlyoX today. I still love this workout today as much as I did the first week of P90X. LOTS of sweat today. felt like I really BROUGHT IT!

I can finally do all of the PlyoX Jump Knee Tucks. Now I need to try and keep up with Domy.

Maybe a little inline skating after work today? Did some lawn mowing as a second workout yesterday. ;o)

Till next time... Bring It!

Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Ab RipperX today.

Another workout that I absolutely LOVE. Wow, if I just did this DVD and the arms DVD over and over I would have a blast. But not very well rounded.

My diet slipped a bit over the weekend, time to buckle down and BRING IT for the last week of weights. After this week is over I have the Phase III recovery week and then.... DONE!! On to Round 2 afterwards.

Till next time... Bring It!

Rest day today. Nothing to update really.

KenpoX today. Felt great! Lot's O sweat!

Not much else to add... outta time... Gotta run...

Till next time... Bring It!

Legs, Back and ABX.

My IT band is still hurting a bit so I take it easy on the left leg during this workout. I did notice that I have doubled the number of reps I can do in some of the pullup exercises and added a minimum of 3 to 4 extra reps to others. Love it.

Another BIG breakthrough for me is that not only did I do a few more reps of some of the Ab Ripper X exercises but I actually did 10 reps of Masson Twist with my legs in the air!! Woo Hoo! This is big for me. When I started I go not do any with my legs in the air nor could I touch the ground with my knuckles. Now I can do 10! Last week I think I did about 5. Awesome.

Finally. I can't explain how happy I am that Spring is here! When the weather is nice I usually go outside with the kids when I'm done working at 4PM. I usually shoot some hoops just to kill time while I watch them play. Yesterday I decided to get the inline skates out and actually get some exercise. So I did 1.5 miles on the inline skates. Felt GREAT. Then I skated around for about another 1/2 hour in the driveway while working on my stopping skills. Those are VERY important ya know!

And this next piece of news I am VERY proud of. After inline skating I was playing with the kids in the yard and watching a neighborhood girl doing cartwheels. For whatever reason, I have ALWAYS wanted to do a cartwheel but never have been able. So after watching her for a minute I decided to give it a try. And after a couple attempts, I WAS DOING CARTWHEELS! How fun! Gunna be 43 and doing cartwheels in the front yard. Gotta love it. I attribute this to me new found strength and agility due to P90X.

Then it was on to headstands.

Then Bridge (or Bow).

Then Reverse Table.

We were having a BLAST. And the best part? I'm not sore today! More cartwheels! I think I'll look for some other Gymnastic type moves to try.

OK, and finally, I was so focused on my P90X workout that I didn't even feel the earthquake that rocked the Midwest this AM. My wife came down to the basement at about 5:30 and asked me if I had felt it. It woke her up. I didn't even notice. Wow, earthquakes in the Midwest. I thought that I had escaped that when I moved from San Diego.

Till next time... Bring it!

Today was YogaX. It was a rough workout for me today for some reason. I felt like I had lost some of the Yoga gains that I had felt that I had made last week. Could it be that I felt this way because I only got 7 hours of sleep? That does not seem likely. Was it because I didn't eat that great yesterday? Maybe.

Who knows, but for whatever reason I was really struggling today. And stumbling around during some of the poses. Just not a great workout.

But there is always tomorrow!

Till next time... Bring It!

Shoulders, Arms and ABX today. Felt pretty good, a tad off but not bad. Just a little sluggish this AM. This is the last I will see of the Shoulders and Arms workout for this round of P90X. I really enjoy it though so I look forward to seeing it again in Round 2.

I feel better everyday and my body looks better everyday. I'm lovin the fact that my right shoulder and right elbow injury that I had before, and at the beginning of, P90X is virtually non-existent now. Those feel 100%. The only nagging injury I have is my IT Band. It's better but still tight and sore.

ABX continues to get easier but still not able to do all reps in all exercises.

Till next time... Bring It!

Today was a great Plyometrics workout. I felt GREAT! I ate pasta for dinner last night and I think that the carbs provided exactly the energy that I needed for today's workout.

I tuned into another Tony Horton chat session on www.TeamBeachBody.com last night. Once again, I was glad that I joined. Like I said in a previous post, the chat sessions are more of a one way stream of consciousness flowing out of Tony than they are an actually chat session. Many people ask him questions during these sessions but it does not phase him. He keeps rambling away. It's good this way though. Probably better than Q and A.

So what I got out of last night was... The P90X diet guide is just that, a guide. Eat when you're hungry, but don't stuff a bunch of calories down your throat just to meet the guide numbers. It's not about counting exact calories and protein grams and fat grams, it's about consistently making healthy choices. And deep down we all know what the "right" choices are.

He talked about a popular weight loss program advertised on TV. The one that uses Tony Orlando and Dan Marino as spoke people. He says that the flaw in that program is that they teach you how to lose weight by changing your diet, with a focus on losing Pounds just to lose Pounds.

It should NOT be about losing pounds. It should be about feeling good. Moving your butt is how to feel good. Workout today and you will feel good today. Only changing the way that you eat and not adding exercise will lead to temporary success. Having someone provide food for you, making your food decisions for you, will lead to a temporary success. You need to move and you need to make good food choices. But it is the exercise that makes it work over the long haul.

The last thing that I got out of the chat was to have patience. Tony wrote about one of the winners of the Million Dollar Body Challenge who had lost a significant amount of weight using the Beach Body programs. When Tony asked her how she did it she told him that she just did what Tony had told her to do. But she did it over and over and over. She started with TurboJam (or something like that) and did that program like 3 times. Then she bought Power 90 (The predecessor to P90X) and did that entire program 3 times. Then she started P90X. And.... did it over and over and over. Three Times! When she first started P90 she could not do ONE pushup, on her knees! Now she can do the entire P90X workout. It paid off. She looks fantastic and more importantly, she feels fantastic.

It's all about patience. As they say at BeachBody.com (and for some reason this phrase turns me off, but it seems to work for some) "Keep pushin play!" Just keep at it. Do your best, don't worry about the other crap.. just do YOUR best.

Till next time... Bring It!

I hit another P90X milestone today. Today was the last day of the Chest, Back and ABX. I LOVE that workout and will miss it. The next time I will see it will be week 1 of P90X Round 2. I will start Round 2 when this 90 days of P90X is done, on May 5th. My plan is to do a second round of P90X starting May 5th and ending the first week of August. The I plan on buying P90X+ (P90X Plus) and doing it for a round or two. That will take me through early February of 2009. That's the plan anyway. That will be about 365 days of P90X!

I had lots of energy today. Really brought it! Something I noticed today. When I started P90X I could only do 12 to 13 pushups using my "Perfect Pushup" pushup bars. Today I can do 30 pushups. That's just for standard pushups. All other pushups (Military, Incline, etc.) have increased dramatically as well. Heck, if I can double my number of pushups in the first 90 days, I wonder if I can double that number and do 60 pushups after another 90 days. Seems unlikely but well see. I've seen big results in all other exercises as well.

Injury update. All body parts are feeling 100% EXCEPT for the IT band. It's MUCH better than it was but not back to 100% yet. I continue to go easy on it and hope for a full recovery by the time I start round 2.

Well, that's it. Till next time... Bring It!

Not much to add today. Today was rest or stretch. I REALLY planned on stretching today. Never got around to it. I did do some ITB stretches on my own though.

Not too great on the diet last night and today. Went to friends last night after dinner and ate too much fattening dips and finger foods.

Was ravenous for some reason today and ate what seemed to be a lot. Probably not as bad as I think though.

Time to Bring It tomorrow.

Just 3 more weeks left!

What a great workout today. I really brought it again today. It seems that I always have more energy for these Sat afternoon workouts. I'm not as sleepy at 1PM on Saturday as I am during the week at 5AM. Great workout, great sweat.

Just 3 more full weeks left! My, my how time flys.

Till next time... Bring It!

Legs, back, Ab Ripper X today.

I felt a bit sluggish today. Just not at full intensity. Something that really only shows itself in the last two reps of each exercise. Not enough sleep last night maybe?

For some reason it appears that my body is changing quite a bit this week. I am noticing more size and definition. Not HUGE, just more.

I'm still love the "X" on Day 68 as I did on Day 1. And can't wait to start over and do Round 2.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I did a PM workout yesterday. After work yesterday I wanted to watch my favorite show. It aired on Wednesday night and I recorded it. I figured that I could either grab a snack and watch it from the family room couch, or I could grab a bottle of water and watch while going for an easy jog on the treadmill. I opted for the latter and got a nice 45 min jog in.

Till next time... Bring It!

YogaX today.

Some random observations:

1. I am enjoying how I look more and more.

2. I don't sweat nearly as much during YogaX as I did that first day.

3. The section of YogaX moves that are all done on one leg KILL me and I struggle with those.

4. I am a very tight person.

5. My calves have really loosened up from all the downward dogs.

Till next time... Bring It!

Back and Bi and Ab Ripper X. I LOVE this workout. This is the one that leaves me barley able to lift my arms high enough to comb my hair when done. Love it.

I'm feeling great today. The only nagging injury I have is the iliotibial band issue. And that seems to be getting better everyday.

Not much else to add. Just another fantastic P90X kinda day.

Bring It!

Plyo today. Love that workout. I noticed today that I don't have to hit the pause button during this workout anymore. More progress! I also noticed that my ITSB (or whatever my nagging butt injury is) is getting better. I could actually do the swing kicks in Plyo today. Last week I had to cheat with my left leg.

All in all I'm feeling good!

Till next time... Bring It!

GREAT workout today. First off, I REALLY like the Chest, Shoulders and Tris workout. Secondly I had a TON of energy today for some reason. I felt like I really brought it.

Yesterday was interesting. It was a nice day and the kids and I were outside most of the day. I saw neighbors that I had not seen since hibernation season (something many of us in the Midwest do during the Winter). Two of my neighbors commented on my weight loss and they both used the same word. They both used "ton" when describing my loss. I didn't think that I was THAT heavy but they both thought that I had lost a TON of weight. And these comments were totally independent of each other.  In other words these neighbors were not standing next to each other when commenting. They were two different occasions.

The reason that I mention these complements is because while a person is going through a transition like this, it's not always obvious to the person losing weight that their appearance is actually changing. The changes happen relatively slowly and can go unnoticed to people that see you everyday. Including yourself.

The interesting thing is that I have only lost 20 pounds since Jan and about 10 pounds since I started P90X. The scale has not moved for the last 30 days or so. But, P90X literature says not to focus on weight. It states that as long as you are not gaining weight that you should be OK. So I guess my weight is just being redistributed. It's like the old saying "muscle weighs more than fat". That's not actually true unless you complete the sentence and say "muscle weighs more than fat PER VOLUME". Muscle is more dense. So as I gain muscle and lose fat it all gets redistributed without really losing weight. So even though I have not really lost much weight I can now fit into pants that I could not wear two months ago. I am also wearing T-shirts that I did not wear two months ago because they were too tight and emphasized my big fat belly too much.

Finally, I feel like I'm getting better at Ab Ripper X (ABX) but there are some exercises that I REALLY struggle with.

#1 - Crunchy Frog.

#2 - Masson Twist. I don't know if I'll ever be able to do that entire sequence with my feet not touching the ground! Heck, for the first 50 days I couldn't even hit the ground with my knuckles. I think that my stomach was in the way. At least I can touch the ground now.

#3 - Every other ABX exercise. I don't think I can do any of them perfectly and rep for rep yet. SOMEDAY!

Till next time... Bring It!

Today was pretty uneventful, it was a rest or XStretch day. I did a little of both.

I tightened the belt on my treadmill cause it was slipping a tad at slow speeds and then I lubed the belt with some lube I bought for it on eBay. After I was done with that I tested it out with a 20 minute run. All was good. Then I did some easy stretching. Spent most of the day outside with the kids. This was the first nice day that we've had in awhile and I probably got too much sun.

Till next time... Bring It!

KenpoX today. I felt pretty darn good, lots of energy. I really "brought it" today. Although I am still taking it easy with what I do with the left leg.

I'm doing pretty well in the Google Search results. Not that it's bringing me any traffic, and that's OK cause I am not doing this for traffic.

As of today Search Google for:

P90X ABX - I'm # 2

P90X KenpoX - I'm # 5

P90X YogaX - I'm # 5

P90X XStretch - I'm # 5

P90X injury - I'm # 6

Just thought that was interesting.

Finally, my Day 60 pics, including some funny ones, are up here, enjoy!

Till next time... Bring It!

Well, I'm officially in Phase 3 now. Never thought I would get here and wow did the time fly!

Today was Legs and Back and ABX. I felt good today but I took it a bit easy on the legs. Especially the left leg. I still have the issue with my left buttocks hurting and I don't want it to get worse. Right now it's holding pretty stable and possibly getting better.

Wanna hear something funny? My Blog shows up as the 3rd listing if you search Google for P90X injury. I guess I have a lot of P90X injuries! Crazy. Maybe old men like me should not do this. but Tony is older than my so I guess it should be OK. But then again, he IS a Superman!

Not much else to add today. Look for the 60 day pics soon!

Till next time... Bring It!

Well, another P90X milestone. Day 60 is done. And what a strange past 24 hours. I don't want to get into a lot of detail so I'll leave it at this. Yesterday afternoon I had some funny feelings in my chest. At my physicians advice I went to the ER. The ER admitted me. I was given a few tests (including a treadmill stress test that I passed with flying colors) and was told that everything looks fine. I was discharged about 20 hours later.

So today was the YogaX workout. It was exactly what I needed after a semi-stressful day of being in the hospital and stiffening up from all the laying around. That hour and a half Yoga workout felt great.

My left rump is still a bit sore and tight. Still not sure what it is that is the problem. I think more and more that it is ITSB. And it does feel to be getting better.

I took my day  60 photos tonight. I'll try and post them tomorrow. One thing that you may notice right away is that I shaved my chest and belly. Against my wife's wishes I might add. You see, while in the hospital yesterday they had stuck and removed many electrodes to my chest and belly over the 20 hours that I was there. And for the stress test they shaved 5 BIG patches on my chest. When I took my shirt off and looked in the mirror I busted out laughing. It looked hilarious. I had 5 big bald patches and many smaller ones. I couldn't see taking my 60 day  pics looking like that. So I shaved my chest with a #1 clipper. Not down to the skin, just buzzed it down to about 1/4 in to even it out with the bald spots.

Later, when my oldest daughter saw me with my shirt off she laughed at me and said that I looked like a failed science experiment. My chest was bald but my stomach was still covered in hair and I have many red/sore spots where the electrodes were placed. So I decided to buzz the stomach as well in hopes that I would look like less of a freak.

So there ya have it. When you see my 60 day pics you'll see that I'm shaved. It's not that I'm on some muscle man trip. It's just that it looks a little less funny this way. It still looks funny to me (maybe because I'm so used to seeing myself with hair), just less funny.

Till next time... Bring It!

So, did you read yesterdays post, and see the Burger King announcement, and then "get" that it was an April Fools' Day joke? It was a famous one from the past. Kudos if you did.

I would classify today's workout as - just OK. I hit the snooze button too many times today and ended up sleeping in till 5:50 instead of getting up at 5ish like usual. I must have been tired because I didn't even realize that I was doing it. So at 5:50, when I realized what time it was and what I had done, I had to decide to get up and get going or just stay in bed and workout after work. I knew that if I got up that I would be running late to start work at 7:30. But I also realized that if I didn't workout now that something ALWAYS comes up after work and I could miss my workout. Missing the workout is unacceptable so I got out of bed and got going.

Today was shoulders, arms and ABX. It felt as if my intensity was lagging a bit (probably because of my rocky start.)

And now for "Doug's Injury of the Day!" - Today it's the right shoulder folks. A little bit o pain in the right shoulder today. Was it caused by my failed one arm push up demo for the wife yesterday? You'd think I'd learn my lesson. Oh well. Had to take it easy on a couple of the shoulder exercises today. Still felt like a great workout though. Well, if it's like the rest of the "Doug's Injuries of the Day!" it will be fine by tomorrow. The rump thing is still a problem. What to do?

Till next time... Bring It!

On this day in history - Burger King introduces the left-handed Whopper

Great workout today, PlyoX. I really like that one. Heck, I like ALL the workouts. All of my mystery ailments have cured themselves except for one. The butt pain. I really modified Plyo today in order to take it easy on my left glute. I'm sitting in a different chair today too in hopes that it too may make a difference. Because it hurts most when I'm sitting. If it does not start to get better soon I fear I will have to see the doc.

Last night I joined a chat session on TeamBeachBody.com. The speaker was non other than Tony Horton himself. He holds these chats about twice a month. It was more like a one way stream of info coming from him than it was a give and take chat session. However, it was great. He went on about 4 rants. One was about the importance of exercise and how it's been proven to cure and prevent so many ills. The second was about how exercise effects the brain. He sited studies and programs such "Zero Hour" that started in Naperville, IL. The latest in a long line of educational experiments conducted by a group of maverick physical education teachers who have turned the nineteen thousand students in Naperville District 203 into the fittest in the nation—and also some of the smartest.

"The notion that it (exercise) might (make kids smarter) is supported by emerging research showing that physical activity sparks biological changes that encourage brain cells to bind to one another. For the brain to learn, these connections must be made; they reflect the brain's fundamental ability to adapt to challenges. The more neuroscientists discover about this process, the clearer it becomes that exercise provides an unparalleled stimulus, creating an environment in which the brain is ready, willing, and able to learn. Aerobic activity has a dramatic effect on adaptation, regulating systems that might be out of balance and optimizing those that are not—it's an indispensable tool for anyone who wants to reach his or her full potential."

During that rant he also went on about a great book he just read. The book is Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, and the above quote is from a sample chapter of the book. Great stuff. The Author is John Ratey MD. I think I'll order this book.

Another topic he went on about was in answer to a couple of people in the chat room that were asking if P90X was right for them. He wrote that the intended audience of P90X was people in pretty good shape that had hit a plateau in their workouts. Or that their trainers were just not getting the job done for them. Or for P90 grads who wanted to take it to the next level. It turned out that not only were people from the intended audience buying the program, but so were people who had a significant amount of weight to lose. And of the later, there were two groups (for the most part). Group 1 tried the workouts and thought that they were too hard so they either returned them or bought P90 and did that before returning to P90X. Or, they just did the best that they could and kept trying and made fantastic gains. P90X is for that second group. You should be in decent shape, yes. But more importantly is that you "do your best and forget the rest." Forget about what others are doing, preconceived notions you may have about exercise, etc. Just do it. Just move. If you move you will feel better. And you will be fitter than you were yesterday.

Which brings us to the last rant of his. I really enjoyed this one. It is this. Calories, pounds, body fat %, reps, inches, YADDA, YADDA, YADDA. It means NOTHING. If it were all about you, and it is, all that would matter is how YOU feel. How YOU feel you look, feel in your clothes, whether or not you feel fit and healthy. That's all that matters. Do your best and forget the rest (one of Tony's oft spoken quotes) means to not worry about how many reps the guy next to you is doing. Clear your head of all the garbage and do YOUR best. Just keep Bringing It and you WILL feel better. That's all that matters. There may be some of the P90X exercises that you can't even do one rep of. Keep trying. You WILL be able to do 2 someday. And then 3, and so on. His message was to just keep trying. Don't quit.

Loooong post I know. I can't even do justice to some of what Tony chatted about. I know that I enjoyed the chat session and got a lot out of it. I'm pretty sure that I'll tune in for the next one too.

And finally, I think that I am realizing that this is not a 90 day thing. This is a long term thing. I'm willing to do this 90 day routine 3 or four times before I move on. I know that each time I do it that I will be stronger and healthier. If it were marketed as P180 or P365 I think that I would have still tried it. Some people need the enticement of a relatively quick fix. Hence the P90X. I am a realist and know that some things take longer.

Till next time... Bring It!