Well, it’s been a while since I have made a blog post so just in case anyone is actually reading this I wanted to let you know that I am still here and still on the UY108 program. And loving it.

Today was day 36 and we celebrated with 36 Sun Salutations. Like Travis Elliot said, it’s like meditation in motion. Or something like that. I really let myself fall deep into this and got lost in it. I wanted to keep going after the 36. I was so energized by it. I look forward to 72.

I have started to notice small changes. Changes that only daily yoga practice can bring about this quickly. Little things like being able to go deeper into one legged seated hamstring stretch. But only on the left side because I am still nursing my right hamstring. And noticing that my chest is becoming more open. And being much more mindful of the present moment. Little things. But I still notice, and like it.

You may have observed that I did not mention P90X2 in this post title. I was doing P90X2 for the first 3 weeks of TUY108 but it became too much so I put P90X2 on hold. I do miss lifting weights but I want to give UY108 a chance and want to see where this wild ride leads me. I feel great. I am eating good, healthy food.

My plan is to finish UY108 and then create a crazy hybrid from YU108, Insanity, P90X2 and maybe P90X. Should be a blast.

But for now I am enjoying the UY108 ride.

I can’t promise when I will blog another update but I will try to get one up before day 73.

See you on the mat!

Like the Energizer Bunny, I am still going. On day 12, like last week, I really didn’t want to do two yoga practices in one day so I just did one. Last week I did the P90X2 yoga and this week I did TUY Detox. I didn’t really have the mental focus that I should have had but I stuck with it and got through it.

Day 13 I did the P90X2 Balance & Power. I like that one. I can work up a good sweat doing it. It’s one of my favorites now but I have a long way to go on some of the med ball balance moves.

Day 14 I did the Mountain Pose series. I find that to be a nice relaxing practice that flies by.

During all of the workouts/practices over the past week I have had to modify many of the exercises/poses a bit in order to take it easy on my hamstring. I will see the doc about it on Monday as it is still bothering me.

Ok, I am not having much love for P90X2 total body. Part of it may be my nagging right hamstring issue. I had to modify a few moves. And I am still getting used to the awkward balance moves. I feel clumsy when doing them and it takes the fun out of it. But I press on.

My UY108 (The new hash tag and abbreviation for The Ultimate Yogi program) practice today was Yin Yoga. Long stretching poses. I had to modify this quite a bit too due to my hamstring issue. I will go to the doc next week to have it looked at. Even with the modifications I still enjoyed it.

I had to brawl my way through today’s TUY Strength practice. It was almost like a hockey fight. I am not sure why I had such a hard time with it but I did. Both mentally and physically. My mind was all over the place. Everywhere but where is should have been. On the matt, with me. And physically I was a mess. I had to take child’s pose quite often.

But, I am okay with all that. As they say, it is what it is. I will not judge, I will just observe.

The other thing that added to the difficulty is that I have a nagging hamstring issue that came up almost 4 weeks ago. I pulled/strained/tore? it while playing broomball on ice. It didn’t hurt that day. I noticed it the day after. For the past 3 1/2 weeks it has just felt tight so I have been trying to heal it through stretches. Well, the stretches are not helping so I decided that I would baby it a bit. And that kind of through me off in the strength practice. I think I will go see the doc next week if I don’t see any improvement.

Till tomorrow… Bring it!

I really enjoyed Plyocide today. Worked up a great sweat. Not much more to say.

---

My TUY Cardio workout was tough. I thought that I was going to have to wring out my matt after the workout. It was one of those times that the mat got so sweaty and slippery that I had to use my awesome Yogitoes towel. I love that thing.

My nutrition is still right on track. I actually sat and watched my family eat lemon meringue pie for dessert and I did not have any. It did not phase me at all. I didn’t want any. I celebrated Fat Tuesday with fresh strawberries and a bit of whipped cream.

I can eat clean with no effort for months during the Winter. And then Summer comes and knocks me off track. How do I avoid this? I have fallen into this cycle for years now.

I guess I’ll just take it one day at a time.

I am very happy with today’s workouts. This is only the second time that I have done X2 Core and I love it so much more than the first time. It probably has something to do with the fact that I was sick when I did it last week. And the first time going through a workout is more of a learning experience than a real workout. But today I really brought the energy and by the time I was done I was dripping with sweat. A huge difference from last week. Loved it.

---

The TUY Cross Train workout flew by tonight. I feel things starting to change. Both in my body and in my mind. I can’t really put my finger on it right now so I won’t try. All I know is that I feel great and my mind feels more clear than it has in a long time.

See you tomorrow!

Today marks my first 7 days straight of Yoga. Now let’s see if I can keep it going for another 101 days. The Ultimate Yogi program is 108 days of yoga.

Today was a welcomed rest. The P90X2 Recovery and Mobility was very restorative. I have only been using the foam roller for a couple days but I am already feeling the benefits. Muscles are starting to loosen.

And the TUY Mountain Pose series was nice too. Very relaxing. A nice finish to the week.

I am tracking my nutrition right now and it is a struggle for me to hit 1800 to 2000 a day. I am feeling great though.

If you noticed in past posts, I don’t like to use the word diet. It has connotations of calorie restriction, which I am definitely NOT doing. I concentrate on eating clean. Meaning, whole, natural, unprocessed foods that do not contain added sugar or salt. When I eat clean like this I actually have to work to get enough calories!

That’s it for this post. Until tomorrow… Bring it!

Yes! I finally got a good ole P90X2 sweat going. I loved the Balance and Power workout. This is my kind of workout, and may favorite P90X2 workout so far. I really like functional type exercise and especially love body weight moves. This DVD had them all. A fantastic core workout. I look forward to doing this one again.

 

---

I did TUY Vitality later in the evening. I like this one but wow is my chest tight. I really need this practice. And my shoulders must be super tight too. I can’t even come close to doing Eagle Arms, where you intertwine your arms together. Someday.

I think these two workouts (P90X2 Balance & Power/The Ultimate Yogi Vitality) will make Saturday one of my favorite workout days.

Namaste.

Well, once again I could not get up in time to do my morning workout. But today is P90X2 - X2 Yoga so I decided to skip TUY Detox Yoga and just do the X2 Yoga after work.

It was pretty good. I liked the pace. It kept my interest and the one hour flew by. I was not dripping with sweat when done but I did feel like I had a nice well rounded Yoga workout when done.

After my workout I went out and bought a foam roller. It is used pretty extensively in P90X2 and it looked like something that would provide me with a lot of relief. I tried it when I got home and WOW. I have some spots that definitely need some work.

My nutrition is right on track. I am feeling great.

Bring it!

I was up in the middle of the night last night with a bad cough and did not sleep well enough to get up in time for my morning P90X2 workout. So, I did my workouts back to back when I was done working for the day.

These workouts fit very well back to back. The TUY Yin Yoga workout is an “easy” practice where you hold deep stretches for 3 to 5 minutes. And after P90X2 Total Body I was ready for some deep stretching.

I am still letting the P90X2 workouts grow on me. Many of the balance moves feel very awkward. I understand that Tony is getting us to engage our core and other muscles while working the primary muscle, but wow is it awkward. I will go with the flow and trust Tony and let the results speak for themselves.

I have been doing great with my nutrition. No alcohol this week, no cigars, no sugar and no processed foods. I am tracking everything I eat. I feel better already.

During my post workout shower (where I do some of my best thinking) I was noticing how good I feel and that I don’t get the 2:00 sleepy time feeling in the afternoon. I know that when I eat good I feel better and have more energy. I have made this observation numerous times in my life. But for some reason I let myself slip into bad habits over and over again. These things creep up on you. Like that saying, “how do you boil a frog? Very slowly.” These bad habits, and the way they make you feel, happen so slowly that you don’t notice. Until it’s too late.

In your life and in your workouts… Bring it!

I could NOT get out of bed this morning. Well, I did eventually get out of bed, just not in time to do P90X2. But I don’t feel too bad about it because I am sick, and because today was a rest day. Although you can do the recovery workout on rest days, and that is what I had planned on doing, I decided to get some needed rest. And hopefully I will feel better when it comes time to do my TUY workout this afternoon.

---

I really enjoyed the TUY strength workout this afternoon. I pushed it pretty hard but still had to drop into Child’s Pose a couple times. What a great workout.

So I totally phoned that workout in today. Meaning that I half showed up for it. I am still sick and nursing a hamstring injury on my right side. I hurt it playing broomball on January 28th and it is STILL giving me grief. I am hoping that Yoga will help me get it back to normal.

I liked Plyocide but it is hard to really give it a proper evaluation because I am still learning the moves and it felt a bit awkward. I am sure that as I get into better shape again that I will be able to push harder and get a much better workout from it.

---

I really like the TUY Cardio, what a killer. And some great stretches too. I had to do this one pretty late in the evening because I waited till the last minute to plan for Valentine’s Day. But hey, still got the workout in. And I didn’t phone this one in. I gave it all I had, sick or not.

I feel like I am eating a lot but when you eat clean it is hard to get all the calories you need. I need to add a shake or something like that in the day.

See you on the mat!

I felt off balance and fumbled and stumbled through the X2 Core workout. Because of that I don’t feel like I pushed as hard as I will be able to after doing it a few more times. That being said, I still felt fantastic when it was done. It felt great to get up and move. And I guess that this workout was designed to put you off balance in order to work the core.

I am still a little sick though, so it was a LOT of work to get out of bed this morning. But that too will get easier as I get back on schedule.

I am really wanting a foam roller. It looks like it would be very beneficial. I already have two sizes of balance balls but, to tell you the truth, some of the balance ball stuff seemed gimmicky. I am glad that they show alternatives.

I look forward to Plyocide tomorrow.

---

I just finished The Ultimate Yogi – Cross Train. I am super tight in the hamstrings. I should not have taken a week off. But it did feel really good to move and flow.

My internal focus is beginning to sharpen.

It has been way too long since I have been serious about working out and it’s time to change that.

I received P90X2 from my parents for Christmas and I am ready to give it a go. I am also really enjoying another program called The Ultimate Yogi that I found online.

I am going to start off by doing P90X2 in the mornings and then The Ultimate Yogi in the afternoons/evenings. I hope it is not too much, I don’t think it will be.

I am so ready. I feel like I have hit rock bottom. Which happens to me about once a year. I wish I could stop the yo-yo cycle. Maybe this will be the year that I don’t fall apart between August and February.

I will do my best to update the blog frequently. It usually helps keep me motivated.

Today is the Sunday before I start and I spent the morning reading the P90X2 material and getting the calendar ready. Tomorrow morning I will be READY!

Well, just about 2 months have passed since I wrote my last post. In that post I was going on about how I went from super fit to couch potato in 90 days. Now it has gotten worse.

I actually did great the first week and a half of my last attempt, and then I went away on business and it all fell apart and I have not worked out since.

So here I sit again, ready to start again, and worried that my upcoming trip will derail me again. It’s pretty frustrating. I took, practically, 5 months off now and my foot only seems to be a tad bit better. And I have gained the 20 pounds that I lost from last January through July. Something in my brain must enjoy being slothful and 20 pounds overweight, otherwise I would not walk around being fit for 6 months and not so fit for 6 months. This scenario seems to have been repeating over and over. I think this the classic “yo-yo diet” and from what I have heard it is not too healthy.

Time to bring it. I will do 60 days of Insanity because it is probably the quickest way for me to lose body fat. I have a bit of travel coming up so I will have to do some of the workouts in hotels or maybe I will ride the stationary at the hotel.

Here we go again!

Well, I did it again. I got super fit and felt great about how I looked and felt and then I let myself go. I took 3 months off. Zero working out. I ate anything I wanted and partied too much. And now, surprise, surprise, I feel horrible. I am sluggish everyday, my clothes are all too tight, I hate the way I look. I tried to justify it by thinking that some time off would help my plantar fasciitis heal. It didn’t. It is the same. So at least I know that time off is not going to heal this. It felt better while I was working out. Probably due to stretching more when I am working out. I need to increase my stretching this round.

I am now a fat gimp and I hate it.

But the good news is that I know how to fix this. And I find it MUCH easier to workout and eat right when the weather is cooler like this.

So here I go. Time to Bring It! It’s time for the 90 P90X/Insanity hybrid workout. Ninety days starting tomorrow.

Let the healing begin.

I’m 1/2 way through Phase 2 of this awesome workout and I am feeling great! I have said this in the past, and I’ll say it again. This is THE best shape I have been in my life. Cardio and strength. This hybrid hits everything and hits it well. I feel like I could jump small buildings in a single bound! Well, OK, maybe I am getting a bit carried away here. But I do feel like I am at peak condition.

I am a few pounds away from my goal weight and ready to set a new goal. It always feels so good to be in shape and not ashamed of how you look. Like the saying goes, “Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.”

My plantar fasciitis is MUCH better. I have been wearing my night splint religiously and taping my foot everyday. I have not been able to run again yet but, for the most part, the daily pain is gone.

I really didn’t have much to say in this update, but I wanted to get a new post up because it has been a while since my last post.

One more week of hitting it hard and then recovery week. And luckily recovery week coincides with my vacation. I have to make sure I don’t let myself go too much while on vacation. That is always hard for me.

Till next time, dig deep and Bring It!!

I just finished Phase one of this fantastic hybrid workout and I am feeling better than I have in a long, long time. This workout combines the best of P90X and the best of Insanity to make one KILLER workout. It has helped me to break through my weight loss plateau and reach another milestone, 170 lbs. I have lost more than 20 lbs since the beginning of the year. And I have probably gained muscle, which means that I have lost more fat than the 20 lbs would indicate.

And I really feel like I am in tip top shape, and that is the best feeling ever. When I was doing only P90X I could tell that my cardio was suffering. And when I was doing only Insanity I could tell that my strength suffered a bit in certain areas. But by combining these two awesome workouts together I am hitting on all cylinders now.

Injury update: My plantar faciitis is getting MUCH better. After suffering from this horrible affliction for a year, I am finally getting some relief. My podiatrist was almost zero help. The orthotics that he prescribed for me didn’t seem to provide any relief. The physical therapist did not cure me either. So what’s a guy to do? Turn to the Internet of course. I searched out and read as many posts as I could find from people who had cured themselves. I took the commonalities between their cures and put together my own course of action.

This is what has been working to almost completely relieve all of my plantar faciitis symptoms.

1. I try to do my workouts in the afternoon now as apposed to in the morning. I think that my tendons were too tight in the morning and this contributed to the issue.
2. I wear an inexpensive night splint. I believe that doing this one thing has helped the most. I wake in the morning with virtually zero heel pain.
3. I tape my foot and leave it taped and remove the tape only to shower and sleep. I started using duct tape after reading an article from someone who found much relief from doing so. I now use athletic tape or duct tape. This has been a HUGE help! I can mow the lawn without tremendous heel pain afterward.
4. I regularly do stretches that my physical therapist recommended.
5. I do toe “curls” or “scrunches” regularly.

So, that’s what I am doing and it is seeming to work for me.

Tomorrow marks the start of Phase 2 of this workout and I am really excited to start working hard again after having a week of recovery.

Till next time… Bring It!

Two days ago I started this crazy P90X/Insanity Hybrid workout. I got it from Mike French and (if I am not mistaken) it was created by his wife Tami French.

I’m really looking forward to this because I missed the P90X pull-ups and weight lifting during the last 63 days of doing Insanity. I’m ready to BRING IT!

The first day of this workout was good ‘ole P90X Chest and Back and WOW was my intensity off the charts. I feel like Insanity really amped up my intensity level. I was able to crank out quite a few more pushups than I could before. Felt great.

The second day was Insanity Plyo Cardio Circuit and man-o-man am I sore from yesterday’s P90X workout. It had been awhile since I had done this Plyo Circuit workout because it falls early in the Insanity rotation. And holy cow,I forgot what a killer this workout was and how much I loved it.

Today was back to P90X Shoulders and Arms and I am still feeling the DOMS in my Chest and back big time. I am really surprised by this because Insanity has you doing a TON of push-ups so I thought my Chest would be ready for P90X. Guess I really pushed it hard the other day. This was a tough one to get through because I was so sore. But once again I could tell that I really made some great gains due to Insanity. I was able to increase reps or weights on just about every exercise.

Till next time… bring It!!

I survived Insanity! My rubberized workout floor needs a good mopping now but I survived! What an awesome feeling, I feel fantastic. I have not gotten around to taking my “After” pictures yet. But to tell you the truth, since my “Before” pictures were so grainy, I’m not too sure how much help they would be.

I lost 7 lbs total and look leaner. I’m sure that I put on some muscle too. I feel better than when I started and I like the way I look. Isn’t that all that’s important?

Here’s my (somewhat short) Insanity review.

Overall I give it 5 stars. I would definitely recommend it.

Pluses –

• It will get you in the best cardio shape of your life.
• I am able to bring much more intensity to my other workouts after completing Insanity
• I love to sweat, and you’ll definitely sweat in this workout.
• I am able to do more pushups after completing Insanity than I was after many rounds of P90X.

Minuses -

• I am not a big fan of the stretches. I liked the P90X stretching much better. I didn’t feel like the Insanity stretches did enough for me and there was not enough variety for me.
• Throughout the workouts Shaun T. tells you to look at your heart rate but never tells you what to look for or what to do about it. Was it in the guide and I missed it? I found it annoying.
• I think that Shaun is not great with giving Queues. I would like him to workout less and queue more descriptively and provide more information. I had to look at him too many times during the stretches and during some moves. Tony Horton is great at queuing. Also, I felt that the producers of the DVDs could have done a better job at letting you know what the next move/exercise was going to be. P90X is much better at that.
• There are lots and lots of squats. Be careful, my knees got a little tweaky by the end. You REALLY have to pay attention to your form in order to not get hurt. And when you are doing so many squats it’s easy to get injured by losing concentration and letting your form get sloppy.
• I hated recovery week. It was too easy. I would think about throwing in a day or two of yoga.

Okay, I know I have more pluses than minuses but I really did love this program and would definitely recommend it. As a matter of fact, I like it so much that I am doing a P90X/Insanity hybrid now!

Dig Deep and Bring It!!