It has occurred to me that P90X is not an end in itself, but more of an enabler. I'm not doing the program for the sake of doing the program (although, sometimes it feels like that); rather, I'm doing the program so that I'll be able to do other things in my life. Example: playing baseball with my son this past weekend. Also, my daughter has asked me to go running (I prefer to call it jogging) with her. I want to spend this special time with my children, playing, and forging memories. This is the gift that P90X has brought me.
Start week 7, with Chest, Shoulders and Triceps. It's harder for me to get up and work out on the first day of the cycle, probably because I'm not forced to awaken at 6:00AM. Sundays, I usually sleep in and, upon awakening, I don't really feel like Bringing It. Well trained by now, I grudgingly get up, throw on my shorts and t-shirt, slip in the disc and press play.
This workout takes longer than any other workout (except Yoga) because I feel the need to pause the tape after 4 or 5 exercises. These exercises really exhaust me. Also, I'm bringing the attitude that the last 3 reps have to really count. I want to collapse on the floor, incapable of pressing out one more pushup. As a result, I'm really toasty after a few exercises, and have to pause, hydrate, and towel off. I'm also grunting and groaning a lot during this workout. At one point, my family told me to can the sound effects. No sympathy.
It was a good workout today. I'm not particularly fond of this one, but it is starting to grow on me a bit. I was able to increase my reps in some of the exercises. Not huge increases, but personally significant ones. There are small victories, like doing 1 or 2 more push-ups than previously. It's nice to see a gradual increase in strength. Also, some of the additional reps came from the mind. I wasn't going to let floor flys beat me, so I increased my reps. The last few were killers, but my mind said I could do them, and I succeeded. That made the workout worthwhile.
Favourite move today: Plange Push-Ups. I rotated my wrists and felt much better during this exercise than ever before. All I had to do was listen to Tony. For 7 workouts in a row, my form had been off. It's amazing what happens when you use proper form.
Toughest move today: Weighted Circles. This is still really tough, but I think I can do a few more. Wait 'till next time.
Tony line of the day: "maximum, Maximum, MAXIMUM reps!"
Ab Ripper X
A new twist on ARX today; I was feeling pretty good after completing CST, so I decided to continue straight into ARX. What a difference from my previous workouts. Usually, I do ARX some hours after completing the principal workout of the day. When you do ARX immediately following the workout, you really need to focus on form and breathing. I haven't felt ARX to be this difficult since the early days of Round 1. Every move was tough, as my body has less gas than I had thought. This workout really became a battle to ensure that my mind could convince my body to persevere and succeed. I managed to complete the workout, but my mat was completely soaked (sorry for that image). I really left it all on the floor today. I felt like I had achieved a major accomplishment. I'm going to try to do that more often in the future, whenever possible.
Favourite move today: leg climbs. One of the few moves that I didn't find particularly exerting.
Toughest move today: crunchy frog. After CST, keeping my arms out, then in, then out...ouch.
Tony line of the day: "There's no part 1 and part 2. It's part 2."
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