I don't know if anyone noticed, but today is Day 90, marking the completion of Round 3. This round took a couple weeks longer than I had anticipated, due to illness one week and a week's vacation causing the restart of another. No matter, the important thing is that I just continued to commit to working out on a regular basis. As these posts have shown, there's no magic in the 90 days; really, they're merely benchmarks in a lifetime of pursuing the goal of overall fitness. Just as the 30-60-90 day photos are benchmarks of progress within a Round, so are the Rounds benchmarks in a year of fitness. Soon, the years will count themselves.
This Round wrapped up with Yoga, a nice, mentally-relaxing (though physically exerting) routine during which I managed to clear my mind and release some stress. I've noticed recently that it's somewhat more difficult to get my arms straight in the air above my eyes during the chair twist and right-angle pose. I'm hoping that's because I have increased my muscle mass in my shoulders, but I'm guessing that I'm just a bit inflexible in that posture. That's something to work on in the future.
As far as future objectives go, I'm trying to design the next Round's workouts to achieve a number of goals:
1) vary the workouts to encourage muscle confusion and avoid boredom
2) increase abdominal exercises (there's still more work to be done)
3) continue to work different parts of the body on different days, but ensuring that all parts of the body are worked on
4) focus on my weaknesses: abdomen, shoulders, cardio
The new Round will consist of workouts from P90X, P90X+ and One on One with Tony Horton. The schedule is broken into three phases, like P90X, for a total of 13 weeks. Weeks 4, 8 and 13 will be Recovery Weeks. Unlike P90X, the workouts vary week to week, so there's not much repetition. That should encourage muscle confusion.
Ab workouts will return three times a week, with Ab Killer on Sundays, where I'll have the extra time (I hope!) to do the elongated workout. I'm scheduling Abs/Core + for Tuesdays, and ARX on Thursdays. We'll see how it goes, and adjustments can be made along the way.
Some of the workouts may have to be rescheduled, due to a lack of dumbbells. If I can pick up a set, then I'll be able to do Diamond Delts and Just Arms. Failing that, I'll substitute some of the P90X workouts until dumbbells can be procured.
The cardio portion of the program is a bit up in the air right now, because I haven't done all of the One on One cardio workouts yet. I'll try them in Weeks 1 and 2, and adjust the schedule as required. There is a possibility of doubling up on some of the cardio workouts. I'd like to try that on Fridays, and see how my body takes it. I'd like to increase the cardio component of the workouts to encourage a bit more weight loss. That, combined with proper eating and increased ab work will hopefully reveal more of a 6-pack. Time will tell.
Legs will be worked out every Thursday, along with cardio days on Monday and Friday. I'm not expecting too many problems there.
Back will be worked out at least twice a week, rotating through Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Finally, the core will get hit at least three times a week, and occasionally more often.
I was able to get worksheets from a P90X colleague (thanks to Lee Lichlyter) for the One on One workouts, so I'll be able to journal my reps and weights. I've found that journalling results is indispensable for success in this program. Paraphrasing Tony, information is knowledge, knowledge is power and power leads to success. How do you know what you're doing if you don't write it down? How will you adjust your weights or reps the next time you do the workout if you don't know what you've done before? Keeping a log is, in my opinion, critical to success.
I'll be reviewing the schedule and monitoring my progress and making adjustments as time goes by. I want to make sure that I feel challenged and stimulated. If I don't, I'll make a change. If the workouts aren't difficult enough, I'll revise things to make life a little harder and more rewarding as a result. It's possible that as more workouts become available, I'll work those into the Round. There are no hard and fast rules. I merely want to continue on my path to achieving and maintaining good overall health. Hopefully, this plan will help me get there.
Next: Reset to Day 1: Bring It!
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