The day started with 30/15 (One on One with Tony Horton), a routine which involves doing 30 pushups of various types, followed by 15 pullups of various types. 30/15 is a suggestion; following those numbers depends upon you level of strength and willpower, both of which diminish towards the end of the workout. I was able to maintain the 30 pushups until the last two exercises; then, chataranga pushups hit me, and my numbers dropped precipitously to 20 pushups. These pushups seem straightforward enough: 2 on the PowerStands, 2 on the floor, and repeat. The moving back and forth from the stands to the floor, combined with the slightly different type of stress the different pushup positions put on the body seemed to drain the energy from my arms, shoulders, chest and willpower. I found that at 20, I just couldn't get my arms to lift my body any more. Pullups were a different story. Using the black resistance band for each type of pullup, I decided to try for 20 on each round. Those were successful, so I know that I can increase that number, perhaps to 24 each, next time. I really liked this workout. It was somewhat different from Chest and Back (P90X) because it omitted Decline and Divebomber pushups, but it was still really challenging and really rewarding. I think that I've never done so many pushups and pullups in one workout ever. Love it.
Later in the day, I did Killer Abs from the One on One series. This is a combination of the Abs moves from Power 90 and Ab Ripper X from P90X. I've never done the Power 90 abs exercises, and found them to be challenging, especially the move where you twist your torso and do crunches which isolate the obliques. Huffing and puffing. The ARX moves were all familiar, of course, and I found them to be fairly easy, as Tony inadvertently omitted Wide Leg/Cross Leg situps, and only did 20 repetitions of each move. Still, the combination of both ab workouts made for an intensive workout. I really felt it in my obliques when I woke up this morning.
I also felt the 30/15 workout when I awoke this morning. My upper body was experiencing some pain which I haven't felt in quite some time. It feels good knowing that I'm once again confusing my body and challenging myself. I'm optimistic for this new workout regimen.
Day 2
The morning started with Cardio Intervals (One on One), which I had briefly previewed on fast-forward, but had not yet tried. I was a bit disappointed with the warmup sequence, which went a bit too fast for my liking; it also didn't really target the legs as much as I would have liked. I'll likely extend this warmup regimen in the future to ensure that I target the muscle groups I think need work. By now, I have enough experience to know that there are a variety of exercises available to warm up those parts of the body, and I know what my body needs.
It usually takes some time to become accustomed to exercise moves, and this disc is no different. The workout consists of 20 moves, each executed for 30 seconds, and repeated over two rounds, with a short break between rounds. Not surprisingly, when 20 moves are involved, some are going to be more intense and more enjoyable than others. It took me some time to work up a sweat, and, during the Kenpo moves, I felt my heart rate drop somewhat. It's a somewhat uneven workout, but I'll give it a chance. By the end of the workout, I was sweating, but nothing like Interval X Plus, or Plyometrics. I even felt that Super Cardio was more exerting than this; however, it deserves another chance. About 45 minutes after the workout, I did feel fatigued. On the plus side, there are a lot of moves which involve twisting the upper body, and that helped work out the kinks and soreness in my arms and shoulders, providing some much-needed relief from yesterday's 30/15 workout.
Tomorrow, back to P90X, with Shoulders and Arms.
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