P90X Round 2, Day 6: Kenpo X

Kenpo X is a strange workout for me because the punches and kicks are so foreign. I've never taken any sort of martial arts class (heck, I've never been in a fight in my life!) so I have no idea of how my body should be moving during any of these moves, with the exception of running in place during the breaks.

The challenge for me is to watch the moves closely and to try to emulate what's going on on-screen. This has taken some time and there are still some moves which are a bit questionable, such as Star Blocks. This move has me waving my arms up and down like an idiot. I can do all the blocks individually, but put them together? Forget it. At this point, the cardio aspect of Kenpo drops precipitously.

Having said that, I do find the workout to be enjoyable overall and challenging, the kicks in particular. My legs don't have that much flexibility, so I find raising my leg high on side and rear kicks to be difficult. Improving those moves is an objective of mine in this workout.

Favourite move today: high sword, low hammer. I just like the rhythm and movement of this move, combined with a deep, lateral lunge.

Most difficult move: believe it or not, there's a move in the warm-up where you turn laterally over your straight, outstretched leg while in a deep squat position, which I find quite straining on the ol' hamstring. Following Legs and Back yesterday, the hamstrings and glutes were complaining a bit today, especially during that warmup move.

Tomorrow I'll take a rest day, so no post. This ends week 1. All in all, a pretty good week.

P90X Round 2, Day 5: Ab Ripper X

As I now seem to be able to complete all the moves, my principal focus is now on form. I am trying to keep my chest up high during the first few moves (in and out, bicycles, crunchy frog) and engage the core; straight legs on the fifer scissors; straight legs on heels to heaven; going straight up before crossing over on the crossed leg situps; maximum back lift during pulse-ups on VF rollups; straight legs and maximum bend on oblique V-ups; straight, high legs when leg climbing; finally, extending the legs out straighter during the mason twists.

I achieved some of those objectives; the task is to improve on every exercise and to be consistent. Now, Ab Ripper X is more of a mental challenge for me.

P90X Round 2, Day 5: Legs & Back

I should have listened to Tony today when he advised to beware of Eric: he's all gristle and will put the hurt on. "Eric, Shmeric", I laugh. I'll put the hurt on him. Well, wrong.

Halfway through the workout I was really bagged. Right at the start, the one leg lunges were extremely tough (using 10 lb weights). I was going really deep into the lunge, foot flat on top of my chair, really exaggerated lunge pose. After 25 reps, my glutes were killing me. I couldn't wait for the break. The sideways lunges were also tough, especially "exploding up" to the upright position. I ended up pausing the tape at the break for a longer rest period and then paused again later on, with about 16 minutes to go. That was personally disappointing. I usually do well during this workout because my legs are in decent shape, but today was just a bit of an off-day. I still managed to post respectable numbers, but perhaps my mind wasn't quite right (apologies to Strother Martin).

Favourite move today: calf raises.

Toughest move today: single leg wall squats

P90X Round 2, Day 4: Yoga X

The P90X program design is really well thought-out, with Yoga placed strategically in the middle of the workout week. I like having a chance to stretch out the muscles that have been working so hard for days 1-3 and changing my approach and focus for a day. I have really been enjoying the Yoga workout, despite its 1h52m running time.

I sweat profusely during this workout, especially during the first half, with the moving exercises. Some exercises I just can't do, such as Right Angle Pose & Grab. Actually, I can do this with my left leg in front, but not when my right leg is in front. For some reason (old age? assymmetry?) I can grab my fingers on one side, but not on the other. It's the same in the shower: can you touch your fingertips of each hand to each other behind your back? I can on one side, but not the other. This is probably all too much information. I am becoming aware of my limitations and will attempt to work past them and improve.

Favourite move today: Crane. I balanced for the entire minute, only touching the floor briefly with a toe. A new record for me.

Hardest move today: Twisting Half Moon. Sweat dripping off my forehead onto my mat. Yuck.

P90X Round 2, Day 3: Ab Ripper X

I got to this after work. I find I don't have the energy to to Abs right after the principal exercise so I split up my workouts on Ab days and do Abs either right when I return from work or about 1.5h after supper.

This workout was terrific. I managed to complete the bonus round of Mason Twists, so I kept up with the kids and did all 349 moves. I'm really pleased that I can keep up again so early in the program. Now I can focus on improving my form and engaging my core muscles.

Hardest move: crunchy frog. Had some minor issues with balance. I'm trying to keep my chest up higher, which engages the core more intensively, but found myself leaning back a little father than I'd like.

Favourite move: Oblique V-ups. Legs were straight and I was really getting them high in the air. Very satisfying.

P90X Round 2, Day 3: Shoulders & Arms

Doing this exercise at 6:00AM is not easy. I even found the warmup to be tiring, but eventually got in the mood. I really like most of these exercises and didn't have too much difficulty matching my results from a few weeks ago. I even increased the resistance level on a few.

This is one of the workouts where I feel that it would be more beneficial to be using free weights rather than resistance bands. On some of the exercises, such as In & Out Bicep Curls, the black plastic component which restrains the end of the resistance band bangs against my wrist, creating some discomfort. The exercise is tough enough without having to endure some additional pain due to equipment design.

Favourite exercise today: Side Tri-Rises. I was able to do 22 per side on the first round, 25 per side on the second. My shoulders and triceps felt really great today.

Most difficult: Flip-Grip Twist Tricep Kickbacks. The triceps weren't the only thing getting kicked today. I used a red band and had a lot of difficulty keeping my elbows high and steady while my arms rotated back. I also found Lying Down Tricep Extensions a bit tough. My form was off on the last few extensions, which resulted in more of a shoulder press than a tricep extension. I'll have to concentrate on form a bit more.

Later today: Ab Ripper X

P90X Round 2, Day 2: Plyometrics

It's been a few weeks since I've done Plyo and I was amazed at how my body has lost a bit of endurance during that time. I had to pause the disc twice; a bit disappointing, since I had been able to run through Plyo in its entirety without stopping a few weeks ago. Now I'm motivated to raise the intensity level to get back to where I was.

Hardest move: jump-knee tucks. This exercise (especially the repeat) really makes for jelly legs. I find it particularly hard to keep up with the double-time move.

I love this workout. You can keep increasing the difficulty on each move, working on height, form, breathing and endurance. This workout will never get boring for me and right now, I'm far from mastering it. Landing like a cat? Forget it. I've never felt so attached to gravity.

P90X: Round 2: Day 1: Chest and Back, Ab Ripper X

It's been a few weeks since I've done these workouts, but overall they went pretty well. I felt energetic during Chest & Back and burned through the first half; I should have listened to the Tip of the Day (pace yourself) because I felt drained during the repeats. I had to pause the disc several times during the repeats to catch my breath and focus on the next exercise.

I gave up a bit near the end of the 2nd round of wide fly push-ups. I made a note on the sheet to work harder next time.

Hardest exercise: decline push-ups (15, then 10).

Most satisfying: diamond push-ups.

Ab Ripper X

I did ARX later in the day, when I had recovered a bit from Chest & Back. Again, like this morning, the exercises were tough after having been off them for a few weeks. I managed to get through everything, except for the bonus round of Mason Twists. I hope to correct that deficiency within a few days.

Hardest exercise: backward bicycles (even with hands on the ground). I can feel my right hip flexor and right knee complaining a bit on this one. Also, there's a mental block for me on this: I think Tony blows the count and I end up doing around 31 reps instead of 25 (note that the clock for backwards bicycles is longer than forward bicycles). I try to forget the count and stop thinking during this exercise.

I'm getting pumped for Plyo tomorrow.