P90X Round 2, Day 13: Kenpo X

I had a really tough time getting started this morning. I woke up at 6:15 and can usually start exercising within 10 minutes of waking up; however, today was an exception. I kept dawdling and it was close to 7:00 AM before I settled into my Saunders cycle warmup. There's a move during this warmup where you stretch out your leg straight to the side, then rotate your torso over the outstretched leg and touch the floor on each side of your outstretched leg with each hand. That really puts a strain on my hamstring and I find it rather uncomfortable, but since Kenpo involves so many kicks, it's important to stretch out the hamstrings as much as possible. I also find it tough to lie on my back and pull my straight, outstretched leg to one side, opening up my hips. The Kenpo warmup really reveals some of my weaknesses. I'll have to work on my leg and hip flexibility. No doubt this will also help improve my form during Ab Ripper.

The workout, when I finally got around to it, went well. I particularly like the intensity Tony brings to this workout. I've gotten to the point where I don't really watch the screen so much, as I now feel that I have a pretty good understanding of what my body should be doing throughout the exercises. Every now and then, I glance over to see what's happening on-screen. One oddity I find is the contrast in intensity between Tony and Wesley Idol. Tony seems extremely intense, while Wesley seems to take the workout as a bit of a joke. Looking at their faces during the vertical punches, Tony is really focussed while Wesley has a schoolboy smirk on his face. I find that a bit off-putting, personally.

I really like Tony Lattimore. He strikes a deep horse stance for many of his moves and he seems really intense. His body looks rock solid. I'm no expert, but his form seems worth emulating.

Favourite move today: elbow series

Hardest move today: three way kicks. My balance was a bit off for this and I stumbled a bit. I need a bit more focus to improve, especially side kicks.

Tony line of the day: "That shirt was LIGHT green when she started. We don't do any spray-on here...we do actual DNA removal." (commenting on Vanessa's shirt during the cool-down)

That ends week 2. Tomorrow: Rest (no post)

P90X Round 2, Day 12: Ab Ripper X

I was really energized this afternoon upon returning from the office and pretty much crushed ARX. My focus was good; I managed to keep my chest up on the first four exercises, got my chin off my chest and reached high during crossed-leg situps, stuck the legs up straight in the air on fifer scissors and heels to heaven and got my back well off the ground during pulse-ups in VF rollups. Great workout today.

Favourite move: Mason Twists. Had my legs pretty well straight out the whole time, trying to copy Audra.

P90X Round 2, Day 12: Legs and Back

Again, like last week, I had some difficulties with today's workout. I've been trying to keep up with Tony and the kids but I find that this workout moves just slightly too fast for me. Today, I kept pace until the first break; after that, I paused the workout twice to catch my breath, hydrate and towel off. If the Tip of the Day is "Form over Numbers", then taking the breaks was a good idea, as they allowed me to regroup mentally and physically and exert a stronger overall effort.

I've been reading on the P90X Facebook site that people generally don't see much visual improvement in their legs. At this time, I see noticeable definition when I flex. When I don't flex, they just look reasonably toned. Overall, I can't complain, but I suppose there's always room for improvement.

Favourite move today: Calf Raises. I use 10lb weights during this exercise and really enjoy the three positions and blasting the last 10 repetitions.

Hardest move today: Balance Lunges. Right off the bat, this exercise destroyed my glutes. I'm looking forward to recovering in three days.

Tony line of the day: "I think I ripped my pants" (during warmup stretches)

Later today: Ab Ripper X

p90X Round 2, Day 11: Yoga X

I'll admit it: I really enjoy yoga. I've been looking forward to stretching out all week. It's the perfect mid-week break from the lifting and pushing. I like the way Tony instructs how to move your body and I find the music really soothing. When the workout is over, I can't believe that the 92 minutes has gone so quickly.

I tried something different today: wearing shorts instead of sweatpants. I wore shorts the first time I did Yoga (way back in Round 1) but found that when I did (or attempted) Crane, my sweaty arms would slip off my sweaty legs. Solution: sweatpants. That worked throughout the winter, but now, with Spring in the air (and thoughts of young men and women turn to love - but I digress), I felt a wardrobe change was in order. Hence, the return of the shorts.

The exercises went really well today. I felt strong and could strike a really low pose in Warrior 1 and Warrior 2. For the first time ever, I was able to do two moves that had been eluding me: right angle pose with hand grab (right foot forward) and I was able to get my feet to touch the floor in plough position. Major victory, and it only took 18 attempts before reaching success. I did slip out of my pose in Crane (hello, sweat!) but solved the problem by putting a towel over my legs to prevent skin t0 skin contact between my arms and legs. Success!

Favourite move today: right angle pose / plough to shoulder stand. The first time ever!

Hardest move today: twisting half-moon, on left leg, or I should say, extremely wobbly left leg.

Tony line of the day: "I know the kids are excited...and I know you are too." (intro to Yoga Belly 7)

P90X: Round 2: Day 10: Ab Ripper X

I waited about 1 hour after supper before settling into ARX. I'd rather do it before supper, as 1 hour is not really sufficient time to digest, but timing doesn't always permit.

At any rate, ARX went really well today. I felt none of the fatigue that I felt two days ago, and had a bit of extra adrenalin to prove that last time was an anomaly on the ARX workout chart. I'm really focussed on form now: straight legs (when required) and trying to concentrate on fully engaging the core. After all, slacking on the moves would only be cheating myself and to sculpt abs like Adam's, there's no cheating.

Favourite move today: Fifer Scissors. Solid, straight legs, pushing for extra compression on the upper leg, lower leg 25mm above the floor. Great exercise today.

Hardest move today: Crunchy Frog. Still brushing the mat sometimes with my feet, and leaning back a bit too far. For some reason, I've lost my form on this one and I'd really like to get it back. Wait until next time.

Tony's line of the day: "Imagine you've got to do 100 of them! 25 doesn't sound so bad." (V-F Rollups) 

P90X Round 2, Day 10: Shoulders and Arms

First off, apologies to everyone who works out early. When I said that I work out early, that meant that I'm at it by 6:15 or 6:30AM. Having visited the P90X Facebook site, I find myself humbled by those who REALLY work out early: at 4:30AM. I'm starting to feel like a slacker.

Shoulders and Arms was terrific today. I decided to make the workout more difficult by changing resistance bands for every exercise. Repetitions decreased, although sometimes by only 1 or 2, and I really felt challenged on the last 3 reps of each exercise. Now, I'll challenge myself next time around to increase the reps using the stiffer bands.

Favourite moves today: chair dips (25 each time, using 2 chairs, but no leg raise); side-tri-rises (25 each side, both times).

Hardest move today: Flip-Grip Twist Tricep Kickbacks. I find it difficult to maintain form on this exercise, keeping the elbows in one location and really isolating the triceps. It's also a particularly difficult move using bands, I find. The tension on the band when my arms are outstretched is significant and it's hard to maintain a few seconds of isometric hold at maximum extension.

Favourite Tony line: (during Lying-down Tricep Extensions) Tip of the Day: Don't smash your face!

Later: Ab Ripper X

P90X Round 2, Day 9: Plyometrics

I do my workouts early in the morning, around 6:00 or 6:15AM. Today, I wasn't particularly in the mood to wake up, but rolled out of bed, forced my eyes open and psyched up for Plyo. By the time I was doing the deep lunges during the warmup, I was ready to go.

Last week, Plyo was a bit difficult (there's an understatement!) and I recalled that I should bring some added intensity to the exercises today, so I was mentally prepared to Bring It. I really like the design of this workout: the exercises seem to build in intensity. The first round of exercises went by pretty quickly; it was uphill from there.

I was able to do the entire workout without pausing the disc, something I was not able to do last week. Now that I'm back to where I was in Round 1, I really want to focus on form, getting more air on my jumps, and the tip of the day, "think like a cat". Landing quietly takes more energy. I was able to land more quietly than before on some of the moves (run stance squat switches) but on others, like jump-knee tuck or rockstar hops, forget it. The whole room is rocking on those. Obviously, there's still work to be done; however, small steps will get me there.

Favourite move today: double airborne Heisman. High knees, hold the pose, good form.

Hardest move today: 2nd round of rockstar hops. Peter Townsend I ain't. Or, I should say, "I currently struggle with..."

Favourite Tony line today: "What's up, towelboy?", said to Domenic as he toweled off near the end of the warm-up.

P90X: Round 2: Day 8: Chest and Back, Ab Ripper X

Chest and Back

It was a great day for Chest and Back. I was able to repeat the pull-up exercises of last week, all with the black resistance band and increased the number of pushups. In total, I did 207 pushups, a huge increase over Round 1, week 1 (a total of 132). My goal is to increase the number of exercises during the repetition. I'd like the numbers during the repeats to match the numbers the first time through the exercises, without having to decrease the numbers during the first round. I am trying to pace myself, but don't want to dog it starting off. There's room for improvement in the decline pushups, diamonds and dive-bombers. Also, I did lawnmowers using the black band for the repeat round. I find there's a big difference in resistance between the blue and black bands. The last three reps with the black bands were tough.

Favourite move today: wide-fly pushups. I made a note to myself last week to do more, as my mind quit before my body did. Today I improved on both rounds.

Most difficult move: Dive-bomber push-ups. This move puts a bit of a strain on my right hip flexor, so I can't do too many of them without experiencing some pain. That number is creeping up a bit, but there's definitely room for improvement. The last pushup in both rounds showed some shaky form.

Ab Ripper X 

Although I felt great during Chest and Back, I felt that my body really lacked energy today. I was not looking forward to ARX. This is not a great state of mind to take into a workout. As a result of my poor attitude, the first four exercises were not great. During Fifer Scissors, I found my second wind and put a solid effort into the back end of the workout. I'm going to pay more attention to my diet, as I didn't eat enough today and my body crashed a bit as a result. It's important to keep eating all those small meals throughout the day. I was out for much of the day today and should have brought some snacks. Note to self: make sure to eat every 3 hours or so.

Favourite move today: Fifer Scissors. Legs are straightening out, heels are really close to the floor, worked hard to pull my leg up as high as possible.

Most difficult move: crunchy frog. Had balance issues, difficulty keeping my chest up and on a couple of occasions, my feet scraped the mat. Improve that form!

Looking forward to Plyo tomorrow.